Museum-Tours

COVID-19 hasn’t made dating any easier. As people adjusted to a new lifestyle, relationships and in-person dates around the world have been put on pause. Though Valentine’s day will be different this year, many virtual opportunities have arisen to help couples spend time together. A perk of virtual dating is that it is designed to fit a college student’s budget and schedule, since they rarely involve additional costs or travel time.

Tear gas. Colonial theft. Money connected to the opioid addiction crisis. These are not stakes one might typically associate with art museums, but all have been implicated by recent protests at the Guggenheim and Whitney, among other global art institutions.

With finals quickly approaching, most of us are already stressing about the amount of studying and exams we have coming up. However, as human beings, we’re bound to need a break during finals season, even if just for an hour or two each day. To help you think of some easy, fun, and relaxing things to do to get away from the stressful atmosphere that is ever-present on campus during finals seasons, here are eight study break ideas.

Two years ago, I took a weekend trip to New York City with my mom and my sister to check out a few schools. We spent our days shopping, touring colleges, and hitting all of the tourist spots. One morning after visiting New York University, my mom dragged me to the college bookstore to look at apparel. It was a beautiful, sunny day and I wanted to go out and explore my favorite city—anything outside instead of hiding in a store. Despite my reluctance, my mom insisted on looking around, so to kill time, I conceded to her wishes and decided to browse the books. But when I walked through the store, I found so much more. There were socks, bracelets, bags, hats, and even rain ponchos. I eventually stumbled upon a sports bra in the women’s clothing section. Regrettably, I had neglected to pack a sports bra on that trip, so I decided to buy it. It wasn’t what I had in mind for a new bra, bright purple with an “NYU” logo plastered on the front, but it fit the bill.

It’s 9:15 a.m. on a typical Friday morning last year, and my alarm is going off. I roll over, hit snooze, and then rub my eyes. They feel puffy. I was up until 3 a.m. working on a CC paper the night before, and my throat feels like it’s on fire—hopefully it’s not strep this time.

Let me guess: You’re drowning in papers and midterms. The good news is that midterm season also means that spring break is right around the corner. Whether you are going home, vacationing somewhere tropical, or staying in New York City, Spectrum’s got you covered and will help you be the best “Spring Breakers” you can possibly be.

To the newly admitted Columbia University Class of 2021: You did it. After years of hard work, you logged on to the Columbia admissions portal, fingers shaking, heart beating a million miles a minute, saw the word, “Congratulations,” and proceeded to lose your mind because, wow, you were one of the 5.8 percent of applicants admitted to this fall’s first-year class. It’s a huge accomplishment.

When "Breaking Bad" creator Vince Gilligan first pitched the Emmy-winning series to TV executives, he described it as "the story about a man who transforms himself from Mr. Chips into Scarface." A new exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image picks up on Gilligan's cue by tracing the character development of the show's antihero, Walter White, from family man and high school chemistry teacher to methamphetamine kingpin. Packing costumes, props, and clips from the AMC drama into a small space, "From Mr. Chips to Scarface: Walter White's Transformation in Breaking Bad" explores the complex role that earned Bryan Cranston three consecutive Emmys for Best Actor.

I walked through the doors of the Met Breuer, the new contemporary outpost of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, expecting to see works of modern art lining the walls. But what I saw instead was the 500-year-old The Flaying of Marsyas by Titian. It is a powerful, dark, frenzied painting of a gruesome scene: Beasts and humans take pleasure in the slow and painful tearing of human flesh. The figures gather around the satyr Marsyas, skinning him alive for arrogantly challenging Apollo to a contest of music.

You're waiting to hear back, visiting colleges that may reject you, hoping your mid-year report was good enough, and listening to teachers tell you that your grades are just as important second semester as they were first.