Ask Eric: Thankfulness and sneakers

Hello all,

It has been a little while now. Fall break was rather relaxing for me, and I hope it was for all of you too. Now, here we are back on campus and ready for the second half of the semester. In school-related news, Dr. Heilman has passed recently. This event is a sad day for our school. As a student, it is a sad time to see that a man who has had such an effect on our school has left this earth. 

Personally, as a science major, I am particularly grateful for the Gottwald Center. It has allowed me to further my understanding of science in ways that I did not even know existed. Perhaps the best way to move forward is to reflect on what we are grateful for in our lives and think about how we all can make our impact on a school that, despite its flaws, we all spend so much time at -- making friends, crying, laughing. I send my deepest condolences to those personally affected by Dr. Heilman’s death and offer my gratitude for all he has done. With that, let’s get to the questions.

What is the most popular sneaker on campus?

I will admit that I do not spend a considerable amount of time looking at the feet of people as I pass by them on campus, so this could be a reasonably far-off observation. That being said, it is made equally challenging to guess the most popular sneakers because people on campus wear so many different types of shoes that I would not consider sneakers. The choice in footwear is honestly impeccable. I would say, however, that the most popular sneaker on this campus is Nike. It seems like every other shoe I see is Nike. I personally do not like Nike because I think its shoes are a little thin and crush my feet. They do look good, however, so good on you Nike wearers. You have many like-minded fashionistas.

If your fantasy football team is 0-5, you lost to a team who didn’t start a full roster, and your backup defense is injured. What are you doing?

I know next to nothing about fantasy football. Although, with that track record, I would suggest that you throw this whole team away. For a real football team, you can practice longer or watch more tapes, but for fantasy football, you are at the mercy of the performance of individual players. I do not see you recovering this season with that track record. If you have any sort of wager on this fantasy season, I would also suggest you start to plan how you are going to pay that back now, because you will need to soon. Hope this helps, sorry for your luck this season.

How do you start to give yourself personal time during a busy semester?

I imagine this is a problem that many people deal with on this campus and in college in general. So, here we go kids. As someone who has been in college for almost all four years now, here are my tips and tricks for making time for yourself. 

One, organization is critical. Making a calendar where you keep all of your commitments can make it easier to see where you have a little extra time to focus on yourself. Two, you have to make yourself a priority. It is easy for all of us to think, “Oh, I NEED to finish all of this homework now,” or “I NEED to meet with my professor this week,” but very few of us think about ourselves as something that needs to be actively taken care of. That is why it is essential to make your happiness and health a priority. Cancel a plan or two if you are overwhelmed, take an hour to do nothing -- it works wonders. Finally, do things you enjoy. This seems obvious, but it needs to be stated. If you do only things that you enjoy, it will not feel like you are so busy all the time. Do you really need to be in so many clubs? Do you really want to go out this weekend? If you feel like these things won’t make you happy, don’t do them. I know we all have responsibilities, but there is a difference between a real obligation and one that you force on yourself. That is just what I do to feel a little more in control. Hopefully, it helps.

Well, that is all for me this week friends. I am off to put the monstrosity of a first draft in front of my editors and make their week just a little worse. As always, if you have a serious problem, please contact CAPS. Also, keep sending me questions. I love to hear about what interests people. Until next week, take care.

Sincerely,

Eric Bossert