despite what they tell you, school is not easy

Today while I was studying my midterm I overheard a girl talking. I overhear a lot of things when I'm pseudo-studying; I just don't tend to let on. Occasionally I wish I didn't have ears (at least ones I can't turn off at will). But in this case the girl wasn't talking about anything I really didn't want to hear, just about her work load this semester. So I decided to count mine.

- 4 smaller (up to 6 page) writing assignments
- 1 ten-page research paper (due Tuesday)
- 12 midterms (11 down, 1 to go...)
- 4 finals (yet to be completed)
- two other random bio assignments
- and the copious amounts of reading required to stay on top of it all (1-4 books per class)

And now I understand why my mind is so pooped; I feel completely justified with why I am bridging mental exhaustion.

After I counted my stress in the form of tests and papers, I continued studying for my midterm the next two hours, went to a different class, studied for another 45 minutes, and then wrote the test. I think I did okay. Yay.

Thoughts of Chess

I have a chess set. It's glass and it sits on a glass table. Actually it's our second one (my roommate stepped on the first board and shattered it). So we are on our second chess set and how many times have we played chess? Well, we've played checkers. I won.
We don't know how to play chess. We've each moved a couple of pawns, and at one time we had it set up like we were in the middle of a game so we could impress all our house guests. But really, we haven't touched it.
There is no time.
This explains my life. No time to randomly do things that I would like to. Not that I don't like school. I do. But I'd like to branch out sometimes.
It's hard to balance life with school. It's so easy for life to become school, for the desire to excel academically to overcome any other passion, but I've discovered that's not healthy. Rest time is so important to keep up your energy and a positive mentality, not to mention a good relationship with God and the ability to actually retain the things you're learning in school. Rest.
I almost feel guilty when I'm awake and not doing something 'productive'. Like now. I just got home from a full day at school, including a 90 question midterm, and I feel like I should either be studying for my next one or working on my research paper. This is one reason I started watching The Office box sets - it's half an hour chunks where I will actually just sit down and let myself sit. Briefly.
Last week I saw a girl reading a fiction book on the train. Hardcover, nice big words, spaced out writing, no academic words... It made me really excited for Christmas when I will be able to read a book just for fun like that. And maybe I will pick up chess during the holiday season as well... as soon as I pick up a friend who knows how to play it.