And with that the semester is officially over—all papers submitted, all exams completed and all library books returned (hopefully!) As I sit here now writing my last Cat in the Stax for this academic year, I can’t help but reflect on the last year and all of the changes and growth that’s occurred.

Entering my first year of graduate school at a new school in the midst of a seemingly never-ending pandemic was definitely not the ideal scenario I imagined. That being said, I can’t help being grateful and confident that everything worked out the way it was supposed to. 

I’m grateful for the team at Falvey that I’m a part of and how they’ve encouraged my creativity at every point. I would say that by nature I am a reader and a writer, but that’s not something I’ve been able to fully tap into for the last handful of years. I was a little intimidated by the thought of rolling out a new and interesting Cat in the Stax each week, but here we are, and I think I did an okay job. Having and making the space for creativity is really all you need to tap into the inspiration ever around you. 

Falvey has become the center of my Villanova experience thus far. I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that other than my tour and COVID testing, I’ve only been inside Falvey and Garey Hall. That being said, Falvey is not the worst place to be spending all my time. Watching people continuously move through the library, studying, talking, and grabbing coffee from Holy Grounds gave a (albeit slightly off) sense of normalcy. 

And the best part? I’m not going anywhere and get to spend both the summer and all next year with this incredible team in Falvey! 

Congratulations to all for completing a pretty rough year, grab your sunglasses and stack of summer reads and relax a little because we deserve it!

Jenna Newman is a graduate assistant in Falvey Memorial Library and a graduate student in the Communication Department.