The most difficult decision a college student has to make seems to repeat itself every Friday night: to go out or not go out?

I want to disclaim that, as a student-athlete, this question is not as prominent as it might be in the lives of other college students. The decision is often made for me by team policy or travel. For this reason, FOMO is a feeling I am all too familiar with.

The fear of missing out, better known as “FOMO,” seems to be arguably the most critical factor in deciding whether to go out or not. It’s the feeling of worrying that your friends will abandon you and never hang out with you again if you miss this one night out, or fearing that this will be the night that Beyonce comes to Bucknell, and if you stay in, you’ll miss her. Even if your gut tells you to stay in and go to bed, your brain tells you that you have to go out “just in case“.”. Just in case something crazy happens, and Beyonce’s world tour comes to Lewisburg for a night.

The fear of missing out is entirely overrated. As much as a night out with friends can be worth it, there is nothing like waking up at a reasonable time on the weekend feeling hydrated, well-rested, and clean.

On the same token, a night out is not always worth it anyway. You always expect something crazy to happen, and while that is always a possibility, you will, more often than not, end the night drenched in sweat from the absurd temperatures of a disgusting frat house after hearing the same three songs on repeat for the entirety of the night, feeling completely unfulfilled.

There are thousands of opportunities over your four years in college for a night out, and spending one of those nights at home is not the end of the world. No night at college should be wasted, of course, but spending a night in is not one wasted.

My most recent experience with FOMO occurred last weekend as I ran by Super while warming up for a race. I spent a moment mourning the loss of a perfect day at Super, but I had to snap myself out of it. There would be a million other days just like this, and feeling upset about missing out on it was utterly unreasonable, given that the reward of what I was doing at that moment preventing me from attending Super was much more important to me.

Overall, taking time for yourself, whether you need it or not, will almost always have a positive result. FOMO is overrated because the reward of staying in or even simply avoiding the unfortunate circumstances of a frat house on a night out can be well worth it.