Wednesday, September 21, 2005

the assignment monkeys

Three years ago (have I been here that long?), in my freshman economics class, I learned about assignment monkeys. I don’t even know how it came up… I think our prof was talking about how we should be proactive with homework, work ahead, etc. Hard work fends off the attacks of the “assignment monkeys.” (This is so much better if you can hear it with his Egyptian accent. I can’t do it justice in print…)

Somehow the name stuck. Every time I’m thinking about a cluster of deadlines, I crack up, remembering what he said.

I’ve been asking around, and a lot of my senior friends are in agreement: we hit the ground running this semester. It’s been two weeks and a day, and I’ve already cruised through four novels (for classes, of course!), tackled multiple short reading and writing assignments, and finished my first short story. No slacking off here! (I can’t believe I thought I was busy this summer. No comparison.)

But it’s been good: the time—short though it’s been—has flown, and I feel like I’m finally hitting my stride. Homework falls into a pattern; things get done. And it’s starting to get exciting (seriously). We’re reading the first Gothic novel for my British Novel class—The Castle of Otranto. And it’s supposed to be full of that classic Gothic atmosphere—stormy nights, winding passageways, mysterious heroes, ancient prophesies. I know I’m an English major and all… but doesn’t that sound like fun? I’m hoping for a rainy day tomorrow. Somehow I think that would help.

And in Oceanography, we take our first field trip a week from Friday. We’ll be working on a research vessel at a lake in Muskegeon, I think. Wow. So that will be a whole new experience.

Keeping busy. It’s not too difficult. The trickiest thing is pacing: planning, researching, outlining, acting. Our first formal paper for my Craft of Writing class is due on Tuesday, rough draft due tomorrow. I’m still trying to decide on a topic…

Ah, those assignment monkeys. My good friend Maria told me about the monkeys in India, and how much she hated them. (I never thought I’d say “don’t get her started on monkeys” to anyone… but around Maria, I did.) Sounded like they’d drop out of trees, get tangled in your hair. Fortunately, the workload here hasn’t gotten that rough. And if it ever threatens to… I’ll just grab a few roommates and hit a coffeeshop. We’ll keep each other sane.—jl

Posted by Jenn Langefeld on 09/21 at 03:09 PM
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