Editor’s note: Casey Baumberger studies journalism and mass communications at Iowa State University. She is a senior. This is her inaugural column in the occasional series, “A day in the life of . . . ,” profiling the daily lives of people. Readers are encouraged to offer Casey suggestions for profiles.
Hello, everybody!
Since this is the first column in the “A day in the life of . . . ” series, I figured I should let my readers know a little more about who will be writing them.
Well, I’m Casey, and I am a college student at Iowa State University.
Now, when people find out I’m a college student and not a full-time member of the workforce, I’m often met with sentences such as, “Oh, I’m jealous of you. I’d love to go out and party four days a week,” or “I wish I had as much free time as you have.”
Let me tell you how untrue those statements are.
A day in the life of this particular college kid is packed full of classes and work. On the days I have class, I wake up before the sun, drive 35 minutes to Ames, and then I’m in class from 9:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.
I don’t get paid to be there, and I don’t get a lunch break. I spend the 10 minutes I have in between my five classes trying to schedule orthodontist appointments, finish a paper and read the last chapter in that one book I need to finish.
On the days I don’t have class, I take my sister to and from school, and I work at least eight hours doing physical labor at a barn.
On weekends, I work at my family’s company and do the homework I couldn’t get done during the week.
And at some point during the week, I have to figure out when to schedule interviews for potential summer jobs and internships, hair cuts, dentist appointments, when I can attend my sister’s skating competition, when I can see my grandparents and, of course, when to sleep.
Yes, I have to schedule in sleep.
On Monday it starts all over. When I do get free time, I try to see my friends and actually do one of my hobbies, which are ice skating, horseback riding and dancing.
So, no, I do not spend four nights of week partying. I spend four nights a week either in class or working. The other nights I spend doing homework.
College is hard. College is stressful. College is not a carefree time to party with friends and stay up late.
