Dear Ephelia, I had to make the hard decision of breaking up with my significant other last week. We’re staying friends and the break-up went well, but I’m terrified of the day they’ll inevitably start dating someone else here at Williams while I’m still sad and single. How do I get over this fear and find happiness?
It’s completely normal to feel afraid, anxious, and sad after a breakup, but time heals all — and thankfully, you can do several things to expedite the process. For one, allow yourself to grieve what you lost. The only way out is through, and, in order to process everything, you need to feel things. That being said, it is especially important to care for your physical and emotional well-being as you navigate these less-than-pleasant emotions. Make sure you are getting sleep, exercising, connecting with friends and family, staying open to new relationships, and doing things that make you feel good. Nothing motivates you to focus on your personal goals and interests quite like a breakup. Healing isn’t a linear process, so give yourself grace (and probably also space). One day, this will all be behind you.
I keep sleeping through my alarm in the morning and missing my 9 a.m. class. How can I make sure my tution isn’t going to waste and become a morning person?
There are plenty of reasonable and effective strategies to help you wake up on time. You could start consistently going to sleep earlier, use multiple alarms and stop pressing snooze, avoid screens before bed, or establish nighttime and morning routines. But, let’s face it — you’re not going to do any of these. I’d invest in the shock alarm bracelet, set an aggressive alarm sound (mine is a Soundcloud mix that starts with Kevin James’s 2007 Daytona “Start your engines” call), and do the math for how much a single class costs. Nothing motivates me to get out of bed and go to class like the thought of a wasted $200!
How should I punctuate my texts to show someone I am interested?
The greatest signal of interest, in my humble opinion, is the space-exclamation mark. It’s not as in-your-face as the traditional exclamation mark — “Can’t wait to see you!”— but it still gets the enthusiasm across — “Can’t wait to see you !” See? Excited and engaged, but calm and soft. A well-chosen emoji has a similar effect, but unfortunately, I don’t have enough space in the paper to explain the subtle art of the emoji to you.
What’s the Phi Beta Kappa GPA cutoff?
Respectfully, go outside and touch grass. Redirect the energy you’ve put into finding GPA cutoffs — seriously, it takes work to find this Google Form — into feeling secure in yourself without external validation. You are so much more than your grades.
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