My grandmother always used to say: “If I had the mind I have today back then, things will be much more different.”
I will beg to differ, grandma, because my mind, at least as architecture school habits go, is still pretty much intact.
Let me remind all of you, my fellow gladiators, of the holy list. All-nighters, checked. Procrastination-debatable subject depending on the person in question, but as far as architecture goes; I think it is “A must”; for the benefit of the subject, we will check this also on the list. A questionable amount of coffee, caffeine-based tea, energy drinks, whatever one’s preference is; -checked, checked, and checked. Coincidentally forgetting at home the thing/s you need that day to survive at university, followed by the mini-Armageddon where your life, grade, and academic dignity all go down in one swing—checked.
And usually out of all the aforementioned “unfortunate-events”, comic situations ensue. Of course, in the character of the comic, there is also the tragic-comic sub-context, when you know it is a funny situation, but you still want to die or to be swallowed by a quicksand out of embarrassment.
Now, the culture of humorous experiences in Architecture is diverse and dependable on the person. Therefore, in retrospect, it became clear to me that my culture is a tragicomedy.
The end of May 2015. Deadlines, exams, and a bit of anxiety, if you find the time for it, of course, and as far as sleep goes, well that was not considered the most important thing then. I am sure many of you can relate, some of you somewhat relate, and some do not relate. But hey, this is just one play.
Thanks to the misfortune of having to meet six deadlines in the amount of five days, my record is fifty-two sleepless hours and a lot of coffee and pasta. Granted, it would be easier to meet the deadlines, without the must-attending curriculum of classes and exercises, except in my case I had to be present every-day from 9 am to 6 pm. I mean, third year (undergraduate studies) was my life-coach, I can even say It may have prepared me to enter the Survivor show.
Anyway, Tuesday was the Interior design class, and I and my roommate I.Z. (she was also a fellow architecture gladiator) were late for it. Somehow, we managed to get a taxi (lived far away), got at the university building and took the stairs to the third floor, because well, the elevator was in repair. It decided to call the quits on us that week out of all the others. Breathless, we stood in front of the door, and I can tell with certainty that for a good amount of two minutes we were mimicking and arguing with our faces who will knock and enter first. For those of you, who have overcome the fear of entering bravely into a room with forty-plus people and a professor, well done for you, but for some of us, this is a real problem.
At last, we entered, and the professor greeted the crowd instead of us with: “Well, here are some students who are late, this should not happen, but happens this time of year nonetheless.” It was peculiar. But, at that time of the morning, all panicked and with a slightly bruised ego, we swallowed our pride, kept our heads down and I took the stairs on the left, to find a seat somewhere in the back, so I can squeeze in an hour of sleep, and my roommate took the path in front of the professor’s desk to the front row. Good God, we still wonder until this day what in the world was she thinking. So naturally, I got confused and followed her, to the front row. We were the only ones in the front row, just to get that out of the way.
It seemed just a couple of minutes later, when in fact, it must have been a half an hour or so, and I woke up from my sweet nap at the front row, pointed out for the second time in front of a class full of people. Yes, I fell asleep, naturally, that was my intention all along (don’t judge), but the location for it, was not the best. Point of the story so far- choose accordingly your seat in class. I.Z. also fell asleep, and as soon as we were pointed out as the sleeping students, that were advised by the professor to get some coffee (with sub-context: “and get your grip together”), with an unscheduled break because of our “attending” to class, I heard whispers from the second row, people talking between themselves, referring to the front row: “Look at them. Zombies.”, but in a kind manner, as in “I hope they will be ok”. And I turned around, and to my biggest surprise, in an instant second, I realized I forgot that it was orientation week, and besides the forty-plus people from my class, there were also thirty or so high-school students in the amphitheater, witnessing “the wonders” of architecture school.
I wonder if someone got enrolled that year from that high school. I seriously doubt that. Given the fact that they witnessed our appearance on that Tuesday, and as much as “The Walking Dead” is cool, no one wants to choose to be a zombie.
However, you survive. Those who have been through all of these types of “events” or are “seeing the light at the end of the tunnel” can attest to it and of course, congrats are in order, for the end of the battle, and for those of you who are yet to enter the gladiator arena, well my friends, for you, I have a long list of advice, but the most important of it is BE DETERMINED. Focus on your interests, chase your goals and ambitions, work on them for you, not for anybody else, and enjoy college life.
