Lately...

It feels like my entire life has picked up momentum over the past few weeks. I don’t know why, but everything seems to culminate (due dates for papers, midterms, extra-curricular commitments) in the last few weeks of April: yes; I’m actually looking FORWARD to finals as a break from all the chaos.


Academically, I’m reading two of the most linguistically convoluted and brilliant works of all time: John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time.


Reading two such works simultaneously has been a microcosm of the past few weeks: overwhelming yet incredibly rewarding.It’s almost too much of a good thing because I want to devote the entirety of my literary attention to each of them separately. I have a midterm next week. I had a paper due yesterday. I had a paper due last week. I have another paper due in two weeks. I just want to slow everything down and enjoy it to the fullest, because I honestly do love all of my classes. It’s just a little much…


On the plus side, my sorority had its big charity event of the semester last week: Chi O casino. The event raises money for Make-A-Wish foundation by having a Texas Hold Em tournament at our house. The theme this year was Caesar’s Palace, so the winner won a trip for two to Vegas.Between decorating, flyering for the event on Sproul, soliciting alumni and local businesses, and actually hosting the event, a ton of work went into the fundraiser.


A little bit of sisterly bonding while working for the greater good may have been just what I needed, but it could not have come at a more chaotic time.


I’ve also been learning to DJ for KALX radio station.Student volunteers must work for at least a month before putting their names on the running waitlist for training. There’s plenty to do in the mean time (like Production, Music, Music Library, News, Promotions, and Special Events), and plenty of people work for a few of these departments without ever having the desire to DJ. It was just something I really wanted to do. Training is two hours a week, but you also have to do a certain number of shows with a current DJ and a few by yourself before they determine whether or not you should pass training and get your own show.The hours are kind of unfortunate in the mean time (3-6 am shifts and 6-9 am shifts), but I really want a show in fall. Besides, having that quantity of music at your fingertips is empowering. From vinyls to CDs….You’d be hard-pressed to find a genre or musician that isn’t represented. I’m mostly an electronic, hip-hop, folk, and indie fan, so it’s really encouraged me to expand my music horizons…and my technological horizons. The people that are training me on the sound board/have trained me in how to use Pro Tools are very tech savvy. But they have been very patient, and the fact that I have access to that kind of equipment and instruction in how to use that equipment for free is quite the opportunity.Lessons in this kind of stuff get ridiculously expensive. We’re talking hundreds to thousands of dollars.


I also have my orientation for Bears Beyond Bars in a few weeks (a program that tutors jail inmates), a date party for my sorority next weekend, birthday parties, Cal Day, friends visiting from home…It’s a hectic life, and one that all Cal students who want to be involved on campus share. Whenever I feel spread too thin, I’m amazed at the poise with which other people around me still manage to carry themselves. For example, we had ASUC student government elections last week. Literally every day candidates and their friends were out and about with signs and flyers, talking to their constituents. Some of them will even walk you to class just to discuss their opinions on certain initiatives.In a school as massive as Cal, that’s impressive.

So what’s the solution? You make time to be silly and spend time with people who matter to you. Case in point: my sorority is playing a huge game of Assassin right now. We each have been given a secret “target” and have to track them down on campus and spray them with water or mark them with a pen in order to “assassinate” them. Once the “hit” is complete, you are given their target as your own. The game continues until there is only one person left…the master assassin. Try taking yourself too seriously while being worried someone is going to pelt you from behind a tree with a water balloon on your way to Philosophy. Over and out.