Each issue of Verbatim, there will be an article dedicated to giving advice on a student to student basis. This advice column is lovingly referred to as “Dear Susie” to keep anonymity among the Verbatim staff. Sending in questions is encouraged to help connect the BT community and to make Verbatim as relevant as possible to the student body. Questions can vary from academic dilemmas to personal (but appropriate) affairs. Feel free to send in topics through our instagram @btverbatim! Names will not be included in the articles and the Verbatim team will do our best to protect the privacy of those who send in questions. 

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Dear Susie, 

It’s the first day of fall, and already I’m overcome with the omnipresent flavoring of pumpkin spice in every brownie, bread, bagel, biscotti, and beverage they can cram it into. All of my friends are unfailingly awash in pumpkin aroma around the clock, no matter if they’ve just come from home, school, Starbucks, or the vet. They’ve even come for the Oreos! What can I do for the next three months to avoid having pumpkin pumped into every piece of food I eat?

Yours truly,

Malevolently Unloving Myriad Pumpkin Spice

Dear MUMPS,

You’re not wrong—pumpkin flavoring has become a scourge on our civilization. The best you can do is spread the word that, just because the weather has turned a little cooler, there’s no reason to make every bit of sustenance under God’s green earth taste like pumpkin pie. It’s just not natural. So be true to yourself: drink your coffee-flavored coffee and eat your bread-flavored bread, never giving in to the hegemony of the powerful pumpkin lobby that demands total control over our tastebuds from September to December. Hope that helps! 

 xoxo, 

Susie