Campus Conversations

Balancing Act

October 16, 2012

Blogger: Amalia Frick

Hello! I’m a new blogger, so I’ll tell you a little bit about myself. I grew up in Boulder, Colorado, and decided to come to LA because I wasn’t enjoying sub-zero winters. I also have an overwhelming love of palm trees. Oxy was my choice because I was interested in the options for majors, but the thing that solidified my decision was the people that I met while visiting campus. I am currently a senior ECLS (English and Comparative Literary Studies) major, and a CTSJ minor (Critical Theories and Social Justice). Some say I’m studying ETCSJCLS, and attempting to formulate the most obscure area of study possible, but my dream is to be a book Editor, and editors need to read a lot! Last semester I studied in Bristol, England, where I re-affirmed my dislike of miserable weather and perfected the art of banter.

The midterm season is nigh upon us, and suddenly I’m finding myself reverting to survival strategies: make food in bulk (I live off campus this year), take a cardigan everywhere, have my coffee thermos on my person at all times! This last one is easily the most important. It’s a time of year that is busy, but there’s something exciting about it as well. Hustling between classes, throwing yourself into a theory just to abandon it and pick up another one. Being busy makes every minute of my time valuable, which makes me pay attention to how I’m spending it.

This year though, it’s a little bit harder, because I am in the process of writing my Comps project. (Lightning literally crashes outside the window, an organ bellows from the depths of an abandoned mansion.) This is a Big Deal. I’m writing on The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, and finding that the small things matter quite a bit. I am constantly researching, scouring databases for more articles, and highlighting my book with color-coded highlighters. As per usual, my reading load is substantial. I’m taking a course entitled Literary Theory and Criticism, which is a fascinating overlap between ECLS and CTSJ, and also requires close reading of theorists such as (serious face) Althusser, Marx, Bhaktin, and many others. I constantly balance my classes, prioritizing work that must be done immediately versus work that can wait for a little bit until I have time.

It’s not always about the academic work though, because life isn’t all about academics. Sometimes Birthdays need to be celebrated! In all of the focus on what you do with your life, I think it is just as important (if not more) to celebrate having a life to do things with.

And then, sometimes, I think you have to choose to be young. Last night, my friends and I went to the Imagine Dragons and Awolnation concert at the Nokia Club, and we had a blast. We sang our hearts out and felt the bass booming through us, and forgot completely for a few minutes that we are responsible for Grown-Up Important Life Things. Coming into fall break, I already feel reset and ready to dedicate the next four days to writing the best Comps that I can.  

That is what balance means to me: knowing when to stop the busy bustle and be where you are. I am a student, a friend, an intern, a daughter, a writer… and each of these aspects of me deserves time. Balance isn’t all about the things you do. It’s also about the person you are.

Now I’m off to turn in my Application for Graduation!!!