"You've got to know when to hold 'em/Know when to fold 'em"

Well, classes just finished up today for the winter term: all I have left now are exams, which will not be fun. However, it looks like my summer plans are starting to fall into place. I've found a house to rent for next year (with some friends), and it looks like I may be able to just rent the basement suite there for the next couple months, so I can stay here and take the spring courses I want/need. If that doesn't work out, I'll probably be able to sublet a place from one of my other friends, seeing as there's a ton of people renting houses but going away for the summer. I didn't wind up getting the job at the Journal, but it looks like I may still be able to contribute to it next year. My spring courses will finish mid-June, and I'm hoping to go to England for a week or two after that to visit a friend: after that, the plan is (at this moment in time) to return to B.C. and live with my parents for the remainder of the summer, if it looks like I'll be able to get a decent job back there. I'm playing in a pickup soccer tournament this weekend, so that should be fun as well: first time I've really played soccer competitively since the school team last year. Anyways, that's about it for news at the moment. Now, here's something that randomly crossed my mind earlier today: a reworked version of the classic Kenny Rogers song "The Gambler" from which this post's title is extrapolated, designed for university students (especially those of you, who, like me, enjoy a good game of poker every once in a while). Note: this is entirely fictional, and did not happen to me; it's also a bit long, but whatever.You can find the original lyrics at www.letssingit.com.

On a warm September evening,
A bus bound for campus,
I met up with a grad student
We were both too tired to sleep

So we took our turns staring
Out the window at the highway
The boredom overtook us
And he began to speak

He said, "Son, I've spent my life
Reading professors' faces
Learning how to pass classes
And learning to survive

So if you don't mind me saying
I can tell you'll need some aces
If you give me your Cheetos bag,
I'll give you some advice."

So I handed him my Cheetos
He ate up every morsel
Then he reached up towards the ceiling
Flicked on his reading light
The trip got awfully quiet
And his face lost its expression
He said, "If you're going to go to Queen's, boy,
You've got to learn to do it right.

You've got to know the classes to hold
Know the courses to fold
Know when to walk to class
Know when to run
Never calculate your average
When you're sitting in a lecture
There'll be time enough for GPA's
When exams are done.

Now every student knows
The secret to survival
Is knowing the classes to throw away
Knowing the ones to keep
Cause each class can be a winner
Or each class could be a loser
And the only way you'll pass them all
Is if you give up on sleep."

So, when he'd finished speaking
He turned back towards the window
Flicked off his reading light, and drifted off to sleep
And somewhere in the darkness
His thesis got completed
But in the words he spoke to me
I found some tips to keep.

You've got to know the classes to hold
Know the courses to fold
Know when to walk to class
Know when to run
Never calculate your average
When you're sitting in a lecture
There'll be time enough for GPA's
When exams are done.