Scheduling or Skittles, Taste the Rainbow

Next Semester’s Schedule:

click here or none of this will make sense

which is really not as bad as it seems if you break it down:

Basically the days are in two different groups:

1. MWF
2. TR

And while they look stressful they’re actually incredibly relaxing:

Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays:

I wake up at Six and get dressed. On my way to South Campus to catch the Inter Campus Shuttle I stop by the Starbucks and get my first cup of coffee (one of many, actually)…then I hop on the Inter Campus shuttle and jet to North Campus; listening to my ipod, drinking coffee, and ignoring most of the world…starting towards the winter I’ll be practicing my Arabic as I grit my teeth in the freezing weather…which started in October last year.

At 8am I have “Good Ideas in Computer Science” which is also known as “Math for those who really, really, really don’t want to take math…”; as the course title suggests, I learn about Good Ideas that happen to be in the field of Computer Science. I’d like to make some suggestions, such as “plug the computer in” and “always ask the customer ‘do you see a powerlight’ before attempting to provide technical support” or “do put up dilbert cartoon in your cubicle, don’t label the characters with the names of your co-workers.”

Then at 9am I have Breakfast at one of the many fine dining establishments on campus.

At 10am I have Phonetics being taught by Dr. Jaeger and then at 11am I have Structure of English: Grammar & Lexicon being taught my J.P. (who has a wonderful French Accent).

Then at noon I have afternoon Yoga which I’ll be doing at the Wellness Center in the Student Union followed by a half hour Lunch at 12:30.

At 1:00PM I have the Lab for Good Ideas in Computing…basically, playing around with C++ and Java Script on Mondays. The only change in the pattern is that on Wednesdays this is replaced with the UB Undergraduate Linguistics Society which

withfangs and I Co-Conveen and on Fridays it’s replaced with a two hour long massage.

Then at 3:00PM I have my office hours, and if students don’t need help, after I’m done doing whatever Scott needs me to do (check to make sure homework has been handed in, attendance, whatever) as his T.A.; I do either studying and/or homework.

At 4:00PM I have a nice dinner

From 5:00PM to 9:00PM I’m in the Gym with a multi-faceted Anaerobic/Aerobic workout comprised of weight bearing exercises, stretching/pilates, balance building, and conditioning routines.

9:00PM is when I have 1 cup of water per lb ‘lost’ during the workout to avoid the nastiness of dehydration and a small meal.

So really, it’s mostly a stress free day…and if there is stress, by the time I’m done with the punching bag, running and lifting weights at the end of the day…it’s all gone.

Then I head back home on the evening Inter-Campus bus to South Campus.

Tusdays/Thursdays:

The morning caffeine routine and commuting routine remain the same. Then at 8:00am is morning Yoga and at 9:00am Breakfast.

Then the real hardship comes in: one hour spent with the massage chairs at the Wellness Center and 15 Minutes with the real live masseuse who comes in once a week. How do I survive (the fact that most students don’t know that they can get free massages, use massage chairs, get free tea and chapstick and condoms and yoga and pilates…is beyond me; they honestly just don’t read the information packets or explore the campus…which is good for me, because it means no waiting in line, for anything).

Once I’m done suffering through an early morning massage with an herbal pillow mask on my face, I brave the cold light of day once again to go TA with Scott (you have NO idea how excited I am to TA for him..so much to learn…so, so, so excited).

Then at 12:30 I have a nice leisurely lunch at one of the atrium-esque buildings of the campus cafe in the commons or in the Department Lounge depending on just how social I want to be.

From 1:00 until 3:00PM I’ll be in Lockwood Library getting source material for my inedependent study with Wolf Wölk on Language Discrimination Against Speakers of African American Vernacular English (AAVE).

At 3:00PM I head over to Alumni Arena to take my Tai Chi class.

At 4:00PM I have dinner and then the afternoon routine is pretty much the same, just working a different set of muscles then I worked on the day before; except abs which I’m told by my personal trainer can be worked daily.

So mostly, it’s two actual classes, one gen ed class, TAing (which is a decent chunk of work), research…or being pampered with massage, pilates, yoga, tai chi and the gym…and, if I may, please let me just take a moment right now to thank the residents of the state of New York for paying your taxes…because those extra massage chairs, herbal pillows, scented oil defusers, and yoga mats have really made that much more of a difference in my daily routine and have contributed positively to my education as an undergraduate student of the State University of New York at Buffalo.