Friday 

Fridays are arguably the best kind of days at Cornell. No 9 am lecture, no sprints up the Engineering Quad, no alarm–just sunlight peeking through the blinds and the reassuring thought that I have a couple more days to get my stuff together. My first stop is my apartment kitchen for a beautifully-constructed breakfast sandwich and a homemade iced latte. It’s my little ritual: sit by the counter, read the news, and enjoy the calm before the weekend plans kick in. This semester, like for many other students, Fridays are class-free, so in the afternoon I’m either meeting with a professor about course questions or grabbing lunch with friends. Friday nights are always a toss up–sometimes it’s a club event, a house party, or just putting on a chick-flick while half of us “lock in” on our homework.

Saturday

Saturday mornings are for sleeping in again–or something spontaneous, like brunch at the Milkstand restaurant or a calming walk around Beebe Lake if the weather cooperates. Most of my weekends, though, revolve around the Cornell Pickleball Club. We meet at the facility, Pickleball Mania, in the Shops at Ithaca Mall, play a few games, and argue endlessly about whether that last shot was in. It’s half exercise, half bonding with all students, and fully the best way to de-stress from the week’s workload. By the time we’re done, we’ve somehow turned a casual game into a mini-tournament and made, at a minimum, five new friends. 

Afternoons are my ‘productive’ hours. I’ll usually head to a library, either Mann or Olin, open my laptop, order a coffee from the cafe, and yap with my friends instead of starting my assignments. Naturally, our conversations will usually lead to what’s for dinner. My favorite spots are either Pho Time or Wings Over–depending on how closely I want to stick to my health goals that day. After the sun sets and I’m midway through dinner, I’ll check to see if Cornell Cinema has any showings. If nothing catches my eye, I’ll head downtown Ithaca to Cinemapolis instead. After the film, at around 11:30 pm, I’ll sleepily take the TCAT bus back to campus and knock out for the night.

Sunday 

Sunday mornings are all about redemption. I’ll drag myself and hit legs at the gym (to kickstart the productivity), specifically Teagle gym, because it has the most variety of machines. After my workout, I feel like I’ve reset my life. The afternoon is when Sunday Scaries start creeping in. That’s when I do laundry and text my group project members something like, “Hey, are we still meeting today?” By evening, I’ll walk by the Slope just to watch the sunset before diving into another week. Some weekends are packed; others are slow, but that’s what makes them special — there’s always a balance between chaos and calm, surrounded by people who make even the routine stuff feel meaningful.