Journal

The past week has been a stressful week for me. I had two exams and a project due. Originally, I planned on studying in the weekend. However, I had to test electric go-kart, which took me the whole day to finish (but it’s worth it). We got back from Indianapolis to Purdue at around 5 and unloaded all the stuffs for approximately an hour. Afterward, I went to dining court with my friends for dinner. I was going to study after dinner; nevertheless, my physical condition could not afford me studying after 4 hours driving and 6 hours working on go-kart. As a result of fatigue, I went back to my dorm and slept earlier than I usually did. The next day, Sunday, I went to church first and then had lunch at dining court. Finally, it is time to study! And then I realized how much stuff I have to catch up. I have calculus (MA166) on Monday evening and then physics (PHYS172) on Tuesday evening. This packed schedule forced me have to study very hard and stay extremely focused. On Sunday, I literally stayed at hicks underground library from 3pm to Monday 4am, and then I went back to my dorm to take a nap, making sure I have enough energy to take the test. My exam was at 6pm, so I woke up at 4pm and started studying again, my final stretch.

            Right after my math exam, I felt so relief because I finally finished the exam I had been working so hard on. However, that moment of joy only lasted for a minute, and then I realized I still had a physics exam. Due to the time limit, I decided to take a nap first and became an all-nighter again. I woke up at 11pm and then headed to Hicks underground library. Same as last day, I stayed up until 4am and then went back to dorm catching up some sleep. It was literlally copy and paste. I woke up at 4pm again and started striving for my final stretch.

            After the exam, I was completely exhausted and enervated, but it felt so good because my third exam was finally over, and now I just have to prepare my final.

Reading

            I just finished a novel called The Things They Carried. It is written by a well-known writer, Tim O’Brien. This is his third war-related book. It describes a platoon of American soldiers fighting in Vietnam, and it is also written based on his personal experience (He was a soldier). It is a really nice book to read. It vividly describes how the war was like and post-war stories. Some of his teammates died during the war. Some, however, survived but could not live in the normal life they had before going to the war anymore. The effect and things they had experienced and witnessed were beyond our imagination. The stress and unease they carried from the bar back to their homeland. Those mental traumas they had during the war seem to be cared in their memories that they just could not let them go.