Dear Ana,
Everyone on campus seems to be getting sick this semester. What can I do to keep healthy during this particularly hairy flu season?
Billy Corgan
Dear Billy,
I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE, BILLY, BECAUSE EVERYONE GETS SMASHING PUMPKIN REFERENCES.
Also, everyone and everything on campus right now is a gross festering mass of sickliness covered in bacteria, mucous and basically everything that you shouldn’t touch. But then again germs are everywhere around us all the time, and just because there seems to be a lot of people sick at the same time right now doesn’t mean you shouldn’t always be taking preventative measures.
Good old simple hand washing and using hand sanitizers help prevent the spread of nastiness, and you should also take steps to improve your immune system. Vitamins, especially Vitamin C, are helpful with prevention so maybe instead of a breakfast coffee you could get some orange juice instead.
Dear Ana,
Is it okay to have slept with three of your four roommates?
The Prolific Roommate
Dear Prolific Roommate,
It depends on what you mean by “okay.” It is okay to choose to sleep with multiple roommates for the general reason that it’s your body and your choice as a man or woman to do so. But it may not be okay in the sense that this could cause some awkward situations within your living space.
My policy is to not sleep with someone that you are currently in a contract with, and as you are likely bound to a lease or some sort of housing agreement, I would say that you may have placed yourself in some tricky territory if someone gets jealous or if you end up fighting with one or more of your roommates as a result of this.
But if you can continue to live harmoniously with these roommates, then that’s great. Just be careful because the worse place to have strife is in your home because you’ll have no place to go, well, home to in order to get away from it.
Dear Ana,
I just started student teaching and being in the classroom like that made me realize that I don’t want to be a teacher. I hate it because I get so nervous to talk when I am in front of all of these students who don’t seem to care about anything I’m saying. This is my last semester. What should I do?
Graduating No Matter What
Dear Graduating,
As an education major, you had to have previously sat in on a class before you could student teach. You were placed in a classroom environment before yet still decided to pursue teaching. I understand that this is different from actually teaching, but I’m not bringing this up in a rude manner.
What I mean is that you likely enjoyed in-class experience and you probably still do. It is scary and difficult no matter how prepared your classes get you to teach a real life lesson plan to actual students. Your nervousness and acute awareness of your students is likely from a fear you didn’t know you had. You have only just begun your student teaching for the semester, so don’t let the first week or so determine your future – especially if you plan on graduating “no matter what” this semester.
You can always decide to pursue something else with your degree in a similar field, or perhaps try something totally different. But if you have spent the past few years enjoying the classes and experiences you’ve had, then it is likely just nervous jitters making you feel like you’d be more comfortable – and as a result more happy – to just leave teaching.
