Those of you that know me personally know that I don’t like breaks. This past weekend, though, I was exhausted. As a result I’m going to take a small break from my usual food-related content and share with you what I did over my weekend. It didn’t involve going into the city and meeting new people as usual but more on that later.
Friday
2:30 p.m. After another mind-blowing Systems Bioengineering lecture that ended 10 minutes late as usual, school was out. It’s not as if I was attending section on Friday afternoon.
3:00 p.m. Blasting Led Zeppelin through my headphones, I carefully transport my roughly-glued planks of wood downstairs to the Homewood Apartments’ courtyard-like area. I sand the hell out of the edges and lacquer the pieces, dishing out friendly waves at judgmental passersby. It is a perfect chance to pitch my new pop-up restaurant concept, Jade, to new people.
Between coats, I’m grading Biomaterials homework and trying to catch up on all the Calc III lectures I’ve missed while eating comfortable lunches.
10:00 p.m. Countless splinters lace my hands and several breaths of lacquer fumes have gone into my lungs. I go to the Gatehouse and meet the great people of The News-Letter editorial staff.
1:00 a.m. I go home and stare at my fluorescent rectangle for an hour or two, thinking both about how tired I am and how I have no motivation to sleep.
Saturday (Day 2, when the light has gone from my eyes)
2:00 p.m. Waking up in the afternoon is always a red flag. My schedule will be thrown off and my AeroPress will get a lot of traffic. I throw together some cumin lamb stir-fry that tastes way too spicy before heading to work. My mouth hurts, and I feel the impending doom.
3:00 p.m. I spend the next eight hours on my feet, interning at foraged., the seasonal eats restaurant in Hampden. Chef Amendola asks me what’s up. I realize that I’m not particularly proud of anything I’ve ever done except for making the beautifully plated beet salad in front of me. Working through dinner service, I wonder if this is what I should be doing with my life.
11:00 p.m. Leftover roast lamb and a pile of mush that Pizza Boli’s calls a sandwich goes down the gullet. I’m at FastForward U, grading Biomaterials homework. My mind goes numb. I eat a Kraft Singles slice that I found in the fridge and post it on Instagram for everyone to validate (for some reason).
3:00 a.m. Dead.
Sunday
3:00 p.m. Rise and shine, my dude! It’s time to study for Tuesday’s midterm! Zeke’s coffee in, cynical productivity out.
2:00 a.m. Where’s the day gone? It’s time to go to bed to wake up for 9 a.m. class.
4:00 a.m. Insomnia hits, and I design a menu for Jade.
It strikes me that I am definitely not the only one putting my all into life. People have gone to crazier extents to achieve what they want, and people have busier lives than me. I love being busy when I’m learning, thinking and applying.
I went through my entire weekend without adventuring into the city, but sometimes, a student can just be a student. Even if it was still a chaotic jumble of work, my weekend was absurd and socially insignificant.
This is fine.
But let’s try a bit harder to step out and do something cool next weekend, okay?
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