The internships I have had in conjunction with class at night here in graduate school have made me think about undergraduate years. Your typical work day consists of a 9-5 with that trusty lunch break, plus or minus 30 minutes at the beginning or end of the day. You plow through work throughout the morning, until your 11 o'clock meeting with stakeholders. Then you have lunch either munching on a sandwich in your cube, or joining the gang to hit up a hamburger joint.
We all shuffle back in around 12:30 or 1:00 dreading the break's end, knowing you have to finish that report and make calls about next week's event; not to mention you have another meeting. This time it's your boss though, in an update of how things are going and what you are working on. 3 o'clock rolls around and you stop by your supervisor's cube to share a joke or a story you just caught. 4:30 hits and you feel good about the day, completed the report, finished emailing and calling people, plus both meetings went smoothly, and you managed to share a couple laughs with colleagues.
5 peers its head and its off to class, while you grab a granola bar, holding you off until 8:45 when you get home. You conversate, debate, and discuss all the topics dealing with your course, sometimes wishing that breaktime would mean class is done for the night. Home hits, it's 9, you eat, work out, shower, do the dishes, and catch the news, as the clock strikes 11:30. Yawning your way to the bed, you ask, "what do have due tomorrow, or what do have to do tomorrow" as you drift into that 6 hour sleep.
Now looking back at my undergrad years, there was no structure, even with a part-time job. It was merely, come as you are, when you feel like it. You are in class from 9-2 or maybe 10-3 Sure I went to class everyday, seeking to get my money's worth of knowledge, reading my international law and judicial systems books, along with plenty of history, and other core classes like geology, which I've failed to find useful; but following that was an endless amount of questioning friends, "hey what do you want to do?" Spending hours catching a ballgame or at the gym, then only to catch a bite with friends, going to sleep anywhere between 12 and 3. It almost seemed like a vacation.
I suppose it is that three or four years of catharsis that makes you productive following those years. I have to say also, it is good to have that routine, which brings stability to your life, yet I think it is healthy for people to have the laizez-faire life of undergrad. As long as your work gets done and you do not forget your purpose of being in school all is well.
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What I, personally, have found the most surprising of all is the ease of the work week as compared to my past years. Although I did work weekends my first year of grad school it was not at the same pace because I also had a "typical" office job. I still worked second and third shifts, but because I had a day job there wasn't as much of a squeeze to work more.
ReplyDeleteThe problems with the day job are, though, that several of us in the private and public sectors are asked to simply do more. That is, work weekends and evenings, or take work home with us. Due to the schedule of pay, however, there is typically not the financial incentive of overtime or even an extra dollar for working in excess of 40 hours. I think this gives us all cause to consider the importance of our private lives and where to draw the line between work and our real lives.
I think that is why organizations often offer sabbatical as a reward for employees who have worked the 9 to 5 job for 20 some odd years. The company is saying, "Hey, catch up on all of the rest and personal attention you have foregone working tirelessly for to make our company successful." Although, I do know of many individuals who have entered multinational corporations and essentially extended their undergraduate college years. It's remarkable! However, it all depends on your personality style. Do you like structure? And, if so, do you like the structure that you provide for yourself, or that others create for you to operate within?
ReplyDeleteGreat feedback to this blog from both of you guys. It is a balance of life that I think we all struggle with in some form.
ReplyDeleteAs far as my structure, I feel like it is somewhat a flexible structure. Meaning, the foundation and frame of the house is up, but everything within it are interchangeable, as well as the image of the home.