Weekends/Weekdays

By Amoya Evans

I awake to my upstairs neighbors yelling and my mom shuffling to get my sister out the door for school. It’s 6:00 a.m. and my mom is shouting my name. I jump out of bed. My body isn’t ready to go but my brain is telling me to move. The black skirt I put out the night before is sitting on my dresser waiting for me to wear. Not having to choose what I wear in the morning makes it faster for me to get ready. Even though it’s not in the dress code, I put any shirt on and toss my “York Prep” hoodie over. Finally, I’m ready and my mom and I are walking out the door. 

I walk down the block, shivering, to the Ninety-Sixth Street train station. It’s quiet on the street, but once I get underground it’s a different environment. The smell of rust from the cars fills the air. Uptown and Downtown trains pass by rumbling. People on the platform zone are into their phones. Once the train approaches the platform, I prepare myself to get on the train. When boarding the One train, I’m aware of my surroundings. There are so many different people and different moods. People in a hurry, or not. I put on my study tunes playlist that contains mellow and soft songs and tune out the rest of the world. As the train continues downtown, I begin to think about when I’m getting off and what’s my first-period class.

Once I get off the train at the Sixty-Sixth Street/Lincoln Center station and start walking to school, I ease back into the world and realize that I’m walking into a school environment. When I see ABC News, Lincoln Center, and Columbus Circle, I know I’m walking towards my school. I start to think about my work, what assignments are due, and tests and quizzes I need to take. Suddenly, my music dims and my school thoughts come back.

On weekends, I wake up to my dog licking me and I notice that my mom has left for work. I get breakfast—Honey Nut Cheerios from my kitchen. Unlike weekdays, I get ready in the afternoon. I look on Snapchat to see my twenty unread messages from a group chat. One of my friends is suggesting for us to meet up at Starbucks. It’s our typical meeting place in the center of our homes. It takes a while for everyone to read the messages but we all agree and we meet up. 

My life on weekdays and weekends is very different from each other. On weekdays I care about my work and I make it a top priority to complete all my homework the night before. My schedule is different. I wake up and try to get out the door as quick as possible and I get breakfast elsewhere. On the weekends I wake up naturally and eat breakfast at home, typically oatmeal. On weekends, I really have to choose my clothes, compared to weekdays when I wear my uniform. Overall, my weekday schedule and routines are completely different from each other.