A Typical Day In My Life

I’ve heard a lot of people say, “There’s no typical day in my life as a Carleton student!” Certainly, your schedule can be easily interrupted by various activities on campus, meetings with professors or classmates, random COVID surveillance tests, etc. However, as a creature of habit, I always like to have a routine in my life. Here’s a peek into a typical Monday/Wednesday in my life.

7:30 am—Get up

It’s early, I know. But I don’t even have time to think about it every morning, because I have to rush to get to my 1a class at 8:30 am. Many students suffer from 1a classes, especially in winter. However, as a morning person, I find the 1a class the perfect match for me. If I’m not waking up early, who knows if I’ll ever get up in the morning.

8:00 am—Breakfast at Burton Dining Hall

Luckily, the dining hall is on the way to my first class. The breakfast at Burton is often of good quality. I like to have a pancake or a French toast and a bowl of cereal with milk. Sometimes I also grab a cup of tea before leaving. There are quite a lot of people in the dining hall early in the morning. Occasionally, I skip breakfast and eat my own snacks, because an extra 15 minutes of sleep truly means a lot.

8:30 am-9:40 am—The first class

Classes on Monday and Wednesday are 70 minutes long. I continue trying to keep myself awake while listening to the lecture. Hopefully, my professor doesn’t notice this.

9:50 am-11:00 am—The second class

The break between each class is 10 minutes long. My second class is in Anderson Hall, which is only 3 minutes away from my first class. After finishing my morning classes, I like to do some light work, such as replying to emails, preparing course materials, and writing my to-do list.

12:00 pm—Lunch at LDC

For lunch, I always eat at Language and Dining Center with friends, because my third class is right inside LDC. Usually, there are not many people at that time. After lunch, my friends and I rush to our next class.

12:30 pm-1:40 pm—The third class

Thanks to my early schedule, my French course is my last class of the day. Hooray!

2:00 pm—Nap

Technically, I’m finished for the day. But at Carleton, that means I have more work to do. I usually find a quiet study spot at Anderson and take a short nap to re-energize myself before returning to work.

6:00 pm—Dinner at Burton 

For dinner, I always eat with friends at Burton, which is closer to my dorm than LDC. Since the menu for lunch and dinner at each dining hall is pretty much the same, it’s good to have a bit of variety. Because of COVID, many students choose to eat outside of the dining hall using Green2Go boxes, but there are still many people eating in the dining halls at this time.

7:00 pm—Working 

After dinner, I come back to my dorm and do some chores. Then I go back to work again.

11:30 pm—Sleep

My sleep time varies slightly depending on how tired I am, but I try to make sure that I get 8 hours of sleep every night. Sometimes I also do some reading to help me fall asleep.

You might notice that I do not have any classes on Tuesday and Thursday. Does that mean I’m free? No. Never. It’s true that I can relax some on those two days, but there is always lots of work to do: completing homework, going to office hours, working, reading books… I always find myself just as occupied as I am on Monday and Wednesday. But don’t freak out by my seemingly intense schedule! Remember, you only have to do as much work as you decide to do, and you will surely find your work-life balance at Carleton.

Sherry is a first-year student from Hangzhou, China, and holds a real passion for travel and food. She is thinking about majoring in Mathematics, but would also like to explore more in Economics, Computer Science, English, and French. Things she likes to do in her free time include hanging out with friends, taking photos, writing random stuff, and finding the funny in everyday life. She also got started with alpine skiing and is always ready for the trip to Welch Village every Friday! Meet the other bloggers!