What Exists? What Should We Do?

           School is demanding.  Work takes time, and dating takes money.  Membership in the church expects an even balance between all of these things, and our own personal pride pushes us to excel in each category.  As a single male who is a full-time student and member of the church, I fully understand the scheduling conflicts that occur at this point in our lives.  

In my opinion editorial I plan to address the demanding educational, ecclesiastical, occupational and social demands of Brigham Young University students. I will outline the rigorous schedules that haunt single students taking 14 or more credits, who also work a part-time job.  How do we balance these demands?  Where do our priorities lie?  Ultimately what we’re each asking is: What should we do?

                There exists a problem within the walls of this argument.  The issue is time.  Time is one of our most precious and valuable resources as mortals. As the ‘future generation,’ the way that we use our time will affect the remainder of our entire lives, and hopefully the lives of those around us.  As members of ‘Generation Y,’ otherwise known as ‘millennials’ (persons born between 1974-1994) we have consistently been referred to as the future leaders of the church, and the future leaders of the world.  We know from modern revelation that Heavenly Father has saved some of his most valiant servants to come forth in these latter-days.  That is me and you, my friends.  The future is now- our time has come.  What are we doing to fulfill this divinely appointed responsibility?  How do we fulfill these expectations?

What we need to do is manage our time.  Ultimately, we need to manage our lives.  Living day-to-day, even minute-by-minute will no longer cut it.  In preparing this opinion editorial, I hope to help others come to the consensus that although time is short and school is hard, we can do better and work more diligently.  I plan to help solve this issue by mapping out a generic schedule of a student who meets the criteria mentioned above. My purpose is to help give guidance to those who are in need of more organization and structure.  Book of Mormon prophets taught us this principles thousands of years ago:  “And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order…” (Mosiah 4:27).  The time is now for us to apply, and “liken” these teachings to our current situations, in order to make the best of the prime of our lives.