I open the Starbucks app to be greeted by my 138 stars that are waiting to be redeemed. As usual, I order the same drink every week. As lengthy and pricey as my order is, it gives me motivation to finish my week’s worth of homework all in one day. I open my backpack and lighten the load by taking out the folders and notebooks I know I won’t touch today as I wait for Louisa to make the treacherous forty-five second drive from her house to mine.
As usual, we embark on our Sunday adventure an hour later than we had originally planned the night before – whether it be because I was in the middle of vacuuming my room, Louisa slept in, or her mom took the car to Fresh Thyme for the world’s most prolonged grocery run. As she pulls into my cul-de-sac, I press order on the app and watch 8 stars get added to my point collection: one for every dollar I have spent.
By the time we arrive at Washington & Ogden, our drinks are ready at the counter and we get settled into what would be our residence for the next few hours.
We have been doing this for about a year now. It’s become our habit to devote our Sundays to studying. Whether we are catching up on homework assignments from last week or writing our college apps that are not due for months, we always find a way to fill up the eight hours that we spend with each in the most productive way possible. I find 
comfort and security in the fact that every Sunday I have a routine that helps me reset after the strenuous week; it helps relieve the burden and stress that school causes Monday through Saturday. It reminds me that humans are creatures of habit and patterns are solutions for the eccentricity that life brings. We find relief when there is minimal change. Every Sunday, I know exactly where I am going to be and who I am going to be with. I know that whether I have a good or bad week, I still have Louisa and my drink waiting to hear all about it at 9am (but it becomes 10 am because we have developed the inability to do anything on time).
Our friends and family know Sunday is Meg & Louisa day. That’s why my mom, who is ever so persistent about knowing where I am and who I am with at all times, never asks those questions on Sunday even though I am out of the house from the morning till evening. That’s why our frie
nds know that if they are making plans with one of us on Sunday, they will be seeing both of us. As a consequence, Sunday is also the day when my credit card is swiped, inserted, and tapped the most. It’s the day when my Venmo notifications completely fill up my inbox. After all, how can Louisa and I have a productive studying day if we didn’t get Starbucks, boba, Cane’s, and stop by Target to see which useless purchase to make this week?
All jokes aside, I promise we work really hard. As two students who have been in the honors program for as long as we can remember, Louisa and I push each other to be the best students we can possibly be. We hold each other accountable and promise silly rewards for completing tasks in what we deem is a timely manner. We have learnt how to push ourselves and reward ourselves, and we somehow managed to make studying feel gratifying.
Sunday has become my favorite day of the week even though I consider preparing for the SAT and reading my economics textbook anything but fun. It is my favorite day of the week because I know the only thing I have to do that day is spend time with my person, someone who understands me and exactly the kind of support I need as I transition from one busy week into another. Someone who helps me achieve all of my goals even though she enables my unhealthy spending habits. I guess no one can be 100% perfect.
Thank you, Louisa Zhang.
Hi Meg! I loved your blog so much, I almost started tearing up. I also enjoy Sundays. Unfortunately, I do not spend every Sunday with a good friend. But I do spend my Sundays preparing for the week ahead. I take the time to clean my room, do my homework, and rest. I look forward to the last day of the weekend because I can hit the reset button. I am someone who finds comfort in tradition but I never thought that was why I enjoyed Sundays so much. I used to only think of tradition in an annual setting, but I was overlooking the true meaning. Your friendship with Louisa also pulled on my heart strings. It reminded me of a friend who has been by my side through it all. Someone you do not need a social battery to be around and they feel like home. I used to take friendships like these for granted. I thought people would be by my side no matter what. As I have gotten older I have come to cherish friendships and respect the idea of quality over quantity. Soon we will be leaving highschool and I want to know I have made life long friends no matter how far apart we are from one another. Overall I loved your post and how genuine you were when writing it.
Meg,
I absolutely loved this concept that you wrote about. To think that when you got asked to write a blog post, something that you could have literally written anything about, and you thought to write it about a close friend of yours is very heartwarming. I never would have even thought to write about a friend of mine for something like this. And, to add to your heartwarming writing, you even found a way to relate back to something that is bigger than what you are saying, regardless if your topic is important or not. Your connection to human’s behavior and their success with patterns was not only impressive and creative, but also enabled me to think about my own life and reflect upon the patterns I have created. Whether it is waiting to do my homework until 7 o’clock every night (I can’t tell if this is a bad habit because I do truly enjoy doing mys studying when it is dark outside and I have a couple candles going) or going to the same spot in the learning commons every morning to study some more before class begins, I find comfort in the patterns I have molded into my life. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this, I might just have to use this idea for inspiration come the next blog post. I hope to hear from you again soon!
Hello Meg, I love this post! I think it is so cool that you have developed a reward system that helps keep you motivated. High school can be hard and college applications can be even more tiring, so I totally understand why you should reward yourself. Similarly, I do the same thing. In order to get my work done, I usually have to be in a public place like a coffee shop and reward myself with coffee. I don’t know about you, but as fall approaches, I have been re-watching Gilmore Girls in order to keep myself motivated. Imagining I am Rory Gilmore and studying at a coffee shop makes me feel like the main character and more motivated to do my work…if you don’t do this already, i highly recommend you start! Also, I totally understand why you work with Louisa…having a study buddy makes things so much more enjoyable in my opinion! You have so much on your plate, but having a friend who keeps you motivated is so much more helpful than what people imagine. Also, your matcha order seems so delicious! Overall, I love the organization and flow of this blog post! I felt so entertained throughout the whole post!
Meg, you had me tearing up there for a second. This is one of the sweetest things I have read in a while. I am so happy that you hare able to find comfort in your Sundays are you are so very lucky to be able to spend it with a person who cares so much about you. I love the way you spent your time, when you could have wrote about literally anything, writing about someone you cherish. I know that if someone were to do this for me, I would probably end up bawling my eyes out. You and Louisa are very lucky to have eachother. Also, I can relate to your happiness in habit. I also thrive off of a routine. Knowing I have a certain time to do things throughout my days and weeks, such as homework and exercise, allows me to be more prooduvtive during those times. Having a set space an time allows me to stay on track and it takes off some of the stress of the day because I know I have a certain amount of time where I can focus on just my homework. Your habit is inspirational and is something I hope I can create for myself in the future. Thank you for sharing! I will definitely be subscribing!
Hi Meg, I saw the Starbucks order and I could not help but read! We have talked about me trying this drink but I am still yet to do so. Once I get around to it, you will be the first to know. I think that this pattern of spending Sundays doing work is great and I imagine I would get so much more done if I did something similar. There are many times when I struggle to hold myself accountable for tasks with deadlines so far in the distance (so you can imagine how my college apps are going right now). It can be really hard to anchor down and spend an extended period of time doing work of any sort when there are so many other things I would prefer to do. Meg and Louisa days sound like so much fun! It definitely helps to have someone who is as driven as you are around when trying to be productive because it makes the time pass faster and it is simply more fun. While I am unable to allot any single day to another person due to the dynamic nature of my weekly schedules, I do think it would be beneficial for me to check my calendar for days that I can dedicate completely to completing tasks that I need to get done. And an iced matcha latte would definitely help get me in the mood.
Meg, I may see your blog post a little differently than others because I’ve always been familiar with your 8-hour days with Louisa. Thinking about spending that much time out with someone, studying (mostly), is something I’ve never committed to before and even have trouble imagining. Although I’ve heard you talk about these days more than once, somehow I’ve never put it together that this is your routine, that Sundays are meant for Meg & Louisa, a ray of consistency in the chaos of high school. And how you mentioned routine, and human’s natural gravitation towards routine, and our comfort in it. Reading this post, and how much these days mean to you, was a beautiful experience, and it was incredibly sweet. Your post is so genuine, and I can truly see your fondness for these days. On the surface, one may see this as a day to go out and spend money. But you two are amazing students, who work hard, and love spending time together. I’ve made fun of you for your ridiculous Starbucks charges, and I will continue to do so, but I know that it’s so much more than an eight-dollar latte, it’s your friendship with Louisa and something to look forward to.