Time… like I have any.
I’m not exactly sure why, but November is, and will likely always be, the busiest month of the fall semester! Harvard likes to make life interesting for its students during the month of November. We have second round midterms, cold weather (which if you’re from the South is detrimental to your ability to function), people dropping like flies from whatever sickness is circulating, obligations to a multitude of extracurriculars, and sophomores need to have their entire lives planned out by the 12th. Consequently, the majority of us have become zombified (or at least I have).
Forget No Shave November, here it’s more like No Life November. Social life? No, that’s the first thing to go if you want to maintain your status as an active student (you know, avoid academic probation). Avoiding the loss of your Harvard student status can have its drawbacks. You may start experiencing feelings of isolation. Unless the book-filled walls in the stacks are enough human interaction for you, it’s likely that you’re missing the sound of happy things, like laughter.
Sleep (my favorite mistress)? If you were some how miraculously getting sleep before November: first, tell me your secret, and second, say good-bye to your fresh face and sunny disposition. You will not be seeing that mistress again until reading period, if you’re lucky! You may catch glimpses of her during one of those late nights in Lamont or maybe ya’ll will have a secret rendezvous in the back row during lecture–alas the encounters will be of a fleeting nature.
November is also the time of year that all you lovely freshman (and probably the majority of upperclassman) fall into the vortex of call food comas. The Square could have been summed up in one word for me my freshman year: Pizza (on the DL, it still is). Let’s address an all-too-often occurring scenario: It’s late, you missed dinner (probably because you had a paper due or because you just decided at that moment in time sleep trumped food), and either way you’re starving. What do you do? Go to Tasty? No, that’s reserved for the weekends when you’re trying to salvage a life outside of your computer screen. What about the Market or Shake Shack? No and no. Here’s what you do: If you live in the river houses you hit up Noch’s 1) because it’s ridiculously close and 2) because pizza gives you a happy feeling that a burger could never compete with. If you’re in the Yard, Otto’s is probably your jam because again, proximity and happy feelings. This, my friends, is the month of the Freshman 15! Stress + easy access to pizza = momentarily happy students.
November is almost absurd. You will likely have something planned or due every day of the week, but don’t worry–recovery is just around the corner! We basically have zero time for ourselves right now, but it gets better before it gets worse again.Yay cyclic fluctuations!