I just realized, my days are freakishly identical in events, scenery, and people. To explain, I will let you in on my daily routine.
Winter Quarter Daily Routine of a College Student, 2010.
6:00 am - Wake up, turn phone alarm off.
6:01 am - Check to see if someone else is using the bathroom. If yes, go back to bed for 15 more minutes while listening for the sound of people getting out of the bathroom. If not, run in the shower: shampoo for a good 5 minutes, conditioner, leave conditioner on while scrubbing entire body, shave, rinse, dry, get out of the shower.
6:40 am - Wash face
6:43 am - Turn lap top on. Check Facebook. Turn on Grooveshark ("Feel Like Dancing" playlist). Reply to anything important on facebook, usually from cousins in the Philippines.
6:50 am - Get down to business. Make-up time.
7:30 am - Stop make-up. Dry hair, blow dry, curl. Tease. Curl. Re-arrange.
7:55 am - Decide on outfit that goes with make-up and hair.
8:00 am - Get a bowl. Pour cereal. Heat cinnamon raisin bagel for exactly 25 seconds. Pour milk on cereal. Take bagel out of microwave. Go to room to eat. Listen to feel good music.
8:05 am - Brush teeth. Act.
8:10 am - Lather lotion all over body.
8:12 am - Accessories. Curl eyelashes. Make sure everything looks good together.
8:14 am - Dance.
8:17 am - Put on a coat. Grab sack lunch. Phone. Ipod on ears. Lock door.
8:18 am - Out the door.
8:20 am - waiting for that stop light to turn red so I can cross the street.
8:25 am - In Anglo-American Folk Music class. Madeline Wei sits next to me. Say, "Hey, how are you?" or "Whaddup."
8:30 am - Class starts. Ms. Sunardi lectures. I'm intensified by what I'm learning. I lean in closer and closer. I actually rock to the ballads while everyone else is asleep or cringing.
9:20 am - Walk out with Madeline to next class. Talk about the book we were supposed to read for the day.
9:30 am - In English 250. We are in assigned seats. I'm at the very front sitting next to Madeline. Constantly afraid that the old man will spit on me while he's discussing the book. Genuinely interested with what people have to say so I keep looking back at the person talking. I'm anxious the whole time since I have to talk at least once to get my credit for the day. I finally say something. Red in the face. Relieved. Go back to listening to people.
10: 20 am - Bust out my half pound carrots to eat while walking to UW Tower. Listening to music. Feel like a champion for eating vegetables. Have to go through a mob of smokers. Mostly Asians and Middle Easterners. Guy with curly hair is smoking.
10:40 am - Look at the clock. It's 10:40. Yes! I have time to eat. Take out my packed bagel, heat for 20 seconds. Eat while reading a magazine or listening to music (depending on if there's a magazine or not).
10:55 am - start to think about if I should work soon or not. Nah.
11:00 am - Say, "Hey Sean." I get a reply, "Hey Chris, How are you?" I say, "I'm good, how are you?" He says, "I'm good, thanks." Get down to business. Print out cards. Print out replacement cards. Pack stuff. Run credit cards. Audit. Listen to music while auditing. Sneak in Facebook if time allows, or if no one is looking.
1:00 pm - Take out Fuji apple. Rinse. Bite off sticker. Go to elevator. Get out of elevator. Walk down the Ave. Eating apple still. Guy with the curly hair still smoking. ? .... Look at people eating in Chipotle. Get jealous. Throw apple in the nearest disposal. Go to Odegaard to wash hands and put lip gloss on.
1:15 pm - Pick a seat in Oceanography 102. Usually sit in the same spot, 3 rows back, center. Michelle Louie sits either side of me, so does Eric Harris. I say something about work. Say something random. Make them laugh. OR talk about Oceanography.
1:30 pm - class starts. I'm lost.
2:20 pm - Ipod on. Go home. Walk seems like forever miles.
2:30 pm - Turn on computer. Check Facebook. Hungry. Cook. Dance.
3:10 ish pm - Eat.
[miscellaneous stuff: fill out planner, stare off into space, contemplate, remember people who I have to reply back to, Facebook people whom I haven't talked to in a while]
5:00 pm - Homework. Facebook (every other minute).
10:30 pm - Wash face. Brush teeth. Treat pimples. Get ready for bed. Check Facebook one more time.
11:00 pm - Bed.
[Struggling to fall asleep]
11:15 pm - Sleeping.
Do it again.
Everything before 2:20 is absolutely set. But everything after that is completely flexible. I may hang out with friends, attend an appointment, go to extra credits, etc. The reason for me recording this is because I want to have a good idea of what my days look like in this time of my life, as freshman in college. I know that next quarter it will change once again, just like it did last quarter. As time passes by, I will pick up another routine and forget about this one, but for now, I want to reflect upon the seemingly mundane life that I lead. It might be strange to say but I am thankful for this schedule. The fact that my life has a schedule is a blessing in itself.
It's easy to forget about the blessings God gives you when you feel like you must do certain activities. For me, I see it as "I get to.." I get to put on make-up. I get to eat breakfast. I get to go to classes in University of Washington. I get to go to work in UW Alumni Association. I get to have an awesome boss. I get to have friends to sit with during class. I get to do homework because I go to an awesome school. I get to check my facebook. Okay, not that..but seriously, I truly find beauty in the fact that my life is incredibly simple. I have nothing to worry about except for that next midterm I have to rock. For now, I will lavish on this simplicity and enjoy it to the fullest. One day, I will look back and reminisce on the days when all I had to worry about was school and how my pimples just keep multiplying despite my ferocious effort to terminate them all one by one.
This, I realize, is something not everyone appreciates or is consciously aware of. I walk to classes and see the same people, wondering if life for them is just as set as mine. I honestly think I may be one of the few left who actually looks at the horizon and see how beautiful God made the day. Sometimes I catch myself thinking about the here and now (I am walking to my next class, I am walking to my work) and get caught up in the little things. But that's when I look up and see the sky meeting the earth, the construction happening below the bridge and how it reminds me of the Philippines, how the numerous buildings and arched bridge miles away makes me feel like I'm in another country. I smile at that just thinking how incredibly blessed I am to be able to live this life, a life literally billions of people envy. I don't know what I did to deserve it, but I'm sure it's just another way of God reminding me how much He truly loves me.
