The Wall

Gerald Ford! Fun fact: He was talented football player in college and turned down offers to play for the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions to go to law school.

The worst she can say is no, so I say go for it! Be brave!

Fall semester is rough. Take advantage of the nasty weather this weekend and get some rest. You got this.

Are you really expecting an objective answer? I can be objective about many issues, but not this one. BC, of course.

One of the wonderful aspects of a safe democracy is that voting is done with the assurance of privacy. Voting records are confidential, and I have no basis for speculating one way or another.

I’m you’re a BC student, faculty, or staff, you can access recently released movies, documentaries, and some TV series for free through the streaming collections on the BC Library website: bit.ly/bc-movie-stream. Just make sure you set up Eagle VPN first if you want to watch films through the sites listed off-campus.

You might have heard the term “money isn’t everything,” and I think it applies well here. People in poorer countries might have less material and financial goods, but having a loving, supportive family and community makes up for that lack and likely contributes to greater happiness and less feelings of despair. There’s nothing wrong with wanting success, but if the goal of success is to obtain as much wealth as possible over physical health or quality relationships, then we have to ask what it means to be happy and what success is for.

I can understand the confusion. GenAI chatbots and I both offer disembodied answers to questions. But the resemblance ends there: Chatbots turn words into numbers and calculate the probability of word combinations based on massive data files of digitized text. I consult with my librarian friends, and I reflect on their carefully collected and curated books and articles. My supportive foundations are built on an ethic of care for the people and the community I’m a part of.

I’ll give a general answer because energy levels and how your body handles caffeine are very personal. A regular sleep schedule and some honest reflection about whether all the things you’re trying to do actually fit into one day would be helpful as a starting place. Then you’d be in a better place to see if (slowly) tapering off the energy drinks is something you can do without shocking your system. The folks at Student Wellness could probably help with some suggestions too: https://bit.ly/BCStudentWell

Apparently, chickens are smarter than we thought: “When making decisions, the chicken takes into account its own prior experience and knowledge surrounding the situation.” bit.ly/chickenbrain So unless you know the chicken’s prior experience and knowledge, it’s anybody’s guess.

If atmosphere is your thing, I recommend Gargan Hall on the second floor of Bapst Library. It’s oak tables and stainglass windows are a nice contrast from the busy feeling the rest of Chestnut Hill campus has. If you find views more relaxing, the fifth floor of O’Neill Library is quiet and has some great views of Newton and a bit of Boston too. A third option, if you’re okay with walking, is The Theology and Ministry Library on Brighton Campus. It’s close to a seminary and has several trees surrounding it so you’ll get the calm of spirituality and nature at the same time.

Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!
Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!
Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!

Pancakes

My first reaction is that academia IS the real world and that anyone saying it isn’t has likely not paid their rent with tips, or not recently enough that they remember it clearly. But I will say that communicating the implications of scholarly research for policymakers and our communities is hard, and it isn’t work that either higher education or the broader economy values for its own sake.

The most recent report showing individual institution data from Opportunity Insights was 2017. (They’ve issued an updated report, but it’s unclear whether individual insitution from that newer data is available yet.) Here’s an interactive tool in the NYTimes Upshot based on the 2017 data, with Boston College already selected: nyti.ms/3TpS145

Some people react to loneliness by throwing themselves into a lot of distractions. It sounds like that’s not your style. You seem capable of sitting with discomfort and talking about it. Those are both really good skills for making and maintaining long, trusting friendships.