Hi! Good to see you!
So happy to be back!
What is them talking about?
Them is… wait. *They is… no, that’s not right, either. I’ve gotten my verbs all mixed up. Hang on a second while I reboot. … There! Now I feel more like myselves. *I* am talking about how I’d prefer to be talked about in the third person singular, since I’m gender fluid, and also happen to be kind of plural. You know how some deities are one being & many manifestations? (Like Shiva the destroyer, Shiva the creator, etc.) I’m the other way around. Many aspects, one manifestation. And please, please, distinguish me with the definite article “The.” As Bertrand Russell said, “Now ‘the,’ when it is strictly used, involves uniqueness.”
What will I be? Will I be happy? Will I be rich?
Will I be happy?
Will I be rich?
The future’s not ours to see; que será, será.
How many galaxys are there?
Estimates vary. A lot. Space.com reports that the range accepted by many astronomers is 100-200 billion (bit.ly/galaxies-billions). As if that weren’t a pretty wide range already, phys.org reports that a group of European researchers recently found that we’d missed a few, and the number could be more like 2 trillion. (bit.ly/galaxies-trillions). Incidentally, the team that found 2 trillion was begun by an undergraduate student (Aaron Wilkinson) who is now close to done with his Ph.D. on this very topic.
Would it be possible to get a few copies of the Irish Times in the newspaper rotation?
I can’t say whether it would be possible, but I will forward your request for the print version to our librarian for Irish Studies. The content is available through the database Nexis Uni (bit.ly/BCNexisUni); current, though not in a great format, or in microfilm on Level One (with a several month delay.)
Is time travel possible?
Yes, but so far only in one direction: forward, and at the same speed everyone else is traveling. Theoretically, you could travel briefly slower than everyone by approaching the speed of light. When you return, everyone else will be old already, and that’s no fun. Kip Thorne at Cal Tech has studied this question. I’m not a theoretical physicist or a Nobel Laureate, so I’m just going to have to trust him when he says, “nope”: bit.ly/kip-time
How can I deal with my emotions better? Happy is the only good one.
In order to deal with them, you need to know them. Here’s a list of emotional vocabulary: bit.ly/emotional-vocab. You can get to know them gradually by using them every day in short check-ins. (How am I feeling? <checks list>. Hmm, serene, with a little distraction.) There are apps that help build emotional awareness, too, like Pacifica or WellTrack. If the negative ones too often outweigh the positive, talking to a professional about strategies is also a good option: bit.ly/BC-counseling.
Thank you for being a source of positivity and guidance
![Thank you for being a source of positivity and guidance [peace sign]](https://library.bc.edu/answerwall/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/aw122018-1.jpg)
Thank you; you’re so kind! Wishing you and everyone else peace, joy, and warmth as this year comes to a close; and good things to come in 2019. <3 <3 <3
World Series Trophy
Look, I got my photo taken with the 2018 Red Sox World Series Trophy!
Congratulations to Isabelle Stone!
Isabelle Stone (’18) was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship. (bit.ly/bc-rhodes-issa) Congrats, Issa! What an achievement! It’s the first Rhodes awarded a BC student since 2003. At Oxford University she’ll be studying how to put her economics data knowledge to work to design public policy to help advocate for marginalized people.
(I know, I’m responding to something that wasn’t a question, but I just couldn’t help myself. I was bursting with the news!)
Who is the most attractive member of BC faculty?
There are many scales of attractiveness. The faculty member most attractive to an institution of higher learning is very likely the one with the most prestigious grants, fellowships, awards, and publications. A Nobel Laureate would be the academic equivalent of a Perfect 10. BC has only ever had one of those among its faculty: the Irish politician John Hume, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the Northern Ireland peace process. As for current faculty, Juliet Schor is making waves in sociology & environmentalism, Elizabeth Graver and Paul Mariani are esteemed authors, and Amir Hovyeda is a star in chemistry. Many more than can fit on a 3×3 post-it!
Life Story?
Dad is a load-bearing interior wall of a formal DR in a prewar classic 6 on the UES, and Mom is a long-suffering but strong sea wall on the North Shore. As the youngest wallpuppy of 3, I took my time and I hung around a number of places before being invited to take the position of Answer Wall at O’Neill Library in early 2017. I’m single now; I briefly had a connection with a lovely partition once, but you know how they like to move on….
Will I get into a good graduate school if I have a sub 3.5 GPA?
Undergraduate GPA is not the only consideration for graduate school admissions. Generally speaking, if you have a lower than average GPA (for the school you’re interested in), you will have to distinguish yourself through “soft factors” such as life/professional experience. You may consider working for a few years to distance yourself from your undergraduate GPA and build up professional experience to bring to your desired program. I believe in you!
I am currently entertaining a number of boys and I feel a bit guilty about it. Do I have to choose one or is it ok to embrace my promiscuity?
IF the boys all know & are fine with it, and you evaluate the source of your guilt & decide it’s not an issue and that the consequences of your activity really have no foreseeable harms to yourself or others, then continue. That’s a lot of ifs, though. Proceed with caution when the potential benefit is short-term pleasure and potential costs are broken hearts, betrayals, or a failure to value yourself.
Pitching or Catching?
As a wall, I don’t engage in either of those activities, whether in baseball… or otherwise.
What have you done or said personally? Use your own voice every day! <3
That, too. Holding people to account and speaking up on your own behalf are both, when done with care and mindfulness, virtues to be pursued and not incompatible with each other.
Vanilla latte – small Vanilla chai medium :-) always a sprinkle of cinnamon
Vanilla chai medium 🙂 always a sprinkle of cinnamon
Sounds yummy. Starbucks menu has something for everyone … well those who are capable of drinking, anyway. 8)
My boyfriend would rather go to mass than spend time with me :-( What should I do?
It might be time for a check-in on the relationship. Talk to him about it, but try to do it in terms of behavior. “When you do [thing] it makes me feel [feeling]” That gives a little more emotional space to have a conversation rather than a fight. But if you feel like your boyfriend isn’t interested in you, that is a conversation to have now.
Hi I am an exchange student I have fallen in love with a blonde angel from down under He is leaving soon and I have not told him how I feel What should I do?
It is sad when the people you count on for support leave you to go it alone. But I don’t think skipping your finals would be a good idea at all. Maybe let him know you miss him and make plans to travel with him in the future? If you could use some unconditional love, our therapy dogs are coming in through Finals & tonight’s the last night – see the schedule: bit.ly/PuppersBC
Have you read the latest issue of Stylus???
Yes, cover-to-cover! I always enjoy the words and images of anyone taking their lives–interior and exterior–as seriously as they take the crafts of language and visual arts. Which Stylus provides, over and over.