Hello, OU-C Tutors!
It's amazing how the Thank-Gods-It's-Friday motto takes on so much more meaning when one is a full-time employee. It didn't mean much to me during my years as a student because, well, you never have a day off as a student. But in the "real world" of employment, I am able to clock out, walk out the door, get in my car, drive the blessedly short distance to my apartment, and be safe in the fact that none of my work has followed me home.
Unfortunately, I feel like I have less "free time" than I did as a student. I suppose it's because a student's hours are so blurred around the edges. "I have a paper due at 6, but I can run to the post office at 1:30 and then pick up some milk from the grocery store before coming straight home again to work on my paper." So yes, while there was always an assignment hanging perpetually over my head, I could take a break to do what needed done.
Not so with full-time employment. Ever notice how work hours also seem to be the hours that the rest of the world operates? When can I make a car appointment? When can I go to the post office? Thank goodness Kroger at least is open 24 hours. I do very much appreciate being employed, especially in the economy of the world at this time, but boy, I sure do miss "student hours."
Perhaps I need to buckle down and take fuller advantage of what free time I do have. With 8-10 hours of work per day, plus 8 hours of sleep, that leaves me, what, about 6 hours? Don't ask me—I was never a math tutor. (Derivative. Doo doo doo-doo doo.) Even as I type this, though, I'm a bit amazed that I have that much time, and rather ashamed that I'm not making better use of it.
In at attempt to fix this, I have a few goals for myself.
- aikido—make it to aikido every Friday (I've missed a few Fridays, but in general I have been doing pretty well at driving back to Chillicothe for my class, especially since it coincides with my weekend visit home)
- jujitsu—well, I'd hoped to have the stamina to drive back to Chillicothe every Tuesday evening, get my butt kicked in jujitsu, then either drive back home right away or sleep at mom's and wake up veeery early to return to Springboro for work Wednesday morning. Alas, I have not yet made it to one jujitsu class. Perhaps in my months' absence from the class, I've grown a little afraid of it? A definite possibility. I'm an overweight 31-year-old woman, the [i]only[/i] woman in the class (other than sensei), and I want to pay money for people to throw me around, knock me to the ground, pin me down, and fight me tooth and nail as I try to do the same to them? Yes... it is a little intimidating. But it is also damn fun. I do miss it... and perhaps realizing this, I should try harder to go at least every other week while the weather cooperates with a 2-hour drive. We shall see.
- judo—I've been unable to find a local jujitsu class (I might have to look in surrounding areas—surely there are some to be found in Dayton, but I was hoping to find one in Franklin or Springboro), but I [i]have[/i] found a local judo class, which bears a lot of similarity with jujitsu (judo focuses more on throws, jujitsu focuses more on the groundwork, but both will leave me limping the next day). So to help my emotional and physical health (I always feel so much happier when I'm involved in a regular physical event), I am going to start taking judo lessons from a dojo less than 4 miles from my apartment. I'm both scared and happy :)
- cello—yes, you heard it! I have long been in love with the cello, but I was never able to find lessons in Chillicothe. Ok, so I didn't really look all that hard, but while living in Chillicothe, I didn't have the money to spare for cello lessons, either. I found some private cello lessons in Springboro. Only about $17/week for 30 minutes. I don't mind parting with $68/month if it is for something that I have wanted to do for literally the past 13 years.
All of the above require money—though thankfully, not much of it (I am still on a VERY tight budget as I try to pay some debts off!)—and my leaving the comfort of my apartment to go to a studio or dojo to work with strangers. But what about things to do at home?
- write—I need to write at least a page per night. Progress won't come unless I make it come.
- art—whether drawing, painting, or photography, I need to get back into this. This will also be relieved by my cello lessons and with my martial art classes, but the part of me that wants to create pictures has been ignored for far too long.
- Netflix—damn straight. I love me some Netflix. I don't have cable, but I've been working through some of the television series I've wanted to see. (Those unaccounted-for 6 hours per day? Yeah, well, a lot of them go to Netflix... but that's too much. I was never a long-term t.v. watcher, so I fear falling into that habit if I don't stop it now.)
What was the point of this post? Who knows. Do I ever have a point? ;) I suppose I wanted to give you guys a look into my post-OUC life (it does exist!) and perhaps I wanted to encourage you to budget your time as well. Don't let life pass you by unexplored. As a student, you probably don't have time/money to do all you want now—but do the things you can do for now, and plan on doing the rest for later. Just make sure you DO do them later! (I've been putting off the cello for years, but I registered today for my first private lesson!)
It's never too late to start anew. It's never naive to explore the world with open eyes. And it's never a bad time to say hello to one's former co-workers. Best of luck to you in your studies and future explorations!
