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Dear Eliana,

My neighbor is an aspiring DJ and likes to play his music loud so that I can hear it through the thin walls. The problem is, all of the remixes that he makes are terrible, and he plays them all the time. He is constantly replaying the same five-second clip to get it just right. It turns out to be so annoying, and then his roommate likes to play his electric guitar, and he isn’t very good either. How do I get them to turn their music down without ending up punching them in the face?

-Deaf

Dear Deaf,

Have you ever thought that maybe you just don’t appreciate genius and that your neighbors are the next One Direction? But if you are correct, and you do indeed have irritating neighbors, then there are a few things you could do. You could talk to your neighbors and politely ask them if they could use headphones and not play while you are trying to be productive or sleep. You could also try to make some sort of arrangement with a schedule so that you know when to avoid your dorm. If they don’t listen to you, you could talk to your CA and let him or her know that there is a problem. While it may be tempting, I would strongly suggest restraining from physical violence—you could always just play your own music louder. Also, just in case, you may want to invest in earplugs.

-Eliana

Dear Eliana,

I always seem to be late for class, no matter what I do, and it’s getting to be a real problem. How can I make sure I get there on time?

-Late

Dear Late,

I know how it feels to not want to get out of your nice warm bed in the morning, but it needs to be done. If you’re having trouble getting to morning classes on time, try to set more alarms and make them for earlier times. Another useful strategy could be to choose your clothing and make sure all your things are together and ready to go the night before. In terms of afternoon and evening classes, you just need to keep track of time and know when you need to leave where you are in order to get to class on time. You could try just running everywhere—you would get places faster and get in shape at the same time!

-Eliana

Dear Eliana,

When I was in high school I was really into music, and I listened to everything. The problem is now that I’m in college, I never seem to have any time to listen to music. I’m just always so busy. How can I get back into music with my full schedule?

-No Time for Music

Dear No Time for Music,

College is a busy time, and you sometimes have to sacrifice the things you enjoy. However, in your case, listening to music is something that can be done at the same time as other things. For example, many people like to listen to music while they study or do homework. You could also bring your iPod to listen to between classes, or at meals if you want some alone time. Another option is to join some sort of music club so that you are more motivated to set aside some time to focus on music.

-Eliana

Dear Eliana,

My backpack is a ridiculous weight. It has a million textbooks and my computer in it, and it’s starting to hurt my back. How can I lighten my load?

-Big Backpack

Dear Big Backpack,

Two very simple solutions are either to stop buying the books for classes or buy a new, lighter laptop. A more realistic solution is to only carry around the books you will need in the near future. If you don’t have a particular class that day, you probably won’t need to carry that book around with you all day. If you have time, you can stop by your room between classes and switch the books you have with you. Many classes just have the textbook for you to use at home, so you don’t always need to lug them all the way to class. If none of this will work for you, you can always look into buying eBooks, so that you only have to carry around your computer instead of a giant textbook. Also, you could invest in a stylish rolling backpack and be the envy of all your friends.

-Eliana

Dear Readers,
If you can’t already tell, this is an advice column, and I’m here to help you with any questions that you might have. If you want more exciting questions, send them in, and I will do my best to answer them. Whether it’s relationships, social problems or just life in general—send them here. I can’t wait to start hearing about everyone’s problems (how often do you hear people say that? Oh yeah, never).
Send questions to ElianasAdvice@gmail.com.
Thanks!
-Eliana