The Beauty in Balance

I glanced at the clock again and the time — 3:47 am — glared back. My head fell into my hands as I thought about all the work left. I had to finish an essay, read one chapter of the general chemistry textbook, send reminders to dance group members, follow up with a community partner, and wake up at 9 am for a meeting tomorrow. I told myself I would never let my tasks pile up again but here I was: me, my laptop, and the chirping of the early morning birds.

I took a deep breath and exhaled.

Over my past three years at Princeton, I’ve realized that being a student here isn’t simply about attending classes and performing well on exams. It's about learning how to hold space for many identities and responsibilities in tandem with one another. I am a student. But I am also a leader, partner, dancer, daughter, friend, and simply a human. With each responsibility demanding its share of time and energy, it quickly became apparent that achieving a perfect balance amongst them was an ambitious, if not a flat-out impossible, goal.

I’ve frequently experienced the unattainability of achieving a perfect balance at Princeton, particularly when the identities and responsibilities vying for attention clash. In the past three years, my familial responsibilities as a daughter and granddaughter have taken precedence over a looming PSET deadline. My role as president of my dance group has demanded I prepare for an upcoming show rather than tend to other extracurricular commitments. My responsibility to support a friend in need was more urgent than submitting a summer internship application. In each instance, while I strove to achieve a perfect balance, navigating so many roles simultaneously was simply unfeasible.

Yet, in working to find a “balance” during my three years, I now understand that true balance isn’t about evenly distributing my time and energy across each responsibility. Rather, it is about recognizing that certain identities and responsibilities must take priority over others at different moments. Balance isn’t something that can be achieved or reached, but rather a never-ending process of assessing priorities, acknowledging shifted demands, and making active decisions about where to allocate your time and energy.

My “balancing” act is far from perfect. Despite how I have grown and all that I have learned throughout my time at Princeton, there are still moments when I have not properly evaluated my priorities and therefore am awake very late to finish. Yet, rather than feeling frustrated with myself, I can now acknowledge that identity as a Princeton student is multifaceted and complex. And, by collectively embracing this, we normalize the beauty in never being perfectly balanced as it allows us to prioritize what matters most to us.