Dear Jack of All Trades,
You’re a jack of all trades, but sometimes life doesn’t let you master everything. I know you have tons of brilliant, amazing, positive ideas, but no matter how much you want to, you can’t do it all. Time is limited.
Instead of doing everything halfway and then quitting, streamline. Choosing not to do something doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing — of course it’s worth doing! But making a choice is valuable in and of itself (at least according to Jon Buridan). It just means you can devote more energy to perfecting what truly matters.
P.S. I’m a jack of all trades too. Going into Fall Semester 2025 of my junior year, here’s what my “commitments” looked like:
- Full-time student
- Part-time lab intern (15 hrs/week)
- Black Women in Medicine Event Coordinator
- UTD Science Communications Club Co-founder
- Volunteering at a hospital 4 hours a week
- Paint/design an art series for an auction to raise money for people with diabetes
- Start studying for the MCAT
- Sing at a fellowship every other week
- Attend a “Core” for 2 hours every other week
- Learn how to drive
- Go swimming at least 3 times a week for an hour
- Beta-read a novel for a friend
- Make time for friends
This is the streamlined version, by the way. As a fellow jack of all trades, I know the temptation to try to do everything, but you have to make sure you can handle it — only take on tasks you won’t abandon halfway.
You’re awesome, and you’ve got this.
Singing Off,
Edidiong C
Creating My Autobiography 