Especially when midterm season was finally over for me last week, I was ready to relax, sleep 14 hours a day, and do an absolute minimum amount of work. Being at Penn with a willingness to explore comes with a packed schedule full of classes, club meetings, and social obligations. My calendar is practically planned to the 15 minute mark. And after taking 5 midterms and writing a term paper in a span of a week, I told myself I would now take a break. But I failed.
Despite being fortunate enough to be able to go on a trip to Jamaica this fall break, I whipped out my laptop not only in the airport, but also my flight, and of course my hotel room. I had to check accounting homework, add finishing details to a paper, discuss club logistics, and the list goes on. In fact, not having these actionable items to do is probably more fear inducing than the never-ending list of tasks themselves. I can remember myself in the midst of summer break having little to do, and those moments were so unnerving that I pursued more projects to keep me busy. Is this what defines a Penn student or a is it a pathological averseness to inertia?
Perhaps it is both, but the latter ought to be improved upon. I see the world in the context of my classes: when talking to someone about Uber, the first thing that pops into my mind is how the firm is one of the first companies to derive their own demand curve which we discussed in Managerial Economics. I’ll agree I can’t switch my mind off even when I’m taking a day trip to Chinatown, but being able to take genuine breaks is a skill necessary to develop. This afternoon, I took a nap and didn’t set an alarm in an effort to give myself alone time. It may not be much, but hopefully, it’s a start.
