Essay Crises and the novelty wears off quickly
So I haven’t written in a few days because I’ve been holed up in my room or the library working on two essays in two days. Last year people always talked about their “essay crisis,” but I never really came close to that, most likely because I only have one tutorial and no lectures. But I think I had two essay crises back to back just now. I guess I was never working until the last minute. I got both done with a few hours to spare, but I didn’t get much sleep and was waking up at 5 a.m. to finish them. It’s my own fault. I procrastinated all day Sunday rather than working, and then I realized that I hadn’t read as much as I had thought. Then I fell asleep earlier than planned. I also had an unscheduled rowing practice and an unscheduled rowing meeting, but the majority of the problem was my own. And it made me realize I have to get into my routine. I can’t handle not getting my eight hours. And I like the feeling of not being stressed. However, I was proud of myself for not stressing out too much because I just figured I would do the best I could and it doesn’t count toward my grade.
My politics essay, I’m not sure if I answered correctly, but I contributed a little to the tutorial. My economics essay, he wants us to write in an exam setting so I only had an hour to write it anyway. I just had to do all the reading and setting up of the essay in one day because the politics essay took much longer than I had planned. But they’re both in. I had my lectures today and then went to Mass and had lunch. Then I came back to my room to meet Ashley and we went and got tickets for the Glenn Miller Orchestra, which will be at the Oxford Playhouse tomorrow. One of Ashley’s housemates, Stephania, a girl from Italy, is also coming with us. I’m really excited about it. I wasn’t sure if I was going to go because of money but I decided I needed a break. I also decided that if I ever get rich and pay off all my loans, then I want to go to plays, concerts, and ballets all the time. I love it. I’ve tried to do all of it, and I might have succeeded at ballet had I stuck it out, but now I just enjoy watching others succeed with their talents.
After this, Ashley and I went to this shop that is really cheap. It’s like the cheapest place for clothes that I’ve seen in Oxford. You can get shirts for 2 pounds. It made me very happy. I might need to get a couple extra shirts or pair of pants for rowing and I was thinking about getting a nicer shirt for formal hall this week because it is guest night, a fancier night than normal. I don’t know if I will, but it makes me happy that I have the option. So then Ashley had her tut, so I walked around and visited some more shops. I didn’t buy anything, but it was nice to be out of my room. Then I ran into Katy and Ula, both of whom were taking a break from working on essays. I need to start reading for my next politics one and finish my discussion questions for my econ tut on Friday, but I think I deserved a little time off. I’ll have to go to the library for most of my politics reading because all but three of the books for this week’s topic are either checked out and the only copy left is confined or there was only one copy, confined, to begin with, which stinks. But I guess maybe I’ll concentrate better in the library. So that’s for tomorrow afternoon. I have lectures all morning again. And by the way, not all the lectures are as exciting as that first week. Of course today I was really tired, so I had some trouble paying attention, but I think it also had to do with the lecturer. My international relations lecture had a new person, and he was a little hard to follow. The econ one is probably just the most boring of all the econ ones I go to, so I compare it to them and it doesn’t seem as good. It’s income distribution and inequality, which I think I would find interesting, but even last week, it just didn’t make me really excited about it. I like the lecturer, and he seems like he would be really interesting to listen to, so I just blame the topic. I don’t know. I think part of the reason last week went by so quickly and was so exciting was because it was all new. Now it’s just repetition, and if I don’t get into my routine soon, I’ll want to shoot myself, but it also makes it a little more dull to keep following the same patterns. I guess I’ll just have to shake things up a little on the weekends. And go got plays, etc. every now and then with Ashley.