My planner is my lifeline.

I have said countless times that if I do not write an idea, event or deadline into my planner — or a random sticky note that happens to be within arm’s length — there is a significant chance that I will forget it almost instantly. 

There is a constant stream of residence life, admissions, communications/journalism, Slate and general life business cycling through my head, and I double-book myself at least once a week.

Thankfully, I am not alone. I am consistently validated by the frequency of events across campus that overlap and are double-booked.

I recognize the difficulties of life and scheduling between dozens of campus offices and organizations, but it far too often feels like there is a fundamental lack of communication between campus partners.

This trend particularly irritated me last week when the biweekly SGA meeting took place at the exact same time as the Career Center’s annual Fashion Show. SGA, a group that consistently struggles to get students involved and saw a voter turnout earlier this semester of 1%, should be doing whatever it can to not book its events at the same time as major events on campus.

As the organization that represents the student body, its members should be able to communicate with other offices (especially ones located one floor below its office) to try and not double-book. Now, I am not a member of SGA and am not contractually obligated to attend, but The Slate prioritizes attending their meetings because of the essential information from the meetings that must be published.

This issue is, of course, not limited to SGA. Last week, Transgender Week of Visibility was marked by a poetry reading from author Torrin A. Greathouse in Stewart Hall Wednesday at 7 p.m. Any group who participated in RHA’s Mocktails was required to begin setting up in the CUB MPR at 7 p.m. So if you wanted to attend both, you had to choose.

Look no further than any Tuesday afternoon at 3:30. The university sets this time aside to not hold classes to allow clubs and organizations to meet at this time, so they do. On any given Tuesday, individuals just within our team of Slate editors have conflicts with other organizations meeting at the same time and have to choose which group gets priority.

This problem persists in the academic world, too. Professors seem to have a secret society where they get together to somehow make all major assignments due in the same 48-hour period several times a semester. I am kidding of course, but some in our student body are consistently fighting the urge to be in two places at once.

All of this is to say that I, of course, recognize that life is all about making choices and sacrificing some experiences for others, but the infamous “Ship Shuffle” and repeated scheduling conflict-induced headaches make it clear that we need to do better. 

Ship Happens…all at the same time.

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