Midterms and Maruchan

Midterms. College students everywhere tremble at the very mention of the word. And they're upon us. Mine have been spaced so that the first set bled into the second, granting approximately zero relief in between. I've already endured the first test out of round two, and I have two more this week (one of them is dance; remember how hard I tried to avoid that class? I'm wishing I'd tried harder.) and calculus next week. At first I thought the concept of having three midterms per class seemed cruel and unusual...and I still do. I realized, however, that the second set takes the place of the first term final in high school, and that made more sense. I understand it, but I don't have to like it.

Thus, life has become an arduous cycle of intensive studying, hasty meals, sleep deprivation, piles of homework and a looming sense of fear and dread. In addition, I also have cleaning checks tonight, which would be a breeze if I had roommates that helped keep the place clean. (Not that I don't like them, it's just that their standards of cleanliness are very different from mine.) That said, it's going to be another long night.

Somewhere in all the chaos, I haven't been grocery shopping, Which means I've fallen back on a time-tested college survival favorite, the universal sign that a wayward student has run out of food and/or money. I'll give you a hint: it's six for a dollar at the store, it cooks in three minutes and it tastes like sodium and sadness. Parsimony, thy name is Ramen.

Fortunately, the emptiness is only in my cupboards and not my bank account, so I should be back to having the best meals in the dorm soon enough. I happen to have found a whole slew of seasonal dessert recipes that I'm just dying to try, assuming midterms don't kill me off first.

So how does one persist when the situation seems so dire? The most common college answer would probably be caffeine, but I have none in my possession. Instead, I've found a few other coping mechanisms, which I think you might be interested in.

• Music: never underestimate the power of a good pump-up song. Even a sad or depressing song can act as a cathartic emotional channel, allowing you to get back up and keep going.
• Food: exercise extreme caution, because it's easy to get carried away. That said, there is no better pep talk than that of a Reese's peanut butter cup.
• Short breaks: never study for five hours straight. Trust me, I've done it enough times to know it's a bad plan. Take ten minutes every hour or so to breathe, get a drink or anything else you may need.
• Writing: writing allows you to express emotion and reduce stress. This could be in a journal, on a personal project, or even on a blog. Why do you think I'm typing right now?
• Sleep: your bed is your best friend. Protect your sleep hours as much as possible, even if that means only doing the assignments that are due at midnight tonight. You'll be happier and more productive in the morning.
• Embracing the Pain: I have no idea what sort of switch got flipped in my brain for me to enjoy the novelty of utter misery, but for some reason I can randomly put a goofy grin on my face and become a homework juggernaut. I can't maintain it very long though, and I don't think anyone can, so save it for when you need it the most.

There you have it, my official Toolbox For When Life Stinks. There are other methods that I haven't discussed, and I encourage you to search for them if these don't work out for you. Meanwhile, in the face of the midterms knocking on my door, I've found a Latin phrase that differs from my customary farewell, but I find it all too fitting. See you on the other side.

Nos Morituri te Salutamus!

Non-Admitted Students Weekend

This past weekend was the Admitted Students Weekend at Harvard, an event where admitted freshmen for the class of 2020 are encouraged to visit the school to learn more about what it's like to live there.
I obviously did not spend that weekend in Cambridge, as much as I would have liked it. Being inexhaustibly hopeful, I had tried to keep that weekend clear on my schedule, but my rejection left me with a conspicuous hole on the calendar. So how did I spend that time?

I went to PrepperCon. This is not a prep school convention, as one friend misinterpreted. This is a convention for doomsday preppers. And they had everything. Gigantic trucks, tents, generators, filtration systems, weapons, ammunition, shelters, firestarters and an abundance of preserved food (and therefore free samples). There was even a custom-built hurricane simulator that allowed guests to be exposed to 120-mile-per-hour winds.

While there, I attended a seminar on preparing for and survivng an EMP (electromagnetic pulse, for the layman). As an amateur sci-fi author with an interest in post-apocalypse stories, this was pure gold. I learned a whole bunch of stuff about Faraday cages, phases of disruption and arc lightning, but the most interesting parts were about reconstructing a society after an EMP. Since national infrastructure would collapse, self-sufficiency, sanitation and defense become the largest concerns.

As much as I'd love to keep talking about the EMP class, I know that if you're genuinely interested you can learn more from Wikipedia than from me. This is, after all, a chronicle of post-Ivy League rejection, not post-apocalypse survival, so I figure I should move on to the other displays.

This is a picture of frankly the scariest truck I've ever seen. I'm in there for scale; keep in mind, at 6'3" I'm not exactly short, and this thing is huge. It boasts six-wheel drive, the ability to ford six feet of water and EMP hardening, and it's even street legal. Though why you would worry about street legality in the apocalypse, I have no idea. It burns enough fuel you would never drive it while society is still functioning. Oh, and the zombies all over it are a nice touch.

This is a Vital Dome. It's a survival structure not meant so much for camping, but for replacing your house should it be destroyed. It's designed to last through three years of continuous living, and the transparent panels allow it to glean heat from the sun. It can also be retrofitted with woodburning stoves, solar panels and every kind of furniture to make it your home sweet home in the aftermath of a disaster.

These tents are designed to be mounted on top of your car. Being above ground, you aren't at risk from encounters with small wildlife, and a condensation pad and integrated floor padding ensure that you can sleep comfortably with no accumulation of mold. I actually want one of these, because it would work extremely well for camping. I saw another one on top of a jeep towing a Base Camp trailer, which had a sink, water heater, solar panels, shower, plenty of storage space, a Faraday cage for EMP-proof tech storage and a steel frame thick enough to resist lower-caliber bullets. I want one of those, too, but I'll have to wait until I have a grown-up job. And a car to pull it with.

Lastly, I couldn't leave without a particular machete that caught my eye. I'm going to enjoy having that on camping trips, as well.

I'm highly satisfied with my use of Non-Admitted Students Weekend myself, and I would encourage any Rejects out there to make the most of it. It's our time, and we should make it memorable.

Hic Manebimus Optime!


For more information regarding any of the things I mentioned, refer to these handy links:
PrepperCon
Vital Domes
Base Camp Trailers
Tuff Trucks
EMP Wikipedia Article