A friend of mine recently asked me what it means to be bilingual. Bilingualism, simply put, is the ability to speak two languages fluently. But what does it really mean to be at the crossroads of two very distinct cultures and embody both, simultaneously, in spirit?

I had a huge smile plastered to my face all the way from the airport to the Clocktower. It only hit me how much I missed Washington University when I got out of the taxi and lugged my suitcases to my dorm through the snow in the freezing cold. You see, I spent winter break in Mumbai, where “winter” temperatures range anywhere from 75 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

To those of you who have taken it upon yourselves to show the world how studious and focused you can get—you seriously need to consider how much you intimidate the procrastinators like me who enter denial and procrastinate even more. Let me tell you why.

Last Thursday, I decided to walk all the way from Danforth House to Holmes Lounge at 7:45 p.m., hoping I would make it in time for the 8 p.m. weekly jazz performance. The night promised “An evening with Young Musicians of St. Louis featuring Kevin Cheli, Mark Wallace & the Peter Schankman Band.”

Worried about midterms? Rest assured, you’re not alone. Here’s a walk down memory road to help you realize where you went wrong with your study plan.

Friday was another incredibly long and eventful day. Having grappled with back-to-back classes from 8 a.m., a Spanish midterm exam and three hours of chemistry lab, I decided to unwind by going to “SLAM Underground,” which is a monthly event at the Saint Louis Art Museum.

Before I let out a torrential outpouring of thoughts on one of my most fun classes, let me give you some context. People usually assume I’m the pre-med type when I introduce myself with, “I’m taking General Chemistry, a biology seminar…,” but then I reach “Spanish, writing…,” at which point they listen more carefully.

Hot weather. Wet grass. Orange plastic cones lined up in the middle of the field. Students in blue T-shirts clapping their hands and screaming their lungs out in response to each other—