Dear Doolina,
I’m a senior and want to make the most of my last semester, but I worry that I’m putting too much pressure for everything to be perfect. How do I find the balance of making sure it’s a memorable semester while not forcing it to be?
Sincerely,
Second Semester Senior
Dear S^3,
Ah, those wonderful last few months of college. When you’re already nostalgic over the best four years of your life, even though you’ve only had 3.5 of them and not all of them were really that great anyway. When every day seems to be extra sunny, and every night seems to be even more fun than the last. If you’re worried about putting too much pressure on yourself to make sure every moment is perfect, you probably are putting too much pressure on yourself.
Take a step back, take a breath, and think: do you really want to spend your last few months of college worried over maximizing the last drop of fun, or do you want to live a bit more spontaneously and freely and see where that takes you? I recommend that you make a bucket list of everything you want to do before graduation, and try to do as many items on the list as possible. But you should also leave time for those fun aimless nights where you end up somewhere you never would have thought to put on your bucket list in the first place. Sometimes those are the best nights of all.
Delightfully,
Doolina
Dear Doolina,
I have aspirations to be an advice columnist. It’s been my life’s dream since last Tuesday, but I don’t know how to live up to my role models such as yourself, Dear Doolina, and Dear Abby. What advice do you have?
Sincerely,
Wants Your Job
Dear Wants My Job,
Ah, finally a query that truly tests my ethics as an advice columnist! Do I reveal my tips of the trade and help you work your way into the exclusive and lucrative world of advising total strangers, or do I protect my own job in this low-wage economy by sabotaging your chances? I’ll do the former, because that’s what being an advice columnist is all about: helping people fix their problems and offering an ear when no one else will. Plus, I’ve grown weary over the years, and maybe it’s about time someone gave me a run for my money. And I enjoyed your flattery, overt though it was.
My first piece of advice is to consider whether or not a dream you’ve had since last Tuesday is really a dream. It very well might be, in which case you should stick to your guns and never give up. If so, in order to be a successful advice columnist you must be empathetic, understanding and creative. You can’t be afraid to tell people the truth (that’s what you’re there for, after all), but never use that as an excuse to be mean. There’s a difference between being honest and being too honest, and it’s an important one. But really, you just have to have a genuine desire to help people — even if you like to throw in a snarky comment here and there like I do. Hopefully one day I’ll be sending in my problems for you to solve!
Delightfully,
Doolina
Dear Doolina,
My roommate last semester filled my water bottle with bleach. I think she was trying to kill me or at least seriously hurt me. I tried to reach out to get her disciplined, but I ultimately will be living with her this semester. What should I do?
Sincerely,
Poisonous Roommate
Dear Poisonous Roommate,
H2O, more like H-2-uh-oh! That’s one difficult roommate situation you’ve got on your hands. It seems like your roommate is in fact deliberately trying to hurt you. I suggest you make like a slip and slide and get out of there, fast. Even if you can’t get her disciplined, surely you can at least request a room change. And mark the request “urgent,” because her behavior could escalate — though I’m not sure how one could escalate from trying to poison you, I’d wager your roommate has an idea or two.
Delightfully,
Doolina
