You’re not that busy. You’re a college student, but you’re not that busy.

We’ve all heard each other say it in the dining common, on the sidewalks or over text: “I really wish I could, but I’m just too busy.”

Normally this sentence is followed by how much homework’s due the next day, how many tests are coming up or how many credit hours someone’s taking.

Really? We see you eying that Pinterest newsfeed. And last time we checked, Facebook says you’re active.

Although studies show people have more leisure time than ever before, everyone seems bogged down in their own busyness with little time for anything outside their private hemisphere.

It’s hard to believe that even some would-be interviewees find they’re too busy for a 10- to 15-minute interview with The Collegian.

College certainly can be a stressful time, and students face a variety of competing responsibilities and seemingly endless obligations.

But many college students play their self-professed busyness as the ultimate get-out-of-jail-free card, alleviating themselves from any sense of responsibility and excusing themselves from peripheral obligations.

And as a result, the “should do’s” get replaced by the “have to’s.” We know we should volunteer in an upcoming service project, but we have to ace that test. We should make time for a struggling friend, but we have get a head start on next week’s group project.

Both actual and feigned busyness isolate us from the outside and promote a self-focused view of life.

While busyness will always surround our lives, today is rapidly escaping us.

Emerge from your busyness to engage with something outside yourself, whether that’s a worthwhile cause, someone who needs your help or, if you’re lucky enough, an interview with The Collegian.