Compassion/convenience
I volunteer at a breakfast program and it’s important AF. It’s generally a good thing to push yourself to go meet others who are otherwise invisible to you on a daily basis. It’s frustrating to have people be into breakfast until they realize it is at 7:30 a.m. It’s this reluctance to inconvenience ourselves that drives me crazy. Imagine how inconvenient it is to rely on a breakfast program to be able to eat before going to work. Maybe, someday, we can see beyond our schedules and see the human value in sitting down and connecting with people over breakfast. Maybe try sometime, it might work for you.
Dani Gagnon ’16
Technology is hard
I like to consider myself a well-educated 20-year-old. I am generally hip, and I keep up with what the kids are into (e.g. Beyoncé and tacos). However, despite my status as a millennial, I will never ever ever be the techwizard that my parents think I am. This rant is directed at every middle aged adult that has asked me to assemble a printer or to set up their cellphone or, God forbid, attempt to explain the Cloud. The fact that I’m still using an iPod Classic from 2007 should provide testament that I am completely inept at performing any of those tasks. The first time I used a smart TV I managed to hit enough wrong buttons that I accidentally set it to only play sports channels and I was forced to watch minor league hockey for two hours (because what else was I supposed to do, read?). Parents, I love you, but please stop asking me how to copy and paste.
Katie Cameron ’17
President Bolton
This weekend, I attended the fireside chat with President-elect Bolton where students were invited to share their views on how things are going at the College. Because I have been fairly active around campus since I arrived here freshman year, I have attended tons of these events — where students sound off about their issues while an administrator sits in the hot seat and listens, nodding patiently and spouting platitudes. This isn’t to say I thought President Bolton behaved that way; I actually thought she seemed pretty sincere. But what struck me is the fact that students are still talking about the same problems I heard at my first fireside chats freshman and sophomore year. Administrators have failed, time and again, to listen to our complaints about alcohol policy, housing, lack of transparency, poor communication, campus climate and fairness for campus employees. We are still fighting the same battles we were when I arrived on campus. I don’t know if I blame that on administrators for failing to really hear us, or on students for failing to fight hard enough for what we believe in, but I know it’s disappointing to see, as a senior about to leave this place in the next few months.
Maddi O’Neill ’16
Hillary Clinton
This week Madeleine Albright strongly implied that there is a special circle of hell for women who don’t support Hillary Clinton in the upcoming election.
Quite apart from the irony of a supposed feminist instructing women as to what they ought to do with their vote, no one, be they man, woman, animal, vegetable or mineral should vote for someone based solely on their demographic information. We are electing the leader of our country, and the only relevant piece of information when casting your vote should be whether you think the candidate you are voting for is the best person for the job.
If that’s Clinton, go for it. If that’s Sanders, be my guest. If that’s Trump, I’m concerned for you, but I guess that’s your right. But when you make your decision, please just think about who you believe would be best for the job, and ignore the Albrights of the world shouting in your ear. This decision is too important to be made on the basis of anything but merit.
Mariah Joyce ’17
Changing seats in class
If you’re like me, you respect others. Unfortunately, not everyone is like me. Some people think that they can start sitting wherever they please even though we’re four weeks into the goddamn semester. You’ve got to respect the seating setup. The only time you should ever move your seat in class is if the professor asks you to get into groups all the time (what up Tom Prendergast) or if a chair is mysteriously missing from the room. Otherwise, SIT WHERE YOU’VE BEEN SITTING. YOU’VE HAD THREE WEEKS TO FIGURE IT OUT. GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER.
Michael Hatchett ’16
It’s beginning to look a lot like…
Snow: some people hate it, some people love it. Snow, unlike rain (and like, say, glitter), is silent, yet unabashedly eye-catching. Snow obscures your view with white, rapidly disappearing flakes. They constantly come into and go out of your perception. In this way, they constantly ground your sight – when it is snowing, you notice, because it insistently reminds you of its presence.
I love this aspect of winter, despite the cold. When it is snowing, be sure to look up, in front of your face, and notice this natural phenomenon as it is.
Mel Griffith ’16