I get up around 8 AM and have my standard breakfast meal of diced apples and oatmeal. Then, I go on my computer and do some tasks for MIT ESP (Educational Studies Program), which include checking and drafting some emails. Unlike last week, I have significantly fewer tasks as Summer HSSP director because the first day of classes started last Saturday. The change in pace makes me feel a lot less overwhelmed and stressed, which gives me hope that I won’t suffer too much from ESP burnout.
An hour after breakfast, I decide to run 3 miles to fulfill my half-marathon training plan goals for week 2. Before I run, I tell myself to take it easy and slow since my right knee is still recovering from a bruised bone last Saturday. The first half of the run is pleasant because there is ample shade as I jog along the Esplanade and the occasional wind cools me down. During the latter half of the run, however, the discomfort from my sweaty neck and clothes builds over time.
I am glad that the run is over once I reach East Campus, my summer dorm. I eat an orange as a snack and then shower before heading to the Hayden Library. I am happy to see my French House friend, Fiona, at Hayden by coincidence. Seeing her reminds me that I should meet up with other French House people in Boston, something I wished I was more proactive about early on.
In the library, I read the New York Times, an activity that is now one of my rituals. At first, I read the newspaper as a way to avoid doing work. Now, however I simply like being informed of what is happening in the country and around the world. When I finish reading, I look at my watch and I am surprised that 30 to 40 minutes of my time are gone. I usually skip some articles and focus on headlines and opinion section, but somehow time flies when I read the Times.
It is already 11 AM and nothing much has happened so far. Since I get hungry easily, I have an early lunch that consists of leftovers I made on Wednesday. The rice is a bit hardened from being in the fridge and the Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce dish I made looks kind of sad. The leaves are a bit dry and they no longer have a vibrant green color. The only thing I like eating is the Chinese chives omelet and sliced lotus roots with soy sauce I cooked.
Once I finish my lunch, I go to my chemistry UROP. This week, there aren’t a lot of experiments, so I sit in the cubicles and finish reading a paper about glycosyltransferases, a type of enzyme responsible for bacterial cell wall polymerization. I like how this paper covers enzymes in various species of bacteria, but it is also frustrating that I don’t understand some concepts like carbohydrate chemistry. Instead of doing lab work, I end up going to my lab’s subgroup meeting for the first time. I am in the mycobacteria division, which involves developing novel drug targets to fight this bacteria responsible for tuberculosis. Although I have no idea what is happening most of the time when I listen to the presentations, I like knowing what other projects are happening within my subgroup.
When the meeting ends, I return to my dorm to get my organic chemistry textbook. I plan to read and take notes from the textbook in the stacks of Hayden. Unfortunately, it takes me a while to leave my dorm because I go on my computer and then enter an internet rabbit hole of cool places to visit for my upcoming New York City day trip.
In the library, I read about proton NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) and I like how the chapter is a good refresher of what I read in high school. Despite not having any distractions near me, I am still annoyed that it takes me forever to finish reading a page of the textbook. What is even more annoying is how behind I am on my textbook reading. An hour later, I leave the stacks and find myself browsing the travel guidebooks about Boston and USA for half an hour. I don’t plan to follow the recommended itineraries from the New York Times 36 Hours: USA & Canada, but I like getting lost in daydreams of random places to explore, whether it is historic Montreal or trendy Brooklyn.
My dinner is the same as lunch, except that I don’t have sliced lotus root anymore. I hate how I constantly crave for more food since I don’t feed myself enough protein and there isn’t much free food around me. I go back to my dorm room and write my first blog sample for the MIT blogger application. After I finish writing, I am alarmed that my blog is around 2400 words long. I try to cut as many sentences as possible and I am left with 1300 words. This is better than before, but I feel like there must be some way to make it more concise.
I notice that the time is 10:30 PM and I get ready for bed. I am troubled by the fact that writing this blog is taking longer than expected, but I tell myself that I can make some edits tomorrow. Usually, I would read some pages from a book or write in my diary before sleeping, but this time I feel too tired to do that.
As meta as it may sound, I am surprised that I ended up writing a lot about my rather normal day of running, eating, UROPing, studying, and writing. I guess this blogging exercise reinforces the idea that there is always something worth noting every day, no matter how uneventful each day appears to be. This lesson is something that I am already aware of based on my long habit of writing a diary, yet it wasn’t explicit until now. I am glad that I record ordinary days like this day in my journal and blog because when I am old and want to reflect upon what happened many years ago, I can turn to these sources and refresh my memories of childhood and early adulthood.
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