Sunday morning, with little hesitation or regret, we set our clocks forward for daylight saving time. But because "springing forward" has become habitual, most of us didn't think to stop and lament the precious hour we suddenly lost.
Many people didn't even notice time vanish into thin air (some even forgot to change their clocks). Time of death: 2 a.m. Just like that, our spring break was cut short.
As part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Congress voted to move daylight saving time this year to the second week of March, with the hope of saving additional energy. Three weeks earlier than usual, and before the official arrival of spring, the change couldn't have come at a more inconvenient time for students.
This hour "passed away" when we needed it the most - while we were scrambling to catch-up on our workload and before returning to Penn to complete the semester.
I would like to take a moment to commemorate those forgotten 60 minutes that were prematurely snatched away from us, and to reflect upon the great accomplishments they could have allowed us to achieve. May they rest in peace.
One single hour out of our nearly 20 years of life might not seem significant at first glance. But when I lay awake at night, scribbling down my mental to-do list, having one more hour in the day to complete my work would have lessened my anxiety.
It seems to me that Penn students are always running out of time. With so many opportunities and activities to choose from, time certainly acts as the limiting factor, and often as the enemy. Time is the only obstacle keeping us from finishing that paper, calling our parents or going to the gym.
Losing time is nothing new to me. Since I live in St. Louis, Mo., located in the Central Time Zone, I lose an hour each time I return to Penn. It's a strange feeling to think that an hour can simply cease to exist.
Like the theme song from the musical Rent poignantly inquires, how do you measure (an hour) in the life?
In homework completed, in calories burnt on the elliptical machine or, perhaps, in sleep?
I would like to think that an extra hour spent at Penn might mean a trip into Center City, a jog down Locust Walk or an interesting lecture.
But lately, it seems like a more typical hour here might mean 10 battles played on Super Smash Brothers, an enthralling conversation on AIM or a new photo album created on Facebook.
Though we're constantly complaining about a lack of time, we are no strangers to wasting it.
For example, many of us, myself included, are joined at the hip to our laptop computers. With the effortless click of a few keys, we can passively let the hours slip away, only to be gobbled up by the Internet.
Taking a time-out from these addicting activities would go a long way toward saving time, which is always the elusive goal. At a school this competitive and demanding, time management, balance and efficiency are necessities of everyday living.
Having so many things to do, and not enough time in which to do them, I often feel like I'm being pulled in 10 separate directions at once. No matter how much I work ahead, I always seem to fall behind again. I have had to learn the art of multi-tasking in order to stay afloat.
You only have to look as far as Pottruck, where students read biology books on the Stairmaster and scan political science notes on the treadmills, to observe this skill in action.
The last thing we need is to lose an hour, right as things are beginning to kick back into full gear and as we prepare for the homestretch.
But all is not lost. Thankfully, come November, we will regain this particular hour. But we will not always be so lucky. The deceased hour is, after all, outlived by many others. While we mourn this loss, we need to value and make the most out of the surviving hours, the ones that can never be replaced, no matter how much we may have left to do. Though we can't turn back time, we can change the way we spend it.
They say time is of the essence. Now I truly know what they mean. Tick-Tock!
Rachel Weisel is a College freshman from Chesterfield, Missouri. Her e-mail address is weisel@dailypennsylvanian.com. Writes of Passage appears on Fridays.
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