7 p.m. — I have a group interview with Camp Galileo. For this interview, I was asked to prepare a camp activity. I didn’t prepare a camp activity. Fifteen minutes prior to the interview, I found a children’s book about dreams, so I planned to just read it. I felt silly just reading to three adults, so instead I present the Sleep Game. I created the Sleep Game last summer. It was my sneaky way of convincing a group of 22 four-year-olds to be quiet. During this interview, I frame it as a way of checking in with ourselves and engaging the senses that we tend to forget. Dr. B calls it “thinking below the neck.” Sometimes our best ideas come to us on the spot!
7:45 p.m. — No Wi-Fi? For 15 minutes?? During my interview??? At this elite institution???? Hellacious!
7:58 p.m. — I get a call back from the interviewer, and she reassures me that the internet mishap didn’t impact my interview.
8:20 p.m. — I have received two (unnecessary) Academic Progress Reports this semester. The most recent one read, “Raven participates very little, whether in small or large groups.” I disagree with that statement, so I created a Google form and sent it to my classmates. I asked if they agreed with the professor’s claim. At this time, I read over the submissions. I was pleased to see that my classmates disagreed.
8:41 p.m. — I FaceTime Zama. I need to share the heartwarming comment that one of our classmates submitted about us. Our classmate submitted their form anonymously, but we think we know who it was. We think this student is such a sweetie! And we love all of their in-class contributions.
9:07 p.m. — I send a few text messages to J’****. I wanted to FaceTime him before I went to bed, but he didn’t respond. How unfortunate!
9:20 p.m. — I actually sleep through the night! Without waking up once! That’s crazy.
7:16 a.m. — J’****’s FaceTime call wakes me up. We do herbal meditation together and talk for 20 minutes.
7:36 a.m. — I have to use the bathroom. I am a very shy pooper, so I do not mind trekking from the third floor down to the basement single use bathroom.
8:08 a.m. — I open Snapchat.
8:12 a.m. — I open Instagram.
8:21 a.m. — I call J’****. He’s getting ready for Mardi Gras. We talk for 17 minutes.
8:38 a.m. — I decide to dittle my skittle, so I find my trusty bullet vibrator. I’m literally just vibing, bro.
9:10 a.m. — My bullet dies as I’m using it. How unfortunate! I start charging it immediately.
9:12 a.m. — J’**** calls me. We talked for 14 minutes.
9:29 a.m. — I take some nudes. I’m so cute. I also open Amazon Prime to watch House. That show is one of my guilty pleasures.
10:12 a.m. — My first tweet of the day: “lol zama @ everyone when she’s ready for us to leave her room.” This tweet is in response to a tweet by @KING_B3A: “Going out with people who don’t know when to go home is the worst.”
10:16 a.m. — My second tweet of the day: “eye am soooooo excit- ed for *****’s hotepery. y’all stay tuned for ‘coochie over conscious- ness”
10:17 a.m. — Once my bullet is charged, I put that thing to work! That good sis had my legs shaking. And that’s on prenatal pills!
11 a.m. — My third tweet of the day: “i love tuesday! i love titties!”
11:25 a.m. — My friend from back home sent some encouraging words in a group chat. They’re hav- ing shitty semesters too. I had my first cry of the day. 11:26 a.m. — Second herbal meditation of the day.
11:39 a.m. — I start talking to myself. I do that quite often. It helps me make sense of my life. I have a thought about Black girls engaging in harmful/unhealthy/unpleasurable sexual practices as a way to seek control. I would like to read more about that.
11:40 a.m. — I call Zama and tell her about my conversation with myself. I also tell her something I have never told anyone.
12:51 p.m. — Shower, brush my teeth and wash my face! Hygiene is important! (Don’t forget to wash your ass, folks.)
1:20 p.m. — Herbal meditation before class because racism in the classroom is alive and well. I’d rather calm myself down than get kicked out of Grinnell for fucking someone up.
1:45 p.m. — I order an apple cinnamon muffin and ice chai from the Grill.
2 p.m. — I go to Educating Women. It’s a GWSS/EDU course taught by Dr. B. She asks us to use our feelings and think below the neck. It’s easy to shout terms at students, and it’s easy to regurgitate big words back to professors. Using embodied knowledge requires an emotional engagement that is so often devalued in higher education.
4:02 p.m. — Depression is real, and anxiety is real. It’s been difficult to attend class. I have a meeting in Goodnow about accommodations.
4:40 p.m. — I’m late to Dance Ensemble rehearsal, but I’m happy that I go at all. My body had been craving movement. Movement makes me happy.
6:36 p.m. — I see Sean. We walk to the HSSC from Bucksbaum together.
6:40 p.m. — I talk to Fern, Nai’ya and Sean for a bit. Nai’ya and Sean leave for dinner.
6:45 p.m. — I do my readings (and goof off) with Fern.
