FOMO

Definition: Fear of Missing Out

Closely Related: POMO (Pain of Missing Out)

Until a few weeks ago, I had no clue what FOMO was. I didn’t really need to use the term. I had my quiet little life in South America with a busy but not harried pace. I knew I missed things like Thanksgiving dinners and relative’s birthday parties back home, but I was content.

Meet the MBA program at Stephen M. Ross School of Business. There are something like 70 clubs, 200 companies recruiting on-campus, and 20 institutes and centers. No one can do it all, not even when “it all” is narrowed down to a specific interest area like marketing, venture capital, or careers with impact. There’s always someone going to a corporate presentation or a club meeting or preparing a presentation for the next day. There’s so much happening that it’s hard to even know what one is missing.

The advice from MBA2s: relax. No one is behind at this point. Two weeks into the semester, an MBA1 can’t have missed the boat already and completely lost an opportunity. As a dual-degree student, I’m learning that it’s even truer for me. I can take a deep breath, evaluate my goals, and explore a little bit.

I might feel that I’m drinking from a fire hose, but the truth is the door of opportunity has been flung wide open. Along with about 900 other MBA students in the full time program, I get access to a wealth of resources that I’ve never had before. Sure, it can be overwhelming. At times, I will have to miss one thing to participate in another. But this atmosphere is exhilarating. Once I’m able to set aside my fear (or pain) of missing one opportunity because I choose another, I can marvel that I have even one of those opportunities in the first place. So forget the fear. I’ll choose to embrace the Joy of Participating.