We’re three weeks into the new semester and, as I’m sure it’s safe to say, Boston College students are “back in the swing of things.” Between adapting to new classes, getting comfortable with the workload, figuring out which professors are “good” and which unfortunately aren’t, and restarting or joining clubs, jobs, and volunteer positions, the first few weeks of the new semester have, essentially, been spent adjusting to a new schedule. Students have been forced to break their eating, workout, study, and sleeping habits from last semester in order to accommodate new course times and extracurriculars.
It’s not just your schedule that has changed, but also the schedule of every single student here, leading to this semester’s new “regulars.”
You know these people well. These are the people you seem to see on a regular basis, the people whose schedules happen to align with yours, the people who, upon noticing them, you say, “Oh, I always see him/her at (insert location here)!”
Maybe it’s the boy you see at Lower every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday getting breakfast before a 9 a.m. class, who was in a class with you first semester freshman year. Maybe it’s the girl with the blue backpack who happens to pass you in the Quad every Tuesday and Thursday as you race to your 3 p.m. class in Gasson.
While you may still need some time to figure out who this semester’s “regulars” are and to get used to seeing them on a routine basis, you’ve probably already started to notice them.
The most common place to see these regulars is your breakfast and lunch locations of choice. With such fixed course schedules and little time between classes, students tend to dine at either the Rat, Eagle’s Nest, Mac, or Lower at the same times between classes, maybe even with the same people.
Another common place to see the “regulars” is the Plex or running around the Res. People tend to work out at the same time and, furthermore, they tend to do the same workouts. Same with the library. The people you always see camping out in Bapst or the fifth-floor of O’Neill are creatures of habit, just like you are.
One of the best parts of getting to know this semester’s new “regulars” is when you start to see someone who reminds you of a happy time in your past at BC. For me, it’s the girls I’ve started to see from my Studies in Narrative class last year, reminding me of my favorite course at BC, so far. Maybe you now see someone from your 48 Hours group in Mac every Wednesday, or you’ve noticed someone that lived on your floor sophomore year as you head back to your new dorm on Monday nights.
These are the best types of “regulars,” the ones that remind you of some past happiness at BC-because in the midst of having to adjust to a new schedule, it’s nice to be reminded of times past.
Having a new group of “regulars” can also allow you to spend more time with people you weren’t able to see as much last semester. Your schedule probably allows you to eat lunch with friends who had class during your lunchtime in the past. Take advantage of these changes, and reunite with people you haven’t spent as much time with as you would have liked, spend more time with your good friends, and get to know people you’d like to be better friends with.
“Regulars” add a sense of habit to what can be an otherwise crazy, jam-packed schedule. These “regulars” are going to be a part of your life for the next three months, whether you’re aware of them or not. And it’s kind of nice to bear in mind that you are someone else’s “regular,” too.
