Dear Readers,

    Yesterday was a packed day for my internship-seeking self. I attended networking sessions with executives from the finance and consulting realms (obviously, two industries that I am considering interning in), as well a presentation titled, “A day in the life of an investment banker.” The presentation was brief but informative, so I thought to myself: well, why not tell you about a typical day at Princeton?

    And so, here it is.

    In all honesty, everyone lives their own lives at Princeton. I generally try to maintain a balanced lifestyle, but there is always so little time, so much work and so many fun events to attend!

    A regular and healthy sleep pattern has always helped me stay clear and focused, but sleeping early and rising early is not exactly the norm here. My messed up sleeping schedule for today was perhaps more like the average Princeton experience: I slept many hours past midnight finishing a peculiarly short essay with strict requirements that I’d been working on for the past week and was due in less than 12 hours.

    I woke up again after four hours to shorten the essay to its required length and proofread it several times. I proceeded to watch a two-and-a-half-hour movie that was the topic of a discussion in my precept (a small class that meets weekly to discuss and reinforce knowledge we’ve learned from the professor in larger lectures).

    Then, I headed to my eating club to grab a bagel with cream cheese, before arriving at precept with five minutes to spare. I also had other classes that took up the bulk of my day from there, ending at 3 p.m., after which I finally had lunch and some time to unwind a bit, before a luxuriously long nap until past dinnertime.

    I’m now eating a cup of instant noodles (my second cup ever since I’ve been at Princeton; they’re very unhealthy and highly recommended against!) since I am too lazy to face the pouring rain and the trek to my eating club. And then, it is bedtime and more work tomorrow!

    Ah, the wonderful college days that are so busy yet productive. They are tiring, but hard work is always a prerequisite for great dreams — wouldn’t you say so?

    Sleep and live well!

    Sincerely, Laiyin