Pointlife
Weekend mornings are for more than just sleep
The Pointer
jwitt447@uwsp.edu
While most students are nursing a hangover or enjoying their day off from their studies, a non-traditional student, David Menzer, at the University Wisconsin - Stevens Point is saving Americans all over the world.
“I am a traveling emergencies coordinator; basically I deal with travel emergencies worldwide. It could be something as simple as someone from a neighboring state car break down or as complex as ‘I’m in Budapest and I got mugged and my fiancé just died’,” said Menzer.
This job is a big deal because if a United States citizen is mugged in a foreign country and is without his/her credentials, he/she could be in some serious legal trouble, especially in a country like China.
“I try and keep them organized, find them embassies to go to. Of course they’re all in a panic; they don’t know what to do,” said Menzer. “It’s more or less extreme depending on their emotional state, not necessarily that we can’t help them. People in those situations are so emotionally out there they don’t know what’s going on; the world is ending as they knew it.”
A vast majority of students sleep in on Saturday and Sunday mornings. This is based mostly on the fact that most students only get a set amount of time to relax and this is the perfect time to slow down and take it easy.
“Usually on Saturdays I’ll sleep until two, so when I wake up after that I probably won’t do anything, or just play video games with other people on the floor,” said UW-SP freshman Sam Bolgart. “Around 4 p.m., I’ll shower and get something to eat with people, so that’s my Saturday morning.”
Ellie Jackson works at Emy J’s, a local coffee shop in Stevens Point on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
“I’m making coffee, espresso drinks or serving ice cream. Making little kids’ days with ice cream cones,” said Jackson, a senior at UW-SP.
She likes the perks of working at a coffee shop, and doesn’t mind getting up early to serve people and maybe make their day better, although there are those days where she wishes she wasn’t trapped inside working.
“Sometimes I could have gone for an extra four hours of sleep,” said Jackson. “Sometimes it’s really hard to be inside and see how beautiful it is outside; there are those days I would rather be outside on a bike or something.”
Although some students do more productive things on these mornings and some do absolutely nothing, most people are quite content with their habits for these weekend mornings.
“During the week [due to] all my classes, I have to get up in the morning and I’m usually up late either working on something or doing homework,” said Bolgart, a resident of Neale Hall. “So having the weekends to sleep in is nice because otherwise you get burned out.”
UW-SP does offer classes on the weekend, but this isn’t the most popular time to get some credits or study.
“I wouldn’t take a class because that implies more homework,” said Jackson. “I would hope most students sleep in, because if wasn’t working, I would probably be sleeping.”
Menzer agrees that this time should be utilized to just lay low and realizes it’s okay to not worry about studying for finals coming up.
“I’ve been here for a while and definitely remember the more college days when people are sleeping because they had a rough night before. I’d definitely think that most students sleep in,” said Menzer.
Bolgart is pleased with how he spends his time these Saturday and Sunday mornings and has no intention of mixing up his schedule.
“I did [wake up early] for 18 years of my life, now it’s time for a change. I think it’s good, it’s all I really need,” said Bolgart.
Whether a student is a freshman or a non-trad, both can agree that these Saturday and Sunday mornings should be used in a way that makes the student exultant.
“Just hanging low; if I got work to catch up on something, I’ll do that but otherwise it’s nothing major, just trying to lay as low as I can,” said Menzer. “If you want to see no one at the cafeterias, go on a Saturday morning.”
