I used to wonder why people are so busy all the time. When I ask them how they are doing, what they are up to, they tell me that they've been really busy and really stressed. But when I ask them why they are so busy, the most common answer is "I don't know...I just have a lot of stuff to do...a kinda muffled answer that really is neither here nor there. So in the back of my mind, it's really hard for me to believe that a person has that much stuff to do; I feel that they are just pretending to be busy so that they sound important; that or they are too dumb to know how to organize their lives properly. Why are they so damn flakey? Who the hell can be that busy 7 days a week?
I fully admit that i have become one of those people I hate. After constantly apologizing for not calling them when I said I would, not making it for lunch when I made plans, not seeing people when I tell them I want to see them, I am beginning to really hate myself. And when I ask myself why am I so goddamn busy, I don't have a good answer.
As a full-time graduate student, I'm taking two classes. Two classes is pretty normal as we have lots and lots of dense readings everyday, papers, seminars, exams to prepare for. So in a regular 40 hours work week (5 days of 8 hours), if 6 hours (a day) are dedicated to class time, 16 hours (two days) to readings, 16-24 hours (2-4 days) to writing papers and prep for exams, that doesnt give me much time. In the event that i dont have something due other than readings, i'd get maybe the wknd to do something other than school work...sorta...since now that I have to start doing house chores on my own, it really eats up all your time. Living off-campus on a budget is a bitch. Cooking is like a fulltime job and between cooking and eating it can literally take up to 2-3 hours. Then there's grocery shopping for the food, doing the laundry, and cleaning the house.
When I do go back to toronto, for like maybe once in two weeks for a wknd, I usually spend Friday night hanging out for a bit, Saturday all day is running errands in toronto that i can't do in waterloo like getting chinese groceries, getting my eyebrows done, getting car fixed, driver license renewed, passport renewed, etc. In the event that i actually don't have free time and am supposed to be doing school work, i might still hide in my room in toronto and do it. Often I get back to Waterloo after my chores on Saturday night so I can do my studying in Waterloo on Sunday. Once in a while, I can pull out maybe an evening to do something more exciting than being in front of the computer or doing household chores but that's usually when I'm in Waterloo on a weeknight or something and i don't get to see my friends.
So when people ask me why i am so busy, it's really hard to say. I'm busy with school, mostly and during my free time i gotta run chores. It doesn't sound like an exciting, eventful, highly intense kind of busy...just a very boring kinda busy.
I honestly can't wait until grad school is over. Like someone was saying, grad school is like a class that just never ends. I miss being that person last summer when I can just be spontaneous and laid back, go out and do stuff whenever someone calls me, regardless of the event.
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7 comments:
no, the real answer is you are busy because i have taken all your time muahahaha
suckahs! :)
luv u BEEBZ
yes, you hang around me while im trying to do the readings making the process a lot longer than necessary.
i think im gonna have to cut u from my list
Welcome to grad school, although living off campus as an undergrad sucked more: grad school seems to be more flexible in terms of the scheduling constraints. I'm just looking forward to the point where I don't have any more classes and just do research work all day... By the way, sometimes you just gotta say "screw it" and not do any work for that one day. I designate either Friday or Saturday as one of those. Don't blame me for the consequences :)
p.s. the freerepublic link came from this article, which was actually a fun read
and marrying rich won't solve any problems..
t: welcome to grad school? haha, i should say that to you! been doing it for a year already and it never gets better. Good luck with yours :P
j: referring to my msn name, huh? :P
hey, at least I'm courteous :)
But no, I was just trying to sympathize, since it seems all grad students go through the same stuff. That whole free time notion gets thrown out the window... But make sure you always know what's important to you and make time for those things. Aw, hell, you probably knew that already. I should accept the fact that I won't say anything insightful :)
haha, no, i was just playing with you. yeah, i think most grad students hate grad school, some say its because we're not prepared for it, but i think the system needs a makeover.
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