Friday, February 20, 2009

Not a free minute....

The second most shocking thing about college for me has been the amount of free time that you have. Because you are class only 15 or so hours a week (as opposed to almost 40 in high school!), you have a lot more time to do other things.

Despite all of this, the most shocking thing about college life has been how quickly all of that supposed free time disappears! I can't even tell you what it is that makes me so busy, but free minutes are few and far between in my life these days...

My typical day starts with my alarm going off at 7:15. I like to get up at the same time everyday and I really prefer to workout in the morning, so my friend Em (an '08 SMC grad and current SMC graduate student and Resident Director) and I head to an 8 am Jazzercise class every morning. I actually work at the center two mornings a week, but we go 5 days a week. It's a great way to start the day.

On Mondays and Wednesdays I have class at 10:25, so getting ready is a little rushed, and once I get out of class on Mondays I have a meeting for my DR trip and on Wednesdays, I head straight down to EatingWell. I then have class again at 4:30 and also take a yoga class on Wednesday evenings. Despite the fact that I don't actually have class on Fridays, it's just as full as Monday and Wednesday...after Jazzercise my fellow intern Sarah and I head down to EatingWell until 5.

Tuesday and Thursday are just as full...with an 11 am tour on Tuesday and am 11 am meeting with my internship advisor on Thursday along with my dance TAing job at 1 on both Tuesday and Thursday, African drumming 4:30-6:00 on Tuesday and Fiction Writing 2:30-5:30 on Thursday, very few moments are left open for anything else.

I love everything that I'm doing, but it's just crazy how quickly all of the free time that you had planned slips away. I have time to watch my favorite shows (LOST, Grey's Anatomy and Jon & Kate Plus Eight) with roommates or friends, do homework and try to fit in some job searching for after graduation, but beyond that, my schedule is full!

The best strategy that I've found for combating my lack of free time is to schedule in things that I want to do. I literally write EVERYTHING down and schedule every minute of my time on my whiteboard; my roommates laugh at me for the things that I write...I always write in time for my favorite shows, schedule time to attend campus events (like Turtle Underground, a music showcase on campus that I am headed to in a few minutes) and plan full days for things like skiing or doing something with MOVE. Despite my busy schedule, I find the time to do the things that I have to do as well as the things that I really like. When it comes right down to it, there are always things that can be cut and things that can't and college has taught me what those things are.

Tomorrow my schedule is full of one thing: SKIING! It will be my first day on the mountain this year (I know, sad), but I couldn't be more excited. My roommate Kendra and I are hoping to take some pictures and videos, so check back for an update.

Have a great weekend blog readers!
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Now playing: Augustana - Boston
via FoxyTunes

2 comments:

Matt C. said...

Where are you guys going? Smuggs? Everyone is always raving about the cheap season's pass there! I was just up at Okemo and Killington a few days ago, with over a foot of brand new snow-it was soooo nice!

carrieSMC said...

hey Matt!

Yep, we went to Smuggs...I'm too poor to go anywhere else! The snow was great...lots of SMC kids, beautiful weather...an all around great day!

Thanks for reading!