Imagine yourself in bed, waking up at 7:50 a.m. for a computer science class, followed by music production, game design, math, and a gen ed or two. Unfortunately, because you’re in academic overload, you don’t have much time for lunch. So you skip the Serve to get some work done. Thankfully, you have snacks to keep you from starving until dinner, but that’s after you’ve shown up to band rehearsal at 4 p.m.
Oh yeah, and don’t forget about the stream setup so people can watch the esports team play at 7 p.m. Once that’s done, you can scrounge up what time you have left at 9:30 p.m. to complete the homework you have yet to accomplish. But it’s alright, you’ll get it done before midnight anyway because, quite frankly, you’re just built different.
This was Daniel Zeman’s schedule last semester (Fall 2025). He majors in computer science and music production, with minors in game design and math. Nicknamed the Unstoppable Ginger, he has time management skills so efficient that people are dumbfounded by how he survives with such a full schedule.
For example, on top of all his academic classes, he still finds time for Jazz, Concert and Marching Band, Choir and Vistas, sometimes shows up to assist Rock Ensemble, puts on streams for the esports teams, tutors for music theory and computer science, and runs a TTRPG with the TGS club.
With such a full schedule, Zeman was asked how he manages to stay on top of everything. “I think a lot of it comes down to the small gaps,” he said. “If you look at it, having a 20-to-30-minute break between two things, you can get some of the smaller things done, which helps.”
To show that Zeman truly has the smarts, Aaron Eastwood, professor of music production, shares what he has noticed about Zeman in his audio and music classes. “He’s really smart, he picks things up quickly,” Eastwood said. “In the past, and even now, I always rely on him just to make sure that I’m on the right track.”
Eastwood gave an example from Music Theory II, when he asked Zeman if everything looked right on the board.
Zeman was then questioned if he has time to relax. “For me, the social battery doesn’t really exist,” he replied. “I can sit around and chill on my own for a long time, provided I have things to do, or I’ll get bored. Similarly, I can also be around people for like 12 hours. So I’d consider myself an ambivert.”
As an example, Zeman has been participating in practice runs for a stream event that will take place on Buenafication Day. Every person there plays a unique game, but if one dies, they all die. Events like this are what Zeman considers relaxing.
Zeman has proven himself to be one of the more productive students on campus. With that, others want to have the time management skills he has. Some might start to develop imposter syndrome if they can’t reach that goal. If that’s the case, then maybe you just need to go about it differently, and Eastwood encourages that idea.
“If you’re not a Daniel, don’t worry, because you have to find your own path forward,” he said. “And you can look at somebody like Daniel, and you can say, wow, look at this person who’s doing these amazing things. But that doesn’t mean you’re not amazing too.”
