I hear you! Sometimes you’ve got to wonder…

This is part of what being at a university is about. For the most part your major does not equal your career – and you career can change direction through life as well. I recommend chatting with your advisor and with the Career Center (bit.ly/BC-career) as you think this through.

It tends to go up as other prices go up, but when the trustees raise prices they also raise the amount of student aid. Tuition math is complicated.

Better, no. Different, quite. Best thing is to find the environment that fits you best.

That feeling is called despair, and you fight it by naming it, then marshalling sufficient forces to fight it. Depending on how much of your life the feeling controls, you may ultimately need some combination of: friends, family, mentor(s), BC advisor and/or trusted faculty or staff, religious or spiritual faith, BC counseling… . But start small: tell one trusted friend and perhaps one BC peer wellness coach (bit.ly/BC-wellness-coach) that you’re feeling despair. One small step at a time. You’ll get there, and you’ll do great things, I know it.

Hold on to the next second.

Yes. It absolutely works to worry about a second, an hour, a day at a time, whatever amount you can handle on any given day.

Both definitely evoke childhood nostalgia, though your birth year might impact which series feels the most nostalgic for you. The first Boxcar Children mystery came out in the 1920s and new books are still being published, while the Babysitters Club books are a reflection of the 1980s and 90s when they were written. Both are still wildly popular, inspiring TV and graphic novel adaptations, so I’d call it a tie.

It doesn’t? I mean, really, trash talk is fun and all, but we can talk ourselves up without talking others down. Go Eagles!

According to the National Association of College and University Business Officers, at most universities the majority of tuition goes towards faculty and staff pay and benefits, but also towards facilities of all sorts and technology (see: bit.ly/TuitionForWhat). Also, most BC students are not paying the full cost of tuition (bit.ly/BCHowMuch)

Are you talking football, because, well, um…

At the end of the day, I think it comes down to the people. (But sturdy and reliable walls help, too.)

Ratemyprofessor.com used to have the “Chili Pepper” ratings, but it was removed after complaints that it distracted from the core purpose, which is teaching. Here’s a link to the controversy: https://bit.ly/chronicle-chili. Whether you choose a class based on a professor’s attractiveness is up to you. I’m sure there are plenty of attractive professors at Boston College. But mightn’t it be a distraction from learning?

I am so glad to hear that. Wishing you continued peace and joy!

Well, as you might imagine, Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” is close to my heart. I posted a list of some of my library helper’s favorite poems in October, but here’s a new list of of more favorites by all my BC Libraries helpers:

Eve L. Ewing
“Legacies” by Nikki Giovanni
Good Bones by Maggie Smith
when faces called flowers float out of the ground – e. e. cummings
Wild Geese – Mary Oliver
Star of the Nativity by Joseph Brodsky
Anything written by Pablo Neruda
Wendell Berry
Horace, Odes I:5. One of the best breakup poems ever.
Two-Headed Calf by Laura Gilpin
“Good Bones,” by Maggie Smith
Memorial, by Alice Oswald
“Towns in Colour” by Amy Lowell
Lo Fatal – Rubén Darío
Stephen Sturgeon is my fav poet & “Violet Swords” is a good poem by him.
A Julia de Burgos (To Julia de Burgos) by Julia de Burgos
Robert Burns
Mary Oliver
Kate Baer
Arthur Clough
The Summer Day, Mary Oliver
The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri

I’m not sure what you’re asking, so please let me know if I’m not responding to the right thing. My advice is to not try to move on until you’ve let yourself feel the pain and hurt and whatever else you’re feeling. Bad memories often linger because the feelings want attention.

Great idea! I’ll ask my library helpers if someone is willing to do that for me.

The Answer Wall fully supports taking risks, as long as they line up with your goals and values. Remember, if you won’t let yourself be vulnerable to failure, you won’t achieve your dreams. I highly recommend the book Daring Greatly, by Brene Brown (O’Neill Library BF575.A85 B76 2012), if like most of us you shy away from taking center stage.

According to the 2021-22 BC Fact Book, there were 6 undergrads from Arkansas.

Well I have a hard time calling any country the “best.” However, Albania’s several UNESCO world heritage sites, amazing beaches, and its Greek, Italian, AND Albanian food makes it sound like a wonderful country! Unfortunately, my job answering questions and my lack of legs makes it difficult to travel.

No I have not but thank you for letting me know! Who would have thought that someone would have come up with a word to describe “The warmth of the sun in winter” and it still wouldn’t have become common terminology 400 years after its creation in 1623. Hopefully this apricity provides a small comfort as we face this cold Boston winter.

Providence and choice are both important, but how it operates is a complex theological question. You might start with something like this article from the New Catholic Encyclopedia. https://bit.ly/bc-providence

Feeling Good – Nina Simone

This Must Be The Place – Talking Heads

Walking the Cow – Daniel Johnston

Cut Your Bangs – Radiator Hospital

I say a Little Prayer – Aretha Franklin

Over the Hill – Ginger Root

Love You – The Free Design

Land of the Glass Pinecones – Human Sexual Response

It’s Too Soon to Know – The Orioles

Ça Plane Pour Moi – Plastic Bertrand

Another Girl, Another Planet – The Only Ones

Signals – Fury Weekend

Whole Wide World – Wreckless Eric

Hello It’s Me – Todd Rundgren

Reverberation – The 13th Floor Elevators

Talk Talk – The Music Machine

Take Five – Dave Brubeck

Sparklehorse – Happy Man

Shake Appeal – Iggy and the Stooges

Leaving Love All Over the Place – George Jones

You’re Only Human (Second Wind) – Billy Joel

The Night Miss Nancy Ann’s Hotel for Single Girls Burned Down – Tex Williams

Hunger – Florence + The Machine

Coming up Close – ‘Til Tuesday

Athena – The Who

Pretty/Ugly Before – Elliott Smith

W.B. Spanish – Sand Machine

Wisconsin Death Trap – Easychair

The Sound of Silence – Simon & Garfunkel 

Workinonit – J Dilla

Family Tree – Ethel Cain

People Get Ready – Jeff Beck ft. Rod Stewart

Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd

Pur ti miro – Monteverdi

The Ghost of Tom Joad – Bruce Springsteen

Time Waits for No One” – Rolling Stones. 

Summer Night City (ABBA) covered by Tommy ReinXeed

Wichita Lineman – Glen Campbell (by Jimmy Webb)