Chapter 1 "The Strategist"

The light on my apartment is still on and I am still fully charged of caffeine , I am sitting at my desk beside my bed , organizing my notes for today's class ... or it is rightful to say that its "yesterday's class"...because its already past twelve midnight.

Probably I will just be having a couple of hours of sleep again before my day actually starts since I pulled another all nighter just to finish reading the next chapter for one of my major subjects. I usually don't review any of my notes at school because that looks like your stereotypical student and I do not want to be normal so I only do that back at my apartment which will always be all night long .

My friends always remind me to get enough sleep or it will take a toll on my body. Well my class time at school is just about until 1:45 pm and it is a torture to go home during those hours of severe hot weather so I always kill my time at the library. Either sleeping at its deepest corner or reading a literature that is completely devoid of any scientific concepts to give my mind a breather.

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My day usually starts at 4:30 am because for some reasons I always gets up at that time , though I wake up around 4-4:15 , I stay in bed for a little while . At 4:40 I do a light exercise to wake my body completely up. Around 5 am I reheat my pre-cooked breakfast and warm some milk . I always abstain coffee in the morning and only take 2-3 cups for the day from 4-10 pm and the effects always last till 1:00 am. At 5:15 am I do a meditations then I eat at 5:30 am.

The university is about thirty minutes of walking from my apartment so I usually arrive pretty much on time everyday. I tidy myself up , my place , grab my stuffs and off I go to the place where I spent all time being wasted for stuffs that I can learn by myself.

My first class starts at seven ,it is an hour and a half lecture of one of my major subject. The next class starts at 9 o'clock so I got thirty minutes of break before another head cracker. At 9 o'clock it is another hour and a half hour of major subject lecture . After that , the next one , a minor starts at 10 :45 am , it is an hour of ethics. After that is my lunch break ,which I used to listen to music until the start of my last class for the day which is at 1:00 PM , and it is a 45 minutes minor subject lecture. From there I always go to the library to kill time since I hate going home during those hours.

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In the library I usually just sat on the edge of a long table directly in front of a stained glass window which is one of the main reasons I go here. The stained glass window lighted up by the light of the sun is quite ordinary especially for a regular church goer like me , but the feels that it gives me whenever I see it somewhat like a healing for me for it gives me energy to prime or power up my sleep deprived body .It was as if a holy light is touching my soul filling it up with strength and hope to survive this day and probably the next.

I sat there and read quietly to kill time until my friends arrive to pick me up. They usually arrive at 3:30 PM since that is when their classes ends and my time to go review and organize my notes again. But since it is a day off tomorrow I think I will just hit the bed early tonight and tackle the note review and organization tomorrow.

4:00 PM I got home , my friends invited me for a little hangout however I rejected it for I am still recovering from that 2 consecutive all nighter. I collapsed purposely on my bed , plug my ear buds and listen to music to calm my mind till 4:30.After that I sat on my desk to plan for what I am going to do for tomorrow , from my chores to my academic requirements.

Tomorrow's TO-DO list

5:00-5:30-wake up and listen to music while still lying on the bed

5:30-5:45-meditate and affirmation

5:45-6:15-light exercises

6:15-6:30-make coffee and breakfast

6:30-7:30-sit by the window and immerse on something while enjoying the breakfast and coffee

7:30-8:00-was the dishes and tidy up the kitchen

8:00-8:30-tidy up the room

8:30-9:00-take a bath

9:00-11:00-Study

11:00-11:30-rest

11:30-12:00-cook for lunch

12:00-1:00-eat lunch while watching a downloaded movie

1:00-1:30-rest

1:30-3:30 Study

3:30-4:00-rest

4:00-5:30-go to town to buy something to cook for dinner

5:30-6:00-cook dinner

6:00-7:00- eat dinner

7:00-7:30-make a plan for tomorrow

7:30-8:00-meditate

8:00-9:00-do some general maintenance on the website

9:00 – on wards-retire to bed

At 6:00 o'clock p.m. I started to cook my dinner , well I usually go with instant noodles but since I got a lot of time right now , I think ill be having a proper meal tonight. I just got a lot of vegetables lately so I decided to stir fry it with egg , top it on rice and I got myself a stir fry rice bowl. I finished cooking and eating at 6:45 p.m. and I started to do my nighttime meditation . At 7:00 I buried myself to the book I borrowed from the library and for about 2 hours I called it a night after that and decided to sleep early.

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The next morning...

…damn, this body is too used in waking up early that it automatically boots up at the time that I assigned it to boot on my schedule. I reach over my head where I left my earbuds last night , after a second to tapping I found it. My eyes were opened for that brief moment but since I still want to sleep , I plug those ear plugs in my ears while my eyes is closed .

I stayed in bed for another 30 minutes before really getting up in a crossed legged seated position , still in my bed , and started my meditation routine while my head is still yearning for more Z's . I replaced my playlist with a subliminal tune as I start my breathing meditation for 10 minutes and a 5 minute affirmation for positivity , because that is the aspect of my life that I really need to work on.

After the meditation , I did my light exercise just to balance the development of my mental state and my physical state. I am following the philosophy of the “renaissance man” so I need to at least do some physical exertion or else my body will not be able to keep up with the demands of my brain. My light exercise consist of push up , pull ups , squats , sit ups and a 10 minute stationary jogging, I chose those exercise for a slightly holistic physical activity

Once I have counted 600 seconds , I changed my jogging pace slowly into a walking pace before stopping and catching my breathe for a couple of seconds. I walk to the kitchen to make my shot of caffeine in a cup and some cereal breakfast .

I do not know why but I am really fascinated by the process of making this bitter drink. The hue of every roasted coffee bean , the sound it makes when they are being grounded into smaller bits and the aroma it gives as its is being crushed and pressed adds to the over all coffee experience . The consumption , to me will be just secondary for its is the most ordinary thing to do , in my opinion , of the whole process. Making coffee , drinking it , and the after taste and effect of it to our body , is one of the highlight that I am looking forward every morning.

I said one , for the other thing that I am looking forward every morning especially on the week ends is to look at my apartment window and observe all the people outside going about their own business . Some are still working , even on the weekends , rushing on the streets , probably being late , a street sweeper on duty , a lady walking her dog and some taxi cab drivers helping some elderly , who for some reason is already been somewhere when it is still early in the morning for most people.

Observation skills is one of the prerequisite of the thing that I am studying so , I need to at least feed my "observational hunger" or else it will get dull and I wont be able to perform well , academically – speaking.

After the bliss , I slapped my face and started to tidy up the kitchen by washing the dishes first and doing everything that I can in that moment to organized my kitchen . Then I returned to my room and made my bed , grabbed my clutter on it and on my table put all the garbage on my trash can , get back to the kitchen to grab the trash bag there and head outside to dump those bags on the bin outside the apartment .

At that point I am already smelling stinky even for my very low standards of being refreshed so I head to the showers and took a bath to tidy myself up and after that I tidy up my environment making it more conducive to my next task which is to study.

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I followed a 2 hour study session then rest for a bit which will take me till noon , by then I cook my lunch , eat it while watching a movie that I have downloaded earlier , it's a re-watched but , I really like the movie so who cares if I have already watched it for the 9th time. I will rest for a bit after eating lunch then continue on my study session until my rest period again.

Following the plan that I have made last night , I am burned up , probably the plan that I have made is a bit too tight and hard , even for me. At times like this one , I just walk outside beneath the cluster of five-story apartments and office space buildings that makes up this community. This community is known for its classical European setting . A brick road , Gothic buildings , neutral colored paint that are not well maintained . These classic scenery had drawn me to this place.

I walked outside to go the next town to buy some supplies and a dinner for tonight , which will probably meat. After the short trip , I hurried home but did not run or jog , I just upped my walking pace. I did it to work up an appetite for the dinner that I am about to cook.

4:00-5:30-go to town to buy something to cook for dinner

5:30-6:00-cook dinner

6:00-7:00- eat dinner

7:00-7:30-make a plan for tomorrow

7:30-8:00-meditate

8:00-9:00-do some general maintenance on the website

9:00 – on wards-retire to bed

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The next day is Sunday so after I went to church I decided to go to the cemetery of the next town to visit my mother's grave. It is an important weekly task for me and is my only remaining way to show my love and respect to the woman who gave me life in exchange of hers. Even though I did not actually met her or interacted with her when she is still alive , it seems she really knew me very much. She know me so well that even though she did not raise me , she seems to know how I will grow up since all the memento she had left for me are exactly the things that I am "into" right now. Portraits of the night sky , a telescope , retro film camera and other electronic stuffs. Seems like she have already “planned my life” and how I grow up from the beginning , if that is the case she is really my mother since we are both into planning every single thing we do .

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The next day I arrived at school at almost 7:00, I am not late however it bugs me to be on the edge of my schedule, for I always want to have a lot of spare time . I am reading the last chapter of the novel I borrowed while walking. In reference to the cliché scenario , I should have an encounter with the coolest girl in the university due to the common sense that I do not know where I am going , but that wont happen to me , because I am not like most people who have little to zero awareness of their surroundings. I am a very observant person and I am always looking for the safest path or way to reach anything and it is also almost impossible to catch me by surprise.

At the entrance , some 3rd year is handing out application forms for a local environmental retreat, by the right wing of the entrance , on the nearest bench sat the empress of the university and her two "friends" , by the left wing, some freshmen are gathered. Along the hall there are a lot of faces as well , some are happy and somewhat innocent , others are faces of people who have woken up by the sad reality of college life , other have rebellious faces who clearly scaled or currently scaling the highest obstacle of their circumstances and faces of those who have survived and became somewhat high and mighty since they have traverse the harshest dessert and "el dorado" is already at the end of the last bridge

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First class is done and I am walking early to the next one which is currently occupied by sophomore . I walk for about a minute at the end of the hallway to the room, when the deafening silence of the building is shattered by a silencing scream. The other people inside the other rooms became intrigue and step outside. One of them asked me about what could have happened however since I just got here so I just raised my shoulders a bit to say "I have no idea".

Then in the room where I am supposed to go , came out the Empress with her usual high and mighty smile . she run off her class, "friends" and her instructor tried to call her back but everyone knows that she never listens to anyone other than herself.

Her name is Czarina Etsija , the only daughter of the top sponsor of this university . She is called the empress because not only of her attitude, but also her beauty and intellect. She enrolled here when I was a third year and with just a year she had taken the school by storm. All the guys and girls are all over her , well that is from her current year and below. We seniors and junior do not give a fuck especially for a logic oriented guy like me and the whole senior brethren of the science department.

To my perspective , we will never get along since I act based on my observation of the present variables on my surrounding and she just acts on impulse based on what I have observed so far. So impulsive to the point where she , without a doubt , will choose the opposite of the logical thing to do.

Well the her situation does not involve me so I walk across the hallway which is still flocked by students who were disturbed by the commotion. I lean back against the wall beside the door of my next classroom and stayed there till the students currently in there vacate it. Several minutes before my class starts I decided to clear my head off of that commotion by listening to hard music on my headphones. I may not look like a rebel or some rock fan wannabe but I really appreciate rock music both the classic rock and the pop punk of today as much as I appreciate classical music.

The 2nd year's class ended after a few songs , when it had sunk in my mind , a total stranger from the senior year is already behind me trying to get in , as if I was blocking his way. Well I gave him a way anyway...and since we are all stranger to each other even though we are taking the same class , we seniors...as our "generation" put it..."we don't give a fuck anymore".

We came in this class with a different purpose from one another. Purposes that well at least benefits us in a way. Also its our last year and we do not have that much of time to try to make friends with everybody or anybody .We are just people who come and go to other peoples live and after a less than a year we have a high percentage of not seeing each other so the idea is...not to get too attached.

We are 50 in this class and as usual I always try to sit at the front desk so I can really listen the lectures. People who always sit at the back , even for us seniors are too distracted to even listen to the lecturers and amuse themselves by indulging on non- academic stuff. Truth be told I envy them , for not all of those indulgence causes one to ruin his/her life. More often than not , people who do the craziest thing at the height of their youth have no regrets when they became a corporate slave of some big shot billionaire...well who knows, those who looked liked goofing around to "normal people" might be that billionaire some day...that is with a huge supply of luck and some practical skill set may be.

Those non academic indulgence include what people call social media. Sounds lame to me , for it advertise to keep people together but , the way I see it ,it just build the boundaries that separates people..."very close" people from each other. And I don't really get it about being excited about communicating with someone in the Cyber world where most of the stuff in it are edited or right out fake. If I am the only person here listening to the formulas and tips and trick that will surely be on the final exams then so be it...we are all "strangers" after all.

Well all that said... I cant really blame those people...because the cause of their lack of interest in this ancient one talking in an old school chalk board style of teaching. We are college students you know...true we do not need the type of motivation for kids , but this is ,well...still pretty boring for a boring guy like me.

At times like this I just do what I always do , "read the book as the professor do so...and take the notes he will say whenever he say some". One of the quality that sets us senior year to those naïve freshmen are our capability to self study or a least to claim to self studying (that non-academic indulgence again) ,and I guess that is one of the reason why I am the only one paying attention.

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Time do have wings to fly with, before I realized it the bell is already ringing and now I am walking to the second to the last subject for the day. Ethics...another boring one...well at least the lecturer is gorgeous. The teacher crush of the freshmen to juniors ,we seniors already seen through her nice smiles . That woman, at 26 she already got a 3 year old kid whom she always leaves at the kindergarten. To the young ones she is a priced trophy that is good to have, but to the eyes of us who already passed that absurdity, we know , for we can see that she is broken inside and her daughter is her only life line in this world so we always treasure the limited time she provides for us. That little time , mind you is eating away a lot of precious time she could have spent with her kid. Her husband passed away due to terminal cancer so unlike those naïve greenhorns we do not just admire her physical self but more importantly we admire her determination and faithfulness. We heard that she would never entertained another man again, so we big boys salute that.

After all of my classes are done , I am now free and have all the time in this fucking world. I walked quickly to the library which was at a different building , west from this main lecture hall. No sweat , its just a hundred of meters away from my position here ate the second floor so it will just be a light exercise.

I entered the library and immediately sat at the edge of the table directly in front of the glass stained window. I organized my notes first and foremost so I can review them easily later at home. Midway of the work I got tempted to reads a book so I rushed the outline of my notes and stand up to grab a book to my right which is a shelf for literary works or for recent authors.

I am intrigue about the this book where it's protagonist is a straight A student who is secretly in love with a free-spirited, out-going girl who is really popular all around their school. I got so absorbed about it that I totally let my guard down for a moment. When I realized it, it gave me a slight goose bumps. I peeked to my right while still hiding the majority of my face with the book...and there I saw her. The free spirited, out-going impulsive girl of the school...the empress...just standing there , staring straight at me.

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…Kaiser Perspective Ends…