A Student’s Life in College
By Aurieth Mynonys

I love long weekends. I have always loved them, and fortunately public school was always willing to oblige me – we had plenty of long weekends to spare. Not so in college – days off are few and far between; sort of a wake-up call to adulthood. This month, we’ve had two three-day weekends in a row, and I’m celebrating.

Granted, I’m not always celebrating in the way that I’d like. I spent most of my first three-day weekend working on homework. I had a test to study for and two papers to turn in, so the extra time was quite useful. My second three-day weekend allowed for more party time, but I had two other papers to complete before the weekend was up. While it’s disappointing not to have the whole weekend for fun, the extra day was a relief. College students – pretty much all of us – are incredibly busy people, and sometimes we need a day or two off just to catch up.
There was, of course, still time for leisure – rather, I made time for leisure. I watched some movies, went to Steak n’ Shake, went to some thrift stores to hunt for interesting Halloween possibilities, played games with my friends, and went out to dinner with my parents.
There are lots of other ways to distract oneself from papers on campus. One of the frat houses hosted a party at the bowling alley for our first long weekend, and there were numerous other parties on campus. And there are plenty of places to go on a long weekend – even if they’re not in Eureka.
Peoria is a favorite destination for college kids here, because Peoria has plenty of distractions. There are many fun and interesting shops to visit – some at the mall, some scattered throughout town. There are yummy restaurants to go to, of course – food is always a priority on every college student’s list. There are movie theaters aplenty, cheap movie theaters. There are Halloween stores and bookstores and Targets and Best Buys and important stops of every kind. It’s a lot more interesting than staying on campus.
Of course there’s plenty to do in Eureka, too. There’s always the playground out at the lake, or the walking trails to visit, even though it’s chilly. A lot of students are fond of wandering through the cemetery, too – it’s closer than the lake trails and just about as interesting. And there are always dorm room parties – a bunch of friends chilling out, watching a movie and eating popcorn.
We won’t have another break like this for a while – not until Thanksgiving. And then after Thanksgiving, it will very quickly be finals time. The year is certainly flying by faster than I expected, and it was nice to take a moment to breathe and enjoy myself. And now, back to work…
Eureka College began its long life as an academy when Eureka was still called Walnut Grove. Our student-writer offers her observations on her life there as a college student. --Editor