A good friend recently reminded me of a quote from Mark Twain, “Don’t let school interfere with your education.”

In everyday conversation, I have to say, Mark Twain doesn’t come up often. But in this case, what he had to say was important, at least to me. Let me explain.

In my classes, jobs and extracurricular activities, the past couple of weeks have been extremely busy, and I’ve been worn out. Suddenly, September is coming to an end, and it feels like it just got here. Where did an entire month go?

I have spent so much time this month going from one activity right into another. Down time has been hard to come by, so last weekend, I changed my plans. Instead of going out on the town or seeing my friends, I stayed home. You heard me. Friday night? Home. Saturday? Still home.

Don’t get me wrong, I like to have plans and do fun things on Friday and Saturday nights. The weekends are obviously the best part of the week. But after going without stopping for so long, I needed a break, and I took one.

Let me tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Netflix was made for weekends like those, and I took full advantage of it.

Now back to Mark Twain, who said those profound words that all students should heed: “Don’t let school interfere with your education.”

I’m not saying that you should start skipping classes or that school is unnecessary. But as students, school, school and more school constantly surrounds us.

We have homework to finish, hundreds of pages to read, cumulative tests to study for and papers to write. Then there’s research to do, grades to stress about and meetings with advisers to attend. All of that adds up to long nights and tired days, an endless wait for a weekend that never seems to come and is over too quickly to truly enjoy.

So what I am saying is that school, while important, should not be your only means of education. Take a weekend off, stay home and watch movies. Do something different — learn to paint via a YouTube video, create a dish worthy of “Hell’s Kitchen” or find a unique shop to interest you.

All of these things can be educational, and they can also take your mind off school. Let school be a part of your education, but don’t let it start taking every bit of your life. If it does, Netflix is waiting.