I’m William Repetto, a second-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 Memorial Library’s role.

This post marks my 110th contribution to Falvey’s blog. During my prolific career as a graduate assistant here at the library, I’ve had the pleasure of bringing you this weekly column, highlighting interesting resources, and interviewing a couple of high–profile visitors. As we sit on the eve of mid-term week, I wanted to create a space on this week’s column to take stock and reflect.

One hundred and ten posts is quite a lot. If you had told me way back when I served up a cup of cat-feine that I would be writing 109 more posts, I would have thought that you were crazy. But here we are. As a graduate assistant, however, my time is winding down. For the first time since I became your ’Cat, the number of blog posts I have left to write seems quite tangible.

(I have about seven or eight ’Cat in the Stacks and an equal number of Highlighters.)

As a graduate student who is writing a thesis, I actually have no midterms myself.

I feel that this week offers a good chance to reflect because we haven’t yet gotten swept up in midterm madness, and we aren’t yet kicking our feet up for Spring Break. So let’s take a look at what you’ve done so far this semester, Wildcats –

You showed up on day one of spring semester, well rested and perhaps all-too-well reacquainted with family members. You were given syllabi and told you’d become an expert on five or six new topics by way of writing dozens of pages of analysis and taking several examinations to measure your progress. The juniors and seniors among you, of course, took this information in stride, while the first year students continue to adjust, and the sophomores approach the material with all the type of confidence that categorizes their class nomenclature.

No matter how you feel going into this midterm week, take some time to contemplate on what you’ve accomplished so far this semester. Even before you start studying, you’ve already learned a new vocabulary for talking about a particular topic; you’ve learned a new equation that shapes your understanding of the cosmos; or, at the very least, you learned whether or not you enjoy studying the nuances of a specific field.

Hunter has decided to run faraway from Villanova, so her midterms can’t find her.

Whether your midterm week appears insurmountable or you’re confident you’ll breeze through it this semester, Falvey is the place for you. The second floor houses the learning commons – where you can get academic support on an array of subjects – and many of our subject librarians for last minute source hunting (though we recommend you visit them for far more than just that). And, hey, if you’re on cruise control, why not visit the first floor lounge to get coffee (or even smoothies or sandwiches!) and coast into break with some close friends?

Article by William Repetto, a graduate assistant in the Communication and Marketing Dept. at the Falvey Memorial Library. He is currently pursuing an MA in English at Villanova University. (Graphics courtesy of Bitmoji, and Hunter and I spending hours perfecting our representations!)