It never crossed my mind that my apartment's hamster and I might have much in common until now. Our precious Rafi, whose formal name is "Rafiki," is a little part of Charlottesville that we Northern Virginians gladly tote home each and every break with us. Rafi is a rescue animal from the local Charlottesville Albemarle Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals who has jelled quite well with our household. It surprises me how alike we really are.
For one thing, we're both night owls: me by personal choice and Rafi by nocturnal instinct. His seemingly endless jogging sessions on his squeaky wheel at 1 a.m. are now just a part of our apartment's normal creaks and sounds at night, just like my turning page after page during a reading marathon.
No matter the time of day, Rafi can never pass up the smell of his freshly-filled food bowl. It reminds me of how my roommates and I never fail to venture down to the kitchen whenever we detect someone cooking something delicious, perhaps in secret hopes that they'll be willing to share. It's a shame none of us can quite imitate that heart-melting look of his adoring beady eyes and twitching pink nose.
When eating he stuffs his side cheek pouches full until he looks more like a baby cobra snake than any kind of rodent, leaving his bowl half-filled with nothing but the less tasty varieties of grain pellets. This little feeding routine resembles the way our refrigerator gets depleted during the week: by Friday, our food supply has withered down to nothing but random ingredients like pasta sauce with no actual pasta.
We all have those weeks that are more stress-inducing than others, but the routine of classes followed by more concentration and work at home can leave me feeling like I'm Rafi on the hamster wheel.
As an English major and Media Studies minor, I have several career paths and higher education opportunities I'm thinking of pursuing post graduation. Without any real clear and concrete destination in sight at the moment, however, I feel like Rafi, running and running, only to build up more momentum, making it harder to stop. Yet I know I will be getting to this stage of life's finish line, graduation, before too long now.
As a third year in my second semester, I've taken on as much as I can handle in order to maximize my experience at the University. It's an awkward time: I keep facing thoughts of having to leave the comforts of Grounds in a little more than a year, but it still feels like yesterday when my familial entourage and I pulled up to my first year dorm. Still, all these worries have to be pushed aside except for the wee hours of the morning when I'm filling out internship applications, all because I have to keep up with the daily grind.
It's still winter, which means Rafi is still in extreme hibernation mode. We haven't seen him for three days, but burrowed deep under a huge pile of fluff and bedding, we occasionally hear him crack open a nut or two and assuredly alert the house that there are signs of life. He doesn't run on his wheel as often as he did on warmer nights during the fall, which is where our similarities end and why I've found myself jealous of a 0.2 pound hamster. Although Rafi gets a break, the show must go on for the rest of us as we try to find a balance between maintaining our rewarding, yet tiring daily obligations and knowing when to get off the wheel now and then.
Vanessa's column runs biweekly Fridays. She can be reached at v.stephenson@cavalierdaily.com.
Read More
An ode to running
By Malone Morchower | YesterdayIn addition to providing me with opportunities to connect with others around Grounds, I really value the way that running immerses me in time and place.
Khul Ke Nacho — a celebration of free-spirited dancing
By Malaika Rehman | 2 days agoThe sea of attendees wearing desi attire and dancing joyfully throughout the night was a reflection of the thriving Pakistani community in and outside of PSA.
Holding onto every grain in the hourglass
By Mai Hukuoka | 3 days agoNow that I’m back at school, I have made it my mission to take note of the sneaky passage of time.
