She would probably have gotten a better character arc here, anyway.

7:30 A.M. – 8:30 A.M.

After hitting snooze on her phone four times, Rory awakens at the ripe time of 7:30. Dreading getting out of bed but ready to take on this crisp fall morning head-on, she throws on a chunky thrifted sweater and heads to Tom’s Diner, a taste of Luke’s Stars Hollow staple in the midst of Manhattan. Losing herself in her newest Book Culture purchase, she realizes it’s already 8:30 and her first class of the day starts in 10 minutes!

8:40 A.M. – 11:25 A.M. 

Dashing back from 112th, Rory heads to Canterbury Tales, where she’s already done the readings for the next two weeks. The smells of the Souvlaki Gr truck mix with the heated stench of the 1. She’s up before most of campus, besides those who dare to take an 8:40 and the athletes in their Columbia blue. She quickly stops by Joe’s for her third coffee, ordering a large. Yes, she is almost out of her dining dollars and it’s only October. Arriving at her class, she secures her favorite seat. Dashing to Uris for European Social Philosophy, Rory heads to her 10:10. Unfortunately, there is no time to stop for another cup of coffee in between.

11:25 A.M. – 4:00 P.M. 

Rory, being the traditionalist she is, plugs her wired earbuds into her phone and turns on the Mazzy Star radio on Spotify, ready to romanticize the autumnal walk to the Hungarian Pastry Shop. Securing the back corner table after ordering an unlimited black coffee, she gets started on her biggest priority: next month’s homework. Jess, who she’s been seeing since she moved to New York for college, joins her in the afternoon for a contentedly quiet reading date. Motivated by the bottomless coffee, Jess’s presence, and a hearty cappuccino almond croissant, she checks off her philosophy readings on her iPad bullet journal. 

4:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M. 

She kisses Jess goodbye, looking forward to Friday night, where they’ll explore Chinatown and catch a movie at the Film Forum. For Rory though, the work grind never stops. Putting her headphones back in, she treks back towards campus, making a straight beeline to Butler. Distracted by Jess, she totally forgot to book a reading room in advance! Ugh! This was not a part of her plan. After waiting outside one of the rooms for a good twenty minutes, hoping someone would leave early, Rory settled for a table on the 6th floor. As a good use of her time, she starts studying for finals. You can never be too prepared, right, Rory?

7:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M. 

As a study break, Rory heads to John Jay for dinner. She enjoys being reminded that she goes to an Ivy League, even while eating her chicken parm and peas. Despite the chaotic energy and excessively loud music, she calls her mom/best friend, Lorelai who is enjoying a cheeseburger at Luke’s. They can barely hear each other, but they pretend that they are eating together. 

8:00 P.M. – 10:30 P.M.

Before leaving John Jay, Rory manages to book a reading room back at Butler. Finally at peace and back on schedule, she continues to read, study, take unnecessarily decorated notes, and then read some more. She especially enjoys making other library-goers feel bad about how much they’ve accomplished during their study sesh. It drives her.

10:30 P.M – 12:00 P.M. 

Finally done with work for the day, Rory finds herself in the mood for a sweet treat. She heads to JJ’s, a junk food lover’s heaven. Realizing that just ice cream won’t satisfy her sweet tooth, she grabs some French toast. 

Having finished an entire book, three essays, 300 pages of reading, and studying for her finals in two months, Rory at last feels like she’s at least made a dent in her to-do list. Any less would be laziness on her part, obviously. Satisfied, she heads home to East Campus, ready to read herself to sleep and do it all again in the morning. 

Rory Gilmore via Flickr