The Cavalier Daily
Serving the University Community Since 1890

Life Column


Life

Real life vs. reel life

People will tell you in love and in life that “reality’s not like the movies.” But that’s not exactly true -- it’s the movies that aren’t like reality.


Vega's column runs biweekly Tuesdays. She can be reached at v.bharadwaj@cavalierdaily.com. 
Life

Do what you love

There is nothing more satisfying to me than pouring my thoughts onto a page and molding the fragmented puddles into a reflecting pool in which people I've never met can get a clear view of themselves.Through writing, I achieve a high incomparable to the use of any recreational drug.


Life

Nice to meet you (again)

I’m sitting on a bus that I’m pretty sure is the North Line, praying that it’s going to drop me off anywhere at all close to New Cabell Hall within the half hour window that I’ve left myself to get to my next class, and there’s a guy hardcore staring at me from across the aisle.


Christian's column runs biweekly Fridays. He can be reached at c.hecht@cavalierdaily.com. 
Life

The big question

Near the beginning of Vampire Weekend’s self-titled debut album, the singer asks a question that will no doubt echo through history, “Who gives a [crap] about the oxford comma?” I like this album, but the question has always felt like a personal assault since I am an English major.


Life

The infallibility of fall

As a thoroughbred Northeasterner, I am well acquainted with the seasons. I have learned to recognize and welcome these quarterly changes not only through the shifts in temperature, but also through societal signifiers – the presence of heavy coats around grounds, the changing colors of storefronts and interior decorations, or advertisers’ reminders that customers should update their seasonal wardrobes appropriately.


Madison's column runs biweekly Tuesdays. She can be reached at m.ruddy@cavalierdaily.com. 
Life

Grounded

I gaze into the majestic evening horizon from the top of the Empire State building. Biting my lip, I peer down at the thousands of feet beneath me.


Kelly's column runs biweekly Tuesdays. She can be reached at k.seegers@cavalierdaily.com. 
Life

Pyrotechnic pondering

As I gazed into the dancing flames of a beautifully piled up bonfire this weekend, some friends and I began to realize that there is some element of fire that elicits the best conversations.


Victoria's column runs biweekly Tuesdays. She can be reached at v.moran@cavalierdaily.com. 
Life

Exercises in empathy

I finally know what “sunken eyes” look like. After having thoughtlessly skimmed past the overemployed phrase in works of writing and repeatedly dismissed it as a feature that only exists in the reality of ink on a page, I learned what it means to have sunken eyes when I sat across from a homeless man on the free trolley.I sat and studied the man in front of me – a dingy, bandana-clad ellipse with a white tufty beard who might’ve resembled Santa if he were even vaguely jolly (or just less asleep.) At one point, the shrill driver stopped the bus to implore bandana man to stay awake because sleeping is apparently not a permissible activity on the trolley.


Grace's column runs biweekly Fridays. She can be reached at g.muth@cavalierdaily.com.
Life

A prayer for my school

We walk quietly together, the lights and warmth of the Lawn behind us, through the construction and past the deepened slopes of Mad Bowl to our homes.


Life

Whose school is it anyway?

A couple of weeks ago in class, I seriously thought I might have to tackle someone. It happened in an “Unforgettable Lectures” class — and it was unforgettable, though not entirely for the reasons advertised.


Life

​Senioritis epidemic

Some may claim my sluggish behavior is a sign of senioritis — a virus difficult to diagnose. Contrary to popular belief and student-perpetuated myth, senioritis does not affect only those students on the cusp of graduation. I would hypothesize we are all born with a small dose of this poison and, unfortunately, there is no cure. No amount of illegal study drugs will save us.


	Lauren’s column runs biweekly Fridays. She can be reached at l.jackson@cavalierdaily.com.
Life

Talk about religion

Sitting in a folding chair next to neat piles of saffron, cumin and sumaq, a portly man with an unbuttoned linen shirt looked me over as I lingered to take a photo of his vibrant spices.


	Laura’s column runs biweekly Fridays. She can be reached at l.holshouser@cavalierdaily.com.
Life

Shopping for men

It is 10:11 p.m. and I am running. The sun set hours ago and my eyes are already beginning to droop from exhaustion, yet I move as quickly as my feet will take me.

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Latest Podcast

All University students are required to live on Grounds in their first year, but they have many on and off-Grounds housing options going into their second year. Students face immense pressure to decide on housing as soon as possible, and this high demand has strained the capacities of both on and off-Grounds accommodations. Lauren Seeliger and Brandon Kile, two third-year Cavalier Daily News writers, discuss the impact of the student housing frenzy on both University students and the Charlottesville community.