City College Times staff describe their perfect day, perfect college class, what they are grateful for and what one quality or ability they would like to wake up with tomorrow.

Junjie Qiu

Personally, a perfect day for me would include completing my daily work, eating a healthy meal and doing something that I am interested in.

Our journalism class is a perfect class because we work in a team, organize discussions and meetings and help each other. I learned a lot in the class.

I’m most grateful in my life for my parents. They always support me to do anything that I want. I also thank the people who helped me.

If I could wake up tomorrow having gained one quality or ability, I wish I could have a good memory. I would like to learn different languages, and for that a good memory is very important.

Jayatri Bhattacharya  

A perfect day for me would be in either of two places. The first place would be in the backstage of a show, getting ready and hyped up by my cast mates before my performance.

It is an incredible feeling. All of the adrenaline and fear and excitement is palpable in a theater before a show.I think there is hardly anything else that can compare.

It would start out with preparations, moving props, furniture and having a final run through. It would end with a meet and greet out in the lobby while sweating stage makeup off and wanting to get out of uncomfortable costumes.

There is nothing quite like it.

The second place would be in the middle of nowhere in a car with the top down and the radio blasting oldies hits. I would probably stop at an old diner — Johnny Rockets style with booths and neon lights. I would also probably visit historical districts.

A perfect college class for me would focus on hands-on, tangible skills in a team. I would probably want to bond with my classmates, and there would be optional field trips.

I have had classes that made it extra credit to attend talks or seminars, and I really enjoyed that. I also like it when I can incorporate design to be a major part of my grade. I feel most grateful for a roof over my head and my own space.

I would like to have the ability to retain everything I learn the first time I hear it. I do not want to forget anything, and I would probably want to have top-notch critical thinking skills. Also, money management.

Patience Bixby
My perfect day would start with a cup of great coffee. It would include being with people that I love, probably exploring new places.
I love good and different foods\; so as long as there is good food, it will be my perfect day. One of my ways to end the day is to go stargazing.
The perfect class for me would be in a subject that I really like, and the professor would have to be super enjoyable.
I am very grateful for my life, I am thankful for my teen birth mother choosing life for me. Not just her choosing life, but her making the hard decision to put me up for adoption so I could have a healthy home.
I would like to be able to understand people better. I wish I could be more understanding.

Nhu Dang

For me, every day is a perfect day because I have dreams and I know what to do. However, the important thing is I can wake up every day.
A perfect college class is a place where I can get knowledge as well as make connections with people.
The thing that I feel most grateful for is being the kid of my parents. Whatever I do will not be able to repay my parents’ sacrifices for me.
If I could wake up tomorrow having gained the ability, I want to exchange my health and youth with my parents. I am young and have enough time, but my parents do not. At least I wanna get more time for my parents so that they do not have to work hard and have time to relax.

Vanessa Rojas

A perfect day is being able to be outside and enjoying what nature has to offer, going on a hike and exploring new places is what I believe will start the day wonderfully.
Just being able to spend it with my loved ones and visit new places together, having a picnic or just being in each other’s company will also be a perfect day for me.
A perfect college class would be one where I can express my creativity freely and share ideas and projects with my classmates.
Also having trust with each other that if one of us needed help, we would help each other succeed as a team. Having that motivation shared with each other and having a portfolio that we can carry on to the real world when seeking jobs will be really useful.
I feel most grateful for the little things we tend to oversee sometimes, I am grateful that I have a roof over my head and layers of warm blankets to keep me warm. I am grateful for being in a safe neighborhood and living in a city where I can find many opportunities near me to grow. From having food to being able to take a warm shower, the small things in life is something I always wake up grateful for.
I would like to gain the quality of being decisive. Being decisive and having follow-through all the way till the end, no matter if it ends up failing or not. I would never know unless I try.

Deanna Fulford

It would be cloudy and pouring rain. I would have my window and curtains open so I would be able to hear and smell the rain. I would have a candle burning and I would be in my bed watching my favorite show and eating my favorite snack.
A perfect college class would be based on the instructor. To me the instructor can make or break a class for you so having an instructor that makes the course fun but is also understanding and fair is very important to me.
Everyday I am grateful for just waking up. Tomorrow is never promised and I learned that at a young age. Just to be able to wake up and take a breath on my own is a privilege that many forget to acknowledge.
If I could wake up tomorrow having gained one ability, I would want it to be the ability to freeze time. Having the ability to freeze time would not only give me more time to finish assignments but it would give me more time with the people around me

Mila Le

A perfect day for me would be any day where I get to do something I enjoy. It would be a day where I have no worries, probably doing something fun with my friends like visiting San Francisco or going to the beach.
The perfect college class looks nothing like lectures all day. It is interactive, hands-on and interesting. It is taught by a professor who actively listens to students and cares about their progress.
I am most grateful for my friends and family. Having gone through really hard times, my family and friends were always there for me no matter what. I really do not know where I would be without them and cannot imagine life without them.
If I could wake up gaining one ability it would be the ability to hyperfocus. I have always had problems with paying attention and over-stimulation ever since I was a kid. I feel like I have so many goals and have the ability to reach more of my potential but my attention problems have always made things more difficult for me.

Michael Negrete

For me, a perfect day starts early. I’m typically up no later than 7 a.m., and my day usually always starts with a cup of coffee and about an hour reading my Bible.
On a perfect day, I would follow that up with a nice breakfast and then make plans to spend time with either family or beloved friends for the remainder of my day.
I think this time of shelter-in-place has made me realize how much I actually like going on drives. There’s one spot in particular I really like to go to: the Davenport bluffs. Spending a day there with family and/or friends sounds like an awesome day.
Then I would end my day the way I started it — by spending some time with the Bible before going to bed. I have found that to be the best way to start and end my days.
The perfect college class would definitely revolve around a subject that I have a vested interest in, not necessarily one that I have to take, like English or math.
The instructor is important as well. I desire an instructor that is firm yet fair and understanding. Leaning too far in either direction does the student a disservice.
The final aspect of the perfect college course would be selfless classmates that are willing to help one another out and not necessarily just look after their own self-interests.
I am most grateful for my faith, which in and of itself is a gift from God. As a Christian, my faith in Jesus for salvation is the most important aspect of my life.
In addition to having my eternity secured as a result of the faith in Christ that God has gifted me with, my faith has also sustained me through trials that I’ve endured in my life.
Without my faith, I think I would go through life a pretty hopeless person with no future to look forward to. However, by the grace of God through faith in Christ, I can live a hopeful life knowing that I do indeed have a future in Heaven to look forward to.
Tomorrow I would like to wake up a more selfless person. This time of quarantine has revealed to me how truly selfish I am capable of being, and I want to strive to be more selfless in my relationships and to focus more on the needs of the people that I love instead of just focusing on my own needs.

Forrest Canton

A perfect day for me for would include the following:

Getting up at 6:30 a.m. and eating breakfast and going to school at or around 7 a.m.

Attending class, eating lunch at or around 12:05 p.m. and focusing on work after returning home. Then I eat at 6 p.m. and go to bed at 11 p.m.

A perfect college class is a class that I like such as science, which is easy and fun for me as well as goes toward the degree or certificate I am aiming for.

I feel most grateful for the way I am behaving. I bring my attention to my surroundings. I can quickly detect what is going on.

If I could get up tomorrow having gained one quality or ability, then it could be staying more focused with work. Sometimes daydreaming can occur while doing work. I may fall behind in homework. Sometimes I may lose concentration if I think about something that I want to look for by using the computer.

Anton Vladimir
I go to sleep, leaving the east-facing second floor window of the bedroom open to let in the cool night air. The scent of larch and birch trees will flow in, peppering the nostrils.
As the first rays of sunlight creep over the horizon, I awake to birds chirping their cheerful songs, meant to show dominance and strength, but translate to the human ear as peaceful murmurs.
I leave home through the creaky crimson gate, trying to make as little sound as possible. The snow on the cobblestone road crushes icily under my feet, alerting a fox in the bushes. It scuttles away silently, carrying its morning meal of stolen chicken in its mouth to nibble elsewhere.
I trek into the woodlands that hug the neighborhood tightly, meaning to fill my mind yet keep my stomach empty. The only sounds I hear are the cooing of pigeons.
The sun is rising, melting last night’s snow from the trees, which slowly drips onto soil, forming small puddles that children will use to imitate the ocean with ships made of folded paper later in the day. The needles of conifers glisten in the light, like crystals of a chandelier hovering precariously above a prepared dining table waiting for guests to arrive.
A drop of water falls onto my hood, alarming rooks in the barren upper branches of a birch of my presence. Their harsh crowing echoes for a short distance, bouncing among the dormant trees and rocks, only to be stopped by the soft down of dirty snow.
The grin of a snowman melts into a frown as his carrot nose falls off. His cheeky smirk was just for show — an icy heart left no way to feel love. Or pain. But the thawing warmth of the sun melts his benumbed heart, and he feels what it is like to be human. Sorrow and comfort, elation and worry, all in a fleeting moment.
I pass through a huddled grove of hushed trees that whisper to one another. Rusalki live in them, the souls of trees that watch travelers pass with shut eyes. Their father, the Vodyanoi, bubbles away eerily in the lake, growing his beard and observing the world above, waiting for the right time to snatch an unwary fisherman. He has much to say, but can only speak to the fish.
The world is silent, for few can speak. All that is needed, is to listen closely, and much will be revealed.A perfect college class would be taught in the same manner Plato did: outside, walking among ancient sculptures, discussing the meaning of existence. All participants would be the professor for a while, each teaching one another.
I am grateful that I can speak to my family and friends, and that we can experience this planet together, consciously. It is a great gift bestowed upon us that we can be alive in this dead universe. But it must be given back at the end, which gives it value and us melancholy. Carpe diem.
The ability I wish to have most is to be able to understand all living beings, no matter their language. We have so much to learn from one another and to do so, we must learn to either jump over the barriers placed around us by governments, or find ways to destroy them.