This is it.
The week you've been waiting for. It's Thanksgiving break. Maybe you’re going
home to curl up on the couch with your dog and a glass of wine, while mom
nags you about your grades and dad watches football. Maybe you’re joining your
significant other for their very own brand of crazy holiday drama. Or maybe
you're stuck on an empty campus with all that (free!) beer your roommates left
in the communal fridge. The joy is short lived. There's no time to kick
back and relax with what’s hanging over your head: (several) overdue papers, so
many chapters you could cry, a take home test, and a presentation or two. You
know you're not touching any of it until you get back to school, when they're
all due within a 24 hour period, and you're two seconds away from six mental
breakdowns and ending up on an episode of "Snapped."
Whether before break or after, your friends are probably right along with you at DEFCON 1, and there’s only one solution. A library date is necessary to get your sh*t together.
1. The Call to Action
When your best friend sends you the oxymoronic dreaded/joyous text, “Mandatory library date.”
2. Who, What, When, Where, How
You, your bestie, and an arsenal of provisions (Coffee, coffee, coffee). Oh, and snacks. Drake Library. Five p.m. Wear something comfy, because you will be there until 1 a.m.
3. The Arrival
It’s cold. Maybe it’s snowing. There’s no parking. There’s never any parking. Then you walk up that stupid ramp and pray to God you don’t have to try to outrun the wind. We all know we’ve spent more time in Drake this semester than the gym, aka none.
4. Fighting for Territory
Are there any open rooms? Score. If not, you circle the fishbowl while every warm layer on your body starts to suffocate you, your book bag straps start to bruise your shoulders, and you’re more winded than you want to be. Sometimes there’s a table. Sometimes there’s not, and you spend another ten minutes trying downstairs.
5. The Procrastination Part One
You’ve found a
spot and claimed your territory. You spread out at a table, kick your shoes off
and your feet up, and open your backpack. You feel a brief buzz of
accomplishment: you’re here! You’ve made it! You’re such a good student! Then
your girlfriend starts talking about how her boyfriend has been hiding his
phone and you’re immediately off track, catching up on every juicy detail of
each other’s lives since you’ve hung out last.
6. Getting Down to Business
You’ve run out of immediate topics needing attention, and can finally focus on getting some work done. You might crank out an hour…or you might only make it 20 minutes. Hey, it’s all about balance.
7. The Procrastination Part Two
Snack break. Caffeine refill. Battery recharge. Bathroom break. Call it what you’d like. You’ve lost momentum. You’re bored and you’re restless and you need to get out of that awful wooden chair before your head explodes. You take a 20-minute detour down to the café, spend far more money than you have in your student account, or pray your credit card account isn’t in overdraft.
8. Returning to Business
You’ve finished your snacks, emptied your bladder, and are freshly equipped with a piping hot coffee in front of you. Like the most professionally accomplished yoga master, you re-focus yourself on that homework.
9. The Procrastination Part Three
Until you just can’t anymore. The words are swimming together, you’re checking your phone every 30 seconds, and you’re losing your sh*t. You’re in a state of delirium that leads to bad jokes, incessant laughter, and (sometimes) almost crying.
10. The Last Push
20 more
minutes. Woo sah. You can grind it out and get it done; just 20 more minutes
and you’ll feel like you’ve really put a dent in it. You’ve only done the
intro, but hey, that’s more than you had when you got here!
11. Defeat
One of you says it. “I’m done.” It’s over. There’s nothing else you can do and you’ve pushed yourself too far. You’ve officially earned that Thanksgiving break.
And a beer…maybe 9. I don’t judge.
