We may not have our lives together, but we have lots of opinions on yours.

Question: How do you survive a boring class?

Olivia’s advice: First, accept the truth some classes feel like time is moving in slow motion on purpose. Once you’ve made peace with that, survival becomes possible. Take notes in ways that keep you sane, color code, and doodle in the margins. When all else fails, remember: the bell will ring eventually.

Sophia’s advice: Personally, if I’m in a boring class but feel as if I won’t really need the stuff that I’m being taught, I tend to completely zone out and start daydreaming. So something that works for me is drawing. Even if I don’t have a paper, I usually keep Post-It notes with me and draw on them, or I also learned origami which is pretty fun.

Question: What easy, healthy snacks can you make to bring to school so you are not regularly buying snacks from the vending machines and cafeteria?

Olivia’s advice: Okay. This is something I actually have for breakfast a lot; I don’t know if you could necessarily do it at school, but I take an avocado and I mush it up like guacamole and then spread it on a rice cake with everything bagel seasoning. It’s basically just avocado toast but better.

Sophia’s advice: I have the perfect snack for this but it may not work for some because it involves nuts, but my dad makes this trail mix that is so easy. It has almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds (without the shell that you have to spit out), cashews, dried cranberries and dark chocolate chips. This is one of my favorite snacks especially since you can make a lot of it and it will last a while.

Question: How do I cut off the ex that I’m really attached to without hurting his big strong man feelings and let him know that I’m affected enough by him to HAVE to block him since he believes I’m over him and we’re friends?

Olivia’s advice: You don’t need to protect someone’s ego at the expense of your own healing. If staying in contact keeps you stuck then the distance isn’t cruel: it’s necessary. The cleanest way to do this is to be honest without being dramatic, explain you need space because you’re still affected, not because you’re angry or trying to make a point. Blocking isn’t immature its sometimes the only way to actually move on.

Sophia’s advice: If he really affects you in a way that is not beneficial to you, you need to block him. As long as you are honest in a way that isn’t too harsh and explain to him clearly the reasons why you have to block him then he should understand. His ego is not more important than your mental health and it’s important to remember that.

Question: Okay, so, I had a messy situation back when I was a freshman, though now I’m a senior. My best friend at the time (DOESN’T EVEN GO TO THIS SCHOOL ANYMORE) was in a relationship with a mutual friend and they had like a crazy messy breakup that would be too long to explain here. It ended with the guy who was my best friend being kind of mean to me behind my back with them and then running back for advice when they broke up. That other person went on to stop talking to me. Said person still doesn’t like me even all these years later and thinks I have a problem with them when I absolutely do not. I want to smooth things over before the end of the year but I don’t want to come off as desperate and weird, what should I do?

Olivia’s advice: First, wanting peace isn’t desperation, it’s maturity; that said, closure doesn’t require a dramatic heart-to-heart or full rehash of freshman year. If you want to smooth things over, keep it light and low stakes. A brief, calm acknowledgment will show confidence, not neediness.

Sophia’s advice: If you really want to rebuild a relationship with this person then you have to communicate with them. If they aren’t willing to reach out then it’s got to be you who initiates it. Tell them how you feel and how this has pretty much been a huge misunderstanding. You won’t come off as desperate if you just tell them clearly.

Question: What should I do if I wanna tell a guy I’ve never really spoken to that I think he’s cute??

Olivia’s advice: Keep it simple, a casual compliment like, “Hey, this is random but I think you’re cute” does the job without making it awkward. Confidence reads as attractive, even if you’re nervous, and clarity beats overthinking every time. Worst case? He’s flattered. Best case? You start a conversation that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

Sophia’s advice: I would definitely try to get to know him first, I think building a relationship with this person would be important before telling him you think he’s cute because that could be kinda awkward. However, telling him you think he’s cute could be a possible conversation starter, it all really depends on your confidence and how you feel about approaching him.