Alfred and Charles are retired professors of life. They have done it all and seen it all. Though they may be decrepit in age, they are all too eager to give advice, be it for better or worse, to you. They may not agree on everything, but they do always have something to say. If you have an inquiry for our distinguished wise men, please send an email to opinion@ufvcascade.ca or drop by The Cascade office when it is open to leave a handwritten note for them.
Dear Alfred and Charles,
How can I find a balance between school, work, and a social life? I want to be able to pass my classes and I want to be able to pay for those classes, but I seem to be left with no time for friends and romance.
Sincerely,
Socially anxious anon
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Dear Socially anxious anon,
I just want to say thank you for taking the time to send this inquiry in. Next time, use the time spent sending this in to just go socialize. Find the moments in between a crowded schedule to see friends. If you spend less time asking how to find the time, you will discover you have time already.
~ Alfred
Or you could not. Student life doesn’t have to be complicated and time management is for suckers. Don’t work. Take out all the loans you can. Now you can buy friends and focus on school. Just be sure to will your assets to someone you really don’t like. That way when you die your loans get inherited to them.
~ Charles
Charles please don’t encourage wasting student loans. The kids need those to pay for school! They’ll find the time if they try. A little time management and focused care will help them. Please use your student loans for their intended purpose and ignore Charles.
~ Alfred
Please stay in school,
Alfred and Charles
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Dear Alfred and Charles,
This year I’d like to stick to my new year’s resolutions. I find I struggle the most with staying motivated and that I get tired of trying far too quickly. I want to really follow my resolutions this year.
Sincerely,
New Year’s Blues
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Dear New Year’s Blues,
It’s easy… Don’t make a resolution and then there won’t be a feeling of failure caused by an unfulfilled expectation. If you want to get fit, stop waiting for day one of the year to do it and just do it. You think disease will wait for Jan. 1 to hit? No, it comes around all year long! Get off your tenders and go for a run.
~ Charles
Charles is actually making a good point here, but don’t let that deter you from making resolutions if it feels achievable and you find it helpful. Maybe use your resolutions to further your current goals rather than make unrealistic resolutions of never eating sugar again. Be kind to yourself this year!
~ Alfred
Kind shmind! Look here, it doesn’t matter at the end of the day you gotta pick your “hard.” Eating junk food and being unhealthy is hard, working out is hard, living unorganized is hard, time management is hard, failing school is hard, and studying is hard. Just pick your hard and stop making an event out of it.
~ Charles
That might be a little drastic, let’s focus on the sort of “hards” that have negative impacts so that we can turn them into positive impacts! It might help to also pick one thing at a time and focus on improving that aspect. Trying to do it all at once and immediately can be very overwhelming. Charles is right about one thing, it doesn’t have to be a whole event! Sometimes that just adds on more pressure making it harder. Let go of that extra stress and just keep on the small improvements you can make!
~ Alfred
Happy new year,
Alfred and Charles
