
♪ ♪ Dime si conmigo quiere hacer travesuras, ah
Que se ha vuelto una locura
Y tu esta bien dura
Y no me puedo contener…
Y no me puedo contener… ♪ ♪
Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library
Sorry to say that you can’t make your toes smaller. And please don’t try to. People have crippled themselves trying to make their toes and feet smaller. Give your toes lots of room and enjoy their glorious shape. If anyone makes fun of your toes, you have my permission to give them a (gentle) kick.
I often turn to the OED when I’m curious about the history of a word like “woe” (bit.ly/OED-woe – sign-in required). It’s quite an old word, dating at least back to bronze age proto-Iranian, and appears independently in non-Indo-European languages as well, suggesting its derivation is onomatopoetic, that is, it’s based on the sound of human expressions of sadness & grief. The Yiddish form (“Weh,” as in “Oy Weh!”) probably has more currency now than the English “Woe,” which is a little archaic. In recent history, Jews have good reason to be standouts in acute woe, and yet they’re also standouts in expressions of humor. It’s a mystery. Unfortunately, humankind seems to distribute woe generously, so there is no one group or person who can claim to be the most woeful in all of history.
According to the Wall’s friends at Parking and Transportation, it’s mostly two things. The first is lack of space on campus, which creates a lot more demand than supply. The second is more subtle: prices are partly high to encourage people who can to use other ways to get to campus, like the campus bus system, public transit, bikes, or feet–that makes for a greener campus, a healthier community…but it also helps with the first issue. The walls at T & P are sympathetic, as is this Wall.
If you aspire to do this type of work – and who wouldn’t – perhaps you would like to look into a career in libraries. Reference Librarians specialize in being prepared to answer any questions that come at them, and the excitement of never knowing what you’ll need to research (and learn) next is real.
The BC Libraries do offer ebooks. It sounds as though you are a looking for books through OverDrive, since you mentioned the Libby app and the easiest way to browse these books is to go to our OverDrive site (bc.overdrive.com). There you will find lots of ebooks and audiobooks too. Happy reading!
Join a student group! BC is fortunate to have a ton of great student groups that you can connect with, including groups on everything from acting (Dramatics Society) to musical theater (Musical Theatre Wing) to the oldest collegiate improv group in the country (My Mother’s Fleabag). Check out the Student Organizations website for these & others: bit.ly/BCStudentOrg
I would argue that most employment can be approached in an honorable manner. You will have to come to your own understanding of what is “respectable” and the standards you need to maintain to respect yourself. Do contact the BC Career Center (bit.ly/BC-career) for help in your search.
The Woods College of Advancing Studies (bit.ly/BC-Woods) is part of BC. It offers 13 undergraduate majors, 5 graduate programs, and 9 professional studies certificate programs. It is designed for students who have to work full time or have other daytime commitments. The courses are as rigorous as any others at BC (many of the professors also teach regular graduate and undergraduate courses.) Notable alumnus: Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.
A very ambitious New Year’s resolution! However, the move to a service-oriented society leaves much less value in owning “production”. And the proletariat is also shrinking (at least in “first-world” countries), so there is less labor available to help you with your goal. You may have better luck if you resolve instead to empower the middle class to end income inequality.
That is a very sweet resolution. As you probably know, that’s not something you can accomplish for him, and even given what he can do, admission here is impossible to guarantee. But you can help by being a supportive sibling and answering his questions, and pointing him to resources at the admissions office, and maybe helping him keep on track with the admissions timetable. Best of luck!
Write down all your projects as you do them so you’re not scrambling to remember all your skills three years from now! You can also contact our career center for more hot tips as the time approaches.