3/28/00

Ow. My legs really hurt. I went running yesterday for the first time in a very long time, and then today I got peer-pressured into walking up 11 flights of stairs. I was heading back from the second floor to my new lab on the 13th floor with the post-doc who I'll be working with when she headed for the stairs. I followed her. "So, uh, you're going to take the stairs back?" I asked.

The answer was yes. I whined a little bit about my sore legs from running, but figured it would have been uncouth to head for the elevator and tell her I'd meet her. The elevators at UCSF are so slow that it actually is much faster to walk. And it's not like I can't use the exercise. I guess the only real problem was that I got really sweaty, and then I spent the rest of the day feeling paranoid about my body odor.

Not only do my legs hurt, but I'm tired, too. I got to the lab at 9 a.m., and I didn't get out of class this evening until 9 p.m. and the only break I got was at lunchtime. I have a ton of boring homework to do, too, and I have no idea when I'm going to get to it. I hate my Cell Biology class already, and it's only met twice. Actually, the other class I went to tonight was pretty lame, too, but I'm hoping that it will improve.

I have to give a presentation for my old lab in a couple of weeks. I have to give a presentation for one of my classes in a month or so. I have to give a presentation for my entire graduate program a couple of weeks after that. And then after that, I'll have to give a presentation for my current lab and take an oral exam for my other class. Have I mentioned that I hate public speaking?

I have class for two hours every day. I'm expected to be in the lab for eight hours every day and many weekends. And then there's all that stupid homework.

I'm having a party this weekend and have invited more than 100 people. I need to meet with my DJ, but I haven't had time. I need to meet with someone from my old lab to explain my data, but I haven't had time.

Anyway, I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed. I've noticed that I always feel most overwhelmed not when I have a lot of work to do, but rather when I foresee having a lot of work to do. I'm not so much worried about my present workload, but I do wonder how I'll be able to maintain everything down the road when I'm more tired and more bored and more run-down.

The forum: Are you feeling stressed?