How my liberal arts education ruined weekends
Every weekend I find myself saying the same thing: “I’m going to get off campus, maybe go downtown, explore the city.” Then I remember that I have to read the Inferno. And 4 chapters in my psych textbook. And 4 chapters about feminism. And I need to work on that UWriting essay I forgot existed. Then I spend all day indoors.
I like to think that this isn’t just me, because I know from talking to people that it isn’t. But that doesn’t mean it’s ok. I remember using weekends for doing nothing, if I wanted to. Even my first semester, with a lighter workload, I felt less bad than I do now if I abandon my work for a day and walk around downtown, buy some records, and eat food that nobody swiped my ID for.
That’s not to say that relaxing weekends don’t exist, or that there is no respite from work in EC and CrackDel. But there’s more to the city than MoHi debauchery, and when you’re elbow deep in problem sets or essays on certain weekends, it can feel like you’re missing out.
On top of that is the guilt that comes with going anywhere that isn’t Butler. It’s not overt, but it creeps in as you browse your way through Other Music or sit through a Lang Lang concert: the question that the guilt-producing center of your mind poses. “Shouldn’t I be doing work?” (I should probably read for psych, because I’m pretty sure that the “guilt-producing center” is not a thing.) The answer to this question is almost always yes. It’s an almost endless trade-off between doing work and enjoying the city you choose to do the work in.
I guess the guilt is nothing compared to enjoying living in New York City, because sleep isn’t something that most Columbians care about, and we’re all driven enough to get our shit done when it needs to be. Columbia just makes it hard to remember that we can have it all—and even if we can’t, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t leave Dante behind for a day or two and try to have a good time.
My life right now.
Sparknotes.com
yourself, please. You go to a competitive school. The culture here is that weekends are for work (and occasional drunken debauchery when you literally just cannot do any more work), not fun and relaxation. We can all sleep when we’re dead. You can either abandon your ambition for a more relaxed life or you can suck it up and work hard for worldly success. Most people here choose the former, but hey — no judgment. Do what makes you happy, man.
First of all, Columbia isn’t a competitive school. It’s not. It’s a school with high standards for admission that expects a lot of its students. But a competitive school is one where you hate everyone around you for doing well. My experience at Columbia has been profoundly different — I want everyone around me to do well too.
Second, the culture is what you make of it. Citing “the culture” isn’t a justification for perpetuating that culture.
Third, you can sleep and have fun. You can sleep, do well in classes, have a full-time job, and have fun. I have done it. There is no dichotomy between relaxation now and wordly success later. (As though college’s sole purpose was to accrete more money to some ethereal future bank account, but that’s another argument.)
That being said, David’s point about the tension we inevitably feel between enjoying ourselves and doing work is entirely valid. I know plenty of people who feel that way, and it’s worth discussion. But it’s assholes like you who are making it worse.
Summer Glau
Hey, it’s me…again!
“You can sleep, do well in classes, have a full-time job, and have fun. I have done it.”
#humblebrag
Why is this the umpteenth article written by a frantic freshman bemoaning the excess of work they have.
If you don’t like this, transfer to NYU.
and you’re complaining? goodluck next year, and the year after if you don’t transfer