By Lindsey Rothering —

“Lindsey tries” documents the misadventures of a 22-year-old that’s still learning time-management skills.

Let me make one thing clear: the University of Wisconsin–Stout is the hardest university I have ever attended. That’s saying a lot, considering Stout is actually the fourth university I’ve attended. Public, private, doesn’t matter. I’ve done them all and Stout takes the cake.

Perhaps part of the reason it is so hard is because all of my gen-eds are done save one science class, so all I have left is the notoriously time-consuming art and design classes. Or maybe it’s because I am not a conventionally organized person. I say “conventionally organized” because I do not have one centralized location where I write everything, like a planner. Oh no, that would be far too easy.

(Sidenote: I’ve actually tried that, even picked up a fancy $7 one from Target and everything. I adored that planner. Until I started forgetting it in my backpack when I needed it in my purse, and vice versa. The entire ordeal lasted about three weeks.)

Instead, I keep track of everything via several different ways: my Gmail drafts folder, the “notes” and calendar sections on my non-smartphone, the margins of notebooks, several sticky note legal pads and on occasion, the backs of my hands (sorry, mom; yes, I know I’m going to get ink poisoning).

The upside to this is, normally, my chaotic system works. The downside is, well, everything. This past week, I realized that I had an art exam the next day, rather than next week, like I originally thought. This resulted in me, through every fault of my own, having to pull an all-nighter.

Around 4 a.m., I remembered an experience at my first university, where after neglecting an online class until finals week, I stayed awake for a horrifying 76 hours in order to finish everything. I remembered the hallucinations that occurred during my “micro-naps” and my screams that woke up my roommate when I thought I saw a jungle cat on our futon.

I am not sure if micro-naps are actually a thing. The 2010 iteration of “Nightmare on Elm Street” tells me they are, but I’m too lazy/ scared to research and find out.

I also remembered a promise I made myself that semester–I would never get that far behind again. And while I’m not necessarily behind, I am worried about having another surprise exam–which is why I’ve decided to try (again) and get organized. Hopefully, this time around will last longer than three weeks.

 

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