The Best Times of Our Lives?

by Kaelynd Brouillette ’29 on February 5, 2026

Opinion - Campus

“College will be the best time of your life!” was a phrase I heard all too often prior to moving into Providence College. Hearing so many stories from my friends who were already in college, my parents, and others engraved the expectation that college would, in fact, be the best time of my life. There was a sense of glorification, like I would have the most fun every moment of every day, which put the pressure on for this sense to come to fruition. College can be fun, exciting, and meaningful, but is it always that way? Absolutely not. The expectation to always be having fun quietly brews pressure under the surface, and when you’re not constantly happy or social, it feels like you’re doing college wrong. PC is not a big campus, meaning that this problem is more visible in our community than others, and comparison becomes unavoidable.

You see the same people everywhere you go, like at Ray Dining Hall, the Phillips Memorial Library, or out on the weekends. That is just the nature of PC. You always know when something is happening, where it is happening, and who is going to be there, making comparison to others ever so present. The small, tight-knit environment of PC turns this idea of “fun” into a measurement, with a feeling of guilt that comes from deciding to stay in and get work done, not having an established group of friends, or feeling like everyone but you has it together. The pressure of the idea that you should always be happy and having fun isn’t always explicit, but it is constant, and you run into it everywhere you go.

No one talks about how mandatory “fun” starts to feel either, like it is some sort of assignment you must complete in order to get an A in social success, metaphorically speaking. There is an overarching assumption that staying in is a waste of a valuable weekend evening, making some parts of college social life feel almost performative. Going out even when you are exhausted or uninterested becomes a habit, with the idea behind it being to do things to say you did them, rather than enjoying your time. All this to say, are you really having the “best time of your life,” or has the going-out and fear-of-missing-out culture victimized you into thinking that fun and joy are something you need to prove, rather than feel?

What often gets lost in the pressure to enjoy every single moment, is how much of college exists in the in-between. Most days are not packed with parties or major milestones, but with quiet routines: walking to class alone, sitting in the library longer than planned, or going to bed at a time that seems like it is earlier than everyone else. These moments don’t match the version of college we think we should be having, leading to that overwhelming resentment that we’re not living up to the pressure that has been artificially set on us by expectations. Nonetheless, these moments are not signs of failure, per se. There are parts of college that don’t appear on everyone’s social media, such as the feeds that are perfectly tailored to give the perception of a perfect life; yet, they make up the majority of the experience. Learning to sit with these moments and appreciate them, rather than resenting them, is arguably where growth actually happens. Maybe, the pressure to have the best time of your life can ruin the time you are actually in.

Where is the Money Going?: Student Congress Club Allocations

by Rachel Barter ’27 on January 29, 2026

Opinion - Campus

Each year, Providence College’s Student Congress holds two allocation meetings that significantly impact club funding: one at the end of the academic year for distributing budgets, and another at the beginning of the spring semester to review how clubs have been spending their funds. The current process has led to clubs losing previously allocated funds without clear justification, which is a major concern for club executives.

One would expect that if a club adheres to its estimated budget approved by Congress during the previous academic year, it would not lose funds after its spring semester check-in. However, despite a club maintaining their budget estimations and putting on their approved and funded programming in the fall, they might find that their funds have been taken away in the spring without explanation. As a club executive who has experienced this during both semesters I have been in this role, this phenomenon is not a fluke, but rather a pattern that pains many clubs who count on the funds they were promised and allocated by Congress.

I would much rather Congress allocate clubs a budget that they can follow through on in the spring, granted that the clubs adhere to their budget, than allocate clubs more money than they have to give and inevitably dock them money each spring semester. I am sure that many clubs would agree that they would rather not get their hopes up for the potential programming they can put on, only to have it taken away before the spring semester. This pattern ultimately sets clubs up for failure and disappointment, as clubs are then short on money for the spring semester. If they had known this prior, they may have planned accordingly and perhaps adjusted their fall spendings to reduce the impact on the spring semester.

Additionally, Congress seems to be punishing clubs that spend more in the spring semester and are potentially taking money away from them because their budgeting is uneven between semesters. Furthermore, this happens despite such clubs letting Congress know of their increased spending in the spring, likely due to holidays or scheduled celebrations. On the flip side, clubs should not be awarded additional funds because they went significantly over budget in the fall and now need extra funding to cover it. Instead, every club, no matter if they went over budget or maintained their projected spendings, should have an equal chance to receive additional money for the spring semester, permitting that this funding do not come from docking clubs that have adhered to their budget.

Considering the recurrence of this phenomenon and the reputation of Congress allocation meetings as extremely competitive, these spring allocation meetings place extra, unneeded stress on students going into them, knowing that no matter how closely they follow their approved plan and kindly present this to the Treasury Committee, they will have money taken away. In fact, spring allocations and knowledge that Congress will inevitably take money away from clubs also encourages nervous students to ask Congress for more money than they need, hoping that this will deter them from taking any money away, but it does not.

I believe that Congress should not take money away from clubs that they have already promised a specific amount of funds to, unless the club does not adhere to their annual projected and approved budget to a certain degree. Furthermore, Congress should widely share an explicit policy denoting what constitutes clubs losing funding so club executives can adhere to the rules and not have to stress, year after year, that they will lose the funding they are counting on.

For clubs that do not meet such standards, they should be provided with a reason why they lost funding, which will let them know how they can improve the following year, as well as ensure that clubs are not being discriminated against or favored due to any biases, whether positive or negative. Such clubs should also be allowed to appeal to Congress about allocation cuts to safeguard against unfounded cuts. Although I hope that allocation cuts do not come from a place of bias, clubs deserve to know exactly what they need to do to maintain their allocated funds and should not have to fear losing money while Congress provides no reason as to why, prohibiting clubs from hosting and improving their programming.

Perhaps the Congress Treasury Committee should not be the ones making these choices alone and should have more oversight, whether this be by an administrator or the general body of Congress, considering that the college trusts a group of five students to control hundreds of thousands of dollars.

First Semester’s Lessons Learned

by Kaelynd Brouillette ’29 on December 11, 2025

Opinion - Campus

As my first semester of college comes to an end, I continue to realize that I am not the same person I was when I first stepped foot on campus in August. Senior year of high school feels like a distant memory, replaced by numerous adventures, friendships, and lessons throughout the beginning of my time here. Speaking of lessons, I’ve learned quite a few of those. Nothing can truly prepare you for the transition into college, despite TikToks talking about it, your parents telling you about their experience, or your high school teachers saying, “college is nothing like high school.” There are just certain things you cannot understand until you’re actually living through them yourself. With finals week quickly approaching, I have been reflecting on what I have learned, not just academically, but about surviving and existing in college. Looking back, two lessons in particular stand out as the ones that defined my first semester and taught me what college life is actually like.

The first lesson, which seems obvious, is that it is so incredibly important to actually go to class, despite the struggle it can be. I have Development of Western Civ at 8:30 a.m., and it feels like it is the biggest struggle of my life to get out of bed and attend that lecture. In the mornings, the very thought of having to get out of bed to go will just convince me to skip. I also did not understand how much my sleep schedule would truly change here. In high school, I was up at 6:15 a.m. five days a week without blinking an eye, but in college, 8:30 a.m. is like 6:30 a.m., or at least it feels like it. At night, you end up staying up later because of noise in the hallway, having homework to do, or your roommate having people over late at night. Nothing is more difficult than making it to morning classes, especially if it was a late night or it’s 11 degrees outside, but despite it all, it is essential that you go to class. Anyway, skipping class even just once can lead to a full-on spiral, making it so easy to just keep skipping and skipping. I quickly figured out, after I received a 50 on a seminar quiz, that it is imperative you go to that 8:30 a.m., despite how horrifying the idea seems when your 8 a.m. alarm goes off. Once you start skipping class, it also becomes exponentially more difficult to catch up. Content moves quickly, and even missing one 50-minute class of material can cause you to be very behind. Although this lesson was definitely learned the hard way, it is, by far, one of the most important. Go to class.

The second lesson, and arguably the most wrenching, is that academically, high school is nothing like college. In high school, I was a very high-achieving student, often getting close to perfect grades without really trying, and being involved in every club I could. College breaks that pattern—fast. My first reality check on this was my first calculus exam, which I did not really feel the need to study for. It goes without saying that not studying did not work out in my favor. From that moment, I had to make adjustments, like learning how to properly study, and scheduling time to go to the library and prepare for important exams. To be honest, it was a terribly uncomfortable sensation of having to apply myself in a way I was not accustomed to doing. The responsibility of it all was quite different, too. Your professors don’t remind you of due dates or hound you about doing the reading. It’s on you, which was new for me. It is so easy to procrastinate when no one is preventing you from doing so, but the importance of staying on top of your work and building routines for yourself cannot be stressed enough. Although it can be overwhelming, it will pay off.

Speaking of overwhelming, college can be perfectly described as just that, which can take a toll on mental health, as it did for me. Between losing the academic identity you were used to, the weight of imposter syndrome, and the pressure of everyone around you seeming like they have it together, it can be a lot to manage. Having resources is important, whether that be friends and family to talk to, something you do to relieve stress, or visiting the Personal Counseling Center. It is imperative that you have methods to keep your mental health in check. In the end, this lesson taught me that college doesn’t just challenge what you know, it challenges who you are and how you show up for yourself. High school is nothing like college, for the better and for the worse.

It is hard to believe how much things can change in just a couple of months. These two lessons reflect only a fraction of what I have learned during my time here at Providence College, but they have been the most distinct in shaping who I am today. Both lessons, going to class and adjusting academically, pushed me out of old habits. My personal growth did not come from what was easy, but from what felt uncomfortable, embarrassing, or overwhelming at times. A more general lesson I’ve also learned is that college is not solely about academics and social life, but a big part of it is also a process of learning how to exist as a functioning member of society on your own, with this semester teaching me more about responsibility, resilience, and self-awareness than a single class ever could. Although I still don’t think I have this whole college thing completely down yet, I do know that with the coming years, I will figure it out, one lesson at a time.