My First Missed Alarm

I knew it was bound to happen at college, what with no parental safety net if I decided to switch off the alarm and then promptly fall back asleep.  And this morning, I did just that.

At 9:15 I woke up, marveled at how good it felt to have slept. Then I noticed that the quality of light in the room (a little too light) suggested that it was far past 8:30. I hopped out of bed, looked at the clock, shouted a few benign profanities, and then proceeded to throw on my clothes.

I had 15 minutes to get to class. I stomped through my morning routine: getting dressed, going to the bathroom, packing my book back. I decided to dump some activities, such as brushing my teeth, that had always been an important touchstone in my high school routine. It felt odd.

But, being an athlete and knowing that I had two classes to get through before lunch, I knew I couldn't skip breakfast. So I raced to Essie Mae's, a quick food stop that serves as the only alternative to the main dining hall, Sharples, slathered cream cheese on a bagel, and even impulsively grabbed a cookie (mmmm...chocolate).

I actually made it to my seat before the bells tolled 9:30. Moral of the story? Life goes on without your parents and without every routine begin executed perfectly. And, Swarthmore is so tiny that you can get breakfast and still make it to class in fifteen minutes.