A day in the life: Emily Arches

Emily Arches is a sophomore from Baltimore, Maryland, majoring in business administration with a concentration in finance. Arches is the president of the equestrian team, a writing consultant and a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. She started riding horses in first grade and said it would have felt foreign to go to college and not ride. The equestrian team comprises 17 members, all female, but anyone can join. This past weekend, University of Richmond came in first place at a show at Randolph-Macon College. Arches said she felt accomplished when the team performed well. It is difficult to manage because they all have different backgrounds and varying riding experience, but the job is really rewarding, she said. Arches said her biggest challenge had been keeping team spirits high and promoting team unity because riding was an individual sport. It is challenging to be the middle man between riders and coaches, to keep high levels of respect and to make sure each rider improves. Arches wants people to know that the equestrian team has increased its prevalence and success a lot in the past three years. Richmond’s team is strong in its region, and the team is very competitive. Something you don’t know about Arches? She can’t swim. Here’s a glimpse into a day in her life:

7:00 a.m – Waking up in the morning, gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs. Who am I kidding? I actually turn off the five alarms I’ve set at 7:00, 7:15, 7:30, 7:45 and 8:00 and enjoy more needed minutes of sleep. This is sophomore year, not a Rebecca Black one-hit wonder.

8:30 a.m. – I finally wake up (in a panic, nonetheless, because I’m terribly behind schedule per usual). Most mornings I resort to my standard look of leggings, my black Patagonia fleece, neon headband and purple Nike shoes. Lord knows I need the arch support for the dreaded walk to B-school from North Court.

8:40 a.m. – Go and pick up my good friend Aleeza Grodofsky. Inevitably watch her try on three different outfits because she’s way trendier and more stylish than I will ever be.

8:45 a.m. – Finally depart from North Court basically breaking out into a run because we are not only late but freezing cold.

9:00 a.m. – BStat. Currently, we are learning about probability. However, the only real probability on my mind is the probability of me being able to keep my eyes open; I’ve never been much of a morning person and am horribly narcoleptic.

9:50 a.m. – Head to D-hall. More specifically the back corner in the third room of D-hall because all of my friends are either in class or sleeping. I chow down on a delicious meat-lovers omelet as I pretend to do work on my laptop. In actuality, I’m usually on Buzzfeed trying to figure out “What Kind of Potato I Am?”

10:30 a.m. – Hit up the second floor of the library with caramel iced coffee in hand to catch up on all the work I’ve procrastinated doing over the weekend. Somehow, the Netflix tab is already open on my computer and an episode begins to stream automatically. I then get out my Econ problem set. Sure, I can do this problem set while I watch Law and Order: SVU. No problem!

12:30 p.m. – Realize I have watched two episodes of SVU and not made any progress on my problem set. I give up and head to D-hall with some of my friends, vowing that I’ll actually do my homework after I eat.

12:35 p.m. – Look at the salad bar for maybe five seconds until I realize there are chicken tenders. Game changer.

1:30 p.m. – Return to the library and exit out of my Netlflix tab, so I’ll finally do my homework. I start listening to the Pandora station “Summer Hits of the 90s”; that means business.

3:00 p.m. – Introduction to Film Studies class. Currently, we are studying silent German films. Definitely a step up from my prior film knowledge that consisted only of “Easy A,” Mary Kate and Ashley’s “Holiday in the Sun” or anything Pixar.

4:30 p.m. – Rush out of class and head to the barn for equestrian team practice.

5:00 p.m. – Riding lesson with some of the wonderful ladies of the equestrian team because Ginuwine said it best in his hit single “Pony”: “the saddle’s waiting.”

7:00 p.m. – Finish lesson then head to Chipotle with the rest of the team. Difficult rollbacks and lead changes require a hearty burrito bowl complete with double chicken and guacamole.

8:00 p.m. – Finally arrive back on campus only to depart for the gym to go for a run on the treadmill. And by “run on the treadmill,” I usually mean lie down on the mats on the floor for an hour because I’m exhausted and merely the idea of running tires me out.

9:30 p.m. – Go to the library because my mountain of homework has yet to be touched.

11:30 p.m. – Give up my dreams of finishing all of my work and promise myself that I’ll get more done tomorrow. It’s that point at night where the second floor of the library is about 100 degrees, and there’s no toilet paper in any of the bathrooms. At that point, any motivation I have left goes completely out the window

11:45 p.m. – Wander around various rooms in North Court to talk to some of my friends who I haven’t seen all day. Usually this involves impromptu dance parties to Cher’s “Do You Believe in Life After Love?” in Katie and Jih’s room or nearly impossible games of Would You Rather (Would you rather have Cheetos dust on your fingers for the rest of your life or not be able to distinguish between a baby and a muffin?) in Ale and Aleeza’s room.

12:30 a.m. – Get into my own bed. I really should just turn off the lights and go to sleep at this point, but I really do want to see how the last episode of Grey’s Anatomy I watched plays out. Unfortunately for me, one episode usually turns into at least two.

1:45 a.m. – Sleep deprivation kicks in and, despite the riveting storylines, I decide it’s finally time to call it a day. But it’s all good because tomorrow I’m going to get up early and be very productive (haha, not a chance).

Contact Copy Editor Rebecca Fradkin at rebecca.fradkin@richmond.edu