12.08 am Saturday 24th – I open my eyes. I have fallen asleep on my laptop keyboard. My face has managed to write a novel in binary code. I realise I am not in the library but my room. How long was I out for? It’s Saturday. I look back and swear I remember Thursday like it was only a few hours ago. I achieved something great yesterday and felt like a protagonist from a horror movie who survives through the whole movie just to see the villain who he thinks he killed getting back up to establish the premise for the sequel.
I am Kasun De Alwis. This is my story.
Thursday 22nd May, 2014 – T minus 18 hours till 1st presentation is due.
16: 00 Location – G16 Management Strategies Tute.
16:18 Just presented a major assignment. No time to feel relieved. It was just the tip of the iceberg. Why do we have to sit around and listen to the next group? My phone starts vibrating in my bag and makes a noise louder than any ringtone ever did. I refrain from making a sudden move to avoid death stares by the ladies whose presentation I just disrupted.
16:58 It’s a text message asking me to journey through many perilous mountains and combat temptation from the Uni Bar, goddess of pool and wine, to reach a building guarded by a tin man and mainly frequented by engineering students and the weak hearted who need a pit stop from the weary walk from Parklands car park to the library.
17:01 “Where is G23 and why is my group member there?” I start walking from G16. I hate group work already.
17.11 Stupid hill. Not a pleasant sight when you are walking from the other end of uni. Am I so unfit? Nah it’s just my super uncomfortable dress pants and dress shoes I had to wear for the presentation. I start wondering if tutors actually mark you down for presentation because majority of students never bother to look professional.
17:13 There she is! G23. I look at the tin man statue, a beacon of hope which symbolises the end of journey through a brick road that may have been yellow at some point. As I hide the fact that I am short of breath, I feel I have completed the required exercise for the day.
17:14 I walk in to the building. “Sup dude?” I shake hands with Aiden, one of my group mates for venue management. He gives me chewing gum. Little do I know that this gum would be a faithful companion for the next 17 hours of my life.
17:30 We briefly discuss the presentation we have to give tomorrow. But we both have another assignment due so we discuss the possibility we might be here for a while.
18:00 Did I just finish drawing a floor plan on paint? I totally deserve to check my notifications.
18.04 Phone rings. It’s Zach. “X-Men is at 6.40. I’ll meet you at Ausfair”. Oh crap! I realise I forgot that I made plans to watch a movie today. He has already bought tickets.
19:20 I open my eyes to see the blue goddess Mystique and think to myself how hot Jennifer Lawrence is. Wait! What? Where did Richard Nixon come from? I realise I have missed a fair portion of X-Men during my 20 minute “power nap”. I better skull this energy drink! (Caffeinated drink counter 350ml over the recommended daily dose)
21:10 “That was a long movie but it was pretty epic,” I tell Zach. Later he agrees to come to uni and work on his assignments as well. The troops grow larger!
21:40 Back in G23. I see Aiden sitting at a distant computer concentrating pretty hard. As I walk closer I realise he is just scrolling through the Facebook newsfeed. “This room closes at 10,” he says “let’s walk to the library.” I say “nah, I’ll drive us there.” I feel a sense of pride for how lazy I am. Homer would be proud (not the ancient Greek poet, but the Simpson who has been a 2nd father to me)
21:50 Library – 24 hour section
We enter the 24 hour section of the library. I almost trample over and look at the seductive bean bag. I would love to lie on your voluptuous foam stuffed bosom and fall asleep in your arms but alas, I have to say nay and sit on an upright chair and get this work done.
22.15 I run the idea by Aiden of having a 60s themed event for the venue management presentation. He agrees. Better start doing some research on the 60s.
22.20 Ahh Wikipedia! Why do u have so many haters? I click on the search result for ‘60s.
Wow such insight. It’s even referenced.
23:00 Just finished the second energy drink. I feel the fatigue but at the same time want to start shuffling to Major Laser. (Caffeinated drink counter – 850ml over the daily recommended dose)
23.39 Presentation slides complete. Zach is hungry. “MACCAS RUN!” Aiden can guard the fort.
23.45 We realise Griffith University is in the middle of 3 McDonald’s restaurants: Molendinar, Ferry Road and Gold Coast Highway. We sketch out plans to open a Macca’s franchise in Parkwood.
23:59 Back at uni. Night time is so peaceful where the stress of the day of parking and walking for hours cease to exist. We realise that we are going to make a whole bunch of people in the library very jealous with our “fancy” Big Macs and all. They are all stuck with vending machine chips.
Friday the 23rd of May, 2014 – T minus 11 hours till 1st presentation is due. Stay tuned for part 2.
– Kasun
