Sleepless October Nights

I find it hard to remember what months, according to my elementary Science, are when the nights seem longer than days but this month, it made literal sense to me. One adjective would generally describe my October days: EXHAUSTING. Now, think of its synonyms and its synonyms’ synonyms to elaborate.

Sleepless nights debuted on the transition of the preceding month in the peak of rushing articles for our school publication. All in all, I turned in 5 articles including my column as the newly appointed Associate Editor. And then there were the nights spent in the computer laboratory making a 3D cityscape as a final requirement for the course. For a couple of days, my classmate and I stayed until 11PM but these were also the days I filed for leave from work hence I start working on the project at 9AM daily. On the third night (Oct. 18) which, aside from being the night before submission, is when I felt sick of working on it as if eternally thus I committed to myself that I’m not going home until it’s done for good. Believe me; I seldom acquire such determination especially towards schoolwork. This entailed eating dinner past 10 o’clock in a 24-hour convenience store and then getting back to work. With only our sense of humor for entertainment, we continued until we saw the first light of dawn through the tinted glass of our building and we greeted each other good morning. By 5AM, I was feeling nauseated I could have thrown up right in front of the monitor. Maybe if I haven’t yet worn glasses, I might have succumbed earlier. We left school by 6:30AM, relieved that it’s finally over. Is it a must that since we’re modeling a cityscape, we likewise suffer the sleep-deprived fate of architecture students?

I broke my own Guinness record of staying awake the whole night through; the former I recall was 3AM dizzy from party lights and not from computer glare. I never imagined I could stay up that long – not even during wakes for deceased relatives.

“One down”– the cityscape was done but not the others sacrificed for its completion. Few days ago, for another three consecutive nights, I had to sleep past midnight to make four PowerPoint presentations for another subject. Thanks to my Vitamin B and to the Presidential Proclamation on barangay elections which extended the weekends.

Green Day’s hit says “Wake Me Up When September Ends”, but please, don’t keep me awake throughout October either.