It’s that time of year again. No, it’s not time to go apple picking, carve a pumpkin, or even be thankful for our friends and family. In many ways, we’ve skipped past that. Instead, Boston College students went straight to spending our time talking about housing plans for next year. “Guys, our Mod is gonna go crazy, right?” Yay.
When I began my freshman year, I was under the impression that I needed to be best friends with my roommate, who I found through random selection. Odds of that actually happening? Slim to none. So, when it didn’t, my mind jumped to the question of how to find the perfect set of seven friends to fill the empty beds of a coveted eight-man.
Well, that also didn’t happen. Before we could even register, my group fell apart. But, I eventually found people who were in a similar boat as me—they were having trouble forming a group and needed one more. For context, this was in the second week of March. Yes. March. More than four months, 16 weeks, or 112 days since the end of October, when these conversations began. In the end, we got that room in Walsh we had always dreamed of. And over the course of the year, not only did we learn that you don’t have to be best friends with everyone you live with, but we also had a lot of fun. Lots and lots of fun—from roomie movie nights to Quiplash-ing on the double-decker couch we lofted with spare desks.
As sophomore year progressed, talk about study abroad became the latest trend to pair with housing. I knew that if I decided not to go abroad, I would find housing somewhere. And, as late as February, when I ultimately decided I would spend all my semesters on the Heights, I secured an off-campus sublet for junior year.
Now, that brings us to the present day, where I enjoy all the charming perks of off-campus living—from our buzzing freezer that makes ice in 20 minutes to our balcony that is sure to let us know it gets tired of holding us up by, well, tilting. Believe it or not, however, I am quite content. I do appreciate having a home away from campus. But, it’s getting harder and harder to do so when, as I stated earlier, it’s that time of year again.
Why?
Why do we feel the need to create this stress? We put pressure on friendships with strangers, hastily form eight-mans, and jump the gun on signing leases for off-campus housing—not learning time and time again. We make our lives a Sisyphean hell.
A common trend I’ve noticed with almost five semesters under my belt is that we as BC students don’t appreciate living in the moment. We’re always looking for the next big milestone to talk about—whether it be an eight-man, a newly acquired lease, or even something else, like a summer internship—leaving us to forget to look down and see where our feet are planted.
Upon entering BC, I quickly noticed how often the student body complains about the superficial culture. Almost everyone has something to say about their friends acting in some undesirable way or their clubs running poorly without ever actually bothering to fix it. We just move on to the next problem to hyperfixate on. In the process, we skip the important step of putting in any effective effort—a quality I argue helps to make life worthwhile.
I only have three semesters left here. And, being close friends with a lot of seniors, I have noticed how only then do BC students finally stop caring about the distant future and start happily appreciating the present. And, while part of that might just be credited to maturing, I think a huge part can also be credited to the lack of a BC script. There’s no Mod with anyone’s name on it and no e-board position waiting to be filled, just a number of possibilities.
Appreciating the present becomes easier when we stop adding stress to our already stressful lives. And this is something I think all BC students need to see. So please, I implore you, hold the housing talk for an extra few weeks.
