Every day, middle school me spent hours practicing tennis alone against a backboard, with only my imagination to keep me company. At the time, all I focused on was perfecting my form, not realizing that I was also inadvertently training something even more important: the ability to daydream.
I feel most like myself when I’m walking across campus at 2:00 a.m. on a Monday, when Gasson’s bells stop chiming, the buses stop huffing and puffing their way around campus, and the Quad’s sprinklers soak the bottoms of my jeans if I don’t maneuver around them swiftly enough.
You are wonderful. And I’m going to prove it to you. You, yes you, are wonderful and infinitely valuable. If you just read those words and thought, “No way, not me. Wonderful is not the word I’d use. What do I have to offer that someone else can’t do better?” Make no mistake, all the world needs you to be is yourself.
I have a LinkedIn, and it feels apocalyptic. For those who don’t know, LinkedIn is the social networking website for professional development. Unlike other social media platforms like Facebook or X, LinkedIn unpretentiously admits in its vision statement that it seeks to provide economic opportunity for its users—not social utility.
If I had to pick a favorite month of the year, December would take the cake. It’s not exactly a controversial take. By Dec. 1 (or earlier for some of us), Mariah Carey has begun singing her familiar whistle notes, and Andy Williams has begun to proudly declare that “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”
Happy Holidays! Amid the chaos at Boston College right now, don’t forget the joy this time of year brings. Now is the perfect time to give and receive kindness, care, and gratitude. Reach out and spread some holiday cheer, whether by texting your family and friends or complimenting a stranger.
At the beginning of the school year, I felt lost. I needed to completely rearrange my classes, apply to jobs I was uncertain about, rediscover my place at Boston College after six months abroad, make amends with someone, and spend time with the friends I love while also trying to meet new people.
“Who decides what comfort is, anyway?” I find myself asking this when one of the students from Upper makes fun of my current living situation.
The temperatures are cooling down, the Gasson Quad Christmas tree has assumed position, and holiday classics can be heard playing in Newbury Street stores. The holidays are finally here! In just a few short days, we’ll be enjoying a feast of mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie with our families—a much-deserved break from the endless hustle and bustle of the fall semester.
I’m thankful for every bit of Mac 113—the navy-blue couches we inherited from Will’s childhood home, the bulky printer that malfunctions more often than not, and the string lights that Laboy hung up during our sophomore year. More importantly, I’m thankful for the office-goers I’ve spent hundreds of hours editing, arguing, and laughing with over the past three years.
