And other short stories.
I do a lot of weird things. Like taking the time to fold the corner of each paper in a stapled packet to ensure that the packet has a clean 45° edge where the staple holds it together, even on my time-constrained midterms. And actively seeking out retractable pens with the point sticking out so I can do it the justice of clicking it closed. And dispensing ice cream directly onto my bare hand from the soft serve machine in the dining hall. And blogging about all the weird things I do.
The list goes on (just ask my younger brother). The point is, I can seem a little loopy to people that have met me in a non-professional setting, because that's where I'm more expressive of my quirks since there's no employer there to say "Yeah... that's weird. You're weird. Please don't apply to my company." It's not that I have something to hide; I just want to give peace of mind to people that rely on me to get things done by showing that I have the professional capacity to act professionally when it comes to professional things in my profession. You can't get more professional than writing "professional" and its conjugations in a paragraph so many times that it doesn't sound like a real word anymore.
Despite all this weirdness, I spend most of my time being serious, between classes and attending various activities like job fairs, but it's these little things that add spice to your life.
For instance, summer session was my first time living away from home by myself for an extended period of time. On move-in day, I was super proud with my setup: desk by the window, mattress in the corner... yeah, desk by the window and mattress in the corner. It was pretty sparse. Still, I was really happy with it. And it was on the first floor, which was an awesome bonus perk.
Well, except for one thing. I liked to keep my window open at night because it got hot really easily even if it was cold outside. So there I was, sitting down at my desk, enjoying the cool air as I browsed memes on Google, when I noticed a droplet of water on the window screen. Then, all of a sudden, a stream of water came jetting from the window like I was being assailed in some urban-warfare water gun fight. I was lucky enough to save my laptop, but everything else on my desk got soaked. You know how when you're at your desk and you accidentally spill a glass of water or whatever you're drinking and it's the worst because there's a ton of papers and stuff on it? That's what happened, except instead of being one-and-done with a glass emptying its contents that gradually spread across the surface, it was like there was a shower head constantly spewing out water from an infinite reservoir that could only be turned off by a switch that wasn't there. And the corner where my mattress was also was in range of the window, so my beddings got wet too.
Really, why does the path of the sprinkler include a direct shot into the window? There aren't even any plants in there. Regardless, it's still a fun story to tell, and part of what's made college exciting for me so far.
In a separate episode, I found a cricket in my room while I was doing my homework. At first, I had no idea what to do. I considered just ignoring it, but then I realized that I really didn't particularly like the idea of a cricket crawling on me in my sleep, or worse, me accidentally crushing it while rolling over and leaving a stain on my bed on top of being guilty of insect manslaughter. Insectslaughter? Whatever. I couldn't just leave it. I didn't have a cup on hand, and even if I did, I figured the jump range on a cricket at a few centimeters off the ground was larger than the radius of any cup, so I looked around and saw the pot lid from the cooking stuff I brought from home (that I never actually used, now that I think about it) and spent about 20 minutes chasing the cricket around my room before I finally got it under the lid.
I still had to get it outside. I didn't have any thin, rigid surface to slide under the lid that actually spanned the vertical projection of its outer curvature, so I nudged the lid with the cricket inside over the folder I'd been given at the beginning of summer session. I then crawled on the floor, gradually pushing the lid and the folder all the way out my room, across the kitchen, and out the front door. Woohoo! I felt accomplished; figuring out how to move a cricket out of my room with limited resources was definitely more productive than staring at a screen of image macros with text in Impact font. I subsequently turned around and saw that the other person that was living with me, who was someone who had just finished grad school, had seen the whole thing and had a look on his face that clearly said "What even... well, you're a freshman I guess."
I think one of the weirdest things I've done so far (in college), though, was sleep in the dryer. Yes, the public dryer in the laundry room on the first floor of my dorm.
How did I end up there? Well, a little context: being the procrastinator that I am – come on, everyone is to some degree – I put off doing some online assignments on a Sunday night when I was staying in Irvine for the weekend. Everyone else had gone to bed and it was about 4 in the morning. I had a lot on my mind, mostly because I was overthinking some small decision as per usual. Should I go lie down in my bed? On one hand, it's cold and lying down is nice. Plus, I'm tired, and I could use a break. On the other hand, I'll probably fall asleep and not get my work done. Well, it's not due until 11 AM, so if I wake up a couple hours before then I'll have time. But will I wake up early? Probably not. But my bed has a blanket, and I like blankets. Then again, it's just physics, so I can probably finish it quickly now and be able to sleep in peace. Then again, it's just physics, so I can probably finish it quickly tomorrow and be able to sleep now. What about lying down with the laptop so I can rest my body but also do the assignment? Nah, I'll probably just fall asleep, so we're back to the first question. I guess sleeping now isn't so bad. But then I won't be able to sleep worry-free. But is there such thing as worry-free? There's always work to be done, and too little time to do it. And aren't all of our fates sealed to the slow decay of our bodies, cell by cell, molecule by molecule, as they succumb to the grips of time until the finality that is the end of our days?
Whoa, that escalated quickly. </stream_of_consciousness>
After pausing to think about what I had just thought about and concluding that taking an arbitrary philosophical approach probably wasn't the best way to come to a decision, the idea of using an economic approach popped into my head. I'm taking microeconomics right now, and I couldn't help but think of drawing out a production possibility frontier (PPF), so I did. It was bowed out, since this was a case of increasing opportunity cost. Naturally, this meant that I should've sought a middle ground to balance out the benefits of both options while maximizing efficiency, but again, that would lead back to the "lie down and work" option, which didn't seem likely to happen. I proceeded to write down opportunity costs – like time and energy – of each option and eventually had the whole back side of one of my old physics quizzes covered in random econ stuff. I often think about times like this and of how dumb it is that I do extra work I do to avoid doing other work.
Then I remembered I had to do the laundry, so I put my clothes and Tide Pods in the wash andate some of the Tide Pods went back upstairs. I finally decided to do my physics homework, since I was already locked in to being awake to finish doing the laundry. While I was doing it, I contemplated whether that was the most efficient decision, constantly worrying that I wouldn't wake up on time and looking up articles on REM sleep and Circadian rhythms to see if I could find a way to determine a time at which to set my alarm guaranteed to wake me up (unfortunately, I found no such method).
Once I was about halfway done with my physics homework, I went back down to throw my stuff in the dryer. I went upstairs to continue doing my homework, and in between problem's I'd look at one of the many PPF curves I'd drawn and mentally mark where on the graph I was. For you econ people out there, I'll just say I was inside the bounds of the curve and Vilfredo Pareto would not be proud.
Finally I finished the homework, and I went downstairs to get my stuff from the dryer. I had no idea what time it was, but there was already faint blue light illuminating the blinds on the windows in the laundry room. When I opened the dryer and grabbed some clothes, it felt warm. You know the feeling: pleasant, comforting, cozy. I'd gotten used to how cold it was, so the warmth felt even better. It was like my reward for finishing my homework (albeit at the last minute). On top of that, I was mentally exhausted for simultaneously doing a physics assignment and arguing with myself over economic and philosophic principles. So I stuck my head in the dryer and hugged all the warm clothes. Before I knew it, I'd fallen asleep. I am so glad it was at such an odd time in the morning that there was no one there to see that. I mean, just imagine coming down to the laundry room in the morning and seeing some kid sleeping in the dryer. Like I said: weird.
While all these events might seem like small, trivial things that have no bearing on what I'm going to do with my life, thinking about them in retrospect does make me more appreciative of them. Especially for college students, it's important to enjoy the little things when you're swamped with classes, clubs, work, and side projects. It's important to unwind a little, be weird, and have some fun. And having stories like these in your memory to tell your friends and family to laugh over or just think about when you're in the mood for it is essential to staying happy.
I've probably made my life sound super boring to you by writing almost 1,000 words about how I did my laundry that one time at 5 in the morning, but that's because these are the things that nobody writes about. You might see something about how going to parties or taking a vacation on a cruise or going to Disneyland helps you stay composed when your life starts seeming too hectic, but like I said, I think the little things that you might not think twice about are what ultimately keep us afloat when we're stranded in a sea of stress between islands of determinedly significant times of relaxation. That, or college has just made me that crazy. ∎
- - -
Too Many Thoughts: Doing the Laundry
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/2z6py74
Despite all this weirdness, I spend most of my time being serious, between classes and attending various activities like job fairs, but it's these little things that add spice to your life.
For instance, summer session was my first time living away from home by myself for an extended period of time. On move-in day, I was super proud with my setup: desk by the window, mattress in the corner... yeah, desk by the window and mattress in the corner. It was pretty sparse. Still, I was really happy with it. And it was on the first floor, which was an awesome bonus perk.
Well, except for one thing. I liked to keep my window open at night because it got hot really easily even if it was cold outside. So there I was, sitting down at my desk, enjoying the cool air as I browsed memes on Google, when I noticed a droplet of water on the window screen. Then, all of a sudden, a stream of water came jetting from the window like I was being assailed in some urban-warfare water gun fight. I was lucky enough to save my laptop, but everything else on my desk got soaked. You know how when you're at your desk and you accidentally spill a glass of water or whatever you're drinking and it's the worst because there's a ton of papers and stuff on it? That's what happened, except instead of being one-and-done with a glass emptying its contents that gradually spread across the surface, it was like there was a shower head constantly spewing out water from an infinite reservoir that could only be turned off by a switch that wasn't there. And the corner where my mattress was also was in range of the window, so my beddings got wet too.
Really, why does the path of the sprinkler include a direct shot into the window? There aren't even any plants in there. Regardless, it's still a fun story to tell, and part of what's made college exciting for me so far.
In a separate episode, I found a cricket in my room while I was doing my homework. At first, I had no idea what to do. I considered just ignoring it, but then I realized that I really didn't particularly like the idea of a cricket crawling on me in my sleep, or worse, me accidentally crushing it while rolling over and leaving a stain on my bed on top of being guilty of insect manslaughter. Insectslaughter? Whatever. I couldn't just leave it. I didn't have a cup on hand, and even if I did, I figured the jump range on a cricket at a few centimeters off the ground was larger than the radius of any cup, so I looked around and saw the pot lid from the cooking stuff I brought from home (that I never actually used, now that I think about it) and spent about 20 minutes chasing the cricket around my room before I finally got it under the lid.
I still had to get it outside. I didn't have any thin, rigid surface to slide under the lid that actually spanned the vertical projection of its outer curvature, so I nudged the lid with the cricket inside over the folder I'd been given at the beginning of summer session. I then crawled on the floor, gradually pushing the lid and the folder all the way out my room, across the kitchen, and out the front door. Woohoo! I felt accomplished; figuring out how to move a cricket out of my room with limited resources was definitely more productive than staring at a screen of image macros with text in Impact font. I subsequently turned around and saw that the other person that was living with me, who was someone who had just finished grad school, had seen the whole thing and had a look on his face that clearly said "What even... well, you're a freshman I guess."
I think one of the weirdest things I've done so far (in college), though, was sleep in the dryer. Yes, the public dryer in the laundry room on the first floor of my dorm.
How did I end up there? Well, a little context: being the procrastinator that I am – come on, everyone is to some degree – I put off doing some online assignments on a Sunday night when I was staying in Irvine for the weekend. Everyone else had gone to bed and it was about 4 in the morning. I had a lot on my mind, mostly because I was overthinking some small decision as per usual. Should I go lie down in my bed? On one hand, it's cold and lying down is nice. Plus, I'm tired, and I could use a break. On the other hand, I'll probably fall asleep and not get my work done. Well, it's not due until 11 AM, so if I wake up a couple hours before then I'll have time. But will I wake up early? Probably not. But my bed has a blanket, and I like blankets. Then again, it's just physics, so I can probably finish it quickly now and be able to sleep in peace. Then again, it's just physics, so I can probably finish it quickly tomorrow and be able to sleep now. What about lying down with the laptop so I can rest my body but also do the assignment? Nah, I'll probably just fall asleep, so we're back to the first question. I guess sleeping now isn't so bad. But then I won't be able to sleep worry-free. But is there such thing as worry-free? There's always work to be done, and too little time to do it. And aren't all of our fates sealed to the slow decay of our bodies, cell by cell, molecule by molecule, as they succumb to the grips of time until the finality that is the end of our days?
Whoa, that escalated quickly. </stream_of_consciousness>
After pausing to think about what I had just thought about and concluding that taking an arbitrary philosophical approach probably wasn't the best way to come to a decision, the idea of using an economic approach popped into my head. I'm taking microeconomics right now, and I couldn't help but think of drawing out a production possibility frontier (PPF), so I did. It was bowed out, since this was a case of increasing opportunity cost. Naturally, this meant that I should've sought a middle ground to balance out the benefits of both options while maximizing efficiency, but again, that would lead back to the "lie down and work" option, which didn't seem likely to happen. I proceeded to write down opportunity costs – like time and energy – of each option and eventually had the whole back side of one of my old physics quizzes covered in random econ stuff. I often think about times like this and of how dumb it is that I do extra work I do to avoid doing other work.
Then I remembered I had to do the laundry, so I put my clothes and Tide Pods in the wash and
Once I was about halfway done with my physics homework, I went back down to throw my stuff in the dryer. I went upstairs to continue doing my homework, and in between problem's I'd look at one of the many PPF curves I'd drawn and mentally mark where on the graph I was. For you econ people out there, I'll just say I was inside the bounds of the curve and Vilfredo Pareto would not be proud.
Finally I finished the homework, and I went downstairs to get my stuff from the dryer. I had no idea what time it was, but there was already faint blue light illuminating the blinds on the windows in the laundry room. When I opened the dryer and grabbed some clothes, it felt warm. You know the feeling: pleasant, comforting, cozy. I'd gotten used to how cold it was, so the warmth felt even better. It was like my reward for finishing my homework (albeit at the last minute). On top of that, I was mentally exhausted for simultaneously doing a physics assignment and arguing with myself over economic and philosophic principles. So I stuck my head in the dryer and hugged all the warm clothes. Before I knew it, I'd fallen asleep. I am so glad it was at such an odd time in the morning that there was no one there to see that. I mean, just imagine coming down to the laundry room in the morning and seeing some kid sleeping in the dryer. Like I said: weird.
While all these events might seem like small, trivial things that have no bearing on what I'm going to do with my life, thinking about them in retrospect does make me more appreciative of them. Especially for college students, it's important to enjoy the little things when you're swamped with classes, clubs, work, and side projects. It's important to unwind a little, be weird, and have some fun. And having stories like these in your memory to tell your friends and family to laugh over or just think about when you're in the mood for it is essential to staying happy.
I've probably made my life sound super boring to you by writing almost 1,000 words about how I did my laundry that one time at 5 in the morning, but that's because these are the things that nobody writes about. You might see something about how going to parties or taking a vacation on a cruise or going to Disneyland helps you stay composed when your life starts seeming too hectic, but like I said, I think the little things that you might not think twice about are what ultimately keep us afloat when we're stranded in a sea of stress between islands of determinedly significant times of relaxation. That, or college has just made me that crazy. ∎
- - -
Too Many Thoughts: Doing the Laundry
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/2z6py74
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