The Columbia Tree Lighting Ceremony provides a welcome moment of respite amid the chaos of the end of the semester. If you’re tempted to take a break from Butler, here are some ways to make the most of this year’s edition of this tradition, whether it’s your first or your fourth.

Sure, Thanksgiving is technically about expressing gratitude, but let’s be honest: the holiday is mostly about the food—and it doesn’t have to come in the form of a fancy home-cooked meal. If you’re staying in the city and spending the holiday with your Barnumbia family, we have a few ideas for your traditional Thanksgiving meal.

The rise and fall of the football team, an alarming number of white supremacist speakers on campus, and an episode of Law & Order at 1020: It’s fair to say that the fall of 2017 has been… eventful. If you’re planning on taking it easy in the spring and signing up for the absolute barest amount of credits, Spectrum is here to help you out. We scoured the labyrinth that is the Columbia course catalog and curated some one-credit gems to bump up your 11 credits to a dazzling 12. All of the courses we present to you:

Yeah, we get it—it’s midterm season. You have two exams, three papers, a presentation, an interview, and an existential crisis. Because of all those excuses, you probably took the easy way out and dressed up like a cat or bought a Trump mask. Don’t do that for the actual Halloween (or All Hallows’ Eve, whatever floats your boat) on Tuesday.