Daily messages from the Message Center and Handshake. Weekly messages from the Career Center and Brent Papson. Miscellaneous department or college-wide updates of events to look out for. There are times when there are three events that I want to go to, but they all happen at the exact same time. Similarly to Netflix where you can scroll and scroll and not run out of content to choose from, we have an abundance of programming opportunities at Bucknell that while they can of course be quite helpful, can also be overwhelming and allow for some of the best opportunities to slip through the cracks. 

It’s enough work to find time to attend events on top of academic work, but the decision is even harder when once you have the time blocked; it’s stressful to choose how to fill it. Do I go to my weekly club meeting, this panel of alumni or a networking event that has food? I just went to a networking event yesterday, should I go to another one today? There are days when my calendar has more events on it than classes or homework time. That can be exciting, but it can also make students feel like they are missing out on more than ever before. Some of the goals of programming are to build community and spread knowledge, so it makes sense that many departments on campus would be working to make as many programs as they can.

It is hard to keep track of what everyone is doing, so focusing on events for different communities can be helpful. But Bucknell students don’t exist in just one community, so when these events overlap it can be hard to decide which part of their identity a student wants to focus on. Do I sacrifice my social time for professional development? The more choices there are, the more students programming can reach, but is this just creating the paradox of choice?

“The Paradox of Choice” was coined by author Barry Schwartz in 2004 in relation to consumer choice. It is commonly talked about with streaming services and how it can be more stressful to pick the next thing to watch on Netflix than it was to pick up a movie from a rental store. I found it much easier to decide what events I was going to my first year when we generally had fewer in-person events. We are bringing career fairs back on campus and are reviving some old organizations and traditions; having these opportunities is great, but we need to find a way to make it all more digestible for students. Communicating across departments when a career fair and a networking event are at the same time, or when two celebrations for clubs that have a lot of common members, could help reduce the stress of schedule conflicts. But on our end, it is important to breathe and know that making a choice or going to some programming, is better in the long run than being paralyzed by the choice and not going to either.