Ask Blair is an advice column run by a GPHS student under the alias of Blair. Its purpose is to provide advice to students in search of it. Keep in mind that your responses will most likely be in the next issue of The Scroll. Scroll below to see the answers for December questions.
Within the last two years, we launched the advice column Ask Blair! Everything is 100% anonymous, including my own identity. Though I go by Blair for the purpose of the column, I wouldn’t be surprised if many of you know me outside of The Scroll. I’m a student at GPHS, just like all of you. My goal for the column is to reach out to you guys and do what I can to help you during your times of trouble. Don’t be afraid to send in questions for next month’s issue, and I look forward to writing for you guys in the months to come. Scroll down to enter your own questions for me: Blair!
*A Note from Blair: Since I reach such a wide audience and cater to people of so many different lifestyles and beliefs, it is my goal to remain as unbiased as possible when giving advice. It is for that reason that I ask you to refrain from asking for my personal opinions on politics and the like, as I don't want that to get in the way of being able to help as many people as possible. Thank you for helping me keep Ask Blair! a safe space for everyone!
*Editor's Note: The Scroll's Ask Blair! column is to solely provide advice, care, and support to students in need. We want to hear from you, and we understand that some of the topics that will be discussed will be emotional and sometimes distressing, but this advice column is not meant to be used as an alternative to any sort of professional therapy or counseling.
Thank you 💜
Did I go see The Nutcracker? I didn’t and I am so upset that I wasn’t able to go. My schedule was a bit too busy over the break and I thought I would be able to go, but things just didn’t work out. For those of you who don’t know, Stillpoint Productions in Grants Pass puts on The Nutcracker in the Performing Arts Center every year. It is such a good show and, if you are in town next year, please go see it. A lot of GP students participate in it, too, and they put so much amazing work into it. I’ll likely see it next year.
This year I spent it with my family. It was super fun! I went ice skating and tried to go bowling, but there was this big tournament there and it didn’t really work out. My friend's car broke down, so that was fun. I Went to Ashland more times than I probably should because of gas prices, but it was such an amazing experience anyway. Plus, I love Ashland. Every year looks different for me, but this year just felt super special. I didn’t touch any homework and I was with my family the whole time. How did you spend your winter break/new year?
Take a breath, okay? It sounds like you let studying consume you and please don’t let that happen. Take breaks, breathe, and drink some water. If it’s keeping you from sleeping, then just sleep. I promise it won’t be the end of the world, even though it might feel like it.
To me, too much studying is when it interferes with your outside life. If you are studying to the point where you can’t hang out with friends, you have to drink tons of coffee or energy drinks just to stay awake because you’ve stayed up three nights in a row, and you’re forgetting to eat or drink any water, then that is too much studying. I’ve been there-- staying up nights just to study-- but, in the end, school is never worth jeopardizing your mental and physical health.
I have heard people say that you should study the same amount of time you are in class, so if your class is one hour long, then you should study one to two hours outside of class. I think that you should study as long as you feel you have to. If you understand the concept then, to me, that is a good sign that you don’t have to study anymore. A good way to test yourself on whether you have studied enough is to review the content with your friends. If you understand it when working with your friends, then I would feel confident that I know the material. Don’t study until you are physically in pain.
The amount of time you studied for a class is not a badge of honor, not sleeping because you were doing homework is not a badge of honor, and not putting your health first is not a badge of honor. These are not things that you should be bragging about. Take care of yourself, because your journey is only yours and the body you have is one that you will be stuck with for the rest of your life. You are doing enough. I promise.
This is such a fun question! What would you name an animal if you found one? I feel like I would name it such a silly and weird name and not scientific sounding at all. There’s this deep-sea batfish that scientists recently discovered and they call it dumpling. Obviously, that’s not its actual scientific name, but I would definitely find a name like this. Here’s an article about the dumpling bat-fish if you wanna look at it: Dumpling fish. If I discovered an animal, then maybe a name like Ricky or pasta noodle, something silly like that, is how I would name it.
