During my sophomore year, I wrote a blog post about a day in my life as an 91直播 student. It was so fun to write, so I thought I鈥檇 do it again! From morning to night, this is what I did on February 26, 2019, a chilly Tuesday in my last semester as a student at 91直播.
7:45am: Wake up in my bedroom in my off-campus house and groan. Though I had hoped to get up early to do some homework, I snooze the alarm until 9:00am. I have to take advantage of my free mornings and sleep in as much as I can before I get a job next year!
9:00am: Toast a bagel from Trader Joe鈥檚 and eat it while doing readings for my afternoon class. Send Bitmojis back and forth with my sister, who鈥檚 a first-year at a college outside of Boston.
10:25am: Drive to the Apollo Theatre for a meeting with my professor. Though it鈥檚 only about a ten-minute walk from my house, I drive when it鈥檚 really cold out. I spent three full winters walking everywhere, so I think it鈥檚 fine to use my car now that I have it!
10:30am: Head to the Cinema Studies Center on the second floor of the Apollo Theatre. We have an incredible editing lab, a shooting studio, a sound studio, and animation stations. I spend a lot of my time here taking production classes and working on my films. Today, I meet one-on-one with my professor Rian Brown (she鈥檚 amazing!) as part of the Advanced Filmmaking Projects class. A small group of Cinema Studies seniors are taking this course in which we all produce independent film projects. I鈥檓 working on a personal narrative film that loosely connects to my past Comparative American Studies research about sexuality and non-binary identity. It鈥檚 so fulfilling to do a project that combines my two majors.
11:15am: Drink a cup of tea at Slow Train, a super popular 91直播 coffee shop. I sit next to the window as I cross some items off my to-do list. First, I work on a visual analysis paper for my Media Ethnography class. I鈥檓 analyzing a piece by photographer , who creates incredible work about fatness, cyberbullying, and public space. After finishing the paper, I do a few readings and submit a film I made to a film festival in Columbus. The film, The Day After, which I made with three other students in a Cinema Studies production class last spring, is premiering at its first film festival this weekend!
1:00pm: Go home and eat some leftovers for lunch.
1:40pm: Print out my essay at Terrell Library (which I still call Mudd, out of habit) and wave hello to a few friends studying there.
2:00pm: DJ my first WOBC radio show of the semester! I had a storytelling show called Tell Me A Story last semester and absolutely loved it. My new show is called Post-Grad. It鈥檚 all about confronting the unknown and stepping into the wild next part of life after 91直播! I鈥檒l be interviewing college seniors, professors, and community members about their experiences in or hopes for post-grad life, as well as their advice for staying present and doing things that bring joy. Today, as an introduction to the show, I simply play music that corresponds to that theme. I love sitting in the station, introducing the songs, and listening to my playlist. It makes me feel so peaceful!
3:00pm: Go to my Media Ethnography class in King. It鈥檚 cross-listed in Anthropology and Rhetoric, two of my favorite departments outside of my majors. Professor Lyndsey Beutin is such a passionate and dynamic teacher, so I always look forward to this class. It feels right to be taking it in my final semester, since it brings together several elements of my education here. We look at media representations critically and, in everything we discuss, pay attention to systems of power and oppression. Today, we talk about how the study of media by anthropologists has changed over the past twenty-five years. Every session of this class affirms my desire to work in journalism and documentary filmmaking! I never get tired of thinking about these topics!
4:15pm: Hang out with my partner. Even on our busiest days, we try to carve out a few minutes to say hello and check in!
4:30pm: Go home to eat a snack and read the latest issue of The Grape, one of 91直播鈥檚 student newspapers. I always look forward to it coming out.
5:30pm: Try out a completely new experience: a spinning class! I鈥檝e known about 91直播鈥檚 new drop-in exercises classes for a while, but haven鈥檛 tried one鈥 until today. To beat the winter blues and lack of motivation I鈥檝e been feeling lately, I鈥檝e decided to exercise every day. So I head over to the gym. The only bike left is in the very front row (ugh), but I sit down anyway, feeling excited. Then the class starts鈥 and it鈥檚 SO hard. I鈥檓 sweating almost immediately, and my body is moving in ways that I didn鈥檛 know were possible! About eight minutes into the forty-five minute class, the teacher announces that this is the week鈥檚 鈥渃hallenge ride鈥 and that it鈥檒l be tough, but we鈥檒l get through it. My mouth hangs open. What?! I鈥檓 not ready for a challenge ride! But I鈥檓 in the front, so I can鈥檛 really leave, and I did want to try it out, so I persevere. When there鈥檚 only one minute left, I can鈥檛 help but break out into a huge smile. I did it! Afterwards, I make a goofy Instagram story about the experience.
7:00pm: FaceTime with one of my donor siblings, who lives in New York. I laugh a lot and feel refreshed and happy afterwards.
8:00pm: Make dinner with my housemate and BFF Hanne. She has some yummy potatoes and I eat rice and veggies. Cooking is always more fun with Hanne, who encourages me to go with my instincts instead of rigidly following recipes! As always, our conversation spans silly moments from our days, climate change, the Freeform show Good Trouble, and our hopes and dreams for life after college.
9:45pm: Sit on my bed and call my moms. We talk most nights. They help me feel grounded when I get overwhelmed and are just really fun to talk to.
11:00pm: Do a little homework, listen to music, and scroll on Instagram. It鈥檚 nice to chill out after a busy day.
12:30am: Go to sleep and hope I don鈥檛 wake up too sore from spin class tomorrow!
