Pepperdine boasts a first-class education the likes of Stanford and Notre Dame, but its consistently slipping national rankings aren’t falling for no reason. Boasting a No. 2 ranking for Peace Corps Volunteers in 2009, 6 recent Fulbright Scholars, and some 20-plus Teach for America participants in the past two years, Pepperdine is top of the charts for bleeding hearts. Why? Pepperdine students just cannot say no — to people, charities or a myriad of activities.
I’m just as guilty of this habit; my activities list as a last semester senior is just as long as my list from high school. “Successful people,” said leadership psychologist and author Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, “have a glaring tendency to overcommit.”
Albeit, the things students tend to commit themselves to are typically virtuous and classy. There are the stop-human-trafficking groups, save-the-underdeveloped clubs, the do-gooder green initiatives and the up-and-coming social groups. But signing up for group after group is hardly virtuous. It’s irresponsible and reflects the wanton neediness, lack of focus and cowardly inability to say no — which are far deeper immediate problems to solve than world hunger and Joseph Kony.
In a Business Week article published in 2011, overcommitment was dubbed “A happiness killer.” College students in particular “often say yes because [they] want to make others happy and are afraid to admit [they] aren’t superhuman.” It all ties to an inability to resist flattery that eventually corrodes students’ effectiveness and causes them to burn out. Few students can claim they haven’t felt burnt out at some point at Seaver. Why else would the Counseling Center focus on alcohol prevention so heavily? It’s one of the biggest ways most college students let off steam and stress, and of course, it’s hidden or pushed off campus at Pepperdine.
With a student body that is hungry for fulfillment (professional, social, spiritual … what have you), it’s all too common for students to see joining this group and that cause as a way to play the field and find a true vocation, still with the best intentions in mind. The logic fits, right? The more things I try, the more options I can have to pursue after graduation. I, too, am guilty of this flawed logic, and only now, at the end of my undergraduate education, can I see that it probably wasn’t the smartest approach. Narrowing the scope of involvement can bring much more effective results and might leave a real legacy with an organization, club, team, group or business on campus.
There is a common business tip that says: “if you must overcommit, overcommit to one thing.” This could help us understand part of the Pepperdine problem. Athletic teams could perform better if our Division I athletes were able to fully commit to their training and education. Our clubs could last longer and achieve more if members weren’t committed to four or five groups and their activities. Our club teams could be infinitely more successful if members had the time and the energy to commit to training. Our social groups could have stronger cultures. Our campus could be more enthusiastic. Our faith and volunteer involvement could be more fulfilling and more consistent.
Where the average university students are involved with two to three organizations on campus, my unofficial surveys have shown that Pepperdine students are involved with an average of four to six organizations. We, as eagerly ambitious students, can make our actions more intentional and effective by assuming responsibility for our commitments. For as philosopher Arthur Rubinstein said, “of course there is no formula for success, except perhaps an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings.”
