Like all Scripps students I received a  “Life After Scripps” flyer in my mailbox a few weeks ago. Some events, such as the personal branding and personal statement writing workshops, looked particularly interesting and I was excited to join them and get some veteran insight. I find that the information presented at these events is incredibly useful, and because these workshops and panels are all on campus I try to drop in for at least an hour or two after class. Nevertheless, I find that it’s still hard to fit career planning into my schedule; its bullet point in my planner will always be an interminable task because there is never truly an endpoint and, really, where do I even begin? Last week began with an “almost-all-nighter” in Honnold for a Core paper and ended with a late night drive back to campus from Orange County. I actually missed all of the “Life after Scripps” events I had planned to attend save for Tea. Do I at least get a gold star for trying?

Although Seal Court was more crowded than usual last Wednesday I felt inexplicably calmer than I had all week, even as students gingerly tried to push around me. For a small fragment of time, just fifteen minutes, I worried about nothing other than the minute sadness that there wasn’t enough whipped cream on my pound cake slice. I used a corner of the cake to scrape what was left of the whipped cream off a serving spoon, and then I drizzled fluorescent red strawberry syrup on top of my fluffy, crumbling white mound. I know we’re all feeling an increasing amount of tension and stress due to impending midterms. I find myself spending less time at the gym and even skimming class readings during the ten minute breaks between classes. Between school and work I hardly have any time for myself these days!

What motivates me to stay on top of important deadlines for alternative spring breaks and summer internships is simple. I don’t use the traditional rewards systems in which you “treat yourself” to a new pair of jeans or a little knickknack whenever you finish a paper; rather, I motivate myself by envisioning a future, a future perhaps in a different city or even a different country. I tell myself that this summer will be even better than the last. I’ll be given meaningful projects and be further convinced that I chose the right field of work. Maybe I’ll meet someone who will be my mentor or maybe someone will ask me about my experience blogging for CP&R. Sometimes, I also envision a quiet summer in the suburbs watching Grey’s Anatomy reruns. I then grimace at the thought of halfheartedly ordering an extra thin Margerita pizza and drinking grapefruit juice straight from the carton. But then I go back to my vision of a summer leading writing workshops in Baltimore. I think of all the wonderful people I have yet to meet and all the experiences I have yet to have in one of the brightly colored rowhouses that line the streets of Charles Village… and then everything is worth it.