武汉大学经济与管理学院哈佛大学生的一天

Wake Up in the Morning Feeling Like…

My

life

wasn’t

so

exciting

(or

crazy)

freshman

fall,

when

I

was

just

getting

a

feeling

for

what

college in Boston was like after coming from a public high school in Tucson.

Alissa’s Day (Fall 2007)

5 a.m. My first alar

m goes off. I set multiple alarms at least an hour apart so that I’m fully awake

by the last one. (I also got up extremely early freshman and sophomore year.)

6 a.m. My second alarm goes off. I turn it off.

6:15

a.m.

My

third

alarm

goes

off.

I

actually

get

out

of

bed

in

my

double

in

Weld,

one

of

the

freshman dorms in Harvard Yard.

6:20-7:00

I

go

on

a

run

around Harvard

Square

—if

I’m

not

awake

yet,

the

chilly

air

definitely

does the trick.

7-7:30: I eat my yummy hot breakfast at Annenberg, the freshman dining hall that is basically a

castle.

Sundays

are

my

favorite

because

I

get

to

make Veritaffles!

(otherwise

known

as

waffles

with the Harvard crest on them)

7:30-9:30: I catch up on reading. My productivity was at an all-time high fall of freshman year.

10:00-2:00: Lots of class! Depending on the day, I head to Life Sciences 1a, the gateway class for

all the life science concentrations, First Nights, an amazing General Education class that studies

five pieces of music, Math 19a, a math class about modeling for the life sciences, or Expos, the

required expository writing class for freshman.

2:00-300: Time for lunch

—

meals are definitely one of the best parts of the day, especially when

you

eat

with

friends

and

get

to

hear

everyone’s

stories.

In

fact,

one

of

my

be

st

friends

just

informed me that he might as well be a goldfish because he will “basically just eat until he dies.”

3:00-6:00:

I

would

often

head

to

The

Crimson

because

I

was

comping

the

News

Board

and

learning how to write and edit news stories. Once I started working in a lab, I would head over to

my bench and do experiments. Although I haven’t made any exciting discovery yet, I have learned

a lot about how the brain works and how to do basic science.

6:00-7:00: Food again, this time dinner.

7:00-9:00: Actual homework time! I would often do my problem set for Math 19a or revise yet

another draft of my Expos essay while catching up with my roommates.

9:00-10:00 Hot shower and procrastinating until I go to bed (ie. checking my email, crossing off

things in my planner, and checking my email again)

Today, as a senior, I’ve hopefully become a little bit wiser, and my circadian clock has shifted a

few hours forward.

Alissa’s Day (Fall 2010)

7:00 a.m. First alarm. I generally ignore it and go back to sleep.

8:00 a.m. Second alarm. I wake up and turn it off.

9:00 a.m. Third alarm, and I get up! I then grab my glasses, pick up my Macbook from next to my

bed, and check my email.

9:30-10:00

Shower

to

wake

me

up,

check

my

email

one

more

time,

grab

a

toasted

bagel

with

cream cheese from Mather House Dining Hall, and catch the Mather Express Shuttle to the Yard.

10:00-11:30

a.m.

I

head

over

to

the

Graduate

School

of

Education

for

my

Developmental

Psychology class. I’m getting a secondary field in psychology, and I think it’s really cool to learn

about how babies develop!