College Experience.

So this past weekend, I did Husker Hunt, a 24-hour scavenger hunt. I suppose you could call it fun. Definitely interesting and definitely epic. We had a list of about 200 things to find (100 right shoes counted as 1 item), another 100 or so things to take pictures of (you and someone with dreadlocks), and random challenges that included a dance-off, math quizzes at 8 am, and finding a stuffed dog hidden randomly around campus. We also went to the Red-White game wearing all green...

I was awake for about 38 hours straight...NEVER AGAIN.

I will say that I have probably never felt more terrible in my entire life, and I cannot believe I survived. Probably because we were running around literally the entire time, so we didn't really have time to sleep. Or eat. Or anything really. I think if I would have stopped moving long enough, I literally would have passed out. It was also freezing!

But college is about life experiences, right? I mean it was a lot of fun. I had an awesome team and honestly, how many people can say they've done something like that? Not very many.

Team Rapscallions!

Before the Hunt.
We are pumped.

After the Hunt.
We are dead.

We didn't win or anything, but sleep deprivation aside, it was a pretty fun weekend.

Hello again.

It's been awhile hasn't it?

I'm sorry, I'm still recovering from Spring Break. I'm mentally not at school right now and I'm physically ill, as in sick.

This is literally the worst part of the school year because I don't know about everyone else, but I've definitely checked out for the year and have zero motivation to do anything productive. This is unfortunate because I've got like 4 projects due this month, plus finals in a few weeks. I just want to coast the rest of the year. This feeling will be much worse once it actually gets warm out.

I suppose it's ok that it's not warm out because right now, I just want to sleep. I managed to come down with this cough/cold/sore throat/fever/weird combination of things the last couple days of break and now I feel like death. That may be a bit of an exaggeration. Anyway, now I'm losing my voice because I can't stop coughing so after class I went to Walgreens and spent a good chunk of money on orange juice, cough drops, and Nyquil. Nothing like drugs and Vitamin C to make you feel better right?

Coffee!

I think I have a problem. I think I've built up a tolerance to caffeine.

See, I absolutely love coffee. Not any of that fancy, frothy, flavored crap. I like it straight and black. No cream, no sugar, just coffee. Also, it has to be from a bean. I'm a bit spoiled from all my Hatian coffee I got this summer, and now I refuse to drink Folgers.

Mr. Reginald Coffee is one of my favorite things.

I really don't drink coffee all that much. I used to only have it every once in awhile, but this semester I've started drinking it just about every day because I have really early class. It helps me wake up in the mornings, or at least it used to. I still feel much more functional in the morning when I drink my coffee, but caffeine has lost its magical power to keep me awake.

Case in point, today I've had about 2 1/2 cups and I'm really fighting to not fall asleep.

I've tried really hard not to drink too much, usually about 1-2 cups a day, and only in the mornings. I don't drink pop, so my only caffeine exposure is from coffee. And according to a MedicineNet.com article on caffeine, a regular cup of coffee has about 135 mg of caffeine. So two cups of coffee puts you at about 270 mg, which is still in the "moderate" intake range and considered safe by the FDA and the AMA.

So is caffeine actually addictive? It depends on who you ask. The same MedicineNet article says that it's disputable since not everyone who consumes caffeine experiences withdrawal symptoms or dependence, but it's definitely possible. You've heard people say they get headaches if they haven't had their morning coffee.

I don't think I have an "addiction." At least if I do, it's not serious. I just really like coffee and happen to drink it fairly often. And maybe caffeine has lost its effect on me or maybe it's just been lessened as I've gotten used to it. I'm pretty positive I could go days without coffee and be just fine, just maybe a bit more groggy in the mornings.

Nap Time.

You know how when you were a little kid and you absolutely abhorred (yeah, that's a $5 word right there), anyway, when you absolutely abhorred your parents for making you take naps?

Now in college, naps are seriously the greatest thing ever. Unfortunately, I never have enough time when I'm in my room not doing anything to take a nap. I always have class and work and such. Sigh...

On Mondays and Wednesdays, I have a class on East Campus at 8-8:50 AM and another one at 10:30. I usually get to the Union around 9, have breakfast, and then have a little over an hour or so to kill. Perfect time to take a nap, except the East Campus Union (or probably any campus union) is not the best place for naps. Lots of people and plastic chairs at tables ya know?

Well today I found the perfect place. There's this little corner behind some stairs with two really comfy purple chairs and it's pretty secluded. I figured it'd be great because who would come back here and I can sleep all curled up in chairs. Andy says I'm like a cat or something.

This isn't the best picture, but I had to get it off the website. I took a
better one with my phone, but it won't send picture messages
anymore. It's kind of under the stairs in the left corner.

Anyway, I'm curled up in my corner chair with my iPod in, and some older lady decides to come sit in the other chair and starts talking on her phone in Spanish. Now she's just sitting here reading the newspaper, even though there's a million other places to go do that, and nap time is ruined because I think it's a little awkward to sleep in public places when there's other people around.

So instead of catching up on my serious sleep deprivation, I'm blogging about it.

Oh and she just left, but now I only have like 10 minutes left until I have to go to class.

Photo Credit: http://union.unl.edu/east/

Dining Halls and Sleep Depravity...

These two things are absolutely disastrous when mixed.

Lack of sleep is not good, anybody will tell you that. Some common side affects: spacing out, forgetting things like when you have class or what day it is, calling your friends by the wrong name, inability to walk in straight lines or make coherent sentences, delayed reaction time, and thinking that everything is hilarious. (Note: these are not to be confused with being drunk. That is a whole 'nother problem).

And dining halls are tricky, even when fully awake. You have to navigate through food lines, salad bars, drink stations, tables and chairs, people, backpacks, Christmas trees, horse races, and who knows what else all while carrying a plate (or two) of food. Carrying drinks and silverware further complicates the whole thing, and during heavy traffic times like 11:30ish and 5:30ish, the whole thing is pretty dang near impossible.

Add in the fact that most people there are college kids that I guarantee are running on less than the recommended 8 1/2 to 9 hours of sleep, well...let's just say things get interesting.

I've miraculously managed not to break anything so far this year, but I've dropped a fair share of stuff, tripped over chairs, and run into people. Like last night, I ran into a girl and she spilled milk all over. I felt really bad. Seriously.

Fortunately, most people are not as klutzy and uncoordinated as I am, so for the most part, eating is not a major risk to your well-being. You just gotta be on your toes. And try to go to bed before it starts getting light out again.

Dining Hall Hazard of the Day: Lanyards. I usually have mine in either my back pocket or my hoodie pocket, with the lanyard hanging out. I've almost lost it a couple times from it getting caught on various things and it falling out of my pocket, and I've been closelined a couple times from getting it caught on various things and it not falling out of my pocket.

AHHHH!

So as of Wednesday, I said I took about 12 hours off from doing anything productive, and I was fine.

I'm not fine.

Finals always freak me out, and I just realized yesterday that I only have 3 days left until finals.

I'm kind of somewhere between freak-out mode and procrastinate-some-more mode. I freak out for a bit until I can't anymore and then I procrastinate. Probably not the best strategy.

And actually, I'm more worried about getting my 15 page paper done than studying for finals, but I have 5 pages done and I have until Wednesday.

Gotta love college.

Tip of the Day: Get enough sleep. I went to bed around 3 am. Woke up at 8:30, shut my alarm off, and went back to sleep. Woke up at 9:27.

I have class at 9:30.