Nonstop Go

Being a teenager is all about managing your time. College can create some of the best times of your life, but also some of the most stressful instances ever. All the time commitments, the meetings, and the walking in between. It seems like anyone and everyone needs you, wants to hang out, or to study (in all meanings of the term). Once you start it's like nonstop go.

This year my life in college has been absolutely nonstop go. It's crazy, I go from class to class, answer emails, reply to text messages, talk to strangers, smile, wave, eat, do homework, study, and sleep after all of that is done. I feel like Prue in that episode of Charmed where she split herself into three people - that witch cray. My life is a constant mess, and I'm teetering on the brink of insanity because I know that if I make one mistake, don't stay on top of my multi-tasking game, then the whole thing falls apart and I'm screwed. It's unbelievable that I've already arrived at this point and it's literally on the third week of school. There's so many obligations, so many people who need me, and then there's class and all the work that comes along with that. I'm only human, I'm just a teenage boy trying to live my life, and honestly I'm scared. I'm afraid to let people down, to let myself be consumed, and to lose my cheery, boyish charm. Seriously, the fear of failure looms over me on a daily basis and sometimes it gets overwhelming. This whole nonstop go lifestyle, especially the days where I leave my room in the morning and don't return until the late hours of the night is doing too much. There's no time for spontaneity, to be random, and to do those classically teenage haphazard things that I once had time to. It's a trade off, I've grown, turned into a full-fledged leader, and even more of force to be reckoned with. What I've learned to do is take time for myself. I like to use the the phrase "being normal" - as in, like everyone else without a care in the world. It's not that easy. I use eating time to be alone, to watch TV or YouTube videos, and just destress. I breath .... deeply, and center myself like some sort of 9O21O Naomi Clark guru style namaste flaunting meditation buff. I listen to music, oh I listen to music - sing (terribly), and dance like there's no one watching. I get to be the best parts of me, I laugh, I shout, and I just talk or write. It's what keeps me grounded, holds me down to Earth, and full in control of crazy life. I may be in nonstop go, but I'm always on it.

Here's a glimpse into my nonstop go life. Wednesday morning was another rough morning start, 8:30am classes will be the death of me, never again. Another unrealistically boring class on African-Americans in the US Economy (literally everything my teacher says, I'm an anomaly to, sorry). I grabbed breakfast and it was on to chem lecture where we learned about these crazy functional groups (like damn, I'm no Billy Nye the science guy, calm down Scottish homeboy). Religion class went by quickly since I abruptly got up halfway through and dipped out to attend a dining services advisory committee (yeah, I'm important). Free food, and talk of how to be more eco-friendly and I was out of there. I went to the bottom floor of the Davis Center and had a good talk with my buddy, Michael Cohen (it's always his full name) while the Niall Horan lookalike aka Frisbee bro made his fabled return. There was a fire in the chemistry building but I venture there anyway after figuring out how to use the ATM, and bought my lab supplies. It was soon on to bio lecture where I of course fell asleep, literally Anna and I only sleep in that class. We walk to the bus stop and who else could it be in bright colors other than our advisor Learie, we board the jam packed bus and have some of the most awkward social interactions of all time. I'm talking bumping, grinding, and doing the least (y'all know I'm not a touchy-feely person), and I'm pretty sure a couple people copped a feel on all of this (*points to self). We get off and do some office work for an hour, already planning our next big program and soon I'm on the bus again heading to auditions for my TV show, "Dirty Pop." We're casting new on-air personalities and I talk with the new kids about everything pop culture for just over an hour and a half. I grab food and went primal when it came to eating it (guacamole, sour cream and salsa covered hands and me scarfing food down = not a pretty sight). I helped make posters for IRA's Wings Fest with the rest of the exec board. Another long walk back in the dark to grab food, and head to bed right at midnight. Impossibly busy day, but I made it - nonstop go.
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A full eight hours of sleep is vital if you're never able to nap during the day (#preschoolproblems). I woke up Thursday morning and I was anxious as hell. It was the day of our first IRA event, Wings Fest. I threw on clothes and made it over to WDW on Redstone for my two on one with my advisors, Drake and Learie. They told me to take a break, relax, and remember to ask for help. Good advice, and something I'll definitely take to heart if and when it gets too hard (I'm only a sophomore). I just have to remember to take time to be normal. Off to tennis class where we learn some new serves and work on bringing the power. I legit love that class, everyone is cool - Emile and Katherine are my secret buddies (I just want to love all the first years). Clothes sweated out and muscles stretched - I went into hardcore shower and dress up mode since I was about to run late for my first chemistry lab period. I made it on time and half of us went to the wrong room. The lab consisted of us drawing and describing some crazy organic chem bonds - but I like lab partner, Miranda. She's chill, and knew her stuff which definitely helped. It was over to WDW to enter programming mode where the whole gang got together. We packed all our supplies into Sam's car, and Bret & I caught the shuttle to central campus. There was already a line when we got there - y'all are doing too much. We all ran around preparing the place, decorating, setting things up, playing music, and assigning jobs. I was so nervous, I couldn't even handle it. I felt supported, and I even had two of my fraternity brothers Dom & Joe there to help me out. Soon time came for me to do my thing, turn it on, and get out there. I addressed the crowd with a megaphone, explained what was going down and even did a little rap for all of them. I went person to person passing out free giveaways, and there was so many people - it was crazy. We ran out of stuff so Sam and I went back to get more in a little mid-event adventure. I saw my #collegecrush and after that I was more than flustered, such beauty and grace shouldn't even be possible to exist. Next time I see her, I'm definitely going to to talk to her - this is the year I get out there. I saw tons of familiar faces like Adis (who I helped move in), Deniz (one of my fave RA's), and friends like Nicholas, Lila, and Hailey G. It was a lot, and a overwhelming but it went well. People were happy, impressed, and had a genuinely good time. This year's exec board had special help from last year's execs, Knight, Grace, Liz, Jordan, Sam, and Tori which really was amazing for me to see. Such awesome people all around. My execs, Bret & her hilariously oblivious bf Jesse, Anna and her confident bf Aidan, Sam, Eric (who put the whole thing together), Terra, and Felicia (who did the most scoping out the crowd) were unbelievably awe-inspiring. Such a great job. We finished up around 8:30pm and all was well. I went back to my room just to lay down, my feet were aching and I smelled like chicken wings - so much nonstop go.
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Being a teenager is all about learning how to balance your epic crazy life. Letting something take over is never good. You have to find what fits and what works for you to have just enough to do, and the free time you need to chillax and do you. The whole routine thing gets old fast, mix it up, and switch things around. Flexibility is key, and taking time to breathe is what I've learned to be the most helpful thing. It's almost inevitable, constantly on nonstop go.

My blog post question for the day is ... how do you deal with being constantly busy? Uhm - I guess I might complain a lil' bit - but other than that I kind of do me.

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