Snooze, Stress, Survive

The day starts with my alarm going off at 7:30 AM. I debate skipping class, then realize I CAN’T (major attendance issues, bro). Like the responsible 19-year-old I am, I snooze the alarm a few more times until I’m left with 30 minutes to get ready for college. Breakfast? A luxury I don’t have time for most days. My mom, if she reads this, is probably already drafting a long text message about my life choices.

By the time I get into class, I’m running on three brain cells and last night’s Instagram reels. Meanwhile, the professor starts talking about something I should probably care about, but I am half asleep.  Midway through class, I discreetly check my phone, hoping not to get thrown out, only to see a message from Zomato: “Single ho toh kya hua, burger toh double patty kha sakte ho” with a red heart. Ab Zomato ko ye zaroor pata hain ki main single hoon, but ye nahi pata ki I don’t like burgers as much. 

The truth is, my social life is extremely vibrant!!! My last real conversation with someone other than my family was with an auto Bhaiyya (bargaining, you know?). And by real conversation, I mean I barely said anything more than “Kitna hoga?” I’m pretty sure people my age have these dramatic, event-filled social lives, and here I am just trying to figure out which show to rewatch tonight. My social life is basically like the Wi-Fi connection in my hostel: weak, unreliable, and barely functional.

Coming to the actual classroom, I usually am fighting for my life to stay awake. I go in thinking I’ll focus and maybe get something done but end up sleeping with my eyes open and barely nod at the professor while they teach. One fine day a professor sensed that I was in my own dreamworld and decided to call me out. She said, “Ramya, what’s the answer to this?” And let me tell you, I wasn’t ready. I did not even know the name of the chapter. I stood up with a calm, I have got it all figured out expression on my face while all I could think of was Zomato’s flirtatious notifications. Then, I pulled out my secret weapon “Big, meaningless words, that make me look smart” I threw in words like intrinsic, conceptualized, correlation etc. What happened next? Oh boy! The professor stared at me in utter silence for around 20 seconds. I am talking 20 seconds of uncomfortable awkward silence. I swear I even heard the professor’s thoughts as she tried to figure out if I was the biggest idiot she had ever encountered or if I was, in fact, a misunderstood genius who is too advanced for the classroom. Her face was a mixture of confusion and disbelief, she blinked a few times, probably questioning her life choices, before deciding to just... nod.

In the afternoon, once I am done with the million assignments and meetings (going to skip that part, cause honestly, it’s boring) that I have, I sit down to watch Netflix (huge content buff). I spend one hour scrolling on Netflix for stuff to watch. Deciding what to watch is harder than deciding which career path to take. Romantic movies? Too painful. Thrillers? Already living in one. Every day, I end up rewatching the same old comfort shows.

After watching a couple of episodes, I decide to go into a deep conversation with myself, searching for the meaning of life, but then remember that I am yet to reply to the 108 memes and reels my best friend has sent me. I start replying to them like, “That’s soo meee,” “OMG TRUE.”  By the time I finish, I realize I’ve emotionally bonded with every single meme!. Then I decide to sleep, phone still in my hand. I set an alarm for 6 AM for the next day, thinking I will wake up early and finally eat breakfast, but we all know how that would’ve turned out. I put my phone down and suddenly hear a notification sound. Guess who it is? Zomato again with “It’s midnight. You’re hungry. We’re judging you, but we’ll still deliver.” 

I sigh, put my phone down, and go back to sleep. Tomorrow will be a day full of the same snoozing, stressing, and surviving. But for now, as I drift off into a peaceful, food-deprived sleep, I realize that even though it might feel like we are stuck in life, it’s okay. We all get caught in the same loop at times. But this never-ending loop of life prepares us for what comes next.

With that thought, this is Ramya Ch signing off until next time!