![Is [name redacted] elite?](https://library.bc.edu/answerwall/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/aw100418-2-redacted-300x300.jpg)
Isn’t everyone at BC elite?

Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library

Physical and mental health issues can have a negative effect on your ability to concentrate. But there are other reasons as well. You may be tired, stressed, bored, inundated. (All very typical for busy students.) Things that can help: Step away for a little bit. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep and good food and just generally take care of yourself. If it’s something big you need to focus on, try breaking it down into smaller bits; a feeling of accomplishment as you go through different steps can truly help. Try eliminating some of the distractions; e.g., turn off your cell! These things can help reduce stress too … not to mention a visit with Joe the therapy dog on Friday. If you think this is a serious problem, please contact Counseling Services at bit.ly/BC-counseling.

According to Facilities Management, the project “was a pedestrian access project more than a landscape improvement project.” The landscape improvements were incidental to the project of creating a connecting sidewalk to Voute so that students were out of the street. IOW, the “second half” was never part of the project.

You students are so busy; honestly, I don’t know how you handle everything, though you all seem to do a good job at it. I am sorry you will be missing out on Fall Break because of your theatre lab. I hope you find that experience enjoyable and I hope you find at least some time to get off campus and do something fun, be it a walk around the reservoir, or a visit to a museum, or shopping and eating–whatever is good for you. And of course, I will be here if you need to vent or talk!

Tuition is high, for sure. But let’s think this through. Practically, tuition pays for lots of things, including resources BC makes available for students to share. If enough students did this, BC would have to raise tuition to cover replacement costs, or stop offering those kinds of resources. Legally, grand larceny is a felony in Massachusetts and is defined as stealing something worth more than $250. bit.ly/bc-larceny. Morally, if you’re looking for a justification for doing something, you already kinda know it’s wrong, don’t you?

It sounds to me like a matter of preference & taste. Though Overwatch has won more awards, League has more players & draws a bigger audience for competitions. Do you prefer a multiplayer battle arena game, or a multiplayer FPS? Do you like medieval/fantasy style or futuristic, post-apocalypse style? A gamer has told me it’s easy to understand game play as a newbie in Overwatch, though challenging, skill-wise; conversely, they said of League, “I was basically just pressing buttons fast & winning, and I didn’t know what was going on.” As to why Overwatch has won so many awards, it sounds like the development team was small, nimble, and had an unusual degree of creative freedom.

An open mic night sponsored by SLAM! and The Laughing Medusa will be at the McMullen Museum on October 11 6:30-8:30pm. BC Music Guild hosts open mics every other Thursday at the Chocolate Bar, and Jammin’ toast every other Saturday. More music guild info: bit.ly/bc-mguild. If you’re looking for off-campus events, try openmicboston.com/

According to the BC Factbook 2017-2018, the total square footage of all Boston College properties (including in Dublin, Ireland) is 7,263,288 square feet (bit.ly/BC1718Factbook)

You could take the lightest possible course load and keep changing majors so that you never quite satisfy the requirements of graduation & yet remain in good standing… but that could get really, really expensive. I recommend instead that you focus on enjoying the present moment. Right now, that’s your social and intellectual world at BC. Later, it will be other things, and if you focus on the present moment then, you’ll enjoy those things, too. And you’ll be able to come back to BC as an alum and enjoy a present moment of reminiscing with old friends, and maybe even meet new ones.

It is upsetting but true that the smell of old books is the smell of their decomposition. Which, in the case of paper, is a bit like vanilla: bit.ly/bc-old-books

“Now” just keeps moving, so answering “What time is it now?” is a challenge for me. Now that I’m finally providing an answer, “Now” has already turned to “then.” I think the response of your Korean friend (“Hi, how are you? Goodbye.”) sums up the concept nicely: What time is it now? Time to say hi, time to say goodbye. “Now” behaves that way all the time: “Hi! Bye!” Now and then I just want Now to slow down and sit in those comfy chairs right over there and pass the time with me.

According to Dining Services, the move to upstairs is unlikely to be reconsidered. It has helped solve other pressing problems at Lower, including ability to hire and retain student staff at awkward hours, provide a cleaner, more efficient environment for preparing and serving food for Late Night, and open up Corcoran Commons for extended dinner hours, which has regularly been accommodating 400 students. More offerings, including mac-n-cheese, specialty coffee drinks, frips and dips, meatball obsession, hot subs, and ice cream are being added to the Late Night menu.


Thank you for the kind words. Knowing that others are concerned about the same or similar issues in their lives takes us out of ourselves and gives us a different perspective. The thought that someone else has worked through the same problem always helps–see, it is possible to survive and thrive! And it is good to know you are not alone; that friends and organizations on campus are available to assist. I don’t know what I would do without the support of my fellow walls … I hope you have a wonderful senior year and, if you can’t come back and visit me in person, you know you can keep up with The Answer Wall online at library.bc.edu/answerwall <3 <3 <3