After a very relaxing and much needed spring break, students are now attempting to get back into their normal swing of things. The sun is finally shining, the campus grounds are blooming, our friends seem happier and things are going well.
But before we know it, we will cross into that dreaded week – Dead Week. The workload more than quadruples, and there seems to be an ever-present impending cloud of worry hanging over everyone’s heads. So, most students who are procrastinators like me will wait till the very last second to actually start their studying. And many college students will have to pull off an act viewed as crazy, which is the bittersweet all-nighter scenario.
If you have never been through an all-nighter
before, this is just an article to mentally prep you for what is to come if you
choose to venture into the land of no sleep. You have better chances of holding
on to your sanity the next day if you know how the preceding night will go for
you. Keeping that in mind, this is how the night will probably go for you, and
to make it easier to cope with, it will be said in the most humorous 21 Jump
Street lighting that I can muster.
“Aaaand here we go!”
Determined to get all of your schoolwork done,
you get a surge of energy. Midnight quickly turns into two o’clock, and this is
when you hit the first stage, dubbed ‘the giggles.’ Because, let’s face it,
everything is funnier after two am. Your roommate, study buddy, or twitter
friend will say something stupid, which will cause you to go in to a bout of
uncontrollable laughter. Just embrace the laughter, because you will want that
so much more the later on your night goes.
You finally calm down, and get a significant
amount of homework done.
Then, you need a mental break, and don’t be afraid to
take one. You deserve it. Have that late night salty snack, or take a quick
shower to refocus.
Sleep delirium will start to hit once you sit
back down and get in the zone.
If you had a long day before making the choice
to pull an all-nighter, you will hit the second stage, called “tripping hard
core.” Everyone approaches this one differently. You can either not feel time
passing the same way, or mix up the order of words and events from the day
prior. You just have to keep in mind that it will all be over soon, and that
you will (eventually) be okay.
Hey, the sun rose! Maybe you better get ready
for the day. But, you take your time, thinking that you have all the time in
the world for some strange reason. Then, the deadline for that paper you just
wrote, or the exam you just crammed for, approaches.
This is when you get to
the third stage, called “over-confidence”. You get this epiphany and are super
ecstatic to get everything done in time. Which you can. Your hands move like lightning
to write the last of that paper, or your eyes read over the last of your notes
for that exam. You can pretty much rule the world at this point, because you
have been up longer than the rest of us. Adrenaline takes over, and then you
magically make that deadline.
Making that deadline takes you into the fourth
stage, the “heck yeah mother trucker” phase. Seriously. Campus is a playground
now for you. You own it. Be the king or queen, and enjoy the feelings of glory
that accompany your wicked accomplishments. You did it!
Getting through the rest of the day on that high
of “I’ve got this!” helps, but the moment you get back home, kick off your
shoes, and your body starts unwinding, you get into the fifth and final stage,
which is “asleepyness”. Just go with the flow, man. Your body needs to hardcore
catch up on sleep. And you’ve earned it. So let your favorite blanket make you
feel happy on the inside.
And that, dear friends, is how a typical
all-nighter will go. As long as you are armed with the knowledge of its effects on your mind and your body, you can take on the world.
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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
1. Use singular they for people whose pronouns you don't know, people who use those pronouns, and stop using him/her.
One of the most common, and often cluttered, phrases I hear when people try to talk about a person whose gender is unknown is he/she, him/her, (s)he. This is not only clunky and annoying to say, but ignores the fact that not everyone uses those pronouns or identifies as a man or a woman. When you say he/she you're really forgetting part of the population and making a lot of assumptions about people you don't know. This also goes for assuming a stranger's gender -- how someone presents isn't an indication of the gender they are or the pronouns they use. By assuming, you're misgendering someone before you even know them, when it is totally easy to use them, where you are assuming nothing. Singular they has been in use for hundreds of years. Using it will declutter language and create an environment in the world that allows for transgender and non-binary people to not be misgendered.
Source: genderqueerid.com
2. Stop using the words "opposite sex" or "both sexes" or "opposite gender" or "both genders".
Not only is this language erasing of transgender people outside the binary, but it is also erasing intersex people. The idea of the opposite of gender or sex, first of all, makes no sense. There is no opposite when it comes to biology, and since there are more than two sexes and more than two genders, there can be no opposite and no both (both implies two). Replace this language with all sexes or all genders and just get rid of the idea of opposite gender or sex from your mind and vocabulary entirely.
3. Ask people's pronouns when you meet them.
In order to help create a safer environment for trans and non-binary people, asking for pronouns and educating others on why you're asking is an important step. This allows the person to give you the pronouns they want you to use and stops you from assuming their gender, misgendering them and making them uncomfortable and hurt. This is something that is good to normalize is every conversation, not just in LGBTQIA+ spaces or in spaces that you suspect trans and non-binary people might be. Trans and non-binary people are everywhere and the more common asking about pronouns becomes, the less people will be misgendered.
4. Use the word cisgender.
The word cisgender means that you identify with the gender you are assigned at birth. Basically, not transgender or non-binary. Using the word cisgender helps stop the idea that being trans or non-binary is 'abnormal' and that cisgender is the norm. It is a term that has existed for a long time. Using the term cisgender also, as the picture above says, helps to maintain that all gender experiences are valid, and all right rather than abnormal.
5. Stop saying "born a boy/girl" about a transgender or non-binary person.
I can't stress how annoying and upsetting this phrasing is and I hear it all the time by people who claim to be allies and people who are completely ignorant. No one is 'born' anything. Your gender and sex assignment are things that are given to you when you are born. This also is essentially outing trans and non-binary people to people who they don't know, misgenders them, and continues to hold up cis-sexist and transphobic ideas that one is born a gender and that their gender is innate and unchanging. It provides people with unnecessary and personal information about someone's genitals (since that is really what someone is saying when saying born a boy/girl). If someone is saying this, they are telling you the make up of someone's genitals, which is completely unnecessary and invasive. You don't need to mention what someone was assigned at birth.
Source: flavorwire.com
6. Stop using the term 'preferred pronouns'.
While the term is better than not asking at all, it still really isn't a good term. The word preferred implies that these pronouns are wanted, but optional when that is not the case. My pronouns and other transgender people and non-binary people's pronouns are not optional; they are absolutely required. If you want to ask for someone's pronouns just ask 'what pronouns do you use?'. The word preferred isn't needed because it isn't preferred, it's required.
Source: nytimes.com
7. Stop using a transgender or non-binary person's dead name.
The term dead name means someone's name before they changed it (if they changed it). You have no right to use or know that name. It isn't a name the person uses anymore and to use it is disrespectful and violent. Saying things like 'Before Doug was Doug he went by ____" is not okay. Not only does it out someone as transgender or non-binary, it gives someone very personal and unnecessary information. Having a dead name used is hurtful and makes me instantly not trust someone. Do not ask for someone's dead name: there is no need for you to know it; it is not their name. Before you say something like the above example, think about why you're saying it. Is that really relevant to the conversation? Why do you feel the need to share this incredibly personal information that you have no right to share? Plain and simple: don't use someone's dead name. It's disrespectful and cruel.
While this list is only a basic introduction to improving language and making spaces safer, there are plenty more ways and articles that can provide more information and education. Learning and unlearning is a process that is incredibly important to making spaces safer for trans and non-binary people.
kaboompics
1. You can't remember your last day off.
Maybe it was three weeks ago. Oh, and you had to request the day off because you had a doctor's appointment.
2. Whenever someone asks to hang out, you're working.
Honestly, don't even bother inviting me places. You already know what the answer will be.
3. When you do see your friends, you're in a "treating mood."
You've managed to save so much money that when the bill comes to the table, you treat everyone to dinner. Finally. Something to spend your money on.
4. You work so much you don't have time to spend the money you're making.
You've casually spent maybe $3 total this week considering you've only had enough time between work to grab a coffee...once.
5. You're too tired to function when you aren't working.
Finally, a day off and the only thing on my mind is how long I can sleep today. Again, don't even bother texting me because I'll be too tired to move.
6. Finally seeing your friends and having way too much to catch up on.
You are with the group again and suddenly you've realized everything that you missed since the last time you've been together, which was more a month ago. Oops!
So, it's time to stop working so much and take time off to enjoy what really matters: the people we surround ourselves with.
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