Safety first then home time!

I don’t know how we did it but we managed to get up for 8am classes again. Kudos. After having that week off to sleep in I know that it was a challenge to get up for school again.

On Monday my class went to a school board meeting where we learnt about the property tax raise and what it means for homeowners in the Winnipeg School Division.

After it was done, at 8pm, a bunch of us went back to school to finish the article that was due at 8am. Our thoughts were, “Instead of worrying about handing it in in the morning why not finish it tonight and have a relaxing extra 30 minute sleep.” (The things we do to get an extra sleep in the morning I tell ya).

School that night was a nice little freak-out-while-eating-donuts-and-listening-to-music party.

As the time ticked along, one by one we started to finish our 400-450 words and leave to hand it in. But of course, to me, everything in the empty room was more entertaining than finishing the article. I finally buckled down around 9:50 to finish the piece by 10:45.

It was as good as it was going to get and I still had my sanity, so I called it a win. That is when it hit me. I am a tall blonde feeble girl with a laptop in hand about to walk 2 blocks to my car that is sitting alone in a parking lot off an alley at 11pm. Clearly I didn’t think this part through. So I called up SafeWalk.

And that is my tip for you guys this week.

CreComm can give you many late nights at the school. So if you are a tall blonde feeble girl or just want less anxiety than your already overflowing plate has provided, give SafeWalk a try.

No matter how foolish you feel about it SafeWalk is a program for a reason. There are creepy people out there and they like to come out at 11 at night.

In my experience it really helped, because on our way to my car we passed three ominous downtown characters. If I didn’t have the two guys there on each side of me acting as my temporary bodyguards my anxiety would have been through the roof as those characters eyed down my laptop.

The two gentlemen helped ease my worries about the Exchange District at night, and I felt like someone of importance.

As much as my friends laugh at me for being too paranoid about the situation, I chose to have a SafeWalk to my car for the first time and I am happy I did, and I encourage you to do the same if you feel the need.

It is better to be safe than sorry, right.

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

Just over a month flew by of school and you have survived. Yippee! You feel like you have just past the adaptation stage only to be blindsided with the holy-crap-I-have-three-articles-for-Journalism-due-within-a-week-and-a-half-and-my-interviewees-aren’t-calling-me-back stage (kind of excessive, I know).  Ah, the joys of CreComm, always keeping you on your toes.

This is why my next tip is to let loose once and a while.

Yes, I realize that my post before last was about being a keener. But, you know what? All that keening would be put to waste if you didn’t use your spare time wisely. So don’t feel guilty when you set time aside for yourself. Personally, I like to go for a drink or two with a few friends. I also like to occasionally dance around like a wild woman while listening to my iPod to blow off some steam. Sometimes I even join the two to create one night of pure excellence (*cough* The CreComm Marker Social *cough*). Whatever, works right?

I think I would be going crazy right now if it wasn’t for the days I set aside to come back to my social sphere. It’s like The Shining suggests, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

When I feel guilty of taking time out for myself and my sanity’s sake I like to tell myself that it’s a good thing. I think it’s good because it allows you get out of the tunnel vision that you may be in. Whatever you choose to do to get away for a bit, the temporary break from schoolwork will clear your mind and let you think less forcefully on tasks. So when you get back to your school reality you have fresh eyes and possibly new ideas for your projects.

Also, you don’t go insane and want to kill people like Jack Torrance in The Shining. So it’s a win win!