
Focus on the act more than the self: are you doing something helpful or harmful? Do helpful acts & avoid harmful acts, keep reminding yourself of this, and the rest will follow.
Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library
Focus on the act more than the self: are you doing something helpful or harmful? Do helpful acts & avoid harmful acts, keep reminding yourself of this, and the rest will follow.
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting more and more students from China over the years; I’ve also heard from many other students coming from other countries, and American students returning home from study abroad. All of this mixing brings new perspectives to home countries and extraordinary possibilities for change.
Although I wish it weren’t the case, racism does persist at Boston College. For an article detailing one Black alumni group’s reflections on race at Boston College, see “The Tenth” https://bit.ly/3ScJnPC. Like The Tenth, many student groups and staff members at Boston College continue to make strides in anti-racist activism today. The student group FACES is a student-run anti-racist organization, and their instagram is @faces.council. Remember that institutional support is available through the Office of Institutional Diversity (https://bit.ly/3TzU6EP). Everyone has a right to feel a sense of belonging here.
I agree with the commenter, that you should be cautious. With such a large age difference, you are subject to a lot of power dynamics that aren’t awesome and may not be as readily apparent to you as to him. Please tread carefully.
Patrick Henry’s principals and aspirations were noteworthy; I wish you good fortune and persistence. (Patrick Henry enslaved people throughout his life, so his commitment to liberty extended only so far. May your commitment to liberty be more capacious than his!)
Sometimes the judgement can feel overwhelming, but please know that there ARE plenty of people here–both queer and otherwise–who will embrace you with open hearts and arms. Building queer community despite hostility from others has always been central to queer resistance. I encourage you to look into the LGBTQ support services offered by Boston College, and consider joining a queer student group! Queer people have as much of a right to be here as anyone else. Keep on being unapologetically yourself–the world is better for it!
Much love,
The Wall (they/them/theirs)
I recommend making an appointment with the Career Center (bit.ly/BC-career). They have guided thousands of BC students with the same question. Also… for most career paths, you don’t have to make a final decision about it right now; changing careers is common.
The US State Department keeps a list of languages by how difficult they tend to be for English speakers to learn: https://bit.ly/bc-language. The best way to learn is more about what’s best for you, and what your goals are. You could take classes at BC. Some people react well to private tutoring. You could try apps like Duolingo or Babbel. The real key is persistence. 15 minutes a day is way better than the same total time once a week.
I think it is a solid plan to dream your dreams all the time, but I think that’s not what you’re asking. Sleep is so important! If you’re tired all the time it’s hard to do anything well. You might try checking out a few of BC’s suggestions about how to sleep better: https://bit.ly/3g6fdQX
I really want to say it’s this one: https://nyti.ms/3rMIbb6. But actually my helpers do a thing with Post-Its stuck to a Word template. The font is Courier, which is absolutely a standard typewriter font.