Haley Loeffler Winonan

Focus is a funny thing.

Often considered a virtue, focus can take a person many places. Focus can assist a nursing student while studying, or help an athlete practice harder, or longer.

But focus can also be a curse. Focus can turn into obsession. As college students, the most important thing to remember is that life is a balance. Those who say that the focus is just for now, just for these for years, don’t realize that focus is also a habit. It’s a habit that creates the fixation on one thing, one goal or one aspect of our life.

“Humans have now moved from being one self to having a fragmented self; to being more than just one thing at any given time,” Professor Dan Eastman said.

Focus is something that can create even more fragmentations, or at least enhance the ones already there. We’re not talking about multiple personalities here, but rather about the different facets of the human mind. We’re talking about the layers the human brain possesses and the ability a person has to be completely invested in country music while also whole-heartedly devoted to schoolwork.

Obsession can come in many different forms. We become ourselves when we have time to sit back and think, “What do I want to do today?” We become who we are, complete with several different interests, depending on our answers to that very basic question.

This theory comes from many anthropologists studying human behavior; most notably, Amber Case and Sherry Turkle, who share this viewpoint. Reflection is necessary for human growth.

A student from the Solomon Islands said, “I think that when someone is obsessed with something they lose touch with everything else around them. Like if I become obsessed with playing video games I will put off homework, chores and playing real sports as I am lost in my own little world.”

The losing touch part is what concerns physiatrists. According to the Collins English Dictionary, the clinical definition of obsession is a persistent idea or impulse that continually forces its way into consciousness, often associated with anxiety and mental illness. In comparison, the definition of focus is close or narrow attention; concentration, coming from the American Heritage Dictionary.

Focus is only a virtuous thing when directed towards the things that we can change. So how do we break the habit that focus can turn into, when it becomes obsession? Vary your daily activities. Make time for multiple hobbies and chores. Should you have classes in the morning, make time afterwards to do something else that has nothing to do with school. Some experts say it’s best to limit each activity you do to twenty-minute increments.

Basically, focus is a good thing when managed. Focus and obsession are barely a hare’s breath away from each other. Vary your daily activities and remember that school will be there tomorrow.

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