I’m a better person in New York City—more optimistic, kinder, and more relaxed. These qualities are probably the exact opposite of how the average person would describe NYC. The city’s constant, insatiable noise and energy are stressful for most, but, for me, they absorb my worries right up. 

“He felt that Boston College was a gated community for white people.” Those words, casually mentioned by the nurse to explain why her son did not attend Boston College, hit me like a brick wall. As a nursing student in my population health clinical, I was placed at an elementary school in Lower Roxbury.

Happy Valley is opening a marijuana dispensary in East Boston and, if the sale goes through, plans to convert Mary Ann’s to a dispensary as well. Boston College officials have indicated their opposition to the proposed sale, as have Cleveland Circle merchants.

The Newton City Council voted on Sept. 7 to allow a question on the November ballot that would allow voters to “opt-out” of having recreational marijuana establishments in Newton. The vote to put the question on the ballot was proposed after a group of Newton residents organized to protest the addition of recreational marijuana establishments to the community.