I’m a college freshman, and frankly I’ve been having a really hard time adjusting to life here at school. I don’t know any of the girls on my floor, and haven’t made any other friends. I want to get involved with extracurriculars, but I’m not sure which and it’s all pretty overwhelming. I know this is mostly my fault, but is there anything easy I can do to fix it?

-Laura, Wigglesworth 207

While doing some background research on this question, I found a quotation that I think is pertinent: “Temporality temporalizes as a future which makes present in the process of having been.” Heidegger said that, if you know who that is. Author of Being and Time… well he was a fairly important philosopher, you should really consider reading something by him. And anyway, I think the bigger question is: what is the ontology of such a thorny and existential dilemma, anyway?

So I met this girl. Kind, funny, definitely pretty. We started dating, and for a few weeks it was going quite well. She brought up being exclusive, and I was totally into it. But lately… it’s almost as if I can’t even get her attention. She’s just a total flake and I don’t get it. Is something wrong? Am I just crazy and overbearing? How can I win her back?

-Paul, Cabot B12

I think you’ve stumbled into a much deeper problem here, Dave. It is Dave, right? While I definitely don’t want to disagree with what you said, I do think that everything you said is wrong. Though I admittedly have not caught up on all the reading for this week hahaha, I believe the films of Kurosawa have a great deal to say on this matter. In short, I guess I’m trying to say that I really think it is quite subjective.

Every time I’m in section I just feel like I can’t even get a word in. There’s all these kids who think they’re just having a private discussion with the TF and it’s like the rest of us are not even there. How can I address this without being rude? I just want to be able to state my opinion.

-Laura, Quincy 406

I don’t mean to be rude, but frankly, Laura, I think that’s a rather pedestrian point and our limited time in section would be better spent discussing more intellectual concerns.