Happy October, hounds! With a month under our belts and deadlines hitting us left and right, it’s hard to remember the long summer days filled with nothingness (or at the very least, a different kind of grind with jobs and internships). Though we all wish that we could clock out of student-hood come 5 p.m., this is hardly ever the case, and we here at The Greyhound are sending you all the motivational vibes to get through the first official #rough week of the school year. Here are our top three ups and downs of our last week of relative freedom:

Thumbs Up. Family Weekend. Whether this is your first semester of college or one of your last, everyone gets a little homesick from time to time. Luckily, a bunch of hounds were able to spend the weekend with their loved ones during Family Weekend (and get a handful of free meals in the process). With back-to-back engaging student presentations, entertaining campus events, and gratifying awards ceremonies, the action-packed weekend reminded students and families alike what makes them proud to be a part of the Loyola community.

Thumbs Down. Work is starting to pick up. Everyone I’ve run into over the past few days has a look in their eyes that is unique to college students: half I’m-not-registering-what-you’re-saying and half there-is-a-craziness-brewing-under-this-calmness. With the establishment of a routine unfortunately comes a plethora of deadlines, and some of us are balancing them better than others. Wherever you are on that spectrum, remember that you’re allowed to give yourself breaks. Take a breather. Take a nap. You will get through this.

Thumbs Up: Baltimore Book Fair. This weekend, the Inner Harbor hosted one of the most highly anticipated events of the year, at least if you’re a bookworm like me. The Baltimore Book Fair features hundreds of local artists, from authors to poets and everything in between. Two hounds, Dragan Purkovic ’19 and Semeko Davi ‘ even read during Sunday’s festivities as part of an event hosted by The Ivy Bookshop’s University Writers group. Congrats to both of them!

Thumbs Down. The Kavanaugh-Ford hearings. Since it was announced that he would be replacing Judge Anthony Kennedy’s seat in the Supreme Court, many Americans have been holding their breaths to see when the other shoe would drop for Brett Kavanaugh. With Dr. Christine Blasey Ford coming forward with sexual assault allegations against the Supreme Court nominee, we’ve once again seen the ugly ways that our society handles issues regarding gendered violence. Even with the F.B.I investigations opened up this week, hope seems bleak. To our campus activists pushing for change and engaging in difficult conversations, don’t forget the importance of self care and letting yourself step back when you feel like you need to. And for the record: we here at The Greyhound believe her.

Thumps Up. The sun from the weekend is here to stay. With every day fluctuating between torrential downpour and summer sunshine, it was difficult to keep the days straight last week, or even figure out what season it was. Luckily, the weekend brought the perfect amount of sunshine and heat to fully round out the Family Weekend experience, and it looks like it’s here to stay. Even if the 80’s weather only plans to stick around for one more week, at least it’ll help balance out our busyness. After all, trying to crank out a paper or scrambling to finish a 300-page reading is always better when done on the Humanities porch!

Thumbs Down. Kanye West didn’t release his new album. According to Ops Editor Dan Ostmann ’19 (and the rest of the, world probably), Kanye West was supposed to drop his ninth album “Yandhi” last Saturday, Sept. 29. Dan, along with millions of fans, were shocked when the record was nowhere to be found Saturday night, and were curious to see if this was some sort of promotion stunt, technological glitch, or West really just hadn’t released the album. As of yesterday, West has announced that he isn’t done with the project just yet, and that the rest of the recording will take place in Africa (yes, the continent). The new release date is now Nov. 23, which also happens to be Black Friday.

There you have it folks. Remember to take it easy this week: Take it day by day and remember that no single assignment can make or break your college career. And if it makes you feel any better… remind yourself that if you haven’t procrastinated as hard as Kanye, then you’re probably fine.