Emily+K’s+Final+AmEx+Speech+2016


 * Spending Time **

Time. We all spend it in different ways, but one thing is universal: the amount of time we have.

In America today, time is seen as a sort of enemy. Like it’s plotting against us to make our lives as hurried and rushed and frantic as possible. Especially here at Foothill, it’s almost a status symbol, a point of pride, to have the busiest schedule, the least amount of sleep, the most crammed into those 24 hours we all get in a day. And in society in general, there is definitely the message that you can conquer time in a sense: you can do it all. You can be that perfect kid - the grades, community service, extracurriculars, intellectual interests - not to mention a social life outside of it.

But it’s not true. Time isn’t an enemy to be outsmarted, but rather a fact of life, a reminder of our imperfect humanness. Our inability to do everything and be everything. Time is like money; it’s a treasure that we must value and spend carefully.

To be clear, I am also not putting blame on any particular person. There are certain unattainable standards that have come into place in society, and we are left forever trying to measure up to those standards. There are many people that don’t work enough, and as a result others are forced to work harder. This has caused the values of America as a whole right to shift out of line.

Imagine that you go on a vacation and are given $1000 to spend over the entire period. You would be careful with how you spend it, not wasting it on overpriced food or junky souvenirs. Well, the same should be true of our time. After all, we only have a limited amount of it.

I am not advocating for cramming more things into our time. Going back to the example of the vacation allowance, it wouldn’t necessarily be the best idea to spend small amounts of money on a bunch of somewhat valuable items. Better, in my opinion, to buy a few things that may cost more but are much higher quality. In the same way, better to devote larger amounts of time to the most important things in life, than to scramble around doing a little bit of everything. We should evaluate what the most important things are in life, and devote time accordingly.

First of all, we need to start making more time to take care of ourselves. We need time for sleep. Sure, caffeine can stave it off for a while, but it is nevertheless an unavoidable necessity. We need time to eat. We choose what is fast and cheap over what is better; we rush through our meals and then move on to the next thing to be accomplished. But again, eating is essential to our wellbeing, and it shouldn’t just be an afterthought. Eating is not just a way of getting energy, but also a social event, a way of connecting with others. We also need time to exercise. Each of these three basic needs are often the first things that we cut time from in our efforts to cram more work into each day. In the America I want to grow old in, more value and therefore more time is devoted to our personal well-being.

Another important thing is time in nature. Nearly three-quarters of Americans are deficient in vitamin D, which we all know you get from the sun. That’s a lot of people not taking advantage of being outdoors. Nature can restore and refresh us, it can give a new perspective. In the America I want to grow old in, people devote more time to being outside in nature.

Another part of quality use of time is spending time with people. This doesn’t just mean a quick hello, how are you. It means time developing relationships. Time to really connect with friends and family. It means sharing part of yourself with others. Often this sort of time is also cut down when other things in life get busy. But in the America I want to grow old in, more value and therefore more time is devoted to building relationships.

By now, you are probably thinking that all of this sounds great, but it’s just not practical. There’s things to do for school, there’s money to earn, in short, there’s just a lot of work to do. To which I respond that yes, of course there is. And I’m the first one to acknowledge that work is extremely important. But in the long run, our happiness is more important, and happiness comes from finding more balance in terms of time in each area of life. I think we all know this, we all want this. But we keep trying to measure up to unachievable standards, thinking that if we just use our time to work harder, do more, then we will finally reach them.

In my dream America, people work hard when it is time to work, but also maintain balance by keeping enough time for other things like sleeping, eating, exercising, being in nature, and spending time with others. There will only ever be 24 hours in a day, but in the America I hope to grow old in, people are more purposeful in how they use those precious hours.


 * Sources **

Lite, Jordan. "Vitamin D Deficiency Soars in the U.S., Study Says." Scientific American. Web. 30 May 2016.