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" &amp;quot;Come on, Lesley. Let&amp;#039;s go to Joe&amp;#039;s room to hang!&amp;quot; My friend motioned me into the hallway. I grab my shoes to join her. ...I have an outline due first thing in the morning. I can type it up real quick an hour before. I have not completed my biology presentation. I can drink an energy drink and do that later tonight. I have to call my mom back. I can do that tomorrow... The back and forth in my head continues until I have entered Joe&amp;#039;s room. Inside, we casually sit on his bed. We small talk, watch he and another guy play video games, and eat all of his popcorn. I am bored out of my mind. I look at my phone to realize over two hours have passed doing nothing. I stay for another half hour. Why? Because I have fallen victim to FOMO, the Fear of Missing Out syndrome. Last time that I walked away from a boring hangout, I found out about some entertaining incident that happened later in the night. My friends smiled and laughed retelling the story to me, but I could only think about how I was not there to actually experience it. Throughout the semester, I kept hearing more and more things the morning after on what I had missed out on. It distracted me from my studies, as I kept sticking around the social scene awaiting to experience such talked-about adventures. Every time, it was usually the same anti-climatic hangout; I never understood how I kept missing all the good stuff. Then a light bulb turned on in my head. I was not missing out on anything exciting\u2014I was only hearing the highlights of a six-hour night! It took awhile, but I finally learned how to walk away. In college, Missing Out Syndrome is easy to develop. During my high school days, everybody was in class from 8am-4pm. Then we went home to do homework. All plans were made in advance for the weekends. In college, students have classes during various parts of the day. Not all of the students are busy, as some have lighter homework loads or choose to procrastinate. Nights are longer without any parents or curfew. You do not want to leave a fun night that has the potential to be crazy. You do not want to hear the next morning that Erica had flirted with your crush and you had not been there to intercept. The curiosity is overwhelming as it constantly tempts you to stick around just a little bit longer. It is fine to have your play time, but do not let it affect your work time. Whenever you are talking yourself out of doing the more important things like studying or staying connected with family, remember why you are at college. Do not worry about missing anything, because you will experience the things you are supposed to experience. Everything will fall into place. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/life/school/a19989/fear-of-missing-out/>