This has, quite simply, been the week from hell.
After falling prey to a 24-hour flu bug on Monday and being unable to do anything other than curl up in my bed like a traumatized rolly-polly bug. I tried to stay up for a while in the hope that the massive headache that was hammering in my brain like an angry rhino trying to escape a too-small enclosure, but gave up when ten o'clock rolled around and the aching in my joints was only growing steadily more fierce. I took a few Aspirin and passed out.
On Tuesday, I woke up still feeling somewhat like a piece of soggy toast, so I opted to sleep in and miss my first class. After sleeping for a while longer, I dragged myself out of bed and got a few things done before heading to C.A.R., where I got some encouragement to finish up my interviews in the form of being reminded that transcripts from my interviews were due in a week.
I went home and, feeling generally worn out like a well-loved pair of Tom's shoes, went straight to my bed and laid down. In the effort of getting some thoughts on my topic from the college students who are the primary contributors to it, I made a massive Facebook event and invited all the college students I know to it. The response was phenomenal, and within hours, I had so many people trying to share their thoughts and experiences that I was having trouble keeping track of everything. The experience was somewhat akin to walking into a busy dog park holding several large steaks and an assortment of cheeses.
Armed with vast amounts of new information, I felt a little more confident in my ability to get things done for C.A.R. in time, so I turned my efforts to starting on the write-up of my Media Management semester-long research project since the rough draft for it is due Friday. I wrote the first section, realized my brain was fried, worked with a few more responses to my C.A.R. interviews and went to bed.
Wednesday was just insanity. I was on campus by 8:30 for Media Management class, sat through a guest lecture, then headed to Web Techniques, where we thankfully had a work day in which I completed about half of the website I'm building as my final project for the class. After class, I sprinted across the street to grab some lunch during the hour break I had before I needed to head back to the insanity that had become my life.
I worked through lunch, then headed back to Kedzie to start my copy editing shift at the Collegian. Due to a combination of factors, including the fact that I was the only person on duty for first round editing, a few stories had numerous and ridiculous problems and my brain was about as capable of thinking as a mouse caught in a trap is of running around, it took me seven hours to get through all the material.
By the time I got home, I had spent over 11 hours on campus and really needed dinner, so I bolstered my courage by making some zesty tilapia tacos with homemade guac. After feeding myself and my determination, I dove into my Media Management project, determined to get through part four of five before I went to bed. I set to work, typing at a fiendish speed for about an hour before I started to crash like a jetliner running a few engines short, which was about how optimistic I was feeling as well.
I finished part four at about 3 a.m., finished up some other things and was in bed by 4 a.m.
Waking up this morning felt a bit like coming out of a coma: I felt somewhat accomplished because I had both met my goal last night and successfully woken up on time, but for the most part, everything within me screamed, "GO BACK TO BED, YOU FOOL!!" I went to class.
After class, I conducted an interview for one of a couple articles I need to get written for my practicum at the Collegian, then headed home to grab lunch and make some coffee before C.A.R.
Today is a work day, so I figured it would be a good day to share my thoughts and feelings on the first blog post for this class. Plans for the rest of class include working on transcripts for my interviews and double-checking that everything's in order for getting my Media Management project done.
If another blog post comes along after this, you'll know I've survived.
Signing off for now,
Melanie
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