It's 10:35 on Columbus Day morning, and what a surprise, I'm still pretty tired. Everyone goes into this weekend saying, "Oh, mom, I'm going to catch up on so much sleep, and I'm going to get so much work done, and I'm going to be so productive... you won't even recognize me on Parent's Weekend! I'm going to be the best kid ever after Columbus Day!"
Lies. Blatant lies. Go back to bed in shame, students of Tufts. Because I'm willing to bet you are just as tired and behind in work as when you got out of your last class on Friday.
Why is this? Why do we do this to ourselves? I can only think of one answer: we are stupid college students. Deny all you want, but it's the truth. I remember how smart I used to be in high school. I'd be like, "Okay, Meredith, you need to go to bed after TGIF is over at 10:00 p.m. because you have a long Girl Scout event on Saturday morning!" And since I had not discovered the wonders of AIM or the Facebook, I would kiss my parents good night, say my prayers, and drift peacefully off to sleep. (Yes, I am a lifetime member of the Girl Scouts. You've read the columns. How else do you think I got into this school?)
What happened to cute little high school Meredith? Well, she went to Tufts and became a stupid college student. Sorry, correction: a stupid, tired, college student. I think it's the fact that I have no supervision. My parents never used to tell me to go to bed, but it was implied. When I stayed up late studying, my mom would come in my room and say, "You're still up? I think you should go to bed. No use being tired!" Sleep sounded so tempting that I would pack up my things and go to bed, studying be darned.
Even on the weekends, if I wasn't doing anything, I would just go to bed, because I knew that even though my parents wouldn't tell me to go to bed, they would wake me up at 9:00 in the morning to mow the lawn no matter how tired I was. The presence of my parents willed me to sleep without words, and I was oh-so refreshed all the time.
Fast-forward two years to this very moment. This weekend, I was up for 21 hours straight. Now most of this was not my choice. I woke up at 6 a.m. on Saturday to go to a sailing regatta in Maine. I know what you're thinking, didn't it rain all weekend? Well yes, in fact, it did, and our regatta got canceled after three races, and we had to change into dry clothes in the car due to Bates' lack of a boathouse. The only thing that salvaged the day was a trip to the L. L .Bean factory store, which, for all of you who have never been there, is as close to heaven as any person is ever going to get. I get warm and fuzzy just thinking of all that fleece!
I didn't sleep on the way home due to someone (cough, you owe me, cough) falling asleep on my lap for an hour. I returned to Tufts, tired but cozy in my new fleece, and convinced myself that I was simply too tired to go to my friend's birthday party, which I planned. I dragged my tired self into the shower, and after that, I caught my eighth wind of the day and was totally awake for the party. I ended up completely losing track of time and didn't end up going to sleep until 3:00 in the morning. What was I thinking?
I then slept half the day on Sunday, and didn't get any work done. I don't have that much to do, but I was busy watching movies, icing cookies for my friend's birthday, and complaining about how tired I was. I became a complete and utter slob for a day. I ended up only writing a paragraph of my homework. (Actually, I didn't. I'm just saying that because I promised my parents I would get some work done and they read my articles religiously. Sorry, Mom and Dad.)
Clearly, all of us at Tufts know how this story is going to end, because it is one repeated week in and week out. I didn't do any work on Sunday, went out Sunday night, stayed up late convincing my friend that she didn't have a concussion, and went to bed dead-to-the-world tired, again. It is now Monday of a long weekend, and I have nothing to show for my past two days except a lot of memories and some Christmas presents, L.L.Bean style. Why am I so dumb?
Sleep. If we all love it so much, why don't we get more of it? I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. So go back to bed, tired Jumbos. You can't fight the sleepiness. I've tried in most every class I've ever taken. Just try to finish your work, and promise yourself that you're going to go home next Columbus Day weekend. As for me, I might finish my work now, or I may just jump back in bed because my roommate has decided that, although we've only been up for an hour, it's already nap time. I have to say, I like your style Fowle, I like your style.
Good luck in your sleep endeavors Jumbos, you know that you have a sympathizer in me. Good night.
(Also, since my title is the "Eyes of Texas" I'm trying to say something about Texas in each of my articles. Since this article didn't have anything... I only have one thing to add: LETS. GO. 'STROS!)
