The Irony that is Semestral Break

It should have ended last Tuesday, according to the academic calendar of the University. But how can we rejoice and throw a real party if the "End of Classes" is succeeded by Finals week. Ugh. Sadistic, the way I see it. Letting us kids think we're free (at the very least, temporarily) from the bondage that we have endured for around five months that almost led to neurosis and psychosis to most of the recipients of the brain torture. And right now, I still have to study for a Statistics finals tomorrow, an achievement exam for our group's duty in the Pediatric ward also slated for tomorrow and another exam the next day, Tuesday, about Community Health Nursing. And drop another achievement exam for our group's Community experience in Pateros. Thought it's all over after that? Nah. There's the drafts of the community diagnosis that we have to submit by the twenty-fifth and the final publication of five bound copies due before the opening classes of the next semester. Sorry if this entry turned into my "to-remember and to-do" list. 


So where am I going to fit in 'sembreak activities,' you say? Well, the thing is, every semestral break, I am always faced with the same overwhelming question of "What am I gonna do today?" Having a corpus which has gotten the hang of 3-4 (to sometimes, nil) hours of sleep, gotten the hang of caffeine pulsing through my veins, gotten the hang of making papers well into the wee hours of the night and gotten the hang of probably assuming the unhealthiest lifestyle of all, plugging off all these from my system leaves a void. Seriously. The way I and one of my groupmates put it, it's like being hooked to a mechanical ventilator and extubating you without weaning you out first, leaving you to gasp for air. That happened to me after our group was done with the paper-producing clinical duties. We were left with nothing to do. Although we badly wished for this to moment to come, we didn't expect it to be this fast, this transition-less. 


So what am I basically ranting about in this entry? It's the way I have been spending my previous semestral breaks: planning before the break and ended up doing routine activities of wake up in the morning-turn on the laptop-watch series marathons and movies-probably eat and take a bath, but still probably-resume watching-probably get some shut-eye, but still probably-and wake up again, if I did get some zzz's. See how unproductive a sem break I have! But I did plan before the break to get out with friends, do some fun projects and perhaps put up a small business, the least of my time to be spent in front of the laptop. Lo and behold, I ended up being the couch potato of the household. 


This semester, however, would be different, I guess. With this bound volumes under our belt, we'll be pre-occupied like ants preparing for the winter to come. Busy as bees, so to speak. I guess I'm better off spending the break this way rather than spending it as the lousiest slob (yes, I am that slobbish) in all of humanity. Now, now. I should really be looking forward to a 'productive' sem break, not a fun one I guess.