Remember when you thought college was all about babes, booze and beach parties? Bogdan “Bob” Vitas, a senior in the School of International Service and College of Arts and Sciences, proves this is not the case.
The skin beneath Vitas’ eyes was sunken and purple and he sported a hefty amount of stubble this weekend when he gave The Eagle an interview after winning “AU’s Busiest Student” competition. He has no time for such time-wasting habits as sleep. Instead, he pulls all-nighters at least once per week.
Vitas starts his Monday morning off in the cold of early dawn with 30 minutes of exercise. This is part of his daily routine, but some days he just cannot drag himself out of bed after a night of studying, so it gets pushed back until later. Whether first thing in the morning or later in the afternoon, Vitas values this physical activity, dating back to his freshmen year of rowing for AU Crew.
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Bob Vitas’ Monday Schedule 6:30 a.m. — Morning Run |
After his exercise, Vitas heads off to work at the United States Agency for International Development. At 2 p.m., he dashes back to campus for class, finishing up readings on the Metro.
Vitas is doing a double major in International Service and Literature, which reflects his span of interests, but does not give him many peers to work with.
“I’ve only met one other student at AU who’s doing the same [course of studies],” Vitas said.
Tuesdays are Vitas’ busiest days. Starting at 11:10 a.m. with his human rights course — a block — he also has a survey of American literature course and another block to work on his senior capstone project in literature. The literature capstone requires a minimum finished product of 25-50 pages, but “most of us expect to go beyond this,” Vitas said.
In addition to his hours of class, Vitas meets with the Disability Alliance, the Disability Compliance Project Team — a task force put together to decide what can be done to improve the lives of disabled students on campus — and with one of his advisers.
In the middle of the day, Vitas said he needs to take a moment for himself.
“I sit down and just sort of clear everything for 15 minutes,” Vitas said. “A calm self-reflection, not going over my schedule to figure out what’s next, just more like, ‘okay, slow down a little bit, Bob.’”
On Wednesdays, Vitas works from nine in the morning until four or five in the evening, when he comes back for a 5:30 block class — “Lyric and the Fate of Beauty.”
After he finishes studying the future of poetry with Professor Manson, Vitas gathers with his brothers from Sigma Chi for pledge events or meetings. At night, he rushes from his brothers to Capitol Hill for a meeting of the Capitol Fraternal Caucus — a lobbyist group that represents 95 sororities and fraternities across North America, according to its Web site.
On Thursdays and Fridays, Vitas again has work and class, but he calls these “catch-up days” because he uses his extra time to keep in touch with the friends and family he neglects during the week and start on work for the coming week.
“So I can spend time and actually sleep on Friday evenings,” Vitas said.
Vitas’ friend — who wished to remain anonymous — actually nominated him for the “AU’s Busiest Student” competition.
“I don’t know whether he’s more human or machine!” the student said in an e-mail.
Finally, on Saturday and Sunday, Vitas can catch an episode his favorite television show, “House M.D.,” complete some of the informal work he does for the Center for Global Peace following a 10-month internship or go out on the town with some of his fraternity brothers.
Vitas said his level of activity does not overwhelm him. Rather, he sees it as a blessing.
“[Your passions are] all there in front of you and it’s just — not disconcerting — but it’s almost dazzling that you have all of these opportunities in front of you and you just have to latch onto one and pursue it,” Vitas said.
Vitas had one piece of advice for students who might want to follow in his busy footsteps:
“Always be doing what needs to be done,” he said. “But leave enough time for yourself.”
SECOND PLACE BUSIEST STUDENT
REBECCA DOOLEY — Senior in Kogod School of Business, Rebecca Dooley is the second busiest student at AU. The competition between Dooley and Vitas was very tight. Dooley works a total of 50 hours per week; she spends half of that time waiting tables at a nearby restaurant and the other half at an accounting firm. On top of her two jobs, she has an internship with a start-up company that requires a couple of conference calls per week, in addition to tasks she can accomplish on her own time. Dooley also mentors freshmen in Kogod, a task she said takes up about four hours per week.
“I’m kind of used to it by now,” Dooley said of her busy lifestyle.
Dooley traced her busy roots back to high school when she thought college would allow her to relax more. She thought by senior year she would be done rushing around.
“But [my life] keeps on getting exponentially busier,” Dooley said.
Recently, Dooley also added applications for post-graduate employment to her schedule. With all of this, she still manages to go out to social events one night per week and sleep an average of four hours each night.
THIRD PLACE BUSIEST STUDENT
LAUREN OLSON — Lauren Olson, a junior in the College of Arts and Science, said she is often busy from 8:30 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. In addition to the time she spends at classes on campus, Olson also spends 20 hours per week as an intern in the Public Relations field for a local school. Olson is a member of a sorority on campus and is on the executive board for the Panhellenic Council at AU. Tutoring for a nonprofit organization also takes up a large chunk of Olson’s time.
With so many responsibilities, Olson said she gets only five or six hours of sleep per night.
“I barely have time to eat, and the free time I do have is spent checking my e-mail and trying to get my homework completed as efficiently as possible,” she said. “It sounds difficult, but to be honest, I wouldn’t change a thing.”
For Olson, each activity contributes to part of her personality.
“I like to think I am as much a part of them as they are of me,” she said.
You can reach this staff writer at sparnass@theeagleonline.com.
