Week Two or The Moment I Realized I Don't Have Any Friends Anymore

Korrin B.

January 16, 2011 - 10:30 PM

Some college students close out the bar on a Friday night. This term, I close out the library. I am now quite familiar with the "last call" for checkouts and the "five minutes until you need to get out; you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."

My week two consisted of many hours of thesis work, quite a few hours of research for a project I'm doing for the UO President's Office, and another several hours writing and editing my application for the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship in D.C. I can become quite consumed in my work and find an odd amount of joy in finding the perfect scholarly article to relate to the point that I want to make on a given homelessness policy. To me, my work can be somewhat euphoric. However, there are also those moments that hit you like a bad old cold - I have no social life.

This most clearly became apparent to me this weekend. In honor of the great Martin Luther King, Jr. we have a three-day weekend. My highest gratitude to his amazing work. Anyway, for my three-day weekend, I have mostly been home, in comfy clothes, sipping tea, and reading a stack of scholarly articles on, well, homelessness policy. I did take a break to finish and submit my application to the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship (cross your fingers!), but besides that, I have mostly just been reading.

When I noticed that even my landlords (a lovely family that happens to live next door to me) were having a bumping party this weekend, I tried my best to get dressed in real world clothes and reach out to the few friends who might still know that I exist. No luck. Of course, they were already out and about doing things. They had made plans. It makes sense. I do not blame them. I have disappeared into an abyss of thesis and other research and work and they must go on with their lives. I know they wish the best for me and I wish only the same for them.

So, perhaps in summary, what this blog is trying to say about my week two is that it was pretty much the beginning of the all-consuming thesis process. I am making good progress (though, of course, I wouldn't mind being a little further ahead) and I know that the hours in the library are worth it. I find it all very fascinating and I am glad to sacrifice a bit to get it done, but I will also be happy upon its completion when I can actually have a decent social life again without theories of homelessness prevention always swirling about in the back of my head, making it near impossible to focus on any conversation.

For my own sanity, I do have a dinner date with a friend set up on Wednesday. I recognize the need to and importance of taking a few breaks here and there.