Photo Credit: Angelin Thipahar, Illustrations Editor
A diary of how I spent my time
Hamna Ashfaq, The Mike Contributor
After a long semester, just what I needed: to wind down and catch up with work, life, and myself! At least that was my initial plan, but life threw some interesting curve balls out of nowhere. Before the reading week came, I had written down a detailed plan of what I wanted to overcome and achieve that week. With some readings piling up and new assignments waiting to be assigned after the week, I thought I would have a set plan and would be able to finish everything, while also taking a break.
The first day of reading week, also Family Day, turned out to be much more eventful than expected. I had planned on watching some missed lectures and starting an upcoming assignment. I had work in the morning and some errands to run in the afternoon, so the evening would have been my time to get done with studying. However, this also became the day my parents decided to surprise me by taking me out to dinner at our favourite restaurant! So, the day I thought would mark my day of work ended up becoming the day of utter ease and fun with my family – something that I had missed since winter break. I realized how much I needed to relax (really relax) and not continue to stress in the one week of break that I get during this semester.
Opposite of Monday, Tuesday turned out to be a very educationally productive day. I finished my job and then set out to finish studying one part of my work. With a meeting set with my professor on Wednesday, today was the only day to finish any missing work and to organize myself. So, with focus and determination, I accomplished finishing almost all the work I had to do. With multiple breaks and mini naps, I was prepared for the meeting with my professor. I also ended up eating my favourite dinner – poutine and chicken stuffed bread, yum!
Wednesday and Thursday were quite similar to one another; I had my favourite meals through those days to treat myself and had a full day to finish missing work, catch up with some lectures, and read. After the successful meeting with my professor on Wednesday, I decided to take the rest of the day off. I watched The Office with my sister and ate my favourite foods. I also had been reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, and Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thein. These two books have been my companions throughout the whole reading week, and I have been amazed by them to a high degree. Mary’s intriguing plot and Madeleine’s heartbreaking tale have kept me staying awake most nights in thought.
The end of reading week came faster than I anticipated. To end the week off, I managed to finish almost all of my work and cross off a lot of things from my to-do list. On Friday, I took my mom to her appointments and watched some old rom-coms with her, while the weekend was spent planning the upcoming in-person week and some much-needed extra sleep.
