Senior Mickey Van Gieson has a full daily schedule, between being a resident assistant in Sea Gull Square, on the track team, a full-time student with a double major in psychology and philosophy, part of the Catholic Campus Ministry, a member of the RA honors society and more.
“It’s pretty packed for me, especially because I also do research every once in a while with my professor, so you add that in too, and then it’s a lot,” Van Gieson said.
Van Gieson typically wakes up around 8:30 a.m. to start his day. However, on Wednesdays, he wakes at 6 a.m. to volunteer at Halo, an organization which helps to feed the homeless, with the Catholic Campus Ministry.
“From 6:30 to 8:30 a.m., we [the Catholic Campus Ministry] go and serve breakfast to the homeless shelter, Halo the Hope Center,” Van Gieson said.
Despite needing to take around 18 credits a semester to reach 150 credits to earn his dual degrees, Van Gieson’s schedule does have some free time this semester. On Mondays and Fridays, he doesn’t have any classes, though he still has track practice and meets.
“I really have a four-day weekend, but when you add track into it, it usually takes up one to two of those days, so I usually just have a regular weekend. Instead of Saturday and Sunday, it’s Sunday and Monday," Van Gieson said.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Van Gieson has class from 9:30 a.m. until 11:15 a.m., and he grabs breakfast around 11 a.m. He then has class at 12:30 p.m. and then a class following that at 2 p.m.
As a sprinter on the track team, Van Gieson has track practice every day at 3:30 p.m. Practice usually lasts until around 5 p.m. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, however, he also has lifting for an hour after practice and doesn’t finish until around 6 p.m. Van Gieson takes a class from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, which is his only class that day.
Tuesdays are his busiest days, because along with classes and practice, he also has two RA meetings. He typically grabs Chick-Fil-A between meetings and eats it during the second meeting. His track practices also tend to be harder on Tuesdays as well.
“I usually have a RA meeting right after my lifts on Tuesdays, so then I have to hurry over to go to that RA meeting, for our staff meeting. Then I have another meeting, because I’m part of Roe Alpha Sigma, which is the honors society for RAs,” Van Gieson said.
On the days when he doesn’t have lifting, class or meetings, Van Gieson typically heads to dinner after practice and sits with his team. They often stay there for an hour or more, talking and hanging out.
Each RA sits at the desk starting at 8 p.m. on one selected day a week. Van Gieson’s day is Sunday each week. RAs also rotate who sits at the desk on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, so Van Gieson also sits during some of those nights as well.
“I get a lot of RA stuff done during the night, and then during the day is when I more do homework or classwork or go to class,” Van Gieson said.
On most nights, when he is not sitting at the RA desk, Van Gieson usually finally heads to bed around 1 a.m., after he catches up on work and talks to his girlfriend. He admits that he doesn’t prioritize sleep when he is busy.
“Where I compensate is sleep … I have a lot of things going on, and usually sleep is what takes a fall,” Van Gieson said.
It is rather clear that being so involved creates for quite a busy schedule for Van Gieson. Even more, Van Gieson had an even more packed schedule last semester due to an internship he had.
Despite his busy schedule, however, Van Gieson enjoys being so involved in different activities, and believes that being an RA is well worth the time he puts into it.
By LAURA AMRHEIN
Staff writer
Featured photo from Suseagulls.
Comments