It’s mid-Fall semester…. Most of us are probably just getting over a rough patch full of midterms and projects, while the rest of us may just be getting started on countless hours spent in Library West, surrounded by textbooks and empty Starbucks cups. Just writing this is making my mind wander to my ever-growing list of things to do. But I promise, the end is in sight.
With this in mind, I chose this month’s book to be a mid-semester pick-me-up so to speak. I’ve spent a lot of time lately counting down the minutes until our Thanksgiving break — more importantly, when we’re completely finished with the fall semester — but in the end, I realized I needed a reminder of how great this semester truly is.
Projects, midterms, papers and group projects may surround you, but have you taken a moment to look around campus and notice how beautiful it has been? What about the weather? Have you taken a moment to be thankful for just how wonderful it has felt outside? What about how much you’re growing as an individual through your studies this semester? I don’t know about you, but I want to take it all in for the next eight weeks. I don’t want to forget about how beautiful this time of year is regardless of how crazy life can get.
If you haven’t taken a moment to sit outside and enjoy the beauty, now is the perfect time. Get outside for at least an hour today. Take the time to get away from the daily grind and clear your mind. While you’re at it, start reading our next Bookworm Belle novel: “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen. Whether you’re picking up this book for the first time or rereading it, I want us all to enjoy every minute and escape into the story of love and life under the big top.
This is from the back of the book: “As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.”