Double-bookings

You know, one of the things that is most annoying about university is that there is no longer a standardised timetable of events that everyone attends. This means that most weeks there are multiple places I need/want to be at the same time, and unfortunately, only one of me.

For instance, next Wednesday is both the date of the law school’s annual Sir Anthony Mason lecture, and the chief justice of the Victorian Supreme Court, who happens to also be the first female chief justice in an Australian supreme court, is giving a speech on law and justice. This happens to be the same day and time as my college’s literature dinner, where we all read a book as a college and then invite the author to dinner to talk about it. I don’t really like this year’s book, but at the dinner we get more food (and because this is a special event, it’ll be loads better than regular college food too) than at the lecture, which, although catered, is not a full meal. So in the interests of eating good food, which, of course, trump all other considerations in my life, I will be going to college dinner instead.

Tomorrow I am also double booked, because the MSO is playing Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique which is a concert that I really want to see at the same time that there is a college costume party. The day after tomorrow I have a chamber rehearsal, a volunteer tutoring appointment, and choir rehearsal on one after the other, but overlapping, so I’ll have to give one up. On Monday, the Victorian Opera is playing Orpheus and Eurydice at the same time that I have both my college tutorials. Yesterday I had an information session for the 50% law assignment and a meeting for the Student Ambassador Leadership Program at the same time. Being me, I chose to skip both and eat lunch instead.

So I have been fairly busy since the start of this term. But really, the double bookings aren’t due to being busy — I’ve had plenty of spare time to fit in practise and study and laundry and calling my parents and general goofing around (if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be writing here. Or maybe I would. Passing up a chance to procrastinate has never been a skill of mine). It’s just that everyone seems to pick the same times for all their events, and so, barring the ability to perform amoeba style fission, time travel, or the superpower of making other people conform to your timetable, you’re going to have to pick and choose.

Which really kind of sucks sometimes.

In other news, yesterday we had a marshmallow toasting party in my friend’s room, which has a fireplace because she’s the JCH student club treasurer and therefore gets an awesome room. It was fun.