England has been a time. Being abroad is truly an awesome, amazing experience, but school-wise, everything feels a so different from what I’m used to. Most of my days are spent waking up late, grabbing coffee and sometimes a sandwich as I brace the cold on the way to an afternoon class, and then alternating between writing and playing on Tumblr until about 2:00 AM. Without the carefully-structured schedule I’m used to at Rollins, I’m finding myself sleeping late, doing less, and just not motivated to leave the warmth of my dorm.
Lancaster places such a strong emphasis on the importance of independent study that I end up doing almost nothing for my classes. Even the amount of work they expect you to do on your own is less than the bare minimum students need to do to stay caught up at Rollins, though. I read 2-3 novels per week for my two English classes, which really only takes a few hours out of every day if I plan it right, but I don’t have to do any form of preparation for my film class. I tried doing the readings for the first three weeks or so but it turns out that the lectures were essentially extremely detailed summaries of the readings. I’m still pretty sure that one of the lectures was just a word-for-word reading of the assigned text, so I gave up on those in favor of an extra hour of Tumblr per week.
I can definitely see how this system can work for some students, but I’m quickly learning that if I’m not in the library at 2:00 AM wondering how I’m going to finish three articles, four essays, study for seven exams, plan nine club meetings, and attend twelve sorority events in the next four days, I kind of disintegrate into a sleepy eight-year-old.
This sleepy eight-year-old needs some homework.
I do get out occasionally, though. I’ve joined a pole dancing club and am getting some form of exercise that way – shockingly, it’s the one sport I’ve found that doesn’t make me too dizzy to stand or make me think my heart is going to explode. The rest of the week, I follow Micah to the Sunday dinners at the chaplaincy center, and on Wednesdays we play Pokemon with the Pokemon Society sometimes. Every other week or so Micah and I go on day trips outside of Lancaster, which are always fun. Recently, we went to Stratford-Upon-Avon, where we explored Shakespeare’s hometown and the beautifully cheesy gift shops. It was one of my favorite unofficial field trips, even if it was under 50 degrees Fahrenheit all day.
There is hope on the horizon, though – the guidelines for our final assignments of the term were just released, and I’m looking forward to moving out of bed and into the library soon. I may have about sixty days until my film essay is due, but guess who’s going to be outlining it starting immediately?
This sleepy eight-year-old.