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Can University students
work hard and play hard?
with Business senior Christine Vanek and
LSA senior Cameron Fletcher
We've all heard the Wiz Kahlifa
song, "Work Hard Play Hard." Wiz's
recommendation to achieve both:
"Make sure you do whatever is that
you gotta do, that's your job" (as well
as make it rain with bigger bills). But
in all seriousness, with a surplus of
academic requirements and orga-
nizations on campus, can students
maintain a balance between work-
S,,jiard and playing hard? Business
senior Christine Vanek and LSA
senior Cameron Fletcher met in The
Michigan Daily newsroom to answer
this question based on their own
experiences.
Cameron Fletcher: I think the
answer is definitely yes, mostly
because the University attracts
really motivated people. The Uni-
versity has so many opportunities
for people to do stuff. People are
"Otivated to do what they love,
and that could be academics or
that could be outside of academ-
ics. I feel like people will have
their work and then they have
their passion, and they're moti-
vated to finish their work so they
can do their passion. Or if their
passion is work, they can just do
work.
Christine Vanek: I think it's
cool that people come in with
a lot of different interests and
then, eventually, as you're moving
through your years at U of M, I've
found work and play really start to
overlap in more interesting ways.
CF: For sure. I'm in a percussion
group on campus called Groove,
and I'm in two music classes right
now. I've just seen both of those
overlap perfectly. What I use in
Groove is what I'm learning in
class, and I also use what I learn in
class in Groove. It's pretty cool that
:y overlap.
CV: I've found that, too. I've
started doing a lot of research, and
right now I'm doing (research) with
1,000 Pitches, and it's just really
cool to see how my own personal
interest in innovation can also be
something that counts as work.
that are fish-related are really fun
for me, and they're definitely inter-
esting. But it's taken me a while to
get to those classes. The classes I've
taken for the past three years, not
all of them have been the classes
that I want to be inbutIjusthave to
be in themto get to the ones I would
enjoy. Now, since I'm in those class-
es, they're a lot easier just because
I enjoy them more. And because
they're easier, it's not as hard to sit
down and take the time to do that
work when I know I have other fun
things I could be doing.
CF: You're doing business. Are
those classes hard? I know a lot of
people think Business classes are
hard.
CV: Some of the classes are hard,
some of the classes are easier. A
lot of them, for me, have quantita-
tive stuff and you just have to get
through the exercises. But then
there are others where it's talk-
ing about the strategy of Microsoft
search and what they should do
going forward to be more success-
ful and, perhaps, try and take on
Google. Havingthe chance to think
about a real business challenge and
break it apart and invent a possible
strategy for a company - when I
get to sit down and do that with my
peers, that's working hard but it's
also kind of playing. It's a lot of fun.
CF: That's cool. I don't get to do
a lot of fish stuff with other people,
since I feel like it's not a group
activity.
CV: You could take a trip and go
fishing with some people!
CF: I would definitely love to
do that, and it would be work-
ing and playing at the same time.
That's kind of what I'm looking
for in post-grad: research and field
stuff. I just love being outdoors,
and working with fish hands-on is
one of my favorite things to do. If I
could get that as a post-grad job or
fellowship, then that would be the
ultimate playing and working at the
same time.
CF: Right. What are you pitch-
ing?
CV: I'm not pitching, I'm just
studying (the pitches). It's kind of a
bit top-secret.
CF: I know whenever I sit down
to do work, I always have a goal in
my mind, like I have a show next
week so I should probably get my
paper done this week so I'm not all
crazy. I think, for me, it just comes
down to motivation. I think every-
one at this school has something
they're motivated to do, and that's
what makes it easy to work hard.
CV: For me, motivation is some-
thing that kind of makes it difficult
to work hard and play hard, because
there's just 24 hours in a day, right?
CF: Yeah, that's true.
make time forthings that are impor-
tant. There are some days where I
have to rush to finish something so
I can run to a Comedy Club meeting.
CF: Yeah, that's another thing:
deciding what to put your effort
into. I've seen that over the course
(of my college career), I've kind of
taken some effort from my academ-
ics and put that into other things,
such as Groove or Camp Kesem,
which is another organization I'm
in. ButI just think that's interesting
that over the course of college, you
figure out what you like to do and
you realize that some of the classes
that you have to take aren't that
important in the long run.
CV: Do you find that the time
and the energy you put into your
clubs energizes you more for the
rest of your week and the rest of the
stuff you have to get done?
I do. I love going to those meet-
ings and seeing the people that I
always see, and that just makes me
feel better, honestly, for the rest
of the week. I think that helps me
get through the tough parts of the
week. As a senior, I've definitely
put more time into my clubs and my
extracurriculars than my classes. I
don't know if that's the right thing
to do, but that's what I've found
makes me happier, which I think is
more important than doing well on
a stupid exam.
CV: So you're studying environ-
mental science, right?
CF: Yeah.
CV: Do you find that that's
become something that's not just
a work interest but something that
stems into your personal life?
CF: Yeah. My concentration is
fish and aquatics, and I've always
loved fishing and fish. Those classes
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CV:But I definitely find that moti- CF: Yeah, I would definitely say
vation is something that helps me that. I just love doing the clubs that