At Stanford, I often took a whole day off per week from my studies. Sometimes I even took a day and a half off. I don’t know how I did it. When I told a Japanese Stanford student about this, he was amazed. He studied seven days a week and felt even this wasn't enough. But I preferred to work hard and play hard, which I've never regretted.
A typical “off” period began on a late Friday afternoon after my last class of the day and week. After a long hard week of projects, problem sets, readings, programming and academic discussions, I needed a break. What better way than to do something physical?
So I’d head for the Stanford foothills for a long slow jog. Having run up the steep foothills, I would be panting. From a vintage point, I would look at Stanford Univesity where I had suffered much stress for the past week. In the distance Hoover Tower - the symbol of Stanford - looked majestic, reminding me of the great works of U.S. President and Stanford alumni Herbert Hoover. After admiring the scenery, I would jog to a satellite dish called “the dish” at Stanford. "The dish" looked old and abandoned, making me feel like I was somewhere far away. The jogs were soothing and refreshing.
After the jog, I would return to my school dorm for a shower. Time to cycle to Stanford University campus again. No, not to study but to attend the Chinese Christian Fellowship’s weekly Friday meeting. We usually sang songs, studied the Bible, and discussed. Then we caught up with each other. “Hey, how are you?”... “How was your week?”...“Hectic week for me, had a big project due.”
Even after this, socializing wasn’t over. I frequently played blitz chess with my brilliant apartment mate, Daniel, who did his undergrad degree at Princeton. We used my chess clock, usually playing 5 mins per player per game. We played till the wee hours of the morning as if we hadn’t had enough mental stimulation for the past week. But it was fun; we weren’t graded on this.
At other times, instead of playing chess with Daniel, I would play table soccer with Sarah from the Chinese Christian Fellowship. She was a genius from China. We used a table soccer at our school dorm's recreation room. While we played, we talked and got to know each other. The games weren't intense at all; we hardly kept score. As with the chess games, I played into the early hours of the morning.
Finally, it was time to go home and to bed. Friday night was usually my first night of restful sleep after a few days. I could even have 8 solid hours of sleep! What luxury! There was no need to consume coffee to keep myself awake this night.
I would wake up on Saturday morning refreshed. So wasn't it time to go back to the books? Oh no, I headed for the gym! I had jogged the day before, but now I pumped iron. I would do bench presses, lat pulldowns, biceps curls, dips, forearm curls etc.
After the workout, I would go to church. Most Christians attend worship services on Sunday morning, but I preferred the Saturday evening service. So I would cycle to Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. Time to worship God in quietness and to listen to a sermon for enlightenment. After that, it was dinner at one of the restaurants nearby. What luxury. I ate slowly to enjoy the food and music.
So wasn’t it about time to rush home to hit the books? Nope, I needed solitude. Leaving my bike parked somewhere, I would take a leisurely walk, usually to a park where I would pray, thanking God for seeing me through yet another week at Stanford, and asking for strength for the coming week. I would relax, often watching someone throwing a freesbie and a dog dutifully fetching it. The evening shadows and the serenity of the neighborhood park made me forget about my studies. Einstein was right: time was relative. Time slowed down.
Finally, I would hop on my bike towards home, but on the way back, I would stop at Safeway for groceries. My backpack would be filled to the brim with milk, coffee cans (to keep me awake to study), vitamin bottles, bread, peanut butter, eggs etc. My chronic lower back injury would give me pain because of the heavy load on my back. But this wouldn't prevent me from cycling speedily in the dark night with cars zooming past me along the long and straight Palm Drive that led to Stanford’s Memorial Church.
From a distance, I could already see the beautiful Memorial Church. I would stop in front of the church, look up at the painting of Jesus and thank God. I would remind myself how blessed I was to be at Stanford. I knew God was with me.
At last, it was time to go home. Time to study now? No! I would give myself one last good night’s rest. Waking up late on Sunday morning, I would feel recharged, not just physically but also mentally and spiritually. Another week of slogging lay ahead. I yearned for next weekend . . . . |
