CASS DA RE
<Features Editor>
It’s that time of year again. The Red Velvet Ropes have come up, the library hours extended, the short window of time when wearing work-out wear to school is acceptable (tolerated?) has opened, and the pitter patter of 1Ls’ collective hearts beat in nervous anticipation. Endless days and nights spend summarizing, studying, and sleeping (just kidding), are behind and before us. It is not a happy time. And yet, with the swift sounding of the final buzzer, it will all soon be over.
How to stay sane through all of the insanity? I’ll level with you Ozzies, I don’t know myself. Of course I have an entire roster of sound and reliable advice. For example, one ought to sleep a requisite number of hours, eat well, do fun and varied exercise, make yourself a priority, dance, laugh, sing, spend time with loved ones and friends, give back, set small goals, indulge, organize your surroundings, and the list goes on. However, these bite-sized pieces of happiness-inducing instruction are of little use. Even I know it all goes out the proverbial window.
I accept that happiness is not anyone’s priority when faced with a 25-page take home; a closed book exam; twenty different statutes with thousands of provisions; an 8000-word essay; and/or the most convoluted fact patterns that make you think that your professor must, in fact, derive pleasure from your misery. I surrender Exams, you win; my happiness will take a back seat to your incessant needs and demands that keep me up at night and/or induce really disturbing nightmares about ExamSoft.
Don’t worry kids, it’s not all doom and gloom, because, like anything else in life, this too will pass. Exam time, for better or worse, is fleeting. While I can’t realistically tell you how to successfully, never mind joyfully, get through this difficult time, I can suggest an alternative piece of counsel.
Set your sights above and beyond this. Give yourself something to look forward to when it’s all said and done; when the last buzzer rings, when the last word is written, the last page printed, and the final book closed; thou shalt be rewarded. I don’t mean in regards to grades, the curve, or anything academic. I am not referring to delayed gratification, as in these grades will go on your transcript that will be looked at by some unidentified employer who will applaud you for your hard earned A in some course that he/she also took with the same professor. This, my friends, is all about immediate gratification.
Relish in the anticipation of something really wonderful. It may be a vacation, a shopping spree, a fabulous dinner, or time spent with neglected friends. Whatever this “reward” is, it will most likely include some good old-fashioned debauchery, which often includes a few libations. On that note, may I suggest Osgoode’s unofficial Post-Exam Bash: The Feelgoodery 2013 Prohibition Edition, held at the Steamwhistle Brewery on April 25th (doors open at 9 pm).
Reasons why your happiness will be significantly improved by attending this year’s Feelgoodery Event:
- All of your friends will be there
- It’s an open bar
- The theme (prohibition/speakeasy) is awesome
- Who doesn’t love a good Gatsby reference and/or a flapper outfit?
- All proceeds are going to the SPARK Initiative’s School for Skills!
- The event and its cause are both organized by fellow Osgoode students
- The Feelgoodery is a not-for-profit organization, therefore you are not feeding the big corporate machine
- Poutini’s will be serving poutine
- Also, it’s open bar
Get excited, get happy, and get your tickets before they’re sold out.