Ahh. Sweet, sweet relief hath finally come. The weekend has finally made her gloriously awaited arrival. But unlike the majority of my collegiate comrades, I have the fine fortune of kicking off the festivities on this lovely Thursday afternoon.
 
That’s right, ladies and gents. Here in what I like to call “University Land," there exists the ever-coveted 3-day weekend. Known by only the most strategic few, the 3-day weekend allows for some of the most memorable college experiences, most of which shall forever be unattainable by those who fall victim to the Friday death rumble.
 
But by now, you’re probably asking yourself, “How could he possibly know of this sacred myth? Is he really Val Kilmer?” Don’t worry though. I am not really Val Kilmer. But I am a man of another beloved faith – Freshman Year Freedom, where interfaith relations are encouraged and the sacrificial beverage of choice always goes down smoothly with a couple of late-night slices.
 
See, when I came to school earlier this year, I had two goals in mind:
 
     1.             Do well in the class
     2.            Do well out the class
     2b.             Memorize Family Guy
 
With my objectives ready, I started choosing my courses. A once-a-week 3-hour Art History seminar on Wednesdays. 1.5 hours of Psych lecture on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a 3-hour lab on Monday nights. Anthropology – 1.5 hours on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. And Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning Hebrew sessions for an hour. 15 class hours later, and the dream was complete!
 
With only 4 days of class a week, the semester was like heaven (but without the presence of Sir Christopher Farley – a hero and father to us all). I learned how to balance my time between school work, pledging my fraternity, partying, eating, sleeping, and various other activities that shall remain unknown… even to me.
 
Thursdays and Saturdays are the big nights at most schools. So instead of spending my Friday afternoon celebrating the temporary release, I chalked that duty off to Thursdays and used my Fridays to do the weekend’s work while Mitch and Friends, as I tend to refer to the 5-day sufferers, were still slumping at the classroom desk, piling high the weekend work. With everything out of the way, Saturday and Sunday adventures were warmly welcomed with tightly wrapped gift baskets of the remains from my 13-year-old Bar Mitzvah money (Thanks for the DVD special Stephen Hawking’s Finest Hour – giving me the money you spent on it surely would have been a rash decision on your part. After all, what else would I have to watch when I want to know what it feels like to have someone consistently slap me in the face for an uninterrupted six solid hours?).
 
There’s something to remember when you’re beginning you first semester of college, and especially when your picking your courses. Sure, if you know what you want, then do it. You want to be a Chemical Engineer? Then by the grace of all that shall attempt but fail to save you, take chemical engineering courses. But there’s something else to college and the classes you take. We all know college is a school. Otherwise, why would it be called college? But college is more than just school. It’s your new home. It’s where you live, where you eat, where you meet your lifelong friends, where you experiment. You want to make sure that you balance and enjoy everything as much as you can. If you’re a morning person, choose all morning classes. If you’re getting with the local bartender, and she only gets Tuesdays and Wednesdays off, then be sure as dang you don’t have any classes Wednesday or Thursday morning.
 
College is a whole other world now. What were once such tedious tasks as choosing classes can now be your greatest emancipator if you do it right. Just keep your wits about and be conscious of what you want to spend your time doing. There’s always a way to make your schedule ideal. But it’s up to you to find it.
 
And remember, just because the goddess you met at orientation has Intro to Cooking on Fridays at noon doesn’t mean you need to sign up as well. Just sneak in and grab a seat 2 rows back and 5 seats over whenever last night’s feats allow for midday movement.