I Study 23/7

At the econ. department party on Friday night, I was talking to Svetlana & Anastasia (I mean Dr. ____ and Dr. ______...I don't know their last names, and that's how they introduced themselves to me at the beginning of the semester...I mean no disrespect). They inquired how I got that injury on my nose. I told them it was from soccer. They seemed surprised that I had enough free time to play soccer. After explaining that I don't play every day they were a little more cool with it.

I think I just decided that I should tell any professor that asks (excluding Coach and Dr. "mama" B. *not to be confused with Farasat*) that I have no free time. Economics is my life. In fact, I try to derive a utility function for myself and decide on a minimum level of utility before going to the grocery store. Then I try to minimize my expenditure to reach that level of utility. When I'm not at school, I'm studying. I listen to textbooks on tape when I'm in the car. I type up a dynamic program every time I reboot my computer. I hire people to clean my house and do my laundry just so I can have a few more hours of study time. I hardly sleep. I envy undergrads. I don't know how married people pay any attention to their spouses. I never go to parties (except the ones that my teachers are also invited to). I don't play sports. I use my office hours to brush up on theory.

Enough of that BS.

The reason I don't have to play dumb about free time with Coach & Dr. B is because they understand that life exists. Coach even told me that most of his colleagues forget what it's like to be a student. And honestly, it's not like this is the Ivy League, or a top-5 econ program. There's plenty of time to do what you want, if you budget your time right. I think that's a problem that we've all been coping with. It seems like when you're doing one thing you "should" be doing something else. Coach actually told me that it's a good idea to take some time off in order to keep yourself sane. Believe that. I like him. I hope he doesn't make me sit the bench.

I had a test today (Friday) and I have one Tuesday and another on Thursday. I have been studying a lot. I will probably study just as much as I did the past couple of days, if not more, in the coming days. I think this intensity of studying (which isn't the highest level I'm capable of) is what Svetlana, Anastasia, Farasat, et. al. expect us to be doing all the time. How unrealistic.