Girlbossing too close to the sun

Returning to normal has everyone overloading their plates

OpinionsSheena Macmillan — Published September 24, 2021 2 minutes

If you scroll to the bottom of this article you’ll discover that Niall Horan was my favourite member of One Direction, but I’m also the editor-in-chief of The Link. I’m also co-VP events for the Filipino Organization of Concordia University Students, I work part-time at IKEA slinging meatballs, and I’m a journalism student.

When the school year started and my classmates and I got to re-introducing ourselves, a lot of them kicked off the conversation by asking how I manage all of my responsibilities. My answer was always the same, “Ah, you know,” and a shrug.

But I’m not the only one riding this ride—a lot of my peers are also overloading themselves with new responsibilities. It’s not uncommon to meet someone who is juggling a part-time job, a full course load, freelance work, and involvement in student life. This doesn’t account time to maintain personal relationships and a social life, or room for self-care.

After a friend tells me about their laundry list of responsibilities, I nod knowingly and say, “You’re girlbossing too close to the sun.”

Now that we’re coming out of the pandemic and adjusting to a new normal, this need to take on as many jobs as possible makes sense. We’ve missed out on so much, and the five year plans we made a couple years ago got thrown out the window. Now, as the world begins to spin again, it’s time to dive deeper than ever before into burnout culture.

As we close out on the third week back to school, I can semi-confidently say I'm having a good time. For the first time in over a year, my schedule is jam packed and I’m always a little bit overwhelmed. I keep on telling myself, “As long as I budget my time properly, I can avoid a burnout.” I’ll stick to this philosophy until I prove myself wrong.

The thing is, I love all the things on my plate right now. I love working for this paper, I love organizing events for Concordia’s Filipino community, I love absolutely cheffing it up at a Swedish furniture store, and I love what I’m studying. Right now, I don’t want to give any of it up.

Lately, when I reflect on what I’ve done in a day, I’m mesmerized by the amount of tasks I’ve completed. This time last year, I was binge watching Cells at Work! and calling it a day. 

So, until I officially girlboss too close to the sun, I’ll keep on flying high.