I’ve been thinking a lot about culture lately. It’s one of those things that is always on my mind because, while an abstraction, it’s everywhere. Culture is what weaves humanity together, yet there are so many different strands of it—all changing and in crisis at different times. Along these lines, I think it’s interesting to try to think about the many different strands of culture of which you’re an element—how these strands change but still keep the whole in tact.
Jan Plan has its own culture; it is its own strand of the Colby cultural fabric; yet, during the month of January, it seems as if it becomes the whole culture itself, easily consuming or exacerbating the former elements of a person’s college existence. Routines are part of what makes someone an active participant in certain strands of culture, yet Jan Plan seems to have shaken up most of my routines. It feels as if I’ve almost inadvertently created a new cultural environment for myself, solely by changing my routines. For example, winter break definitely turned me into a nocturnal creature, and Jan Plan has not squashed that part of my being. I was always a night owl, but I definitely try to avoid that sleep cycle during the fall and spring semesters, and instead try to operate in concert with the hours of a normal human being (i.e. I try to avoid sleeping past noon). But since my class doesn’t start until 1:00, I’ve spent most of this Jan Plan becoming even more of a night owl than I’d like. Sure, there are pluses to this. Jan Plan is somewhat less homework intensive during certain points of the “term,” so I might as well do the work that I do have at the hours during which I am most productive.
More interestingly, since my hours are different, I’ve been doing the same things at later and later times. The sociologist in me finds this very intriguing—different people, different scenes, lively or less lively environments in new places, and all for me to analyze. Knowing the nature of campus hot spots at different points in time has been quite useful. For instance, my friends and I have found that it is best to work on perfecting our pool skills somewhat earlier in the evening rather than later; fewer skilled players, then, will be able to witness the occasional ball fly off the table when we play doubles. Unfortunately, Jan Plan ends in four days, and soon I will resume life as a normal, diurnal human being. Here’s to hoping these last few days yield many more nighttime discoveries.
