Cheers:

Evil Kermit Meme. If somehow you have not encountered this wonderful meme yet, please go educate yourself. It hilariously captures the way we feel when we do things or make decisions that we would rather ascribe to our evil twin. If these memes have resonated with you more than you’d like to admit, know that you’re not alone. And if you don’t relate to this meme in any way, congrats on achieving earthly perfection.

Advent. Ah, Advent. The time where we prepare our hearts for the birth of Christ. It’s pretty much like the Jesus version of waiting for the new Gilmore Girls episodes to drop on Netflix—you’re excited, but you have to properly prepare for the ultimate celebration.

Christmas Music. It’s probably good that it’s Christmas music season because I’ll now be forced to listen to something other than Hamilton.

Jeers:

Awkward Family Thanksgiving. There are a lot of wonderful aspects of Thanksgiving—family, fellowship, and the creation of lifelong memories. But all the family interrogation (“How’s that love life going?” “Who’d you vote for?” “What are you going to do after you graduation?”) can be suffocating, and when you’re a Bears fan, Thanksgiving football isn’t all that life-affirming. Still, giving thanks is good, and we should probably cheer for it instead of jeer at it. But we also should probably do it more than once a year. Just saying.

Finals. Now is about the time when we take stock of all the reading we didn’t do over the semester and start mentally calculating how much it’s going to take for us to scrape by with the grade we want in each class. But don’t fret, it will all be okay if we just remember this timeless adage: If we fail our finals, at least we’re failing at Notre Dame.

Goodbyes. Not to be a Scrooge, but if you have friends going abroad, or if you yourself are going abroad, now is the time to start saying goodbye. There’s a bright side to this, though, so don’t spiral into despair. Now there are little pieces of your heart all over the world, living lives that have been forever changed in some way by your friendship. And while that’s hard, it’s also pretty beautiful.

Lacey Silvestri is a junior studying history and English who still loves the Cubs. She also isn’t sure comparing Advent to Gilmore Girls is theologically sound. Catechize her at lsilvest@nd.edu.