Thursday, February 2, 2012

Stress Remedy?...Punxsutawney Phil & Zumba!


It’s week three of Spring semester here at Regis and already my semester is booked!…Daily group tutoring sessions with students ranging from undergraduate to Doctorate students, weekly hours in the writing center, private tutoring sessions almost nightly, and promotions for Graduate Admissions…oh yeah, and class & school work. Phew!  This morning I spent the greater part of breakfast trying to convince my sister that it was Tuesday, not Thursday.  Spring semester has certainly lived up to its reputation thus far: It’s FAST.  And in a very literal way, Spring semester has actuallyfelt like spring; 60 degree afternoons, sunshine in the mornings, and even singing birds (I’m pretty sure I got a bug bite the other day…could be an allergic reaction. Uh oh).  Thanks to that cute little groundhog, we have been “cursed” with 6 more weeks of this winter weather. Darn.
                  While it is important to keep busy in graduate school, balance is important.  What do I do to cope?  I schedule more things.  Early mornings, late nights, in between classes, I make sure my planner is covered in ink and stuffed with appointment brochures and cards.  But if you were to actually peak into my planner, the tiny last minute write-ins are not extra classes or meetings.  They are fun things like shopping, watching my favorite TV show, doing my nails, and working out (Yes guys, it’s fun).  Every night, for example, I schedule one hour of time just to play games on my computer.  As a hard-core “Words with Friends” addict, this is something I HIGHLY look forward to.  I’m pretty sure the entire undergraduate services department looks forward to it also as I have wrangled them into being just as obsessed with the game as I am.  I have certain shows that I just love and instead of feeling remorse about missing them to study, I just watch them.  I take that time to relax, decompress from my day, and catch up with my sister.  Yes, we do live together, but I think I see her as often as an eclipse.  Relaxing is just one activity I pencil into my free time.  I also try to exercise when I get the chance.  This means a lot of early mornings, late nights, and “costume changes” throughout the day.  But the benefits are so worth it.   
This past Wednesday I attended a Zumba class taught by our very own Claudia Pouravelis, Director of Graduate Admissions.  Having never done one before, I immediately signed up, knowing that anything taught my Claudia HAD to be awesome!  So I pulled myself out of bed, downed a quick breakfast, and headed to Regis for the 8am class.  By 9am I was covered in sweat, completely disgusting, but so ready for the day ahead which was slated to be through the roof.  I ran upstairs to meet my first appointment for the day who laughed at me because I showed up sporting my gym shorts and brown riding boots.  Woops. Somebody’s FABULOUS!  She wasn’t laughing when I rocked our session for 2 hours straight, without breaks, and suggested we meet the following day…at 6am.  Let’s just say that some of my appointments for next Wednesday have called to reschedule for a day when the “Zumba-crazed drill sergeant” isn’t in attendance. 
                  The rest of my day went similarly; I buzzed through filing, whipped out APA edits, and had a very successful Advanced Pathophysiology tutor session.  At 3pm, the start of the session, I had one student in attendance and by 3:40 there were over 15, which is a large group for a drop in session.  In the midst of questions and drawing mitochondria on the white board, the director of the Student Success Center had booked us a classroom for next week’s session.  It was a really great feeling to have it be 5pm and still have energy to thank each student for attending.  I had been on the Regis campus for 9 hours going non-stop and felt like I could do hurdles.  That Zumba class had certainly changed my day for the better…and maybe even frightened a few of my students into studying more!:)
                  This moral of this week’s story is simple:  There is always time to do something for yourself.  Whether it’s waking up an hour earlier to attend a class or take a walk with a friend, it’s these moments that drag us away from the duties of being a graduate student and make us “human” again.  Do the things you love and the things that seem like chores will seem less like work.  Gotta dash.  Next on my schedule is lunch with my co-worker and good friend Caitlyn.  It’s her birthday this weekend and we have to plan festivities. 
 The life of a workaholic grad student is really so hard;)  Until next week!

1 comment:

  1. Addict. Wouldn't that be a great play for Words With Friends. As a blogger myself, Words With Friends seems a more appropriate time-waster than, say, television. Bottom line, my blog has more word game posts than thoughtful entries. Too easily preoccupied by WWF and TV. I will always justify my TV time as long as I can tie it back to wordplay. Blame my love of Scrabble, WWF and TV trivia for me creating my blog and the anagrams I invent. Still, all these distractions keep me from posting interesting stuff like you do.
    Leona

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