A Day in My November
My days normally start with a concerning amount of hatred for alarm clocks, the cold, and the 7th hour out of the 24 us humans get on the daily. It settles down into a deep regret that hits me as soon as I get in my bus, over forgetting my thermos of chai at home every single morning without fail. Some things we never learn. And I pay for those things in the form of overpriced separate chai sold in the student cafes at my university. Thinking about how these eateries make their living on innocent human errors like forgetting and regretting also takes up quite some time of my day. And some of it goes by in searching for the perfect sound track to curate my day around. As a student in Pakistan, the secret weapon I tackle adulting with is romanticizing life. So let me paint you a picture: A day in the life of a (very tired) Freshman from Pakistan!
The ungodly hour: my mornings:
I hit snooze on my alarm clock at least three times. Then I endure freezing water+ weather before I’m finally dressed in something warm. Winters in Pakistan are very tricky though. You’d be wearing three layers in the morning and melting in them by afternoon. Due to the past snoozing of alarm clocks, I barely ever have time for breakfast, and I always “almost” make it to my bus stop in time, my hands overflowing with all the things I didn’t have time to pack. After this initial panic, I spend my bus ride setting the day’s soundtrack. I get off at the cafe nearest to my campus and have a very economical breakfast of chai and samosa. Since it’s mid-season, I unfortunately have to pair breakfast with a very hasty exam revision, after which I pack it up and walk all the way to the law school.
The place I spend most of my day at: uni:
University life for me has been a rollercoaster. My absolute lack of faith in higher education only lasts as long as the deathly cold mornings part. But autumn in NUST is a different experience altogether. I like to describe my university as a lot of campuses scattered at some distance across a forest. So there are many many trees, and the place looks beautiful in fall. The walk I make to the law school every day with leftover chai and the perfect song makes it seem like I’m living in a movie. The skies are always golden, the chill is perfect, and the leaves crunching under my feet as I walk give me purpose. I have classes till 6 pm every day, and the few breaks I get in between are spent eating comfort food and enjoying the hum of a diverse university life around me. A favourite pastime of mine is getting coffee and donuts, and sitting down in one of the grounds to do a little people watching.
The study stuff: exams, assignments, classes:
One thing everyone will always say about law school is that it’s hard, very hard. The tough class schedule barely leaves enough time for exam prep and assignments. So quite often, I stay back at uni to study at the library and I take the night bus home. November so far has been a fl urry of stress, studying and no sleep. I give an exam, stay back to prepare for the next one, and by the time I get home I only have time to sleep. But I spend that time on my part time job. So my sleep cycle these days consists of half hour power naps. But hey! It's only one more week. Normally, I take my classes and come home to work on my job and other assignments. Any revision for quizzes and projects is done on the weekends. While this schedule is very challenging, it works for me.
The colour: my interests in uni:
My favourite thing about university is defi nitely the extracurricular societies. Ever since I came here, I’ve had more exposure and opportunities to polish and exhibit my interests than ever before. I contribute a lot of my time performing gigs or writing for the university’s magazine. I participate in moot competitions and help arrange legal workshops for experience. Through all this, I get to meet so many amazing, talented and likeminded people. The friendships that have sparked through this process are ones I know I’ll have for life. This experience, and these people are defi nitely the colour of my life.
The downsides: what uni takes away:
Time. I used to have so much more time. In Pakistan, I grew up in a very family oriented household, we’re all so close knitted. From sharing rooms with my siblings, to plates at the dinner table and our literal closets. But after such hectic days at university, I come home with barely any energy for interacting with my family and I keep thinking that I’ll catch a break soon, I’m still waiting for it. I also seem to have no time for my religion. It’s been very hard creating a schedule that fi ts my classes and my prayers and everything else. I keep missing one or the other and it's very frustrating. The shift from high school to university also takes away a lot of confi dence. I used to have so much pride in my social skills, but interacting with 50% more people than I did in high school is very draining. You see such ambitious, talented, smart people and it always makes you feel like you’re lacking something. Building a healthy perspective and taking care of yourself as you enter university life is very difficult but just as important.
The comfort: my nights:
Don’t get me wrong, uni is mostly awesome. But when I get home after a full 12 hours, all I want to do is curl up in my blanket, the one with fl owers on it. I cuddle next to my parents as all us siblings give them a full debrief of our day, eating warm roti and whatever dish she’s made. We drink yakhni (a form of soup) because our mother thinks it makes our bones stronger as we watch dramas with them on the TV. After that, I do any work left on my to do list for the day and drag myself to offer Isha prayers. Right before bed, I drink warm milk, do a little self care( braiding my
hair, skincare etc.) and I set my alarm, knowing full well that I’ll hit snooze on it three times the next morning anyway.