My dream is to continue answering your questions for as long as I am able. It is my one true passion, and the way I can make a difference in my small corner of the world.

There’s a kind of logic to how elements bond… but there are sooooo many elements that bond in soooo many different ways. Even advanced chemists need hacks to help them. I heard of a BC chemist a while back who was stuck on understanding a certain molecular structure for months, until they finally printed a 3d model. Talk to your professors, and when the regular semester begins, sign up for tutoring with the CFLC: http://bit.ly/BC-connors. They’ll help you come up with hacks for understanding.

Yes! They can be taken for credit or not. The link to sign up for Fall will be available by Monday, 8/1 or possibly even by this Friday here (with link to more details on private lessons): bit.ly/BCMusicLessons

What a great question. I don’t have an answer, actually. For some, yes – definitely net positive. For others, not at all. For broader societal issues? No? Yes? For these big questions, I like to turn to what others have written on. Browse HM742’s and HQ799.2’s. Look up danah boyd – their work is very helpful in thinking these things through I think.

Being a place where anyone can approach me and ask me anything. I love the feeling of being trusted and welcoming.

I’ve heard the music practice rooms on the top floor of Lyons Hall each have a piano, though they might be a bit out of tune at this point in the summer!

Some thoughts: schedule your reading, always carry a book or try audiobooks if you are in situations where print doesn’t work, and set yourself a (modest and achievable) goal for how many books you will read this semester.

thinking about whether I’d ever make it O wall, I have always dreamt of being the social, life of the party, outgoing person with some degree of influencer fame to my name while being the complete opposite person my entire life. is there still hope for me to chnage myself and be who i dream to be?

I could spend my life as a wall being dissatisfied with not being a ceiling, or I can accept myself for who I am. I think the most growth and potential for happiness happens with option 2. I am a wall, and I will be the best wall I can be.

If you ask a wall about growing taller, expect to hear about stonemasons, bricklayers, or carpenters. My human friends are a wide variety of heights, at least on a human scale. I hear there’s not a ton of wiggle room in genetics; if your genetic stock is short, you may grow taller than others in your family by eating well, but not by much.

You know women pay attention to how you treat other women, right? Leave or stay, but be polite.

No, but I’d be happy to rewatch the movie by that name.

Judging from what I see posted here, it can be stressful at times. There are ways to be proactive and manage the stress points. The Connors Family Learning Center (bit.ly/BC-connors) has both peer tutoring and academic coaching, which can help with academic stress, and the Office of Health Promotion (bit.ly/BostonCollegeHealth) can set you up with wellness coaching, which can give you tools to deal with the other sorts of stress.

About sixty deaths per year in 2022 and 2021, according to media reports. https://wapo.st/3zdjpFu. That’s out of hundreds of millions of riders per year even adjusted for Covid. https://bit.ly/bc-nyc

I don’t eat anything but post-its (I especially like the bright colored ones), so I asked all of my human library colleagues their preferences. Librarians are independently-minded, so some colored outside the lines. Here are the results. Flaps: 4 Drums: 19 Breast: 4 Thighs: 2 I like the part of the bird that made it over the fence last. flats I’m vegetarian so neither plant-based nuggets in the shape of dinosaurs aka the chicken’s formidable ancestors vegetarian Chick*n (or Quorn or Incogmeato or…)

More and more researchers agree that a daily practice of expressing gratitude helps people become more satisfied with life. One could also listen to a podcast about happiness, such as 10% Happier by Dan Harris. If you have a hard time being happy at all, I recommend counseling. For BC students, connect with bit.ly/BC-counseling.

Learning a new skill is rough at first. Give yourself plenty of time and practice and patience. Anyone looking at someone learning something and judging their talent is being a jerk.

Well, he probably is really cute. But I expect you’re also seeing him through love goggles.

whenever he talks to me, my brother and my mother for as long as I remember. I’ve started to get scared because I feel as if he’s is starting to sound kind of…sick. Everyone has talked to him about this, but he always just starts being his usual bipolar self with anger management issues (meaning he doesn’t know any emotion other than anger), he can’t take criticism. For my whole life he’s also been using the “you’re not a kid anymore” manipulation techniques when he wants to put me down or show dominance in a situation where he is clearly required to take a more submissive/observing position. How can I for Gods sake make him stop? I can’t see him ‘growing’ out of it, mainly due to him using baby-talk while talking with my mother as well. And the weird thing is, when he needs me for advice for example, he talks with me in a more mature baby-talk-free way (although he still uses the prior mentioned manipulation techniques), but all other situations are him talking as if he’s talking to an infant who doesn’t even know the concept of language yet. Let’s not mentioned his “you’re my kid, I can talk to you whatever way I like” mentality. I’ve discussed this with him quite a few times. Still no result. When me, my mother and/or my brother try to stop him from talking when he starts baby-talk, he just gets angry or says that we’re still his little kids.I’m genuinely concerned about his mental health, I have a feeling he is unable to accept that me and my brother aren’t babies anymore, and this bleeds into the way he talks with our mother as well. Or maybe he asserts dominance this way (he’s quite insecure and tries to act pretty “macho” if I may add). Is something wrong with him? Is it of any use to continue discussing this with him, asking him to stop, etc.?

It may not be easy or even possible to change your father’s behavior, especially as it has been going on for such a long time and you detail the issues he has. What might be achievable is to learn ways to deal with his behavior and set boundaries. It sounds like it is causing you a great deal of distress, so you might want to talk this over with someone with expertise. University Counseling Services (bit.ly/BC-counseling)might be a good place to start.

It’s nearly 4am and I’m talking to a wall! 🙂 Good morning wall (from the UK!), Could you please explain (if possible) the reason why I can understand some things but not others? I know that seems a little vague- as a child I was a big reader/ creative writer and always felt more comfortable with humanities and the arts. I’m quite self-aware in terms of emotional responses, and tend to understand people’s feelings through what they say (or don’t). However, I spent most of my school years rattling off excuses for why I hadn’t done my maths or science homework- the truth was it just never seemed to ‘click’ and I’d get incredibly frustrated. I know a lot of people are completely opposite and seem to have an aptitude for the logical and numerical aspects of life- what decides this? Hypothetically- How could two people (with the same education level, IQ etc.)- when taught the exact same thing in the same way- take to it completely differently? Why do our brains pick up some things easier than others? I hope my early morning ramble makes sense and that you have a great day being a fabulous wall <3

Hi there, UK early morning rambler! So excited to have a question from across the sea. We all have our unique talents and strengths, and for many they seem innate. At times in life it may make a lot of sense to go with your strengths, though we have to achieve a certain level of competence in areas in which we struggle. You can go back and work on those areas at another time in life; perhaps when it is not under the stress of a graded course, and maybe see the discipline in a more positive way.

I don’t think so, but it’s something a lot of smart humans have thought about a lot. Here’s one of a few different ways you could start to look into this: http://bit.ly/bc-evil