Although I generally consider my work to be deeply fulfilling and while I recognize the privilege that an editorial position with the Manitoban brings, balancing my school course load, part-time job and a social life in the midst of responsibilities at the paper is often long and hectic. The following is a glimpse inside my life for a day.
9:00 a.m.: The alarm clock on my cell phone, set to sound like a real rooster, sounds off.
9:05 a.m.: A second alarm blasts through the air. I have not moved.
9:10 a.m.: The fake rooster crows for a third time this morning. Finally, I conjure the energy to roll and stumble out of bed. There is a reason I set three separate alarms on my phone; frankly I needed it. I had made plans to meet up for brunch with an old high school friend,.
10:30 a.m.: A brief shower and a hearty bowl of Fibre One cereal gave me just enough of a wake-up kick to get me on the 72 bus to the university. Minutes later, I meet my friend up at the entrance to Degrees diner. We spend the next hour catching up on all the events that have transpired in our lives over the past six months and reminisce about old jokes and good times together.
11:30-12:45 a.m.: Attend a lecture in my African history course. In an attempt to broaden my horizons, I signed up for this class as an elective in my political studies degree. So far it has not disappointed. Today the professor introduced the topics of the trans-Saharan trade route and of the encroachment of Islam into north and western Africa. In between note taking on my MacBook, I sent off a few Manitoban-related emails over the shaky “UofM secure” network.
1:00 p.m.: I hustled from my African history course in University College to make my second course of the day, “Political Doctrines of the 20th century,” located in St. Paul’s College. Upon reaching the classroom doors I experienced a moment of utter confusion, then of overwhelming joy. My professor had mentioned last time that classes would be cancelled due to a conference, but I had completely forgot about this. My expression of overwhelming joy does not come because I dislike the course, in fact, I love it so far, but I was exhausted and this 90 minutes of unexpected free time had “nap” written all over it.
1:30-2:30 p.m.: Followed through on this nap.
6:00-9:00 p.m.: After catching some shut-eye I spend a couple hours editing, and reviewing class notes. Then I run off to night class in Tier building. Last week, the lecture in this “Research Methods in Political Studies” class was deadly boring, but tonight the discussions of research ethics in a number of famous case studies was truly enjoyable. Maybe I won’t despise Thursday nights after all.
10:00-11:59 p.m.: My day ended on a routine note. For a number of months now, I have gotten together with a group of close work friends every Thursday for drinks and a late-night bite to eat. Over beers and wings at Smitty’s, we talk about movies, sports and sex (not really in that order) and joke around with the waitresses who know most of us on a first-name basis. Maybe sleep would have been a wiser option, but this is always a nice, relaxing way to bring an otherwise crazy day to a close.
