Sanity Tips from a Grouch

“Are we there yet?”

That is the question uttered wearily by every student during this point at the semester. Go on, ask one. They’ll turn to you with bleary eyes and caffeinated jitters, and repeat that same question.

Mid-terms has just past, like a great typhoon of late-night studying and flurry of readings and scribblings. The tide has drawn, but you never know when it’ll flood back with a storm of new papers and exams.

Boy, college is tough. But I’m not here to bitch. I’m here to share a few of my secrets on how to stay sane in the midst of all the stress and craziness.

Here are a few of my own personal guidelines (some I break, some I uphold like a religious commandment):

Sophia’s Ways to Maintain Sanity in College

• The 7pm Rule: Never open a textbook or study or do anything academic-related after 7pm. Once the clock reads 7:00 pm, I close up my notebooks, and relax.
  (This is my favorite rule. I stick to it no matter what. Even during mid-terms. Which is why you could see my blogging when I have mid-terms the next day)
• The Morning Coffee: I always try to wake up about at least an hour and a half earlier than my first class, so that I can go out for a run, come back home, fix breakfast, drink my fresh-brewed coffee.
  (This sets me off for a good day. It is never a good idea to rush off to class right out of bed, because you’re just not in the right mentality to pay attention in class. Might as well sleep in. Also, without coffee, I’m a total…bitch)
• Be smart-selective with readings: I don’t read everything that my professor assigns. Some are just plain unnecessary! Figure out what the professor wants, and emphasizes on, and focus on that.
  (I’m still trying to get the hang of this)
• Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy: No matter what I do, even a 10-page research paper (groan!), I try my best to make it enjoyable. It’s not a matter of hypnotizing or forcing yourself to “enjoy” it, but a matter of changing your attitude about that assignment. Try to find some aspects of it that may interest you. If you stay positive, your time spent will be much more productive and effective.
  (True story. I experience this all the time)
• Start on your assignment ASAP: Don’t ever procrastinate. It can do you no good.
  (I actually start on my assignments the day I get them. While my classmates are struggling to finish their essays, I have mine done 2 days ahead of time. Love the breathing space!)
• Eat well: Duh. Like I needed to even tell you this!
  (But not if you have a mandated partial meal plan. Like I do. Scroll down, and let me explain)

Unfortunately, I still have 43 meals left to choke down in my school dining hall. Damn it. It’s already past half the semester, and I’ve only dined there for a total of 7 meals. And I’m already so, so, so sick of all the food there.

I have, however, found the dining cafeteria a good place to study:
They have internet access and power cords for my laptop, so I just hitch my Macbook up and take advantage of the unlimited drinks and snacks.

Like say, granola in a bit of milk, with chunks of chocolate:
Warmed up in the microwave, the chocolate melts into the mixture, and the granola gets sort of chewy…
Not bad, but it was too sweet. The first bowl was good. But after my second bowl, I thought I was going to puke.

So another time, I decided to do brunch, since how can anyone mess up brunch food, right?

Wrong.

Check this out:
 Salad, fruit, turkey sausage, frittata, and omelet. With diet coke.

Salad is fine. Fruit is okay. Turkey sausage is blah. Frittata is blah. Omelet is waaaaay under-seasoned.
How the hell does one mess up an omelet? Is this some crazy low-sodium rule that the school has? And where is the cheese I ordered? No cheese makes Sophia a very, very unhappy grouch.

Disappointed, I just filled up on frittata:
…And more frittata:
And more frittata, with another sausage patty:
 And yet more frittata, with yet another patty:
I used the same plate for the omelet, so it’s still there, cold and rejected.

It’s something about the fact that this lackluster meal cost me $11 that makes me stuff myself to the brim with lackluster food. Does this make sense? That in order to get my money’s worth, I feel the need to fill myself up to the gills!

Poor Mimi. During our weekly Thursday meet-ups, I sometimes have to drag her to dine at the cafeteria. And they’ve been consistently bad. But we managed to find a few items that were actually edible.

Vegetarian Shepherd’s pie that was all potatoes and no filling:
Some kind of Indian-spiced vegetable medley that was actually pretty good minus all the grease:
 Mango-Chutney Chicken salad with tzatziki sauce:
Some kind of beef curry that was tough, stringy, and spat out:
Boring egg salad and tuna salad: 
These totally needed hot sauce. And lots of it.

On the brighter hand, I found out that Fridays was Asian-themed. Despite my ambivalence, the food wasn’t too bad:
 Asian sweet-and-sour rice noodle salad, cheese pizza, tzatziki sauce.

And second plate:
 Pepperoni & Sausage pizza, lemongrass mashed potatoes, green curry with shrimp and white rice

There was not a hint of lemongrass in that mashed potatoes, so I suspect they just threw that in there to sound fancy and go along with the Asian-theme. The green curry was pretty good, though.

So far, a lot of misses and a few acceptables. And I have 43 more rounds to go. God. Damn. It. I tried to swipe my friend in for a free meal, but they wouldn’t let me because I only have a partial meal plan.

Huh?! I’ve never heard such complete bullshit in my life!

To think my brother goes to Virginia-Tech, the school with one of the best on-campus dining, complete with lobsters and wood-grilled pizzas. Next time he complains about the food, I shall smack him and make him eat ours.

Wow. How did this post turn out to be so negative? Sorry, I promised not to bitch, but as I said, bad food makes me grouchy!

I’ll be back to my more chipper self by the next post. I promise!

Question of the Day: Remember my 7 pm rule? What about you? Are you a late-worker? A procrastinator?
And any tips for me to enjoy school dining food more?