It is almost Fall Break! If you live within a 3 mile vicinity of Villanova, listen for the collective sigh of relief when thousands of students hand in their midterms, getting ready for fall break. In honor of the much-needed respite, we asked students what they would be doing during their fall break.

This week’s Curious Cat is brought to you by Allie Reczek, Lindsay Sassion, and Liam Brassington, three of our wonderful undergraduate student workers in the Falvey Memorial Library Communication & Marketing Department. Keep an eye out for them every Thursday, asking students their opinions on a range of subjects and topics. 

Curious Cat

With the first three weeks almost behind us the stress is starting to mount. That’s why we asked students around Falvey Library how they deal with stress.

“I call my mom and she helps me calm down” -Catie Magister, Biology ’22

“I listen to music or workout” -Alex DaCosta, Mathematics ’22

“Listen to music, go for walks, or talk to my mom on the phone” -Annabelle Humiston, Psychology ’20

Nathaniel Gosweiler is a graduate assistant in the Communication and Marketing Department at Falvey Memorial Library. He is currently pursuing an MA in Communication at Villanova University.

On this day in 1922, the Supreme Court ruled that organized baseball is not a business, but a sport. Celebrating America’s pastime, the Curious ‘Cat asked Falvey Library staff,

“If you were a professional baseball player, what position would you play?”

Jeannine Ahern, Finance and Administration Specialist

Jesse Flavin, Acquisitions and Electronic Resources Coordinator

Jackie Smith, Finance and Administration Specialist

Brian Warren, Library Technology Developer

Lorraine Holt, Finance and Administration Specialist

Interested in learning more about the game? Check out the resources below and view more on our website:

• Baseball: An Illustrated History
• Baseball: The Early Years
• Baseball: A History of America’s Game (Sport and Society)
• Baseball and Philosophy: Thinking Outside the Batter’s Box
• Baseball Without Borders: The International Pastime

The Curious Cat asks Villanova students this week, “Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. What is something you would like six more weeks of?”

Vince Maria – “Time with my friends back home.”

Andrea Hammond – “Time with my friends.”

Thomas Plonski – “Six more weeks of school before I graduate.”

Lauren Tupper – “Winter break.”

Turki Haj Mohamad – “Six more weeks of Obama being president.”

Jonathan Fabriziani:  To study for the  OAT [Optometry Admission Test], organic chemistry. … All over, this is one of my favorites [second floor lounge].

Kristian Richardson:  To print out pictures for my bulletin board.  … Speakers’ Corner – the chairs are very comfortable.

Luke LaBarge:  Homework. … Usually third floor. Today I didn’t feel like going upstairs.

Caitlin Beggs:  I’m a PhD nursing student in the middle of a summer intensive and working on papers. … Speakers’ Corner.

Serah Nthenge:  It’s nice, it’s quiet, I can concentrate.

Chase Young:  I’m doing my calculus homework; that’s why I’m here.

Photographs by Alice Bampton, Communication and  Service Promotion team.

This week, the Curious ‘Cat asks Villanova students, “After your final final, what’s the first thing you want to do for fun?”

Nina Rossiello—“Nap!” 

Gracie Kim—“Probably go out after finals to eat with some friends”

Timothy Chobot—“Watch Monday Night Football”

Taylor Wright—“I’ll probably watch about six hours of Netflix in a row.” 

Sarah DeAngelis—“I’ll probably go out to dinner with my roommates as a little celebration, and eat good off-campus food. Then probably pack up because I’m going abroad next semester so I’ll say goodbye to all my friends. I’m going to Dublin; I’m super excited.”

Robert Hurlbut—“play NHL with my roommate—it’s an Xbox game.”

This week, the Curious ‘Cat asks Villanova students, “Which Star Wars character would make an ideal study partner?”

Gianna Perez—“I would say Yoda. I think Yoda would be very supportive and wise when studying.”

Christine Graziano—“I’d say Yoda.”

Dillon McCourt—“C3PO ‘cause he’s a droid”

Daniel Glazewski—“I’d say Yoda ‘cause he’s wise and would give good advice.”

This week, the Curious ‘Cat asks Villanova students, “With about two weeks of classes left, what strategy would you recommend to prepare for finals?”

Kelsey Hanson—“Since I’m in the middle of that right now, I think spacing your work out so that you’re not doing everything all at once is really important and also taking a big project every day. So I have a paper that I’m working on today and then tomorrow I’m working on my statistics homework and then the day after I’m doing another thing—so one big project per day.”

Kate Dolan—“Organization: planning ahead and making a structured schedule to get all the work done ahead of time.”

Tope Abu—“Make a list. That’s the thing that helps me.”

Andrew Lynch—“I try to get as much sleep as I can ‘cause I work every hour that I’m awake … spending no downtime at all.”

Hayden Vines—“During the day I go up to the third floor of the Library and study till 7:00 or dinner and then not study at night that much until it’s finals week. Then I’ll study a lot. But I’m going to try to get as much sleep as possible.”

Timothy Signorile—“At this point just prioritize: figure out which classes you need to study the most for. Structure your time as best as you can. And make it to the Library as often as you can.”

This week the Curious ‘Cat asks Villanova students, “With Thanksgiving coming up, what are you thankful for?”

Alexandra Golia—“I’m thankful for being here ‘cause I love this school and the community. And I’m obviously thankful to go home; I haven’t seen my family in a while. So I’m really excited for that and that they sent me here to such a good school. That’s what I’m thankful for.”

Alexandra Linn—“I’m thankful for the opportunity to go to college, to be at Villanova, and for my family supporting me through it.”

Nicodemo Bruzzese—“I’m always thankful for my family, my extended family, blessing me every day with paying for me to come to Villanova University—such a great campus, such great people—and for instilling such hard work and dedication in me. I thank them every day even though I can be a little bit of a pain towards them, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I thank them for pushing me to be the best.”

Mary Rugolo—“My family, definitely”

Jarrid Thelen—“Family and friends.”

Brendan Weston—“I’m really thankful for my education—being able to see the world from an expanded point of view and to come to a better understanding of the world around me.”