I thought my schedule was a thing of beauty. I have no classes on Monday or Wednesday until 6:50 at night, and two classes on Tuesday and Thursday from 1 to 4:10, with another class on Thursday nights from 7-10 p.m. But despite all that open time during the day, it turns out sleeping in really isn’t worth what I’m missing at night.
Last semester I took Honors Poe with Dr. Kachur – a lovely class taught by a lovely professor. That, combined with another section of Poe class, sparked a burning fever of adoration for this poignant-yet-creepy author. Of course, when a group of people feel such a common emotion, they have to do something about it and the result was a new Poe club this semester. I was ecstatic when I heard about this. Maybe some of you have seen the new show on Fox, The Following, about a cult based around Poe and have been touched by the fever of curiosity to delve into his works for yourself. Personally, I’m just happy they finally have a show where the inside jokes are meant for English majors (we’re not exactly top priority on late night TV what with Grey’s Anatomy (which I do love) and Walking Dead). But then I saw the time. Eight o’clock on Wednesday nights would be the meeting time of the club, right smack in the middle of my night class. Lucky for me those times aren’t set, but there are many other things that are immovable.
This past Thursday was the Ridington Lecture which began during my night class. There are plenty of speakers, Smart Talks, meetings, and inductions that I will miss this semester due to my class (that’s not to mention that it’s also prime TV time, which for me happens to be my best homework time). But this is not simply to play up the difficulties of having night classes and making choices between things (though this time it’s harder than should I have the chocolate or vanilla ice cream at Glar [maybe because I always pick chocolate]). It’s a lesson in time management. Life is not like the world of Harry Potter, where it is possible to be in two places at once (that’s about as far as I got in the books so that will be my last reference to them). As much as we want to do absolutely everything, there are 24 hours in the day. Your decisions for what you join and what you squeeze in are important, because each one leaves you with a little less time.
