A Day in the Life
One of the first things I realized when coming to college was that I was much more in control of what my day looked like; classes are sporadically dotted throughout the day, clubs usually hold meetings later in the evenings, and free time becomes a little more “free.”
Here’s my attempt at handling all that on Thursdays, my busiest day!
8:30 a.m.
I groggily awake to an annoying alarm. My calculus class doesn’t start until 9:30 a.m., so I usually grab breakfast at Dewick with some friends. A bowl of oatmeal is my go-to!
9:30 a.m.
Time to learn calculus! It’s not my favorite class, but I need to take one semester of calculus as a required prerequisite for veterinary school. Before I know it, it’s time to move onto the next class.
10:30 a.m.
My calculus class finishes at 10:20 a.m. so I have 10 minutes to scramble from Braker Hall all the way to Cohen Auditorium for Bio 0013. I hear you saying, “Why is bio class in an auditorium?” Well, that’s because there are more than 450 people in the class! On the first day of biology, I was in sheer shock at the amount of classmates I had. Coming from a high school with an average of 20 students per class, I wasn’t used to the anonymity. It was an adjustment to say the least, but my friends and I have adapted quite nicely to the new learning environment. I would say it is my favorite class content-wise.
12:00 p.m.
Time for psychology! Another one of my very interesting classes–it’s a lecture-based class, but the material is very interesting. My outlook on life has definitely changed because of it.
1:20 p.m.
Lunch time! Some of my friends also take psychology, so afterwards we usually head to Carm for some lunch. After a packed morning, it’s nice to just detox with each other over some low-fat vanilla yogurt.
2:00 p.m - 5:45 p.m.
I usually take this time to do some homework at Tisch. I have my biology science lab at 6:00p.m., so if I haven’t printed out and read the required documents beforehand, I’ll do that now. Time to get back to work!
6:00 p.m.
Time to do some biology in the lab! These experiments are much more involved than the ones I did in high school. For example, we’re amplifying our own DNA from our cheek cells through a polymerase chain reaction (PCR); for the most part, the experiments build off of what we cover in lecture. So cool!
9:00 p.m.
Bio lab ends around this time (though sometimes it finishes a little before 9 depending on how quickly everyone moves through the procedure). I usually text some friends to see if anyone wants to accompany me to Hodge for a late dinner. A noodle or rice bowl with chicken, bok choy, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, and two scoops of sesame garlic sauce awaits!
9:20 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.
After grabbing dinner with some friends, we usually congregate in the basement lounge of Metcalf Hall to hang out and do some homework. (Though sometimes we end up talking into the wee-hours of the night and nothing gets done.)
12:15 a.m.
I usually shower and get ready for bed around this time. I don’t have classes on Fridays this semester so I’ll either head back to the lounge to hang out some more, or just lay in bed and watch some YouTube or read my book. If I choose the latter option, I usually clonk out after a short while.
And that’s my typical Thursday! I do some other cool things around campus on different days of the week, which I’ll touch on below:
Monday nights: copy editor for the Tufts Daily!
It’s a chill two-hour shift about every other Monday night. The Tufts Daily staff sit around a huge table in Curtis Hall and talk about random things (but mostly submissions). I’ll usually help edit about two editorials during the shift.
Tuesday afternoons: dog walker for Animal Aid!
I walk a sweet dog named Daisy around the Medford area for an hour or so. Our walk mainly consists of playing something that resembles fetch at the nearby park and, of course, coming back to the yard to roll around in the grass.