Never before has it seemed that school has had such a tight grip on my life as it does this, my junior, year. Going to class is the easy part; it’s the SPSS statistics assignments, the research papers, the term papers, the art projects and all of the other various assignments that are constantly gnawing at the frayed ends of my conscience.
Give me a little bit of your time, and I will explain why wearing shades 24/7 is a wonderful idea that will make it all somehow bearable.
You see, sunglasses have a very basic function, which is of course to shield your eyes from harmful ultra-violet rays. Up the size of the lenses and suddenly you’ve got protection not only from UV rays but also from the wind, in addition to any insects or debris that are hurled into your face as a result. Never again will you have to worry that looking up into the leaves of that huge tree will end with multiple caterpillar stings to the retina.
Going inside and outside multiple times a day can be an even bigger problem. To the average Loyola student, going inside and outside again and again is necessary for hearing lectures and for the completion of coursework. Let this sunlight-fluorescent-sunlight-fluorescent pattern go on too long, and there can be relatively serious health repercussions such as migraines, fatigue, stress and anxiety.
You are even more at risk if the fluorescents are too bright for the activity you are doing, according to clinical studies on the topic. Down in the basement of the Danna Center, I got dozens of headaches that mysteriously disappeared a few minutes after I left. Never more did I have this problem after I began wearing shades as often as possible, since sunglasses block certain light frequencies depending on the color, material and polarization of the lenses.
Going to class with sunglasses on might at first seem to be a rude gesture, but only to those who see them and immediately think “hater-blockers.” To be sure, hater-blockers are a powerful tool to have at one’s disposal; but as with any such powerful tool, it is essential that hater-blockers are only utilized for the purpose of intimidating and ostracizing haters.
Run DMC you are not, at least in a classroom setting.
Around non-haters, you should have a pair of glasses that filters out some light and puts the world in a color that you find visually pleasing, yet allows the rest of the world to still see your eyes. And looks good, don’t forget; that way, it doesn’t matter if you wake up too late to change out of your pajamas before class, you’ll still have an epic pair of shades to help draw attention away from that fact.
Desert your previous convictions about wearing glasses inside, and give this idea a try. You are likely to be surprised at how much of a difference this small change can make in how you feel throughout your day.
To put it simply, I wanted something to help put my life in a different, better perspective in the hopes that the daily grind of classes would become more bearable.
Chad Carlile can be reached at
