I’ve got 30 more days till I turn 30!
And that’s really all I’ve got to say about it. I’m excited to turn 30. I’ll probably do some kind of general reflection as we get closer just because I’ve seen too many of my friends weighed down with regret about entering another decade. But I’m excited.
Also, we’re in June, people. How’s that possible?
Three things about the office where I work:
Tonight, my boss walked down the hallway doing his usual final check-ins:
Boss: “Goodnight, Darren. Goodnight, Peter. See you at 8 AM tomorrow, Amy.”
New Assistant: “WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE AT 8?”
This poor, traumatized child. Bet he shows up at 8am tomorrow.
“Where did this week go?”
“What did I actually do this week?”
“How have I not gotten anything done?”
I repeat to myself as I run from my 8:45 meeting to my 9 o’clock meeting to my 9:30 meeting to my 11 o’clock meeting to my 1 o’clock meeting. My goal to go home at 2 ran out the door with any hope of taking lunch. And then 5 o’clock and home!
I set a reading goal of 119 books for 2019. Then I hit my goal in March. I went on to wrap up the year with 319 books! I know not everyone has the time or inclination to read as much as I do, so I always post my favorite and least favorite reads from the previous year. But with so many books, it got a little unmanageable this time around! I’ve created this post as a road map for the next two weeks. You can:
Option 1: Read all the posts! They’ll come out daily. Make sure to subscribe to my blog if you don’t already.
Option 2: Take a look and see what interests you. Check back in on those days. I also recommend subscribing so you don’t forget 😉
Barring anything unforeseen, here is what to expect on this blog over the next few weeks:
January 4: 2019 Reading Challenge: My Favorite Books
January 5: 2019 Reading Challenge: My 5 Star Reviews, Part 1
January 6: 2019 Reading Challenge: My 5 Star Reviews, Part 2
January 7: 2019 Reading Challenge: My 5 Star Reviews, Part 3
January 8: 2019 Reading Challenge: My 5 Star Reviews, Part 4
January 9: 2019 Reading Challenge: My 5 Star Reviews, Part 5 (Greeks and Romans)
January 10: 2019 Reading Challenge: My 5 Star Reviews, Part 6 (Mary Stewart!)
January 11: 2019 Reading Challenge: My 5 Star Reviews, Part 7 (The Re-Reads)
January 12: Cozy and Popular How?!: My 1 Star Reads from 2019 (Part 1)
January 13: Cozy and Popular How?!: My 1 Star Reads from 2019 (Part 2)
January 14: Cozy and Popular How?!: My 1 Star Reads from 2019 (Part 3)
January 15: Cozy and Popular How?!: My 1 Star Reads from 2019 (Part 4)
January 16: 2019 Reading Challenge: Jane Austen Related
In high school, Daylight Savings always happened at the most inconvenient times which made it easy to keep track of. Namely, in the Fall it occurred during a Student Action Team when I was somewhere in the country campaigning and running on no sleep and lots of sugar. And in the Spring, it happened when I was on mission trips in Louisiana also running on no sleep and lots of sugar.
Daylight Savings remains synonymous in my mind with an already out of wack sleep schedule.
Today I felt the flip side of that coin. My student life is so regimented that springing forward an hour made everything feel extra late. I woke up feeling like I was running late; I drove to class feeling late; I went to work feeling late; I did homework feeling late. And I was hungry at the most inconvenient times! My stomach growled in the middle of class. I left work 30 minutes early because I could not focus with how much I wanted dinner.
Then I had to pick up Bethany at 9 pm from work. But my brain was saying, ’10 pm! Bed time!’ So it fought me the entire way there.
All this to say I am currently sitting in a sleepy fog and realizing that it doesn’t matter what is going on. Sugar high or not, Daylight Savings is rough and my schedule is way more regimented than I realized if just one hour throws me off this badly.
The problem with scheduling every waking moment of your day is that inevitably you forget and book something else for the same time. Or three something elses.
I triple booked myself Friday. (Meeting-seminar-work.)
I quadruple booked myself today.
First, I have a night class. I have had a night class the last 6 weeks. I have no idea how I forgot it.
Second, I agreed to chaperone a movie night. I find it hilarious that I am requested to chaperone college kids until I realize I’m 6-8 years older than most of the students anyway. And that makes me feel old.
Third, the city chapter of the Federalist Society hosted a social event for us Fed Soc students. It included two Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices. I got to chat with both of them. Let me tell you how it went:
Me to Justice 1: “I fangirled so hard when your decision came out. Like, I told everyone about it. It was the best! I really loved it. Your due process argument was so good! I’m such a fan!”
*Judge 1 looks faintly alarmed and begins to slowly back away*
Meanwhile
Judge 2: “Have we met before?”
Me: “Oh yes, I was president last year.”
Judge 2: “Where are you working now?”
Me: “Still a student.”
Him: “…”
Me: “…”
Him: “…”
Me: “…”
* this goes on for about thirty seconds*
Clearly I made a meaningful impression on both.
Fourth and finally, I agreed to pick up my sister from work. At least, I think I did. Possibly she just announced I was picking her up. At any rate, when I told her I had a busy day ahead of me, she just glanced up briefly from her phone and said:
“Just don’t be late.”
I previously blogged about Thai Time and some of my difficulties adapting to a difference culture’s approach to school. As time has passed, I find this comes out more and more in the guideline-like way the school treats class periods.
Back in Wisconsin: You sign up for classes for a specific time. Barring anything seriously unforeseen, you know you will always have class on that day and at that time. (I once had a professor teach class while suffering from laryngitis!) If your professor needs to miss a class period, he or she alerts the class (almost always with over 24 hours notice) and reschedules, usually for a Friday or noon period when no one has class. Barring something truly, truly unforeseen, no one has make up classes on the weekend.
Here in Thailand: You sign up for classes for a specific time. You then check a schedule posted every week to find out when those classes will actually be held. Sometimes they are held for the hours you signed up for. Sometimes they get rescheduled for earlier in the day, or the next day, or even on the weekend. Sometimes the professor tells you ahead of time about the change; most times no one tells you anything and you better hope you paid close attention to the schedule and didn’t miss anything important. Professors might cancel class 10 hours before class begins or even later. Hopefully the school or another student notifies you of the change, but no guarantees.
On top of this unstable scheduling, I deal with a unique problem since I am enrolled in freshman, junior, and senior level courses. Thus, while the office seems to do a decent job preventing class conflicts for courses generally within the same levels, I often find my classes end up overlapping. I then get the joy of trying to decide if I should skip Law of Information Technology (new professor so probably should make a good first impression?) or Fundamental Rights (our attendance actually matters and she gives quizzes which count towards the grade.)
Tomorrow I have 4 classes scheduled within 2 class periods and I am still not entirely sure which to attend.
Added to the changing timelines, most courses involve multiple professors. One professor will teach the first two weeks and be in charge of 10% of your grade, another will teach the next two months and give a midterm worth 40%, and a third will teach the final classes with a paper, perhaps, worth 50%. Keeping track of who is teaching when becomes extra confusing when you layer in make up classes and weekend classes and morning classes and guest speakers…
Honestly, law school back home will seem so boring and predictable in comparison.
Despite the fact that I have not had class on a Friday all semester, Fridays always confuse me. My brain tells me I have a day with no commitments. I assume it means Saturday. Every time I get a snapchat from someone at work, I feel confused. Why work on the weekend…?
And then Friday draws to an end and I feel a stab of failure. I did not get enough done. Tomorrow will be Sunday and then it will be Monday and what do I have to show…
Oh. There is a whole other day in there. I can get stuff done tomorrow!
(Except I never do seem to get enough done.)
What baffles me is that after weeks of this, my brain never seems to remember I have a three day weekend. Instead of:
I’m always:
Theoretically this makes me more productive?
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