Between starting new classes, seeing old friends and assuming extracurricular responsibilities, the first week of any quarter is a busy one, and last week was no exception.

Although I’m a journalism major, I don’t have any more journalism classes left to take, so I’m currently enrolled in the Politics of Southeast Asia, the Evolution of Chicago and Research for Marketing Communications. On the first day of my PoliSci class, our professor put a map of Southeast Asia up on a projector, and I could not name one of the 45 places labeled. I’m definitely going to learn a lot about the region before the end of the quarter, and the good news is that by the end of the week, I was able to name about half of the map items! My Southeast Asia course is going to be really interesting, and I am also excited for my class about the history of Chicago. Although I grew up in the Chicago area, my knowledge of the city’s history is not necessarily that deep. But, after just a few lectures, I’ve already found out so much more about Chicago’s founders and how they initially perceived the city.

In addition to taking classes this quarter, I am really excited to be one of the managing editors of The Daily Northwestern. Reading through all of the content and meeting the new reporters has taught me a ton about what is happening both on and off Northwestern’s campus. Last week’s coverage focused a lot on getting readers up to date on big news items they may have missed over the summer or last year.

Finally, because I was on Journalism Residency during the spring, I haven’t seen some of my friends since March. So, one of my biggest priorities last week was trying to find time to see everyone. I quickly learned that spending nine hours a night in The Daily newsroom on top of my other commitments would make this a bit of a challenge. Luckily, I also learned how to make pasta this week (I’m basically Rachael Ray now), and was able to work some time management magic to sit down with my roommates for dinner one night. It was important for me to realize that although I have commitments to juggle, I also need to make time to relax and do other things like work out and learn to cook something that isn’t microwaveable.

–Hayley Glatter