Observations on this the official first day of school:

I had the best night of sleep in what seems to be months. I fell asleep at midnite with the hope to get up and be unhurried as I made my way to class at 9:30 in the morning. That came crashing down when I neglected to set my alarm clock and woke up at 9. I guess I'm lucky I woke up that early. So I rushed to get ready and forgot to eat breakfast as I raced for a non-existent bus leading to a run, well a brisk walk, up University to class at Pimentel.

The realities of attending a public university mean having to sit in the aisle of a huge lecture hall. Yes, my class was over-enrolled and with me getting there, technically, on time, there were no more seats left. So I sat in the aisle with the big air conditioner above my head. 80 minutes of that and a lot of body aches later, I rushed out. Only 90 minutes til my next class so I went to eat something. I think it was a hot pocket.

There were a lot more people roaming the campus for some reason. As usual, I tried to stay away from them, most with flyers in their hands. I hate those people so much. Let's see, line at the student store. Line at the class pass place. So I chose to do those things tomorrow.

I got back to encounter another crowded classroom, 55 people in a room meant to handle 40. I got there five minutes early and managed to get a seat but it was at a right angle to the chalkboard. I tell ya, either less students or bigger classrooms, please! The professor actually got into the material today. I wrote 4 pages of notes and I wanted to go home. But it was a Tuesday and I had another class afterwards. That class was bigger, but that only means they get to cram more people in, but it wasn't as bad. The only seat left was in the back, and with the way the room is, I'm at a disadvantage with my limited height.

And you know what, that's it. It didn't feel like a first day of school. After all, I've been in Berkeley for two weeks now. But still, it was busy and I'm really tired. Now it's nothing til noon tomorrow.