You know they eat, sleep, and play video games, but is that all t heir life consists of? I am talking about your typical guy. Even greater than the mystery of how the Egyptian pyramids were built is the mystery of how college guys spend their time.
I was privileged enough to follow around one of these intriguing specimens to find out what a typical day consists of. Jason Ferine, a freshman at Quinnipiac University, invited me into his life for a full day to try to find an answer to this fascinating question.
It is Monday morning at 7 a.m. Jason Ferine’s alarm clock goes off and in to the shower we go. Jason has a little trouble getting out of bed. He claims he isn’t a morning person.
At 7:30 a.m. back in the room, showered and shaved, he puts on jeans, a T-shirt, and sneakers. He tells me that there is no need to get dressed up because it’s early.
At 8 a.m. off to Psychology class with Professor Garskof to learn about the wonderful world of healing. Jason seems pretty interested in the discussion.
At 9:50 a.m. we head back to his dorm room in the Commons to learn that Jason is an avid cartoon watcher. As soon as we walk in the door, he changes the channel to Scooby Doo and sits down with a big piece of crumb cake. He excitedly tells me that it is his favorite and his mom brought it up for him from a bakery at home.
Not too long after we walk in, the door swings open and his friend, Matt and roommate, Pier burst in the room and turn on the Nintendo. Pier was beat numerous times by both Jason and Matt and told he was banned from the wrestling game they were playing.
Jason’s phone rings and they pause the game to find out who it is. It turns out that it’s Jason’s ex-girlfriend. Some screaming ensues on both ends of the line and Jason hangs up.
He says she wants to get back together with him, but that he wants to keep his options open for now. Back to Nintendo.
At noon we walk to Math class where Dr. Nelan teaches us about exponential functions and logarithms. Jason looks very confused. After class, he explains to me that he is totally lost.
At 12:50 p.m. back to the room and it’s time for more Nintendo. Matt comes over again and they play Nintendo and talk about girls. They can’t understand why girls are so difficult to figure out. I guess it goes both ways.
At 1:30 p.m. Jason jumps up and remembers that he has to go to Career Services to settle some information for his work-study program. On the way there, they discuss Matt’s weekend.
At 1:45 p.m. we go back to the room and Jason takes out shrimp and spaghetti. He tells me he has been looking forward to eating it and that it is Legend’s leftovers from the night before. He consumes it in less than ten minutes.
At 3 p.m. Matt leaves and Jason starts to do some homework. He writes his physical therapy essay and starts studying for his psychology test that he is taking Wednesday.
At 4:30 p.m. Matt comes back and Jason walks to the cafeteria with him. They talk about what they’re going to do for tonight. They want to do everything from watching the Yankee game to going over to the Carriage House.
At 5 p.m. it’s time for work. Jason works in the library in the media services department. His job description is to bring video projectors to classrooms when teachers call the library and ask for them. He only takes a few trips and spends the rest of the time doing homework.
At 6 p.m. now we go to the gym. Jason works out almost every day because he plays intramural football. He works out his chest and biceps.
At 7:30 p.m. he is sweaty and smelly, he decides he needs to shower. We go back to the room again and he showers and puts on jeans, sneakers, and a fleece since it’s gotten colder out.
At 8:15 p.m. Jason looks more awake than ever. More cartoon watching ensues until Jason tells me it’s time for bed.
At 3 a.m. Jason puts on his pajamas and turns in for the night. In four hours he is going to wake up and do it all over again.