I’m William Repetto, a first-year graduate student at Villanova University. This is the “‘Cat in the Stacks” column. I’m your ‘cat. I’ll be posting about college life, about learning and growing here at Villanova, and, of course, about the Falvey Library’s role.

This column is usually written the day before it’s posted. That gives me the writerly advantage of experiencing the same stresses and cultural events that you are experiencing week-in-and-week-out before having to post an opinion on those feelings and events each Wednesday.

This week – Fall Break – is different. Having the week off, I am required to write this blog well in advance (way back on Thursday, Oct. 6, which is in the present as these words are being typed, but will certainly be “way back” by the time you read them. It’s weird, right?).

Relaxing. What Fall Break is all about. (Courtesy of unsplash.com user Cynthia Magana)

Anyhow, waiting until Tuesday on a typical week allows me to see what our students accomplish, how our sports teams perform, and what new obstacles the Villanova community encounters. These are a huge part of my writing process, as columns like this one require the writer to engage actively with the concerns, conquests, and critiques of the community.

As you and I are temporally separated for this week, that level of engagement will be difficult to accomplish. Accomplishments, however, are what we Wildcats pride ourselves on (in addition to being the topic of last week’s ‘Cat in the Stacks). The pride that Wildcats feel in their accomplishments is not the selfish kind of pride that thinks about how good a particular act looks on a résumé.

For that reason, I would like to cheer you on in some of the various activities that you might be doing this Fall Break, and, in doing so, I’d like to show that we’re all accomplishing something this Fall Break; the accomplishment embedded in our actions just needs to be highlighted to us sometimes.

Some of you reading this have chosen to go on service trips for the break. That means that you could be pulling this up on your phone as nearby as South Philly or as far away as Belize or Peru. The communities that you’re helping appreciate and, in some cases, desperately need your help. What you’re doing is so admirable, and I hope you can look back with confidence on all you accomplish in these areas.

Students hard at work planning their Central/South America trip. Totally kidding, it’s stock photography – but that seems plausible. (Courtesy of unsplash.com user Alex Robert)

Others have travelled, perhaps not as far away, to go home for break. I’m sure many of you even come from the Delaware Valley and aren’t even that far off campus. That doesn’t mean, however, that you aren’t completing a very important task. Families, parents, siblings and even pets start to miss us during our time away from home at college. Taking a break from the fast-paced undergraduate lifestyle is sometimes very difficult, but taking those few days off from it all to spend time with loved ones means all the world to your relatives and friends.

It’s not impossible that some of you, both those hanging around the area and even those who live far away, are using the time to catch up or get ahead on some work. Let me start by saying: good call. Using this time to get back on track or a little ahead on those term projects will relieve a lot of stress going into the final weeks of the semester.

For those hard workers out there. (Courtesy of unplash,com user Tim Gouw)

More still, some of you might not have a break at all. You could be sitting at your desk at work or at your internship, killing a little time with ‘Cat in the Stacks. Experience in the professional world should never be taken for granted (while ‘Cat in the Stacks can definitely be considered your time for professional development today). Keep working hard and success will manage to find you, and once it does, the sky’s the limit.

I am personally working very hard on term projects this Fall Break. Maybe someday soon you’ll see academic articles on Scott’s Waverley or Milton’s L’Allegro & Il Penseroso with ‘Cat in the Stacks at the byline.

Whatever you find yourself doing this break, know that your work is admirable and your relaxation well deserved. The Falvey crew would love to know what you’re up to! Let us know on Facebook, Twitter (@FalveyLibrary), SnapChat (@VULibrary), or Instagram (@VillanovaLibrary). We’ll see you soon back at the Falvey.

Article by William Repetto, a graduate assistant on the Communications and Marketing Team at the Falvey Memorial Library. He is currently pursuing an MA in English at Villanova University.