São Paulo meets Delhi South in this daily routine!
Picture this: you are living in São Paulo, Brazil’s most populated — and you can even say agitated — city, but you are currently stuck at home, relying on online classes. This is what we, from Her Campus Cásper Líbero have been dealing with for the past year. Right now, our country is going through the worst moment of the pandemic, so our rooms and laptops are all that we’ll be seeing for a while. So, until things get better again, let me guide you through a day in the life of a Brazilian college student.
First things first, let me introduce myself: Hi! I’m Amanda Oestreich, I’m a 20-year-old student majoring in Journalism and collaborating as a Senior Editor in HC Cásper Líbero. I’ve been part of our chapter since my first months in college. In 2019, when I was a freshman, I started writing as a collaborator and I loved it so much that I just had to apply to be on the main team. In 2020, I got approved as an Editor and now in 2021, I got the amazing opportunity to be Senior Editor. Also, apart from college life, I’m an intern in a lifestyle magazine called Atrevida.
Ok, but enough with the presentation, let’s start my day!
It’s currently 7:45 am and I’m getting ready for my 8 am lesson: entrepreneurship and project management. And with getting ready I mean getting out of bed and opening my laptop straight away, pajamas and all — the perks of not having to open my camera in online classes. In normal times, I would just sit in class with my notebook open writing notes by hand, but since things got the way they are, I did not have the guts to buy any sort of stationery, so I started writing all my stuff in a note app I downloaded in my laptop that now basically runs my life.
After my first class, I have a short break, so I use that to grab something to eat. My first meal of the day is a mini chocolate Panetone — a sweet bread sold (or made) around Christmas, but somehow I got my hands on this gem in the middle of March — and a box of Toddynho — really famous chocolate milk in Brazil. I can guarantee you: it is not healthy at all but is yummy enough to get me through the morning.
Right now, I’m not watching any TV series, but I’m currently reading “Normal People” by Sally Rooney, with our book club here in Her Campus Cásper Líbero, and I’m also finishing “Stay With Me” by Ayóbámi Adébáyó. Both are great books, I 100% recommend them.
Lately, I’ve been eating lunch around 1 pm. Today, the menu is Stroganoff, rice, and shoestring potato. Stroganoff is a Russian dish, but Brazilians claimed an adapted recipe that doesn’t have anything to do with the original one, so we can consider it a traditional dish in our meals. The recipe consists of chicken cut in cubes, heavy cream, ketchup, mustard, and Worcestershire Sauce (it sounds a bit strange but I promise you it’s delicious).
At 2 pm, I go back to my room to start preparing my stuff to start my shift at the internship. That’s the time when I make my bed, organize my desk and, if there’s some time left, I check to see if there’s nothing to be done on our chapter’s home page. Since we have now 101 team members and over 300 monthly collaborators, there are new texts on our page that need to be edited and scheduled almost 24/7. Also, I check if some of my current collaborators sent me the draft of their articles for me to edit (this time, there was not much to be done, to be honest).
The clock strikes 3 pm and it’s now time to work! There’s not much to detail and explain, but my daily tasks at the internship consist of writing articles about celebrities — for example, yesterday I wrote about the cutest interview Zayn Malik did about his baby daughter Khai. After that, I do posts on social media about the articles — mainly on Twitter and Facebook.
When I’m working, I like to light up a scented candle, so I can ease my stress and just feel a bit more relaxed. Also, putting on a good playlist is a must-have so I can achieve my full productivity mode. Today I’m just blasting my “Roaring Twenties” one, so I can feel like the main character of a coming of age movie. (Dreamy, much?)
The writing-publishing-posting loop goes on until 9 pm, then, it’s time to end my shift.
This late-night moment is when I start to get my stuff from college and Her Campus done. After I take a quick shower (yes, I’m a part of the night shower gang, do not come for me), I sit down in front of my laptop again and create a to-do list of what I have to finish tonight. Right now, we’re only at the beginning of the semester, so honestly, I don’t have that much to do, but, at this time a couple of months in the future, I will be brainstorming about projects and essays non-stop.
Around 10 pm I eat a quick dinner with my family while watching the latest soap opera on TV, “Amor de Mãe”, which talks about a mom that’s searching for her long-lost son. The menu for the night is nothing refined, just leftovers from lunch.
After some TV time with my parents (and watching the most entertaining reality show on Brazilian television: “Big Brother Brasil”), I come back to my room (again) to organize and dedicate 100% of my time doing what I have to do for a chapter. It may seem late, but rather than an obligation, I find the editing and scheduling super relaxing and entertaining — basically, the perfect task to do before bed.
After organizing our schedule, that also has the incredible help of the other girls on the Editorial Team (shoutout to Anny, Gabriella, Laura, and Carol), and after editing what I needed, it’s time to call it a day.
My before-bed routine consists of doing my skincare again, brushing my teeth, reading a bit, and scrolling through social media (you can definitely catch me sleeping around 1 am just because I got way too distracted with my TikTok For You page).
Lights out and it’s time to sleep! See you next time, Delhi South!