Work and Co.

            The majority of the last few weeks and, I expect, the majority of the weeks to come, can be summarized with one word: work. Or, as thesaurus.com informs me, with the words struggle, trial, drudgery, exertion, grind, pains, slogging, stress, striving, sweat, toil, travail, and trouble. All of them seem pretty accurate; from here on out I’ll be calling them Work and Co.

            I’m not entirely sure what happened: whether I’m somehow wasting my time more than I used to, or whether I’ve just hit rush hour. From what I can tell, though, I haven’t really wasted any more time than usual, so I’m going with the rush hour theory, in combination with a little less time efficiency caused by lack of energy.

            Over the last couple of weeks, I haven’t felt that stressed or depressed; it just felt like everything was falling apart, not going the way it was supposed to, not in a major way, but in a cumulative way, from banging my toe to not finishing a p-set before turning it in. At the same time, I wasn’t that worried. It felt like I was tumbling down a hill without really caring. Well, this week, the emergency thrusters came back online. Now I’m stressed – not overwhelmed, crying, hyperventilating stress, just the normal kind – and all my time is consumed with Work and Co.

            I do well under pressure; in a way, I’m in my element. At the same time, this isn’t a lot of hard work on a project I’m interested in; it’s work doing a hundred different things, most of which have to be done but aren’t that interesting or pleasant. And of course, while I’m taking care of immediate concerns, I’m neglecting all the other things I want/need to get done – reviewing concepts, exercising, and etc.

            Alright, enough already. For a short interlude, let me throw in a random fact about life at Harvard. I may start throwing these in every couple of weeks, so be on the lookout. Here it is: if you didn’t know, the outdoor steps up to Widener Library are some of the most awkward on campus; they are just high enough, and just wide enough, that you can’t run, jog, or walk up or down them without stretching your legs in a way that’s just – well, awkward – and falling into a sort of lopsided gait, sometimes subtle, sometimes not.  If you ever want to test that out, come visit!

            So, what’s happening around campus? Things are really beginning to pick up; I have Pass in Review for ROTC this Saturday, and then our a cappella concert, and then the ROTC Birthday Ball, and then Harvard-Yale (which involves another, joint, concert), and then it’s Thanksgiving. The good news it, time should really fly by between now and then. There’s so much to do!

            Sophomores are also declaring concentrations around now. At the moment, though this could change, I’m planning on doing a joint concentration (aka double major – don’t ask me why we call it something else; no one knows) in Near Eastern Languages and Civilization (NELC) and Philosophy. I’ve already gotten quite a few of my NELC classes out of the way, so I’ll be done with those requirements pretty soon, and then I’ll have more time for Philosophy. And no, no more math or science classes at Harvard after this, as far as I know.

            So that’s where things stand right now. It’s not just me; most everyone I talk to, including professors, has the feeling that we’re all just powering through until Thanksgiving. Midterms took us by surprise, and we all thought, “Wow! We’ve only got half a semester to go!” And a week or so later, we all thought, “Wow. We’ve still got half a semester to go.” But after Thanksgiving, everything is really just preparation for finals (I have two this semester), and then yet another semester is by. Just the thought of which reminds me to cherish what time I do have. The whole undergraduate experience will be over in a flash.

            And on that (optimistic?) thought, I’ve got more things to do, so I need to say goodbye. Have a great week, enjoy the fall weather if you have it, and if you’re like me and keeping company with Work and Co., keep powering through!

PS – I almost forgot to mention – I did get a care package from my parents yesterday that made me very happy!