Hello hello!
I’m back a bit later this week than usual, with some exciting updates! Usually, I try to post weekly, but this past week, I found myself overloaded with work. But I just turned in my first paper and it feels great! We’ve just completed week four now (halfway through term 2!) so the craziness is justified.
Today, I wanted to share with you my Monday routine. You may be thinking, “Shreya, since your classes are online and you’re living at home while attending Wellesley, life must be pretty chill.” Well, that’s actually not 100% true! Somehow, I think this might be the craziest fall out of my four years at Wellesley. Maybe it’s part of being a senior, but I’ve found myself a lot busier than I imagined!
So in today’s post, I thought I’d walk through my Monday schedule. No Monday is the same, but this is generally what my day looks like every week!
7-7:30am: This is around the time I wake up, grab some breakfast (usually oatmeal or avocado toast with some tea), and get my desk space ready for the day ahead!
8-8:30am: My first meeting of the day, with Emily! I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a Ministrare fellow this semester, part of Ministrare Council, a group of civic-minded student leaders who are responsible for guiding their peers through community engaged work (as part of Wellesley College Civic Engagement). Ministrare Council is made up of fellows and coordinators (students who support volunteers through education and reflection). As a fellow, I have weekly check-ins with my team of coordinators and Emily, the program manager of Civic Engagement. I usually just update Emily on how things are going (her cat often makes guest appearances on Zoom, and it’s hilarious). Overall, a great way to start my Monday mornings!
9am-10am: On this particular day, I also was facilitating a meeting with a few colleagues at the CDC. I’m an ORISE fellow (basically a fancy word for intern) at the CDC this semester. If you’ve been following along, you know that I’ve been working remotely with them since summer. At times, it’s been tough to balance work and school, but I love my team. This meeting went really well and I got some great feedback on a project I’ve been working on.
10am-1pm: Time for my first (and only) class of the day! I have my Political Science course weekly on Monday. Called Global Cooperation in a post-US World, it’s taught by a brilliant professor. The course is primarily discussion based and examines the role of leadership in global cooperation, with a particular emphasis on U.S. foreign policy. During this particular class, we had a simulation! Our professor provided us with different scenarios, assigned roles, and sent us off to breakout rooms to discuss various issues and topics. I thought the simulation was exhausting, but a good kind of exhausting that comes from a long and satisfying conversation. It was a chance for our team to have a productive discussion on potential policy paths to take if another pandemic hit.
1-1:30pm: Lunchtime! A much needed break from Zoom and my computer. I try to have lunch with family, but on this particular day everyone was busy and/or in meetings!
2-2:45pm: Next up was a meeting with Dean Marquez, and some members of Darshana, the Hindu student group on campus. During our call, we were planning the on-campus Diwali event for Hindu students – complete with diya painting, henna, and rangoli. The event was last week, and was a success!
3-4pm: Onto my last call of the day (for Civic Engagement). As mentioned earlier, I have a meeting with my lovely Ministrare Council coordinators every week. Right now, we’re in the process of prepping for the January Project, and more specifically, the Sophomore Experience. I’ll be sharing more on this soon, so stay tuned! I love my team and our weekly meetings are a great time to connect with each other and share how our weeks have been.
4:30-5:30pm: When I’m done with my meetings for the day, I usually like to leave the house and go for a nice evening walk. I definitely don’t have the motivation to do this everyday, but during a busy Monday filled with meetings, I try to make it a priority to take a break.
6pm-onwards: Once I come back from my walk, I usually shower, eat dinner with the family, relax for a bit, and start studying (e.g. do my readings or anything that needs to be done for the next week ahead). Honestly, this part of my Monday is similar to what I would do at Wellesley in the evenings too.
11/11:30pm: Sleep! Finally.
And there you have it! A Monday in my life. Super busy, but also super rewarding.
I hope everyone has a good week ahead and a Happy Thanksgiving. It’s such a weird time right now but hopefully we can all find things to be grateful for.
Reflecting on that for now,
Shreya
