A Strange Saturday

My Saturday this past weekend was a bit atypical. It started out strangely, with me waking up around 6:00 a.m., which is much earlier than I wake up on a weekday. It’s practically a scandal for me to wake up this early on a Saturday, since I usually sleep in past noon. I had good reason, though: a service project at 7:00 a.m.  Many of my Alpha Phi Omega brothers were helping with Girls on the Run, a program that trains girls for a 5k while instilling self-confidence and healthy habits. The most bizarre part was looking out the window when I first woke up and seeing it was completely dark!

I was with the group directing traffic on streets where the run was taking place. My partner and I had a huge intersection. Thankfully, the fire police came to direct for us. I mostly tried to encourage the runners and keep them on the sidewalk when those directing traffic did let the cars go. After the events, I stayed around to help with clean-up.

It’s a bit ironic that I was volunteering to help with a 5k when I’ve never ran one and probably would’ve been horrified at the prospect when I was younger!  

A lot of my Saturday was also spent at the mall. My friends Alexis, Lindsey, and I took the free shuttle provided by the Student Government Association. I had to find a dress for my upcoming formal for Alpha Phi Omega, which is this Friday. I was worried I wouldn’t find anything, but I am in love with the dress I found at Maurice’s! It’s black so my Venetian mask will match it; I’m also hoping I’ll be able to find other uses for it, rather than this one-time event. All in all, it was a successful shopping trip.

Saturday became bizarre, again, when I was in my room about to watch a TV show on Netflix. It was about 9:00 p.m., and I was already exhausted. I could only get through the show’s opening! After that, I decided to take a nap—which, of course, being so late in the day, turned into a full 12 hour of sleep. Usually I go to bed much later on Saturday nights, so, despite waking up so early, the day feltl quite short!

Sunday was normal, however, at least in terms of scheduling. It was also very good. I had a great brunch with my friends where we got to have some deep discussion, and I got to have another deeper conversation with a friend later in the day.

Why I'm Here In The First Place

Already I have a feeling that this year is going to be a busy one.

After completing my Grammar and Science homework last night, I really felt the urge to begin writing my short story for Intermediate Fiction before I went to bed. I have to send out my story Friday so it was important to start on it. I was adapting an idea from something I had written a few pages of over the summer, but I didn’t use any of those pages. Instead I took inspiration from there, but started fresh. Though perhaps it was the looming deadline that motivated me initially, I think it was the writing that kept me staying up. The words were just flowing; whether or not they are any good, I will leave to be determined later.

Finally, homework complete and story started, I was ready to go to bed.

Once I was wrapped up in my blanket, my mind started racing. I had so many ideas for how I wanted the story to play out, and I could’ve cranked out many pages more—even finished a rough, rough draft of the story, if I had the time. Unfortunately I had reached my tired, loopy stage, and I had to wake up fairly early today. Some of those wispy ideas are surely lost, but I did manage to turn on the light, stumble over to my desk, and scribble out some prose. In the end, I didn’t get to bed until 2, which was later than I had anticipated.

Moments like those are a good reminder of why I’m studying at Susquehanna in the first place. While my schedule is going to be kept full with all of my classes, with my Sophomore Essay, with organizations and chapel services and friends, I came to college as writer. I came to college to study my passion. I came to college to hone my skills so I can better write stories that I love, stories that are in me, stories that I think should be told. It’s easy to forget about that when I’m caught up in other stresses.

Obviously I can’t neglect everything else to sit around my dorm room and pound the keys on my laptop all day. Nightly writing sessions at such a late hour, for the sake of my health and sanity, have to be a no-go.  Even if I don’t have all the time in the world, though, I do have to make the time, sometime—not only because my classes require it, but because I love it.