The last few days at Vassar have reached the mid 90's, and I think everyone's main concern is keeping cool. I changed rooms over the weekend due to the sweltering conditions of my previous room and now I'm living somewhere cooler. But by cooler, I mean "less ridiculously hot," so, as you can imagine, it's still pretty bad on really hot days. Rowan, the rat I'm taking care of, has been acting a little less rambunctious lately, which is probably due to the heat. Last night I gave him a pep talk, telling him to "hang in there, little dude" so that he doesn't die of heat stroke before my friend comes back to take him off of my hands. Hopefully he'll wait to die until at least soon after the exchange. She gave me three things to take care of over the summer-a rat and two plants-and I already managed to kill her African Violet due to poor treatment. Ooops.
One of my favorite things to do at Vassar during the summer is go to the gym. While the hours aren't exactly regular (during the year the gym closes at 11 and during the summer it closes at 8), it's one of the few things that is still open when I leave work as well as one of the better air-conditioned. This makes it a good place to hide on 90+ days. In my view, while there are many different types of people on the Vassar campus, most people fall into one of three categories: regular gym-goers, reluctant gym-goers, and the exercise apathetic. I would consider myself to be a regular gym-goer, and sure, some of my friends think I'm crazy, but I grew up reading health magazines and I know what's best for my body and mind-primarily, air conditioning, and, coming in a close second, exercise.
When I'm at the gym, I feel like I'm at peace. I can chill out in the air, read a magazine and listen to my iPod while completely zoning out on the bike or the treadmill. It's probably the only part of the semester when I don't think about anything. And the weather conditions of the gym never let me down. During the winter, it's a great place to get some extra light and heat up, but during the summer it's a nice place to hide from direct sunlight and cool down.
It's also a pretty social environment. I like to watch the guys show off as they pump iron (what can I say... it's pretty funny) and roll my eyes in the direction of the free weights. There is one guy I call "arms guy" who I've seen curling 75 pounds on each arm, which is approximately 2/3 of my total body weight. Now come on, that's over kill. Any guy who could easily curl my body weight is a threat to my very existence.
I picked out a senior apartment that was one of the closest to the gym completely conscious of the fact that I have to write a senior thesis this year. That way if I don't feel like writing my thesis, I can easily go work out instead because that's also productive. And although I haven't started my thesis yet, I know that eventually it will get done, as most things around here do. Just very slowly and very painfully, which will most definitely require plenty of gym breaks.
I was a varsity swimmer all throughout high school and when I came to college I was certain that I would be joining the swim team. How could I not? And then I experienced the first practice. It wasn't necessarily hard, but it was time-consuming and I didn't think that my focus on academics would allow me time for two hour practices every day as well as dry-land training. Many Vassar students are able to balance both academics and team sports, but it wasn't for me. In order to have time for both I would have had to make other sacrifices, such as time for friends or campus events. But it's not like I can't swim on my own. I don't really like competitive sports as much as just good old exercise anyways. Although I did find that I was waaaay too competitive for intramural softball.
Intramurals are a good way to get involved with sports without worrying about setting aside time for them. My intramural softball team rarely practiced. We were also terrible (which caused me to have fits on the field, not gonna lie....) but it could have potentially been fun if I had been less competitive. The problem came when I found out I was the only player with any real experience because I had played softball in high school and was disappointed (or, perhaps, disgusted) with the abilities of some of my other teammates. I won't mention any names, they know who they are.
I've also taken ballroom dance lessons here. You don't need a partner, although it's a good idea to have one. And you can't beat the price at $30 for 10 lessons. Rumor has it that the ballroom instructor is forming a ballroom dance club for next year, but I'll get back to you on that one.
But even if you are not into sports, the gym makes a good place to have fun. My friends and I sometimes go and play "HORSE" on the basketball court, while watching everyone else make fantastic lay-ups and give us stares for being so lame. But that doesn't necessarily mean we pay attention. Tennis rackets and cross-country skis are also rentable from the gym, which make a nice change of pace from the treadmill.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Lab Rats
Something new that I've been doing this summer is helping out the psychology department. And by helping I don't mean volunteering- I'm not that nice.
Over the summer, a program called URSI invites students to stay over the summer and help conduct research with faculty members in the realms of science and math, which are pretty much foreign to me. Of course, you have to apply for these positions. But whoever is running the research is not really of my concern-what I really care about are the research experiments!
During the year, most experimenters can find students to use as test subjects. Psychology professors have the students in their classes participate in at least two studies for credit. The experiments are always unusual, and some of them involve wearing electrodes on your head. One time I had to wear a cap with electrodes in it while the experiment conductor massaged gel into my hair. Then I watched pictures of my brain on a computer. It was pretty uncomfortable, but it was my friend's experiment and he needed test subjects so how could I say no? I just hope none of my friends will need test subjects this year.....
Summer is a little different because classes aren't in session and there are fewer students on campus, so finding students who are willing to participate requires a bribe. If I'm not going to leave work in the middle of the day to participate in a psychological experiment unless it's worth my time, then why should anyone else? My point exactly. But these experimenters are good, and they know exactly what will get me to leave my office and participate in their studies.
So what do college students need the most? Money. Yeah, that's right. I don't work for free anymore.
So far this summer, I've managed to participate in three studies, and there may be more coming up. They're usually pretty easy. All you do is look at some graphs or pictures, answer some questionnaires, and then pick up your cash. Currently I'm doing a two weeklong experiment that requires me to carry around a PDA and answer a short questionnaire about my emotions five times a day when the PDA beeps. When I went to pick up the PDA, the experimenter told me not to reveal the specifics of the study, and I'll hold true to my word. However, I always feel that whenever I enter my emotions into the PDA they aren't exactly correct because whenever the PDA starts ringing, I either get angry because I'm busy or surprised because it caught me off guard, which seems like it would slant my answers. To be honest, I personally wouldn't trust students doing these experiments. But that's just me, and it's probably because I'm a sociology major. Either way, the experiment itself is worth $75, and it requires little to no effort.
I always thought about being some sort of science major before I finally decided on sociology. I turned to sociology after I decided I would rather be some sort of writer, and one of my professors said that the best writers always came from the sociology, history, and political science departments. Why be an English major when you can get the same writing experience from something cooler, like sociology? Of course, that’s just my biased view, and I would say that major rivalries contribute to that.
Most students on campus think that their own major is the best, and then they'll make assumptions about the other majors on campus. Between some of my friends and I, we think the "slacker majors" are geography and film. Not that any of us has ever taken a geography or film course, but somehow they managed to get those reputations from us and they stuck. On the other hand, I think anyone who is an astronomy or physics major is a genius. I wonder what people think of my major....
Most of the major departments are campus are pretty closely knit, and there is always some sort of "history department dinner" or "Jewish studies department sponsored talk" going on around campus. The sociology majors made tee-shirts, and I'm sure we aren't the only department to proudly display our choice of major on our clothing. But even though these rivalries seem to exist, it's always fun to take a course in another department aside from your major, and the ability to try out all sorts of departments is what makes Vassar such a great place to get an education. There is no core curriculum at Vassar, so instead of taking a regular English or writing course as a freshman like my friends at other colleges, I took "Vampires, Lunatics, and Cyborgs" in the German studies department with Elliot Schrieber and I had a great time. We even took a field trip to New York City at the end of the semester to see The Nutcracker Ballet.
So far, I've taken courses in 18 different departments at Vassar, including German studies, media studies, philosophy, economics, physics, biology, religion, cognitive science, psychology, sociology, dance, political science, French, self-instructional language (Czech), music, English, anthropology and classics. And next semester I'm planning on taking courses in film, history, and science, technology, and society. When I look back, sometimes I wish I would have completed a double major, but it's great to have basic knowledge in a lot of things. Oh, the value of a liberal arts education! And that's my favorite thing about Vassar.
Over the summer, a program called URSI invites students to stay over the summer and help conduct research with faculty members in the realms of science and math, which are pretty much foreign to me. Of course, you have to apply for these positions. But whoever is running the research is not really of my concern-what I really care about are the research experiments!
During the year, most experimenters can find students to use as test subjects. Psychology professors have the students in their classes participate in at least two studies for credit. The experiments are always unusual, and some of them involve wearing electrodes on your head. One time I had to wear a cap with electrodes in it while the experiment conductor massaged gel into my hair. Then I watched pictures of my brain on a computer. It was pretty uncomfortable, but it was my friend's experiment and he needed test subjects so how could I say no? I just hope none of my friends will need test subjects this year.....
Summer is a little different because classes aren't in session and there are fewer students on campus, so finding students who are willing to participate requires a bribe. If I'm not going to leave work in the middle of the day to participate in a psychological experiment unless it's worth my time, then why should anyone else? My point exactly. But these experimenters are good, and they know exactly what will get me to leave my office and participate in their studies.
So what do college students need the most? Money. Yeah, that's right. I don't work for free anymore.
So far this summer, I've managed to participate in three studies, and there may be more coming up. They're usually pretty easy. All you do is look at some graphs or pictures, answer some questionnaires, and then pick up your cash. Currently I'm doing a two weeklong experiment that requires me to carry around a PDA and answer a short questionnaire about my emotions five times a day when the PDA beeps. When I went to pick up the PDA, the experimenter told me not to reveal the specifics of the study, and I'll hold true to my word. However, I always feel that whenever I enter my emotions into the PDA they aren't exactly correct because whenever the PDA starts ringing, I either get angry because I'm busy or surprised because it caught me off guard, which seems like it would slant my answers. To be honest, I personally wouldn't trust students doing these experiments. But that's just me, and it's probably because I'm a sociology major. Either way, the experiment itself is worth $75, and it requires little to no effort.
I always thought about being some sort of science major before I finally decided on sociology. I turned to sociology after I decided I would rather be some sort of writer, and one of my professors said that the best writers always came from the sociology, history, and political science departments. Why be an English major when you can get the same writing experience from something cooler, like sociology? Of course, that’s just my biased view, and I would say that major rivalries contribute to that.
Most students on campus think that their own major is the best, and then they'll make assumptions about the other majors on campus. Between some of my friends and I, we think the "slacker majors" are geography and film. Not that any of us has ever taken a geography or film course, but somehow they managed to get those reputations from us and they stuck. On the other hand, I think anyone who is an astronomy or physics major is a genius. I wonder what people think of my major....
Most of the major departments are campus are pretty closely knit, and there is always some sort of "history department dinner" or "Jewish studies department sponsored talk" going on around campus. The sociology majors made tee-shirts, and I'm sure we aren't the only department to proudly display our choice of major on our clothing. But even though these rivalries seem to exist, it's always fun to take a course in another department aside from your major, and the ability to try out all sorts of departments is what makes Vassar such a great place to get an education. There is no core curriculum at Vassar, so instead of taking a regular English or writing course as a freshman like my friends at other colleges, I took "Vampires, Lunatics, and Cyborgs" in the German studies department with Elliot Schrieber and I had a great time. We even took a field trip to New York City at the end of the semester to see The Nutcracker Ballet.
So far, I've taken courses in 18 different departments at Vassar, including German studies, media studies, philosophy, economics, physics, biology, religion, cognitive science, psychology, sociology, dance, political science, French, self-instructional language (Czech), music, English, anthropology and classics. And next semester I'm planning on taking courses in film, history, and science, technology, and society. When I look back, sometimes I wish I would have completed a double major, but it's great to have basic knowledge in a lot of things. Oh, the value of a liberal arts education! And that's my favorite thing about Vassar.
Monday, June 18, 2007
The Gnat Attack: Just Another Vassar Bug....
Yesterday was a pretty nice day. I went running with a friend on the cross-country trail behind the Vassar golf course for what seemed like an eternity and then collapsed on the sofa in my room until I could stand again. Then, taking my reading outside, I laid under the giant tree on the library lawn for several hours. Later, I browsed through the Loeb Art Center looking for recent acquisitions, and then wrapped a present to send to my parents (that I'd been thinking about sending for at least the past month). But that night, right as I was getting ready for bed, all hell broke loose. I had discovered a giant swarm of gnats living on my ceiling.
There was nothing I could do and no one I could call. My parents were definitely asleep, and it was doubtful they could give me too much advice on gnats. Pat could have at least made me feel better about the situation but he's currently working as a camp counselor and I have no idea whether I'm allowed to call him. Two of my good friends are currently in England and another had spent the whole day moving to Cincinnati and was probably too tired to care about my stupid bug problem. But who knows what those things eat? There were at least a hundred swarming around above my lamps, attracted to the light. I envisioned them as being from an Alfred Hitchcock movie like The Birds, except this time it was The Gnats. Certain that they would attack me in my sleep, it was time for a plan of action. But what?
For once, Wikipedia actually had little to offer on the subject. Three paragraphs on gnats told me nothing other than that they are related to mosquitoes, and all I know about mosquitoes is that they feed on human flesh. At this point I was not too keen on sleeping with hundreds of them.
I left my room immediately, taking my laptop, and camped out in the hallway to think of a plan, thankful that the Vassar campus is now completely wireless (phew). And while talking to a friend online, it hit me. The gnats were attracted to the light, so if I turned off the light, maybe they would leave my room and invade the well-lit hallway instead. It was worth a try. Gathering up my desk lamp while holding my breath and closing my eyes, I took it into the hallway and plugged it in. The lamp better lit the hallway and left my room pitch black, which was exactly the effect I was going for. I took off the lamp shade, hoping that the eye-blinding white light would lead them out of my room and convince them establish a new home in the fifth floor hallway. I got a pair of sunglasses from my room in hopes of watching the action without going blind.
There had never been a sketchier sight. I was sitting alone in the hallway with my computer, next to a ridiculously bright desk lamp without a shade while wearing a giant pair of black sunglasses. And no one else on my floor had any clue as to what the problem was. No one asked questions. I'm sure that by now the entire fifth floor is convinced that I'm a total creepster, but whatever. It's worth it if it means getting rid of bugs.
In my three whole years at Vassar, I've never had a bug problem before. Not that it's exactly common to have bugs in your room, but we are in the Hudson Valley and things do live here. Lots of pretty things live here, like white tail deer, rabbits, wild turkeys and woodchucks (yesterday alone I saw a fawn, goslings, and baby rabbits and baby woodchucks) and because of that I feel happy about choosing a school with lots of wildlife, but I still can't get over the whole bugs thing.
There is one bug on campus that has been dubbed a "Vassar bug" by most students, faculty, and staff, but they're actually called House Centipedes. Luckily, I've never had a personal run-in with a House Centipede. They seem relatively harmless, but they're probably the creepiest looking insects around here. Whatever you do, don't do a google image search-unless you want to experience real fear.
One of my friends was lucky enough to see a so-called "Vassar bug" crawl into his pants right before he was going to put them on. Since then, he shakes out all of his clothes before wearing them. I've started doing it too.
When I woke up in this morning, the remaining gnats had died all over my clean dishes. It was pretty gross, but I suppose it could have been worse if most of them hadn't left my room. I think Vassar's Building and Grounds service will help me take care of my gnat problem, but before I give them a call I think I'll need to clean my room. It's become kind of an embarrassment. The New York Times did say that the most creative thinkers are the ones with the messiest desks, but I think I've gone overboard on pleading creativity.
There was nothing I could do and no one I could call. My parents were definitely asleep, and it was doubtful they could give me too much advice on gnats. Pat could have at least made me feel better about the situation but he's currently working as a camp counselor and I have no idea whether I'm allowed to call him. Two of my good friends are currently in England and another had spent the whole day moving to Cincinnati and was probably too tired to care about my stupid bug problem. But who knows what those things eat? There were at least a hundred swarming around above my lamps, attracted to the light. I envisioned them as being from an Alfred Hitchcock movie like The Birds, except this time it was The Gnats. Certain that they would attack me in my sleep, it was time for a plan of action. But what?
For once, Wikipedia actually had little to offer on the subject. Three paragraphs on gnats told me nothing other than that they are related to mosquitoes, and all I know about mosquitoes is that they feed on human flesh. At this point I was not too keen on sleeping with hundreds of them.
I left my room immediately, taking my laptop, and camped out in the hallway to think of a plan, thankful that the Vassar campus is now completely wireless (phew). And while talking to a friend online, it hit me. The gnats were attracted to the light, so if I turned off the light, maybe they would leave my room and invade the well-lit hallway instead. It was worth a try. Gathering up my desk lamp while holding my breath and closing my eyes, I took it into the hallway and plugged it in. The lamp better lit the hallway and left my room pitch black, which was exactly the effect I was going for. I took off the lamp shade, hoping that the eye-blinding white light would lead them out of my room and convince them establish a new home in the fifth floor hallway. I got a pair of sunglasses from my room in hopes of watching the action without going blind.
There had never been a sketchier sight. I was sitting alone in the hallway with my computer, next to a ridiculously bright desk lamp without a shade while wearing a giant pair of black sunglasses. And no one else on my floor had any clue as to what the problem was. No one asked questions. I'm sure that by now the entire fifth floor is convinced that I'm a total creepster, but whatever. It's worth it if it means getting rid of bugs.
In my three whole years at Vassar, I've never had a bug problem before. Not that it's exactly common to have bugs in your room, but we are in the Hudson Valley and things do live here. Lots of pretty things live here, like white tail deer, rabbits, wild turkeys and woodchucks (yesterday alone I saw a fawn, goslings, and baby rabbits and baby woodchucks) and because of that I feel happy about choosing a school with lots of wildlife, but I still can't get over the whole bugs thing.
There is one bug on campus that has been dubbed a "Vassar bug" by most students, faculty, and staff, but they're actually called House Centipedes. Luckily, I've never had a personal run-in with a House Centipede. They seem relatively harmless, but they're probably the creepiest looking insects around here. Whatever you do, don't do a google image search-unless you want to experience real fear.
One of my friends was lucky enough to see a so-called "Vassar bug" crawl into his pants right before he was going to put them on. Since then, he shakes out all of his clothes before wearing them. I've started doing it too.
When I woke up in this morning, the remaining gnats had died all over my clean dishes. It was pretty gross, but I suppose it could have been worse if most of them hadn't left my room. I think Vassar's Building and Grounds service will help me take care of my gnat problem, but before I give them a call I think I'll need to clean my room. It's become kind of an embarrassment. The New York Times did say that the most creative thinkers are the ones with the messiest desks, but I think I've gone overboard on pleading creativity.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
And it's Thursday.
This is the time of the week that I tend to start fearing the weekend so I have to prepare my activities ahead of time. I must admit, I have a tendency to be a little..... melodramatic, but I don't want a repeat of what happened last weekend because it wasn't pretty. First of all, I think I talked to my dad on the phone for nearly 2 hours-and that's saying something. I should have known my parents weren't going to give me any answers, but what else was I supposed to do? Play hangman with myself? Hangman is barely fun with another person, let alone without one. I mean, why does someone have to die just because I can't guess the "secret word?"
But, contrary to what you might believe given my blog, the situation has improved and I've been managing to keep myself at least slightly more entertained. At the moment, I'm partway through the 5th Harry Potter book and have been reading it as slowly as possible, to make sure that I'll finish both 5 and 6 before the 7th book comes out while still keeping myself busy when there is nothing better to do. And thankfully, my awesome bosses in the College Relations Department here at Vassar (which is clearly the best department, by the way) have also pulled through in getting me away from the 5th floor of Main, and my friend, Rowan the rat.
On Monday, my boss Julia, who is the editorial director for Vassar, invited me over for some leftovers at her house, and as you may have guessed, I never pass up free food. I'm pretty sure that during dinner I ate at least twice as much as anyone else at the table, and that includes a guy. I think that made it pretty obvious how much I've been slacking off on cooking over here. Currently, I'm trying my best to devise ways to drop hints to my boss that I should become a permanent dinner guest-you know, by tossing out a few phrases like, "Gee. I hope I'll still be able to fit into my clothes in the fall. And I'm not the one who's growing."
One of my other bosses, Martha, invited me to go strawberry picking with her on Tuesday, which turned out to be more entertaining than it may sound. Plus, food is involved, which is an added bonus. And wow, was it delicious. Unfortunately, I don't have a membership to the Vassar Farm so I could only help her pick her strawberries, but hopefully I can convince her to take me more often. It's amazing to recieve fresh strawberries as payment. How could I say no? Going with her to pick strawberries also reminded me of how cool the Vassar farm is, and how unfortunate I was to discover it during my Junior year. The Vassar farm encompases about 500 acres of farm and woodlands, and apparently it has some pretty neat trails because this past year one of my friends was always begging me to check it out. You can read more about it here http://admissions.vassar.edu/visit_tour_farm.html. That will probably be this weekend's activity for me.
Of course, the Vassar staff are not the only charitable people on campus. I've had a lot of friends who were invited to dinner by their professors and had a really great time. None of my professors have done that yet... but maybe I could execute my free food plan on my professors in the fall. That might do the trick. Students also tend to get invited to Trustee dinners, which are often pretty fancy and take place at Vassar's beautiful Alumni House (which is kind of a hotel that's situated next to the Vassar campus). One time I was invited to the Alumni House for a trustee dinner and it turned out that I was invited by mistake. Now, I'm not sure which Trustee it was that had a vendetta for me last spring, but I have yet to forgive whomever it was that revoked my invitation. It was cruel.
At this point, I've probably exhausted my welcome at the Loeb, but maybe I could sneak back in on Thursday before the outdoor film screening. The outdoor film screening is a new program that the Loeb started last week, and I like it because it changes weekly unlike like the traveling exhibits, which gives me a reason to sneak over to the Loeb every week.
Otherwise, I'm always open to invitation. Please?
But, contrary to what you might believe given my blog, the situation has improved and I've been managing to keep myself at least slightly more entertained. At the moment, I'm partway through the 5th Harry Potter book and have been reading it as slowly as possible, to make sure that I'll finish both 5 and 6 before the 7th book comes out while still keeping myself busy when there is nothing better to do. And thankfully, my awesome bosses in the College Relations Department here at Vassar (which is clearly the best department, by the way) have also pulled through in getting me away from the 5th floor of Main, and my friend, Rowan the rat.
On Monday, my boss Julia, who is the editorial director for Vassar, invited me over for some leftovers at her house, and as you may have guessed, I never pass up free food. I'm pretty sure that during dinner I ate at least twice as much as anyone else at the table, and that includes a guy. I think that made it pretty obvious how much I've been slacking off on cooking over here. Currently, I'm trying my best to devise ways to drop hints to my boss that I should become a permanent dinner guest-you know, by tossing out a few phrases like, "Gee. I hope I'll still be able to fit into my clothes in the fall. And I'm not the one who's growing."
One of my other bosses, Martha, invited me to go strawberry picking with her on Tuesday, which turned out to be more entertaining than it may sound. Plus, food is involved, which is an added bonus. And wow, was it delicious. Unfortunately, I don't have a membership to the Vassar Farm so I could only help her pick her strawberries, but hopefully I can convince her to take me more often. It's amazing to recieve fresh strawberries as payment. How could I say no? Going with her to pick strawberries also reminded me of how cool the Vassar farm is, and how unfortunate I was to discover it during my Junior year. The Vassar farm encompases about 500 acres of farm and woodlands, and apparently it has some pretty neat trails because this past year one of my friends was always begging me to check it out. You can read more about it here http://admissions.vassar.edu/visit_tour_farm.html. That will probably be this weekend's activity for me.
Of course, the Vassar staff are not the only charitable people on campus. I've had a lot of friends who were invited to dinner by their professors and had a really great time. None of my professors have done that yet... but maybe I could execute my free food plan on my professors in the fall. That might do the trick. Students also tend to get invited to Trustee dinners, which are often pretty fancy and take place at Vassar's beautiful Alumni House (which is kind of a hotel that's situated next to the Vassar campus). One time I was invited to the Alumni House for a trustee dinner and it turned out that I was invited by mistake. Now, I'm not sure which Trustee it was that had a vendetta for me last spring, but I have yet to forgive whomever it was that revoked my invitation. It was cruel.
At this point, I've probably exhausted my welcome at the Loeb, but maybe I could sneak back in on Thursday before the outdoor film screening. The outdoor film screening is a new program that the Loeb started last week, and I like it because it changes weekly unlike like the traveling exhibits, which gives me a reason to sneak over to the Loeb every week.
Otherwise, I'm always open to invitation. Please?
Monday, June 11, 2007
Catastrophe at The Cubbyhole
This past weekend was officially the second weekend of my summer at Vassar experience-if you can even call it an experience. In fact, it was rather dull to say the least. In order to avoid being a complete loser (I would consider myself somewhere along the middle of the loser spectrum), I decided that I needed to find something to do so that the weekend wouldn't be a complete waste. While brainstorming through a number of bad ideas, I came across an invitation I'd received to a performance by a couple of friends from NYU at the local coffee house called The Cubbyhole. A few minutes walk from campus, I'd been to the Cubbyhole several times with friends during the school year, but I wouldn't call myself a regular. But whenever we did go it was typical to run into someone we knew or at least recognized, which always gave me a good vibe. Thinking that attending the performance sounded like fun (or at least more fun than the previous Friday night), I left campus around 8:30 in order to reserve a seat.
When I got to The Cubbyhole, I was a little surprised. I don't know what I was thinking, but for some reason I had assumed that it would still be a college hangout. Shockingly, I found the place mobbed by high schoolers instead. Feeling a bit out of place, I tried to blend in with the crowd by sketchily reading a sewing magazine in the corner. Perhaps it was my casual clothing style or maybe the poor choice of reading material, but I felt like they knew I didn't belong. Feeling self conscious, I decided I would say hi to my friends before the performance then leave partway through the set. But my friends never came; a tall, skinny teenager in girl's jeans and work boots showed up instead. And as soon as he put the words to his own song on the floor next to him so that he could glace at them, I knew the performance wasn't going to be any good. Frankly, it was pretty bad. I wish I had brought my Harry Potter book instead.
Summer weekends at Vassar are certainly different from normal weekends at Vassar. I kind of feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. Normal weekends at Vassar are usually a lot of fun, and for most students consist of three day weekends due to class placement by professors. Most classes are two 75 minutes periods on either Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays, unless the professor is really mean. As a freshman, most of my classes were three 50 minute periods on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but at this point I haven't had Friday classes in over a year.
Over the weekend at Vassar, there is usually a wealth of things to do. Not to say that my friends and I are too typical (is any Vassar student typical?), but here is a sample of things we like to do:
1. First and foremost, the classic late night diner-run! The Acropolis Diner, located a short walk away from campus, is open 24 hours- meaning I've probably been there at every hour of the day/night. Now come on, what's not fun about french fries at 4am? Okay, maybe the stomach ache you have after waking up the next morning.... but seriously. You have to try it at least once for the novelty of the experience.
2. Vassar College is not exactly comparable to National Lampoon's Animal House, but that doesn't mean we don't party. Parties come in all varieties, from organization specific parties (for example, the bi-annual Campus Patrol Party) to campus wide parties such as "Heaven and Hell." And if your parents ask "What did you do last night?" when you finally stumble out of bed at 2pm, just say you had a late night at the library. College is not about having fun, it's about studying. Sheesh.
3. So maybe my friends and I are just really lame, but sometimes nothing sounds better than just sitting around and chilling out. This may or may not involve video games. Of course, my friends aren't really big into video games so we just play endless rounds of Mario Kart, which is definitely a worthwhile activity.
4. And of course, as Vassar is a liberal arts school, there are always performances. My boyfriend plays in the college orchestra, so I've missed very few performances since we started going out our freshman year. Vassar has everything from Acapella groups to theatre and improv groups to the student run orchestra known as Mahagonney Players Orchestra, which plays music by contemporary composers. And yes, I've been to a lot of their performances too. (And they're usually really good!) There are also clubs such as the Film League that have movie screenings in some of the buildings on campus, and a lot of times they are new releases. It certainly beats paying $10 for a movie off campus. For a complete list of student clubs, check out http://vsa.vassar.edu/index.php/organizations/.
Of course, this weekend I did things more along the lines of sitting around and talking to my rat. Class reunions took place between Friday evening and Sunday morning, but that definitely wasn't as much fun for me as it was for the Alum. Saturday evening I got mauled by the Class of 1957 as they tried to make their way up the stairs of Main Building-really slowly of course. One guy called one of the women who could still walk a "show off," which definitely made me feel pretty uncomfortable being the "young whippersnapper" that I am (or so the old folks might say).
In short, I never would have believed during the year that weekends at Vassar could be so boring. I think it's time for me to get some hobbies.
When I got to The Cubbyhole, I was a little surprised. I don't know what I was thinking, but for some reason I had assumed that it would still be a college hangout. Shockingly, I found the place mobbed by high schoolers instead. Feeling a bit out of place, I tried to blend in with the crowd by sketchily reading a sewing magazine in the corner. Perhaps it was my casual clothing style or maybe the poor choice of reading material, but I felt like they knew I didn't belong. Feeling self conscious, I decided I would say hi to my friends before the performance then leave partway through the set. But my friends never came; a tall, skinny teenager in girl's jeans and work boots showed up instead. And as soon as he put the words to his own song on the floor next to him so that he could glace at them, I knew the performance wasn't going to be any good. Frankly, it was pretty bad. I wish I had brought my Harry Potter book instead.
Summer weekends at Vassar are certainly different from normal weekends at Vassar. I kind of feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. Normal weekends at Vassar are usually a lot of fun, and for most students consist of three day weekends due to class placement by professors. Most classes are two 75 minutes periods on either Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays, unless the professor is really mean. As a freshman, most of my classes were three 50 minute periods on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but at this point I haven't had Friday classes in over a year.
Over the weekend at Vassar, there is usually a wealth of things to do. Not to say that my friends and I are too typical (is any Vassar student typical?), but here is a sample of things we like to do:
1. First and foremost, the classic late night diner-run! The Acropolis Diner, located a short walk away from campus, is open 24 hours- meaning I've probably been there at every hour of the day/night. Now come on, what's not fun about french fries at 4am? Okay, maybe the stomach ache you have after waking up the next morning.... but seriously. You have to try it at least once for the novelty of the experience.
2. Vassar College is not exactly comparable to National Lampoon's Animal House, but that doesn't mean we don't party. Parties come in all varieties, from organization specific parties (for example, the bi-annual Campus Patrol Party) to campus wide parties such as "Heaven and Hell." And if your parents ask "What did you do last night?" when you finally stumble out of bed at 2pm, just say you had a late night at the library. College is not about having fun, it's about studying. Sheesh.
3. So maybe my friends and I are just really lame, but sometimes nothing sounds better than just sitting around and chilling out. This may or may not involve video games. Of course, my friends aren't really big into video games so we just play endless rounds of Mario Kart, which is definitely a worthwhile activity.
4. And of course, as Vassar is a liberal arts school, there are always performances. My boyfriend plays in the college orchestra, so I've missed very few performances since we started going out our freshman year. Vassar has everything from Acapella groups to theatre and improv groups to the student run orchestra known as Mahagonney Players Orchestra, which plays music by contemporary composers. And yes, I've been to a lot of their performances too. (And they're usually really good!) There are also clubs such as the Film League that have movie screenings in some of the buildings on campus, and a lot of times they are new releases. It certainly beats paying $10 for a movie off campus. For a complete list of student clubs, check out http://vsa.vassar.edu/index.php/organizations/.
Of course, this weekend I did things more along the lines of sitting around and talking to my rat. Class reunions took place between Friday evening and Sunday morning, but that definitely wasn't as much fun for me as it was for the Alum. Saturday evening I got mauled by the Class of 1957 as they tried to make their way up the stairs of Main Building-really slowly of course. One guy called one of the women who could still walk a "show off," which definitely made me feel pretty uncomfortable being the "young whippersnapper" that I am (or so the old folks might say).
In short, I never would have believed during the year that weekends at Vassar could be so boring. I think it's time for me to get some hobbies.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Vassar in the Summer, Part 3
As a long time resident of Cushing House, I was crushed when I learned I would have to move to Main Building for the summer. Not that Main is that bad, but I’m lazy and had no desire to switch rooms. While this was my main concern at the time, my concern changed when for some reason my room door locked automatically (which I wasn’t used to as a Cushing resident) and I got locked out of my room wearing nothing but a towel. Quite embarrassed of the situation, I decided my best idea was to walk over to a group of cleaners and explain what had happened. Immediately upon hearing what happened, they started laughing. Feeling sorry for me, one of the cleaners called the ROC (see Vassar in the Summer, Part 1) for the spare key to my room and allowed me to use their lounge for a bit of privacy while I was waiting. While sitting in the cleaner's lounge, it was at that point when I realized just exactly how hot my room was in comparison to the rest of the building. The cleaner's lounge on the fourth floor was comfortable. My room on the fifth floor? Not so much.
As you may have guessed, I don't have many friends. Actually, that was a lie, but seeing as it is summer time, a lot of them have gone home and most of the time I'm on my own, which makes me feel like I don't have many friends. I'm watching a rat over the summer for a friend, and, needless to say, I became pretty good friends with him a while ago. We generally sit around and complain about the temperature of my room together. While the temperature for the day is generally somewhere between 75 and 90, my room temperature seems to hover around 100. You know there's a problem when you start sweating immediately upon entering your room, which happens to me all the time. The other day I even had a dream about buying two more fans to cool my blistering hot room, and I have come to believe the dream was actually a prophecy. How else am I going to survive? I witnessed my current best friend, the rat, try to commit suicide the other day because of the heat. But luckily the short size of his cage decreased the height of what could have been a nasty fall, sparing the life of my friend.
I've been trying to make some more friends (especially friends who have air conditioning), but no luck as of yet. The other day I went on a pilgrimage to find air conditioning, choosing the slightly off-campus cafe known as "Babycakes" as my refuge. Only a short walk from campus, Babycakes serves the most amazing brunch as well as fancy pastries. (I totally recommend it.) But when I arrived at my destination, I found that the usual group of college kids inside had been exchanged for a much... how do I say this... "older" crowd. Upon walking inside, I knew I'd be leaving quickly. Everyone there felt it necessary to stare at me as I approached the "to go" counter and ordered a small cup of coffee. I was probably the first Vassar student they'd seen in days, which apparently put me on the same plane as a space creature. Shunning the idea I'd had of quietly sipping my coffee while reading the Harry Potter book nestled within my bag, I decided it was time for Plan B so that I could avoid their gaze. Feeling eyes upon me while I left, I ditched this older crowd and decided to check out the nearby Poughkeepsie Public Library instead.
Luckily, while I don't really have many friends and possess only a memory of my beautiful, cool room in Cushing (Cushing room 100, to be exact), summer at Vassar isn't actually that bad. In fact, for a nerd like myself, it's actually kind of fun. I'd much rather be here, sitting in the beautiful campus library surrounded by thousands of opportunities for fun reading than going home and suffering through a fast food service job.
As a lot of you may know, the seventh, and last, book of the Harry Potter series is coming out in July. 44 days from today, to be exact. Naturally, I decided that it would only be appropriate to start reading the books for the first time during the Spring, so that by July I'd be all caught up. But while the Vassar library possesses everything from the Bible to Where The Wild Things Are, I was quite surprised to find that all of the Harry Potter books once owned by the library had been stolen! To think that fellow Vassar students were criminals was slightly nerve-wrecking and the idea, "maybe I shouldn't leave my computer unattended in the library..." came to mind (gee, perhaps I should have thought of that sooner?). But fortunately, for those times when a book you'd expect to be in the library isn't there, a wonderful tool know as "NY Connect" searches the libraries of several schools partnered with Vassar and delivers the book you request for free. It's saved my life several times-especially when I was left to wonder what happens to Harry in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
And of course, don't let me forget about my free summer access to Vassar's state of the art gym. While not as large as a gym at your average University, it has all the bells and whistles. In fact, I have been known to spend as much as three hours in Vassar's gym before. Instead of partying with all of my friends last Saturday (which is actually my secret phrase for "not having anything better to do"), I spent a majority of my time weight lifting and swimming. According to Time magazine, which I read while peddling the stationary bike, excercise does make you smarter. Lord knows I could use the extra brain power considering the courseload I'm taking next semester. Don't worry, you'll be ready for it by the time you're a senior (but I'm not sure if I am....).
If the rest of the summer is anything like the past week, I know at least a few things will be true by the end of the summer: I'll be a lot smarter, and in much better shape. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself.
As you may have guessed, I don't have many friends. Actually, that was a lie, but seeing as it is summer time, a lot of them have gone home and most of the time I'm on my own, which makes me feel like I don't have many friends. I'm watching a rat over the summer for a friend, and, needless to say, I became pretty good friends with him a while ago. We generally sit around and complain about the temperature of my room together. While the temperature for the day is generally somewhere between 75 and 90, my room temperature seems to hover around 100. You know there's a problem when you start sweating immediately upon entering your room, which happens to me all the time. The other day I even had a dream about buying two more fans to cool my blistering hot room, and I have come to believe the dream was actually a prophecy. How else am I going to survive? I witnessed my current best friend, the rat, try to commit suicide the other day because of the heat. But luckily the short size of his cage decreased the height of what could have been a nasty fall, sparing the life of my friend.
I've been trying to make some more friends (especially friends who have air conditioning), but no luck as of yet. The other day I went on a pilgrimage to find air conditioning, choosing the slightly off-campus cafe known as "Babycakes" as my refuge. Only a short walk from campus, Babycakes serves the most amazing brunch as well as fancy pastries. (I totally recommend it.) But when I arrived at my destination, I found that the usual group of college kids inside had been exchanged for a much... how do I say this... "older" crowd. Upon walking inside, I knew I'd be leaving quickly. Everyone there felt it necessary to stare at me as I approached the "to go" counter and ordered a small cup of coffee. I was probably the first Vassar student they'd seen in days, which apparently put me on the same plane as a space creature. Shunning the idea I'd had of quietly sipping my coffee while reading the Harry Potter book nestled within my bag, I decided it was time for Plan B so that I could avoid their gaze. Feeling eyes upon me while I left, I ditched this older crowd and decided to check out the nearby Poughkeepsie Public Library instead.
Luckily, while I don't really have many friends and possess only a memory of my beautiful, cool room in Cushing (Cushing room 100, to be exact), summer at Vassar isn't actually that bad. In fact, for a nerd like myself, it's actually kind of fun. I'd much rather be here, sitting in the beautiful campus library surrounded by thousands of opportunities for fun reading than going home and suffering through a fast food service job.
As a lot of you may know, the seventh, and last, book of the Harry Potter series is coming out in July. 44 days from today, to be exact. Naturally, I decided that it would only be appropriate to start reading the books for the first time during the Spring, so that by July I'd be all caught up. But while the Vassar library possesses everything from the Bible to Where The Wild Things Are, I was quite surprised to find that all of the Harry Potter books once owned by the library had been stolen! To think that fellow Vassar students were criminals was slightly nerve-wrecking and the idea, "maybe I shouldn't leave my computer unattended in the library..." came to mind (gee, perhaps I should have thought of that sooner?). But fortunately, for those times when a book you'd expect to be in the library isn't there, a wonderful tool know as "NY Connect" searches the libraries of several schools partnered with Vassar and delivers the book you request for free. It's saved my life several times-especially when I was left to wonder what happens to Harry in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
And of course, don't let me forget about my free summer access to Vassar's state of the art gym. While not as large as a gym at your average University, it has all the bells and whistles. In fact, I have been known to spend as much as three hours in Vassar's gym before. Instead of partying with all of my friends last Saturday (which is actually my secret phrase for "not having anything better to do"), I spent a majority of my time weight lifting and swimming. According to Time magazine, which I read while peddling the stationary bike, excercise does make you smarter. Lord knows I could use the extra brain power considering the courseload I'm taking next semester. Don't worry, you'll be ready for it by the time you're a senior (but I'm not sure if I am....).
If the rest of the summer is anything like the past week, I know at least a few things will be true by the end of the summer: I'll be a lot smarter, and in much better shape. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Vassar In The Summer, Part 2
One of the first questions I asked myself after hearing about my acceptance into summer employment was, How am I going to survive? A month and a half later, I was still asking myself the same question. I have no car, which certainly complicates going to the grocery store, and my room could be likened to a sauna, which makes remaining comfortable close to impossible.
Looking back, it seems a little ridiculous to remember packing my suitcase full of Ramen noodles (typical college food) and thinking that maybe I could live off of those for a while. It seems pretty evident now that I was not taking the idea of survival seriously. The first day I was supposed to be providing for myself, I didn’t know what to do. I couldn't justify spending cash at the dining center (or ACDC, as we like to call it), because even though the food is decent, after three years I've gotten pretty sick of it. I'd had Ramen noodles the night before, and once you've had those, you have to forget what they taste like in order to ever want to eat them again. In a state of panic, I called my parents—which is usually the last thing I want to do if I plan on finding a solution to a problem.
“Why don’t you, uh, go to that Middle Eastern place? That’s pretty affordable,” my dad responded.
Thinking this idea was the best one anyone had come up with, I set off on my bike in search of one of my favorite nearby restaurants, Zorona’s, hoping a $2.99 falafel sandwich might stave off my hunger. Because it was Memorial Day, I found out that Zorona’s was closed, so I tried to think of the most affordable place I could eat, while not looking like a complete creep by eating out alone. Thinking that the only place that might possibly fit this description was the 24-hour, close to campus diner, I walked in and ordered a table for one.
I think the waiter felt bad for me, so he tried to make conversation. Assuming I was a college student, he asked what I was doing over the summer. When I told him I was working student employment and had to cook for myself, he immediately understood. After receiving my Diet Coke, I ordered the cheapest dinner on the menu: the $9.99 “Half a chicken with stuffing,” and helped myself to the salad bar. Within the next ten minutes, not only did the half chicken appear (and yes, it was an actual half!) but so did a basket of rolls, a bowl of tomato and rice soup, a baked potato, and a plate of broccoli. So much for the chicken.
By the time I had finished the bowl of soup, I had absolutely no room left for the chicken or the baked potato, let alone the generous portion of dessert that comes with the meal (I usually get the rice pudding). Leaving these items untouched, I got them to go. Needless to say, I had dinner and dessert for the next three days.
I've been out of my left-overs for nearly a week now, but I'm starting to do what tends to happen whenever I get in trouble-get creative. I would estimate the grocery store to be about a 20 minute walk from campus, but although the area surrounding campus is covered with sidewalks, a car is pretty necessary if you plan on bringing back a bunch of groceries. My solution? Find a friend with a car.
Last Friday my boss let me use her car to go grocery shopping at the end of my shift (out of pity, like usual) and I was finally able to start cooking in the Main Building kitchen. Although it's still pretty scary, it's not too terrible if you provide your own pots and pans, which you can usually find in the free boxes scattered around campus. I've started cooking meals that are easy, such as stir-fries, eggs and toast, chicken, and grilled cheese sandwiches, and might try some harder dishes once I improve my skills. Plus the grocery store has instant Indian dishes for those times when I feel really lazy; my parents are sending me a package of them. At this point, I think I'll survive the kitchen. Now it's time to fight the ever-rising temperature of my room.
Looking back, it seems a little ridiculous to remember packing my suitcase full of Ramen noodles (typical college food) and thinking that maybe I could live off of those for a while. It seems pretty evident now that I was not taking the idea of survival seriously. The first day I was supposed to be providing for myself, I didn’t know what to do. I couldn't justify spending cash at the dining center (or ACDC, as we like to call it), because even though the food is decent, after three years I've gotten pretty sick of it. I'd had Ramen noodles the night before, and once you've had those, you have to forget what they taste like in order to ever want to eat them again. In a state of panic, I called my parents—which is usually the last thing I want to do if I plan on finding a solution to a problem.
“Why don’t you, uh, go to that Middle Eastern place? That’s pretty affordable,” my dad responded.
Thinking this idea was the best one anyone had come up with, I set off on my bike in search of one of my favorite nearby restaurants, Zorona’s, hoping a $2.99 falafel sandwich might stave off my hunger. Because it was Memorial Day, I found out that Zorona’s was closed, so I tried to think of the most affordable place I could eat, while not looking like a complete creep by eating out alone. Thinking that the only place that might possibly fit this description was the 24-hour, close to campus diner, I walked in and ordered a table for one.
I think the waiter felt bad for me, so he tried to make conversation. Assuming I was a college student, he asked what I was doing over the summer. When I told him I was working student employment and had to cook for myself, he immediately understood. After receiving my Diet Coke, I ordered the cheapest dinner on the menu: the $9.99 “Half a chicken with stuffing,” and helped myself to the salad bar. Within the next ten minutes, not only did the half chicken appear (and yes, it was an actual half!) but so did a basket of rolls, a bowl of tomato and rice soup, a baked potato, and a plate of broccoli. So much for the chicken.
By the time I had finished the bowl of soup, I had absolutely no room left for the chicken or the baked potato, let alone the generous portion of dessert that comes with the meal (I usually get the rice pudding). Leaving these items untouched, I got them to go. Needless to say, I had dinner and dessert for the next three days.
I've been out of my left-overs for nearly a week now, but I'm starting to do what tends to happen whenever I get in trouble-get creative. I would estimate the grocery store to be about a 20 minute walk from campus, but although the area surrounding campus is covered with sidewalks, a car is pretty necessary if you plan on bringing back a bunch of groceries. My solution? Find a friend with a car.
Last Friday my boss let me use her car to go grocery shopping at the end of my shift (out of pity, like usual) and I was finally able to start cooking in the Main Building kitchen. Although it's still pretty scary, it's not too terrible if you provide your own pots and pans, which you can usually find in the free boxes scattered around campus. I've started cooking meals that are easy, such as stir-fries, eggs and toast, chicken, and grilled cheese sandwiches, and might try some harder dishes once I improve my skills. Plus the grocery store has instant Indian dishes for those times when I feel really lazy; my parents are sending me a package of them. At this point, I think I'll survive the kitchen. Now it's time to fight the ever-rising temperature of my room.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Vassar In The Summer, Part 1
Last summer I worked three jobs. One was a full time job where I spent 40 hours per week between 3:30 in the morning till 11:30 in the morning serving airport coffee. Huge mistake. Nothing complains more than a bunch of people stressed out about making an early morning flight. My second job was interning part time for an NBC television station. While this job was more interesting, it took place directly after my coffee job, between 1:00pm and 6:00pm several times a week. I usually changed clothes in my car because it took approximately an hour to eat lunch then drive north to the station. My other job was freelancing for a newspaper in Canton, which didn't last too long. But between my other two jobs I ended up with a bad case of insomnia and a caffeine addiction. Never ever ever drink energy drinks. Ever.
After that summer, Vassar summer employment sounded like heaven. All jobs offered a salary of at least $8.00 an hour, which was much better than anything I would find in Ohio, and had regular working hours (none of that 3:30am stuff). The only conditions were that I would find my own housing (which I'll explain) and cook my own meals. Pretty certain that my family was in the economic bracket to qualify (with high-end financial aid and international students preferred), I signed up for one of the approximately 60 summer jobs offered by student employment. After what seemed to be a rigorous evaluation, I was finally accepted to work for the Infant Toddler Center. "Wait a second...." I thought to myself, "Me? Small children?! Yeah right. I can barely take care of myself, let alone a bunch of small children." After a fit of horrified laughter, I went to the Student Employment office to get the situation sorted out. Trusting me at the Infant Toddler Center was a big mistake on their part, which eventually landed me into my regular job of working for Vassar College Relations. After handling a summer full of insomnia and caffeine addiction, I was sure I could handle summer at Vassar, but having never experienced it before I wasn't sure what to expect.
Summer employment requires that students sign up for summer housing at the college, unless students opt to live off-campus, which I didn't. Campus housing goes for a fee of $5 per day, which is very reasonable considering the cost of off-campus housing, which is likely to be a couple hundred dollars per month. All students who sign up for summer housing live in the same dorm/senior housing option, which changes depending on the dorm that is currently under renovation. As a three year Cushing resident, I was devastated when I heard I would have to move into Main. And not just Main, but the fifth floor! Not only would I be living on the fifth floor, but the Main elevator was broken. How would I move all of my stuff?! At this point, it seemed like the world was coming to an end. I definitely needed help.
For five days, my boyfriend and I used his car to move my things to Main, then moved them by hand to the South wing elevator, then up to a third floor transition room that was provided by one of my friends. One thing about Main is that it hosts a large number of suites-a group a single rooms (2,3, or 4) branching off of a large common room where several students can live together. Students have the opportunity to live in the suites their sophomore, junior, and senior years and choose their suitemates. As far as I know, being a Cushing resident, this option is pretty popular. The transition room that I used was the common room of one of my friend's suites. It was a good size to fit all of my stuff, but after moving everything, I started to wonder how all of that stuff would fit into a single. But at that point, that was the least of my worries. I still had two floors left to go.
Here was the plan: After they left, I would everything by myself up the stairs to the fifth floor common room (my list included two refrigerators, two floor lamps, a television, a couch with a fold out bed, a desk chair, a bowl chair, and two desk lamps), and then wait until I was allowed to move into my new housing assignment-a painstaking process to say the least.
The night before my friend was supposed to move out of housing, I had to move my stuff to the fifth floor. I moved approximately 80% of my things within a 6 hour period, only taking a break to eat dinner, leaving them in the fifth floor common room until I would be allowed to move into my actual room the next afternoon. I put signs on them telling everyone "DO NOT TOUCH!!!" because after taking so long to get them up there, I would have had a fit if they'd miraculously disappeared. The last few things I had to carry were extremely heavy, so I decided to wait to move them until my strength returned to me the next day.
When I woke up and was ready to move again, I dragged the heaviest boxes into the hallway and contemplated how exactly a small person such as myself would be able to move them upstairs. Within a couple minutes, a few beefy looking guys came up to me and asked if I needed anything moved. I was really confused. It seemed to me that Vassar had actually hired guys to move stuff for the students in lieu of an elevator. I asked the men, "Are you the new Main elevator?" They replied, "No, we're movers." They obviously didn't get my joke. But it didn't matter, because within no time my stuff was on the fifth floor. Thank god for the new Vassar elevator.
Even though I've been going to Vassar for three years, I still feel like there are a lot of things I don't know about. For example, who knew I could rent a dolly from the Residential Operations Center in order to move my refrigerators? Apparently everyone else did. The Residential Operations Center, otherwise known as the "ROC," is located in an office in Josselyn House, which as you may know is a dorm. The ROC houses all of the keys to the dorm rooms (and their spares) on campus, and as I found out after the painstaking process of moving my stuff, moving supplies. Unfortunately, I figured this out after it took me five days to move all of my things into Main, but at least someone will be learning from my mistakes.
As you can tell, I tend to do things the hard way. Now that the nightmare is over for me, I could probably write a book on the correct way to move stuff to the fifth floor of Main (minus the mistakes that I made). But this was only one part of my summer employment ordeal-just wait until I get to food!
After that summer, Vassar summer employment sounded like heaven. All jobs offered a salary of at least $8.00 an hour, which was much better than anything I would find in Ohio, and had regular working hours (none of that 3:30am stuff). The only conditions were that I would find my own housing (which I'll explain) and cook my own meals. Pretty certain that my family was in the economic bracket to qualify (with high-end financial aid and international students preferred), I signed up for one of the approximately 60 summer jobs offered by student employment. After what seemed to be a rigorous evaluation, I was finally accepted to work for the Infant Toddler Center. "Wait a second...." I thought to myself, "Me? Small children?! Yeah right. I can barely take care of myself, let alone a bunch of small children." After a fit of horrified laughter, I went to the Student Employment office to get the situation sorted out. Trusting me at the Infant Toddler Center was a big mistake on their part, which eventually landed me into my regular job of working for Vassar College Relations. After handling a summer full of insomnia and caffeine addiction, I was sure I could handle summer at Vassar, but having never experienced it before I wasn't sure what to expect.
Summer employment requires that students sign up for summer housing at the college, unless students opt to live off-campus, which I didn't. Campus housing goes for a fee of $5 per day, which is very reasonable considering the cost of off-campus housing, which is likely to be a couple hundred dollars per month. All students who sign up for summer housing live in the same dorm/senior housing option, which changes depending on the dorm that is currently under renovation. As a three year Cushing resident, I was devastated when I heard I would have to move into Main. And not just Main, but the fifth floor! Not only would I be living on the fifth floor, but the Main elevator was broken. How would I move all of my stuff?! At this point, it seemed like the world was coming to an end. I definitely needed help.
For five days, my boyfriend and I used his car to move my things to Main, then moved them by hand to the South wing elevator, then up to a third floor transition room that was provided by one of my friends. One thing about Main is that it hosts a large number of suites-a group a single rooms (2,3, or 4) branching off of a large common room where several students can live together. Students have the opportunity to live in the suites their sophomore, junior, and senior years and choose their suitemates. As far as I know, being a Cushing resident, this option is pretty popular. The transition room that I used was the common room of one of my friend's suites. It was a good size to fit all of my stuff, but after moving everything, I started to wonder how all of that stuff would fit into a single. But at that point, that was the least of my worries. I still had two floors left to go.
Here was the plan: After they left, I would everything by myself up the stairs to the fifth floor common room (my list included two refrigerators, two floor lamps, a television, a couch with a fold out bed, a desk chair, a bowl chair, and two desk lamps), and then wait until I was allowed to move into my new housing assignment-a painstaking process to say the least.
The night before my friend was supposed to move out of housing, I had to move my stuff to the fifth floor. I moved approximately 80% of my things within a 6 hour period, only taking a break to eat dinner, leaving them in the fifth floor common room until I would be allowed to move into my actual room the next afternoon. I put signs on them telling everyone "DO NOT TOUCH!!!" because after taking so long to get them up there, I would have had a fit if they'd miraculously disappeared. The last few things I had to carry were extremely heavy, so I decided to wait to move them until my strength returned to me the next day.
When I woke up and was ready to move again, I dragged the heaviest boxes into the hallway and contemplated how exactly a small person such as myself would be able to move them upstairs. Within a couple minutes, a few beefy looking guys came up to me and asked if I needed anything moved. I was really confused. It seemed to me that Vassar had actually hired guys to move stuff for the students in lieu of an elevator. I asked the men, "Are you the new Main elevator?" They replied, "No, we're movers." They obviously didn't get my joke. But it didn't matter, because within no time my stuff was on the fifth floor. Thank god for the new Vassar elevator.
Even though I've been going to Vassar for three years, I still feel like there are a lot of things I don't know about. For example, who knew I could rent a dolly from the Residential Operations Center in order to move my refrigerators? Apparently everyone else did. The Residential Operations Center, otherwise known as the "ROC," is located in an office in Josselyn House, which as you may know is a dorm. The ROC houses all of the keys to the dorm rooms (and their spares) on campus, and as I found out after the painstaking process of moving my stuff, moving supplies. Unfortunately, I figured this out after it took me five days to move all of my things into Main, but at least someone will be learning from my mistakes.
As you can tell, I tend to do things the hard way. Now that the nightmare is over for me, I could probably write a book on the correct way to move stuff to the fifth floor of Main (minus the mistakes that I made). But this was only one part of my summer employment ordeal-just wait until I get to food!
Friday, June 1, 2007
Late Night At The Loeb
So now that I’m fending for myself, I look for free food at any chance that I get. Not that I wouldn’t do that anyways. But now is especially important because I’m not on the meal plan and I kind of plan on surviving this summer so that someday I might be able to graduate. I should have started cooking for myself last week, but so far I’ve been living on take out leftovers, snacks, and free Retreat points from a friend who left for England after finals, and I plan to keep it like that for as long as possible. Just in case you didn’t know, the kitchen in Main is pretty gross and I’m trying to avoid it. It has a weird smell and I’m afraid to touch most of the appliances inside. Now Jewett, on the other hand, has a very nice kitchen. But when it’s 90+ degrees outside I just don’t feel inspired to walk halfway across campus to cook.
I spent all day Thursday getting physically and mentally prepared to cook for myself. As surprising as it seems, thinking about cooking is probably the most stressful part of my day. Just thinking about the filth that resides within the kitchen and the possibility that it may contaminate my food grosses me out. But what else am I going to do? It’s not like I have a car.
But then, I realized it was Thursday! And what is so exciting about Thursday? Thursday is a new program sponsored by the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center on campus called “Late Night At the Loeb,” and it advertises the synthesis of food, wine, art, and entertainment at the art center—otherwise known as a free meal.
I would consider the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center to be on the better end of the spectrum as far as campus art museums go. When I was a Freshman, Vassar actually amazed me with the kinds of exhibits offered. It has a vast collection of ancient Greek and Roman artifacts, which we examined in my History of the Ancient Roman course. We also have a mummy (it’s quite fitting that it resides in the basement) as well as the usual paintings (including some by Pablo Picasso and Georgia O’Keefe) and Matthew Vassar’s personal collection of landscapes. It also features traveling collections that change every couple of months. This month’s collection sparked my interest because it combined the sociological phenomenon of “Utopia” with photography, creating the exhibit “Utopian Mirage.” So around 5 o’ clock, after getting out of work, I headed to Late Night at the Loeb. The photography was quite incredible, featuring snapshots of suburbia, hippies, migrant workers, deforestation, and the decline of resort towns; pretty much anything that creates the artificial fantasy of “Utopia,” according to the artists. But while I found the collection very unique and interesting, we all know that the main reason people go to the Loeb on Thursdays as opposed to any other day of the week is for the free food and wine. That’s why I went.
I met another student there and asked why he had gone. “For dinner,” he replied. The food selection featured hummus, a collection of cheeses, bread and crackers, and a nice sampler of desserts such as lemon pie, brownies, and chocolate chip cookies. There was also sparkling water and red and white wines being served by a bartender for the caterers who had supplied the event with food. There was even a one-man band providing Jazz entertainment. Why wouldn’t you go to the Loeb on Thursday night?
One time I did go to the Loeb to see another famous collection of etchings by Rembrandt, which were pretty fantastic. But now that I think about, I’m pretty sure that was also a night where the Loeb provided free food…. Of course, that always makes the collection much more enjoyable.
Now don’t get me wrong—it’s not that I don’t enjoy artwork and only go when I can score a free meal. I’d like to think of it instead as taking advantage of all the Loeb has to offer. And if that means free food to go with my artwork, I’m totally there.
I spent all day Thursday getting physically and mentally prepared to cook for myself. As surprising as it seems, thinking about cooking is probably the most stressful part of my day. Just thinking about the filth that resides within the kitchen and the possibility that it may contaminate my food grosses me out. But what else am I going to do? It’s not like I have a car.
But then, I realized it was Thursday! And what is so exciting about Thursday? Thursday is a new program sponsored by the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center on campus called “Late Night At the Loeb,” and it advertises the synthesis of food, wine, art, and entertainment at the art center—otherwise known as a free meal.
I would consider the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center to be on the better end of the spectrum as far as campus art museums go. When I was a Freshman, Vassar actually amazed me with the kinds of exhibits offered. It has a vast collection of ancient Greek and Roman artifacts, which we examined in my History of the Ancient Roman course. We also have a mummy (it’s quite fitting that it resides in the basement) as well as the usual paintings (including some by Pablo Picasso and Georgia O’Keefe) and Matthew Vassar’s personal collection of landscapes. It also features traveling collections that change every couple of months. This month’s collection sparked my interest because it combined the sociological phenomenon of “Utopia” with photography, creating the exhibit “Utopian Mirage.” So around 5 o’ clock, after getting out of work, I headed to Late Night at the Loeb. The photography was quite incredible, featuring snapshots of suburbia, hippies, migrant workers, deforestation, and the decline of resort towns; pretty much anything that creates the artificial fantasy of “Utopia,” according to the artists. But while I found the collection very unique and interesting, we all know that the main reason people go to the Loeb on Thursdays as opposed to any other day of the week is for the free food and wine. That’s why I went.
I met another student there and asked why he had gone. “For dinner,” he replied. The food selection featured hummus, a collection of cheeses, bread and crackers, and a nice sampler of desserts such as lemon pie, brownies, and chocolate chip cookies. There was also sparkling water and red and white wines being served by a bartender for the caterers who had supplied the event with food. There was even a one-man band providing Jazz entertainment. Why wouldn’t you go to the Loeb on Thursday night?
One time I did go to the Loeb to see another famous collection of etchings by Rembrandt, which were pretty fantastic. But now that I think about, I’m pretty sure that was also a night where the Loeb provided free food…. Of course, that always makes the collection much more enjoyable.
Now don’t get me wrong—it’s not that I don’t enjoy artwork and only go when I can score a free meal. I’d like to think of it instead as taking advantage of all the Loeb has to offer. And if that means free food to go with my artwork, I’m totally there.
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