OLIN LIBRARY—Every day, hundreds of students hunker down in the Olin stacks, growing increasingly discouraged as their study sessions drag on. Etched into the Olin desks, however, are the few things that keep struggling students going: motivational messages meant to inspire. Such messages show students that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, someone out there who understands what they’re going through, and, oops, someone else who just fucked it all up by etching a giant penis underneath it.
While studying for her chemistry prelim, Karina Walton ‘29 noticed something wrong with the message intended to encourage her. Instead of punctuating with an exclamation point, it ended with a tip, then a shaft, and then the balls.
“It was nice to feel like someone cared,” Walton said, “and then I saw it.”
Walton isn’t alone, however. Other students have reported similar instances in which brief moments of deep pontification about their future were redirected to thinking about cock instead.
“I remember being lost in thought about the sustainability of my study habits, when suddenly all I could think about was penis,” recalled Henry Silva ‘27. “I never did finish my homework that night.”
The conflict between the motivators and dick-drawers has evolved into a sort of arms race, in which both factions vie for supremacy over Olin desks. Instead of the usual “You Got This! <3”, motivational messages have expanded to include links to silly monkey videos and excerpts from “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life.” The penis artists, for their part, have adopted art with more intricate designs, such as vaginas.
