Listening To:

In Blue – The Corrs
03 – Say

There’s nothing like the inevitability of autumn to depress a student. I mean, it’s not just that the chilliness of the weather reminds us of the reception we get from the professor when we smile awkwardly and admit that we are completely clueless on the topic of discussion because we had blithely forgotten everything over the summer.

As my roommate jokingly mentioned, there’s something about the crisp wind that makes her turn into a bear preparing for hibernation. (She said this as she walked into the apartment with arms full of groceries, preparing for a nice week of feasting.) I, too, have found myself feasting. On dessert. Now, this may not sound terribly depressing, but when you’re on your last 5 pounds of your summer slim-down goal, you might not find the sudden discovery of a cute little patisserie down the street so welcome either.

No matter. The more troubling matter is the longer nights and shorter days. You see, since I live in a ground-floor apartment in Manhattan, where my friendly frat-boy neighbors are a mere handshake away from my window, I already receive preciously little sunlight in my room, even on the longer summer days. Couple that with small, windowless classrooms and even smaller (and similarly windowless) PhD cubicles, and you’ve got a perfect recipe for seasonal affective disorder.

I wonder if I could send this in as a proposal for the PhD office to fund a nice little sun-room for us. Alas, I fear that Columbia isn’t as sensitive to the needs of its depressed and suicidal students as my beloved alma mater. *sigh* Until some parent sues the pants off of this institute, I guess I’ll just have to make do with the desserts.