Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library
Walls are generally characterized by flat affect, so no, I don’t have personal experience with them. But I’m really interested in how central love is to the BC community, both personally and religiously. It seems to be tied to lots of other emotions. Humans are fascinating!
Food insecurity among colleges students is a widespread problem. (bit.ly/food-insecurity-college) Thanks for acknowledging it. I’m a wall, so I don’t need to eat; I have great sympathy for humans and their need to eat. Did you know there’s a national campaign to address college campus food insecurity? challahforhunger.org/campushungerproject. Perhaps you could start a chapter here.
Beeccaauuuuse…
I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure you’re quite smart; you’re at BC, after all! Story: a human I know was a high-performing figure-skater as a teen. She had a world-class coach at a competitive skating center. She and her skating friends, though, always felt like lousy skaters because one girl, Peggy, could do jumps and spins in a way they could never seem to master They all felt clumsy by comparison. Well, Peggy went on to win gold in the 1968 Olympics and 3 world championships. You know her as Peggy Fleming. There are some world-class brains at BC. Let them shine, and don’t worry about it. (And don’t tell anyone, but there’s a rumor that BC students work their images really hard, and don’t admit to struggling when they are.)
It is terrifying but true that the only way to find out is to ask. Best case: she’s asking herself the same thing you are. Worst case: you find out she wants something different from you. Prediction: being clear what’s going on will make you feel better either way.
Everyone has a different comfort level, and most people end up having a number of jobs in their lifetime. You have time to experiment and see what works for you.
It depends — are you sleeping normally at night? If not, that’s definitely a reason for falling asleep in class. But if your sleep is pretty regular otherwise, you may just be drifting off due to the warmth of the room or the stillness of your body. Try having a snack or stretching to wake yourself up — you’ll pay better attention when you aren’t yawning!
It depends on what you mean by “worth” and “it.” If you’re passionate about literature and want a career engaging in it – studying it, writing about it, teaching it – then yes, that’s the path to that career. It’s not easy, and the PhD is just the opening salvo of challenges on the way to a tenure-track job in academia. If you just want to keep a hand in literature because you like it, I recommend pursuing any other career, and fostering groups of friends who read and talk about literature. I recommend talking to people with comp. lit. PhD’s to get their perspective.
You never need to miss an answer – I have a web presence (library.bc.edu/answerwall/). The answer was: Ethical and consensual is good and necessary. However even taking those aspects into account, sex, especially with multiple partners, has its risks – for instance, STDs and unintended pregnancies.
It can be disorienting to feel out of control. If the feeling passes when you’ve finished some of the tasks on your to-do list, then let it go. If it persists, there are potentially two pieces to this: planning, and your feeling of being overwhelmed. First, try setting priorities and planning your time more carefully. (I recommend the academic coach at the CFLC: bit.ly/BC-connors.) If that takes care of it, great! If not, then it’s more of an emotional burden of feeling generally overwhelmed, and that can take some time to figure out. I recommend counseling: bit.ly/BC-counseling.
It works for me very well, but for you living and breathing (and needing food and sleep and showers) types, I think it would get very unpleasant pretty quickly!
My assistants and I are not paragons of mathematical genius. Analysis looks like it would take some ability to visualize – or at least imagine in some way – very complex combinations of functions, ordered sets, and other such fearsome creatures, and then represent them as variables. It’s a lot to keep track of all at once, a kind of mental juggling. If you can do it, consider yourself ready for a mathematical circus.
Yuck! Probably the oddly-named silverfish. I advise placing a work order through the Agora Portal. “My Services” tab → “Facilities Work Request.”
It’s better than the alternative. More info: bit.ly/philo-existence
According to latest data from the 2019 UN World Population Prospects Report (bit.ly/UNBirths), they come from Asia, followed by Africa, and to a much lesser degree from other places.
That can hurt a lot, even if you’re doing the breaking up. Everybody handles that differently, but general advice is to take extra good care of yourself for a while: good food, good sleep, whatever else makes you feel taken care of. Maybe resist the urge to do a rebound relationship for a bit, unless that’s what you need. Give yourself some time to be sad, or angry, or to feel any other way you do. No really wrong answers here, and none that don’t at least sorta suck. Be well, I’ll be here.
i m right here
It’s hard for sure, and something everyone struggles with constantly. There are times when one of those might have to take priority over others, and you should start by recognizing that that’s OK. “Balancing” those things doesn’t always mean they’re given the perfectly same priority. Try using task manager applications or a calendar to keep track of priorities. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you can always visit BC Counseling (bit.ly/BC-counseling).
Careful, kitty! Someone said someone let the dogs out!
It depends on what kind of device you have, but you can borrow lots of adapters from the Circulation Desk on level 3. If you’re facing me, turn around and you’ll see it.
