So I just finished up my last fall semester as an undergrad. It’s really shocking how quickly college has flown. Everyone told me that would happen; guess I never believed them. I’ve been through seven finals weeks now, only one more to go. You’d think I’d be a pro by now, right? Nope, this December was an agonizing test of my sanity— a grueling and unforgiving string of all-nighters fueled by caffeine and slowly-dwindling willpower.
At four-o’clock in the morning, eight pages into a paper that should be twice its length, I am less inspired by Micheal Ondaatje’s desert motif in The English Patient than by the mental pictures I have of what I’ll be doing when I get the hell out of this place. Big dreams, these are. They usually look something like:
- Sleep for ten hours every single night.
- Read all the books I’ve always meant to read— become an expert on the classics and a well-versed authority of the NY Times best-seller list.
- Get up at 8am everyday and do a three mile run “wake-up” run to replace this new dependence on stale, over-sweetened coffee.
In my visions of a post-finals life, I am well-rounded and happy, without stress. I like to believe that, left to my own devices, free of classes and deadlines, I’d be exactly the person I wanted to be (as if the only thing stopping me from reading War and Peace were my grammar final). These are not fantasies, but actual expectations— goals.
Picture from Giantbomb.com
I really don’t want to say that these thing could never happen, because that leaves me very little to hope for. I mean, they very well could happen if I gave it some effort. All I’m saying is that it just so happens that it hasn’t worked out the way I planned so far… ever. Once I take that last exam or hand in that final term paper, my mentality switches immediately to that of a brain-dead monkey. Sure, I’ve done some reading. But it’s so hard for poor Shakespeare to compete with Minecraft. And have I caught up on the sleep that only weeks ago I’d been craving for? Only if you count daylight hours. I’m just as zombie-like during the day as I was during finals, which is pretty disgraceful when I think about it. I think this is it: I need to binge on something. At school it’s work. Big chunks of unsurmountable work that I barely survive, mentally or physically. At home, it’s hours upon hours of internet vomit— anything to stimulate my brain momentarily, or to occupy my time which has apparently become worthless, suddenly. I’m still tired. I’m still unhealthy. So nothing’s changed.
Yet.
There are certainly fun and productive ways to make use of that off time! Personally, I’m psyched to try something like this:
Unlimited Yoga– $50 for One Month!
Photo from northerarizonayogacenter.com
That’s an awesome compromise between work and play, and it should definitely take care of my energy problem! (And can’t beat the price, right?)
I’m going to be positive about this one. It’s still early in the break. If I catch myself now, it’s still salvageable, so call it a New Year’s resolution. I’d better practice this whole “productive use of free time” thing, because after all, the next break I have could potentially be much, much longer than this one.
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Laura DeFrancisci, Manhattan College. Check out my Blog!
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