Picking up where September left off, October began cold and busy, keeping me both mentally and physically dejected, unable to come to terms with how quickly college is getting the better of me. Walking back from my last class of Friday, I had high hopes for the weekend based on the beauty around me.
[caption id="attachment_66" align="alignright" width="225"]
Source - author[/caption]
Fluffy white clouds were stark against the bright, blue sky above my head, the sun beaming on the myriad of green flora lining the base of the buildings I was walking between. Slowing to let a guided tour group through, it dawned on me that all I could think about was how this would slow me down from getting home to get a jump on the work I needed to do. That was my first indication that it would be a long weekend; if I was pining to start my homework, I clearly had a substantial amount to get done in a short period of time.
The following week alone, we have a five-page essay, a slew of assignments due every day for one class or another, studying for exams at the end of this week, and then our normal coping habits like napping and exercise on top of class; no big deal. Luckily, Sundays are the day set aside for instances like this; a little too lazy of a day to successfully participate in class or engage in a majority of social settings but also productive enough to even out the long week before. This Sunday, however, was an NFL Sunday with games distracting me during the morning and afternoon, and a symposium dinner taking up much of my night. This makes the weight of my workload that much heavier, and prioritizing my assignments that much more difficult.
[caption id="attachment_65" align="alignleft" width="172"]
Source - author[/caption]
But that’s alright, what’s the worst that could happen if I only get one or two things done and leave the others for later? A grade I don’t like on an assignment for a class I struggled to balance with the rest of my life? No biggie, that’s nothing new. Some days, life feels like the start of winter as a squirrel, losing track of the nuts I buried weeks and months prior because I simply cannot contain all of the information necessary to actually accomplish what I need to. Or, more accurately, I feel like I am going nuts, storing ideas in new places under the guise of muscle memory being able to remind me where they are in the future.
The end of a long weekend of preparation for a long week, today has been simultaneously long and quick, closely reminiscent of the month as a whole. Days seem long and weeks pose a multitude of challenges, but before we know it, it will be Halloween and all will seem right with the world again. I’ve found that to be the funny thing about life; no matter how stressful or frustrating or beyond our control it can be, it has a way of coming around again. A saying I’ve heard since I was a child is that “Life is what you make it”, and I’ve found that to be cosmically reassuring.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="289"]
Source - https://open.spotify.com/album/2RjIgMBtPc8QF0HZwGkOSg[/caption]
Whether in the eye of the storm, just outside its reach, or in the middle of the destruction, it brings me comfort knowing this too shall pass and life will once again reach the equilibrium that we are accustomed to. This alone has been the beacon of inspiration in a sea of endless assignments and exams to study for. One of these days I will wake up and realize that what I was stressing over for so long has passed and I can change my focus.
Until then it looks like: Oh, Lord, I'm stuck in Lodi again.
Source - author[/caption]
Fluffy white clouds were stark against the bright, blue sky above my head, the sun beaming on the myriad of green flora lining the base of the buildings I was walking between. Slowing to let a guided tour group through, it dawned on me that all I could think about was how this would slow me down from getting home to get a jump on the work I needed to do. That was my first indication that it would be a long weekend; if I was pining to start my homework, I clearly had a substantial amount to get done in a short period of time.
The following week alone, we have a five-page essay, a slew of assignments due every day for one class or another, studying for exams at the end of this week, and then our normal coping habits like napping and exercise on top of class; no big deal. Luckily, Sundays are the day set aside for instances like this; a little too lazy of a day to successfully participate in class or engage in a majority of social settings but also productive enough to even out the long week before. This Sunday, however, was an NFL Sunday with games distracting me during the morning and afternoon, and a symposium dinner taking up much of my night. This makes the weight of my workload that much heavier, and prioritizing my assignments that much more difficult.
[caption id="attachment_65" align="alignleft" width="172"] Source - author[/caption]
But that’s alright, what’s the worst that could happen if I only get one or two things done and leave the others for later? A grade I don’t like on an assignment for a class I struggled to balance with the rest of my life? No biggie, that’s nothing new. Some days, life feels like the start of winter as a squirrel, losing track of the nuts I buried weeks and months prior because I simply cannot contain all of the information necessary to actually accomplish what I need to. Or, more accurately, I feel like I am going nuts, storing ideas in new places under the guise of muscle memory being able to remind me where they are in the future.
The end of a long weekend of preparation for a long week, today has been simultaneously long and quick, closely reminiscent of the month as a whole. Days seem long and weeks pose a multitude of challenges, but before we know it, it will be Halloween and all will seem right with the world again. I’ve found that to be the funny thing about life; no matter how stressful or frustrating or beyond our control it can be, it has a way of coming around again. A saying I’ve heard since I was a child is that “Life is what you make it”, and I’ve found that to be cosmically reassuring.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="289"] Source - https://open.spotify.com/album/2RjIgMBtPc8QF0HZwGkOSg[/caption]
Whether in the eye of the storm, just outside its reach, or in the middle of the destruction, it brings me comfort knowing this too shall pass and life will once again reach the equilibrium that we are accustomed to. This alone has been the beacon of inspiration in a sea of endless assignments and exams to study for. One of these days I will wake up and realize that what I was stressing over for so long has passed and I can change my focus.
Until then it looks like: Oh, Lord, I'm stuck in Lodi again. October 2, 2022
Stuck in Lodi
5 Comments
Leave a Reply
amc8906
October 3, 2022 — 9:29 am
I like the relatability of the blog post because everyone has experienced the dread or having a long weekend of homework. I thought the puns you added in like the nuts play on words added some humor to the post and lightened the mood on a subject that brings so many people PTSD, some of the worst experiences from high school for me came on the weekends after 12am aggressively rushing to finish homework. I like how you used Stuck in Lodi again because the actual song has a meaning similar to the phrase. Great post!
sfp5655
October 3, 2022 — 2:12 pm
Haha I’m glad you caught that! CCR is one of my fav bands so of course I had to tribute them with aptly referenced song lyrics.
jpc6882
October 3, 2022 — 9:42 am
For your blog post, I loved how you used figurative language very vividly. It enhanced the blog post and made it much more enjoyable. I also liked the array of self-answering questions because they made your post much more conversational and personal with the reader. I too have found myself in a similar situation that you did with a mountain of work all due by the end of the week, and it never seems to end. But, that’s college I guess. Once a routine is made, everything will feel normal again.
ire5019
October 3, 2022 — 9:47 am
I LOVE THIS POST SAM! You created a fantastic post that puts into words what we have all been feeling. “Some days, life feels like the start of winter as a squirrel, losing track of the nuts I buried weeks and months prior because I simply cannot contain all of the information necessary to actually accomplish what I need to.” really engaged me into the rest of the post. Comparing us to the squirrels that we see on campus everyday is something that I have never thought about.
lek5428
October 28, 2022 — 11:43 am
This is what’s up, at least with my personal college experience. I’m glad you found an apt way to describe the feeling of trying to put everything in its place, trying to keep your hands (or cheeks) full, and tracking everything back down again after it has left your purview. Trying to incorporate so many things into muscle memory, for me, is very physical– safety glasses on my backpack for lab days, or a sticky note on the door. Ever piece of clutter is a task, and even if the space is clean, the mental/schedule clutter remains there, superimposed.
Or, whatever. If I were a squirrel. But, since I masquerade in the daytime as a Good Student, I’ll instead say: Very effective metaphor 😀 Love the Creedence. Thanks for sharing bro.