Back to the Old Grind!

By Genevieve Buthod

Back to the Old Grind!

Here’s to another semester of greatness! Hope everyone had a chance to let their brains take a breather over winter break. The ability to relax is one of the things that mark the difference between being successful and clear-headed and being tense, frantic, and useless. I feel I have come to school as a blank slate, ready to absorb new information as it heads my way. If I didn’t have a chance to see my family and loved ones for a few weeks, I think I would probably already be buckling under the stress of this semester.

It made me so happy to get a chance to go down to Oklahoma to see my entire family all at once. I may have a hundred cousins, but I truly do miss each and every one of them. My grandfather, in response to an editorial I wrote for the Xavierite, told me he thinks I write intelligently. This meant the world to me, because I take writing seriously, and because my family patriarch is one of the wisest men I know. One of my cousins joked, “Yeah, you’re lucky, he just calls me dumb all the time…”

Equally refreshing to my soul was the time I spent with my second family, my best friends. I went to an awesome Bluth family reunion New Year’s Eve party (for those of you who are Arrested Development fans) and dressed up as Lucille, the horrible mother/grandmother. I also went to a wonderful elementary school reunion party, which was very bizarre and enlightening at the same time (as reunion parties often are, I assume).

I’m trying to find a way to take all of this joy with me back into my little dorm room. Pictures are nice reminders, but I think it’s more important to try to retain the peace of mind I gained by just being purely happy for 3-4 weeks in a row. There’s no way that can do anything but perk up my GPA, right? Remaining centered is really the only way to be a more effective student/worker whatever you are in life.

Genevieve Buthod is a sophomore, and a double major in computer science and philosophy. She is a women’s studies minor, and thinking about a music minor as well. Genevieve is an officer in the Alliance (the GSA) and is a happy, healthy vegan. She is also involved with the Students for Justice in Palestine.