Commencement Eve

As you may or may not know, tomorrow is commencement, and consequently, I'm anticlimactically kicked out of my TA Monday morning at 9am. Yes, I also think it's weird that they pretty much hand us our diplomas then toss us out on the street literally less than 24 hours later, but then again, I also thought it was strange that in my mail this morning I received a letter asking me to donate money right after I stop paying tuition, as if I have a job or something. Huh?! But amidst all the craziness and irrational money begging, college is coming to a bittersweet end that I never thought would come.

It's hard to come to terms with the fact that, after tomorrow, not every room I enter will harbor a Steinway piano or be inhabited with the people that I have come to know over my four years at Vassar. I've stayed for commencement weekend in the past, once for my job and another time for a furniture recycling program called SWAPR (really awesome, tons of free stuff!), but when you're not the one graduating, there's always that reassuring feeling that you'll be back in the fall. But now it's hard to accept that I won't be back in the fall and really have no idea where I'll be or what I'll be doing in as little as a few weeks from now.

Tonight is my last night as a college student. While I don't know what I'm doing or where I'm going after tomorrow, I'll finally have something tangible to show that I made it (it's called a diploma). And considering this is probably the sappiest entry I've written yet this year, I think it calls for a sequel. Next time I'll inform you that I tripped down the amphitheater as they called my name at commencement and preceded to receive the wrong diploma.

April Showers Bring May Flowers... Or is it Vassar's Greenhouse?

Spring is probably my favorite season at Vassar. It’s not blistering hot or humid (don’t get me started on summer…), the campus turns from gray to green, and students finally emerge from their caves and let you know that there is, indeed, life on campus. On a more depressing note, this morning I was reminded that this is my last spring at Vassar when the AAVC (Alumni Association of Vassar College) emailed me their May newsletter. WHAT??!! If you’re going to send me your newsletter, you’d better give me my degree.

Yesterday the class of 2008 was officially welcomed to the AAVC, which began at convocation (I’ll come back to that…) and was proceeded by a big free food and beverage fest at the Alumnae House (foreshadowing?). Of course, it was all fun and games yesterday… then I opened my email this morning and realized that, indeed, all good things must come to an end.

It’s hard to think about packing my things when the weather is 65 degrees and sunny and my classmates are relaxing on blankets outside of my window—reading for class or for pleasure (with the former being much more likely). As much as completing my finals will be a relief, it’s also a bit scary to come to terms with the fact that I only have two more college classes left, and then I’ll be on my own. I will never again return to the welcoming gate of Vassar College after an exhausting summer of living (perhaps “surviving” is a better term) at home, and share stories with my friends of how bored I was without homework occupying my time (that’s only a bit of a stretch). Goodbye, Vassar Bubble, hello…. Real World?

Convocation, as I mentioned earlier, is basically a ceremony honoring seniors that occurs biannually—once in the fall and once in the spring. While many people are bored by it (let’s be honest), I always feel like I should go because I can. What happened during this convocation? The president addressed the class, the VSA (Vassar Students Association) President addressed the class, a graduate from the class of 2001 addressed the class, college dean Ron Sharp addressed the class, and the choir sang a few times. Voila! Convocation! Okay, so it doesn’t sound too impressive, but it can be interesting. In front of me, a few people were playing convocation Bingo, which basically entails a homemade Bingo sheet that includes terms such as “future,” “sustainability,” “Internet,” and all those other things we talk about at Vassar. (Can you connect five? You win!) My neighbor on the right got a much-needed nap; my neighbor on the left peered at the sports magazine held by the guy in front of him. As for me? Well, given few other options, I listened. Besides, there are very few times when I can just sit, listen, and not have to fully absorb what is lectured.

At the very end, we were shepherded out by the Vassar faculty and instructed to pose for a class photo. I picked a place on the very end between my housemate and my boyfriend, which was strategic for getting to the Alumnae House in time to grab my free food and spiked party punch before it disappeared, which turned out to be a wise idea.

This time of year always brings a mix of feelings—which are best described as happiness and sadness—although what is different this year is that they are also accompanied by fear. I am happy to be done, but at the same time it’ll be hard to leave my home and my friends for somewhere completely new, which is where the sadness and the fear come in. But to use the perspective of one of my favorite professors, there is also an element of excitement awaiting me alongside absolute freedom. Nowhere to go and nothing to do is liberating, and it’s something I’ve never experienced before. I guess we’ll see where my experiences take me.

M.I.A. Was Here??!!

Last weekend was THE big concert on Vassar campus—and while we may not have the money to score such acts as Radiohead (who does?), we do pretty well for ourselves. In the past, we’ve had artists like Wyclef Jean (my sophomore year), The Clash (wait, The Clash played at Vassar? Huh?), The Roots (if only I was here for them!), The Red Hot Chili Peppers (that must have been before they were famous…), Vampire Weekend (pretty popular right now), TV on the Radio (last year… they were good but the venue was awful), and Talib Kweli (awesome!). This year we were fortunate to get rising hip-hop star M.I.A., who, if you have never heard of her, just released her second album, entitled “Kala” (a personal favorite of mine). While I may kind of live in the Vassar bubble, *I think* she’s becoming pretty big in the “real world.”

The concert sold out in record time, 3 hours (I’m sure the smallish size of the venue was also a factor), but luckily, yours truly was able to score a ticket at 9:30am the day the ticket office on campus opened. Thank God I have an awesome boyfriend who was willing to wake up early enough to stand in line, because within the next couple hours the tickets were G-O-N-E.

Judging from the rate at which the tickets sold out, we knew the concert would be ridiculous (but in a good way!). We decided to arrive about halfway through the opening act, and I’m kind of sorry we purposely arrived late because he turned out to be pretty awesome. The opening act was a DJ, and while I’m skeptical of DJ’s (they are a live act, but I never thought of them as being as authentic as a band), I’m glad that I decided to check it out because it was a lot of fun.

At around 9:30, M.I.A. came on stage. The crowd went WILD (well, what were you expecting?). I called my poor brother at West Point (he’s also a fan) and let him listen to the screams of the crowd as M.I.A. went into her first song. She proceeded later during the concert to let the guys on stage for the song “Boyz,” at which point a bouncer had to come on stage and knock out some guy who tried to push his way past security guards after M.I.A. decided that there were already too many guys on stage, which was exciting. She also had a pretty amazing encore where she sang “URAQT,” one of my faves from her last album, and her new single “Paper Planes.”

The concert was probably my favorite at Vassar thus far, despite having a huge guy (who probably weighed close to 250 lbs) in front of me for about half the concert, stepping on my feet, and then leaving the concert without hearing and an awful ringing in my ears that lasted throughout the next day. Oh well—it was still awesome!

Over Halfway to "Over The Hill"

As you may or may not know, I just turned the big "2-2." That's old.

Overall, my birthday was pretty mediocre. On the positive side, I turned in my thesis. Happy Birthday to me! The negative? I had 4 hours worth of class afterwards and accidentally had the sandals I bought for myself sent to my parent's old address. Ooops.....

My birthdays at Vassar have overall been pretty good. First off, all of my birthdays except for this one have taken place over the weekend, plus, they tend to fall on "parent's weekend," which means my parents take me out for a SUSHI BOAT at Tokyo Express down the street. (Mmmm. Sushi Boat.)

But my 21st birthday--that was another story. Everyone knows the typical 21st birthday saga. 21 shots (otherwise known as suicide), free drinks from friends, cocktail shaker from your brother, you know, the usual. My birthday? I had the stomach flu.

It all started with a turkey sandwich. Now, I'm not sure if it was the sandwich's fault or if the disease had already manifested itself within my system, but by that night I knew my birthday wouldn't be a good one. My parents stopped by the next day for parent's weekend, and at that point I was still in decent health. I hung out, went to some events, and even stayed up pretty late. But by 10 o'clock that evening, I was certain that I wouldn't make it to 21. I had a high fever, but was still getting chills, and I hadn't been able to eat since breakfast. I barely remember Pat seeing that I made it back to my room, and recalling a scene from the blockbuster hit "Titanic," I said, "I'll never let go Pat, I'll never let go...." and promptly laid down in bed, awaiting my death. Okay, so obviously I didn't die, but the next day I made sure to see the school doctor to make sure that my birthday wasn't a total disaster. (It still was.)

That night, my parent's took me to the Alumnae House for my birthday dinner, and everyone, including my 16 year old brother (yeah, that was a mistake), received a drink, except me. There was nothing on the menu that I felt like my stomach could handle except for the fish and chips, and even then I was still taking swigs from a bottle of Pepto-Bismol when the waiter had his back turned. Everyone else at dinner thought it was a riot, but I just wanted to be able to eat my food without feeling like I was seasick.

That night I managed to make it back to the dorm without getting as sick as I had been the night before and decided to attempt heading out to the bar. Figures I would be the Designated Driver at my own 21st birthday party. I ordered a beer and promptly handed it to my friend who had turned 21 the week before, then sipped my seltzer water while sighing about my misfortune. What did I get for my birthday? Well, I may have still had the flu, but at least I was no longer having the hallucinations from the night before.

In retrospect, the experience seems pretty comical, but I definitely preferred this year's birthday despite freaking out about my thesis and attending four hours worth of classes afterwards. My parents got me a class ring (yay!) and Pat is taking me out to dinner Thursday--but most importantly, I'm no longer nursing the pink bottle.

I LOVE Berlin: Part Two

My thesis is due in exactly one week, and now that it's crunch time, the prospect of packages is the only thing keeping me from insanity. Oh, and free food. Which reminds me--tomorrow my Memories and Legacies of the Holocaust class gets to attend a *free dinner* alongside Holocaust survivor and German literature critic Ruth Kluger. I am currently reading her memoir, "Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered," which covers her experience as a young girl living in concentration camps. (This is really big for me because the only other time I was ever invited to a special dinner by the college it turned out to be a mistake and they revoked my invitation. Ever since I've been a little bitter, but hopefully tomorrow night's dinner will make up for my sophomore year tragedy.)

As you all should know, I spent my Spring Break in Berlin. As I mentioned in a previous post, the final assignment for the class is a collaborative project between the German students and my classmates that will be presented via video conference in late April. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I'm terribly excited to create a final project (it is work, after all, and I have serious senioritis), but the really cool part is that the German students are currently visiting us in New York to explore some Holocaust memorials in the city and to work on the final projects.

The Germans arrived last Thursday and have probably been about as busy as my class was when we visited them in Berlin (which means non-stop action from morning to evening). But over the weekend my class organized a party for both groups to socialize, and Saturday night a few of the German students spent some time at the seniors 50 nights party at the Alumnae House, which is the college's hotel. It's been a really unusual experience for me, coming from a small suburban town in Ohio, to have the opportunity to socialize with so many people from another country. While a good amount of international students attend Vassar each year, I know very few of them because up until recently most of them lived in the same dorm, and it's rare to have more than just a few in your classes--although I did have a friend from Bosnia who I visited in his hometown of Sarajevo when I was JYA last year.

My group, which consists of myself, one other American student, and three German students, is doing a project comparing Holocaust memorials in Berlin and New York (very uplifting project, I know). You can read about it here!

What is interesting about the course is that it is not actually about the Holocaust (of course, we did read a book on the history of the Holocaust for background information), but is more of a theoretical study on the memorials themselves. I think it's a cool topic (in a depressing sort of way) because the way things are remembered was never something I had considered before, but now I find myself analyzing memorials all the time, for better or for worse. [Insert joke about Holocaust memorials here---yeah, not easy to make funny.]

So yeah. I'll try not to flip out completely this weekend and keep you updated on whether or not the final draft of my thesis makes sense. Yikes!

Online Quizzes Are For Procrastination

What Animal Were You In Your Past Life?
	You were a platypus. You were eccentric and unclassifiable and it still shows. Your strength lies in your diverse associations with all walks of life. Although many people try to identify you, only you know your true self. You're a self-thinker and a bit of an introvert.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

They seem to have forgotten "extremely good looking." Ah, well.

I LOVE Berlin: Part One

If I were asked to name one thing that I dislike more than exams, it would probably be getting sick. And while I don't get sick very often, when I do, it's usually pretty bad. Right now I'm on day five of whatever illness I happen to have right now (it's something involving a cough and a sore throat, an awful headache, and tons of, excuse me, snot), and the nurse at the school clinic said she hopes I'll be better by Monday. It's Thursday. And I've already watched all of the Harry Potter movies. Sigh.

I visited the school clinic today and, after checking my basic vitals and interrogating me about my latest misfortune, they finally gave me the good stuff (my current favorite is the 12-hour Sudafed) and wished me a good weekend. Good weekend, indeed. At least I have an excuse to be lazy (my boyfriend did make me dinner and has been preparing tea at my every request), although I'm pretty upset that I'll be missing a hike at Mohonk Preserve tomorrow. Check this out! Not that we're going to the spa resort house thing, but the picture is pretty. Although a spa would be really nice right about now....

I suppose you could consider this disease my souvenir from Berlin, considering that's where I got it from. Luckily I only had it the last day we were there, then brought it back with me (shh), although it was pretty painful when I realized that upon my return I'd have to write a paper within two days for one of my classes. Looking at readings about the Habsburg Empire for nearly 12 hours straight two days in a row is pretty tough under normal circumstances so I'm pretty proud of myself for actually turning something in (keyword: SOMETHING). Remind me never to do that again.

But Berlin! It was probably one of the coolest experiences I've ever had in a class. Actually, no--it is the coolest. And yes, the picture is of me kissing a graffiti-ed figure on the last remaining mile of the Berlin Wall.

We stayed at a 19th century hotel WITH FREE BREAKFAST that happened to survive World War II in a really neat neighborhood by the Berlin Zoo. To our misfortune the transportation system was on strike for the first few days there and Berlin is a HUGE city, so trust me, my calves are about the size of Arnold Schwarzenegger's right now (okay, a bit of an exaggeration...).

One component of the course is the requirement to keep a journal during the trip that is used as a forum for personal thoughts, opinions, ideas about the memorials that are later typed up and used for our projects (so yes, we kind of did work). For the first week in Berlin, we did things throughout the day with the class, such as viewing memorials around the city and writing down our reflections about them, but we did get the evenings free. I'm not gonna lie, one night I did fall asleep at 7 pm because I was so exhausted from walking all day long, but most nights I went out with my classmates for dinner and/or drinks around the city.

We saw most of the Holocaust-related memorials in the city and also explored a Jewish History Museum (although I think a lot of us were so tired from walking all day that after several hours in the museum we napped in the kids section while watching Felix The Cat), but then ventured beyond the city to visit Ravensbrook, a women's concentration camp, and a synagogue and Jewish Museum in Hablerstadt that included a FREE gourmet lunch--my favorite! Basically, we got a really good tour of both Berlin and the German countryside that week, which was a great experience, although right now the illness is really getting to me, so perhaps I'll post some more about Berlin later.

Ugh. Be glad you don't have this. (And yes, I love to complain.)

Real World: Fahnestock State Park

Perhaps the coolest class that I'm taking this semester is my hiking and backpacking class--you know, something simple that doesn't require you to think beyond admiring nature. I may have to wake up every Friday morning at 9am to go hiking (which is REALLY early by Vassar standards), but unlike most early classes, losing some sleep for this class has a few benefits. First of all, my professor has a ridiculously adorable puppy and I LOVE animals. I've really missed my dog since coming to Vassar and because we aren't allowed to have un-caged animals, I feel like I tend to adopt my professor's/boss's/current house fellow's pets as my own. Let's be honest--watching my house fellow's puppy grow up was akin to watching my own child turn into a crazy, rebellious teenager (minus the secret tattoo and shady boyfriends), and then a nice, sensible--and of course, good looking--young adult (does that sound like me?). The second reason I love this class is that New York is beautiful and it's great to spend a day outdoors taking pictures instead of sitting in class, gazing at the beautiful, sunny day that I'm not enjoying. And for some reason, three hours of hiking in that class passes 435790231587756.8 times more quickly than that 75-minute class I took on Cognitive Science (which was soooo NOT my thing!).

So far this semester, we've been to some pretty cool places within a 20-minute drive from campus, including the Appalachian Trail and Fahnestock State Park. In order to prep ourselves for the trail, our professor (perhaps instructor?) gave us a few lessons on trail gear and safety before just letting us loose in the woods. I'd been hiking and camping prior to signing up for this class, therefore, I happen to possess proper hiking clothes and boots, so all I really needed was a pair of fast drying pants to wear under jeans. Technically you're not supposed to wear cotton on the trail because if it gets wet, it doesn't dry--especially in cold weather (can you sense my foreshadowing?)--so I made a $20 investment in nylon/spandex pants to wear running and hiking and started hitting the trail.

Last Friday we went to Fahnestock State Park, which contains a portion of the Appalachian Trail. We ended up hiking on part of the Appalachian Trail (which, or so I am told, is also referred to as the "AT"), as well as some trails in Fahnestock that happen to intersect with it. It was a beautiful, sunny day, which was great for taking pictures, even though it was maybe only 15 or 20 degrees outside in the morning.

Near the beginning of the trail, we happened upon a raging river (okay, probably more like a raging stream) and I took a few pictures (see above!) before realizing that the trail ended and there was no clear way to get to the other side. One girl found a pretty large log and attempted to cross, but ended up getting her foot wet on the way so the rest of us tried to find a safer way. After walking a bit further downstream, we found another log that looked easier to cross because it was a more direct route, slightly wider, and it was over ice, which made it look safer. The other ten people in my class managed to cross the stream by sliding themselves across the log, making it look like no problem. And I may be a bad dancer and do not have the best coordination, but come on; it wasn't like I was competing in some sort of bizarre Olympic event. But of course, as soon as I tried to cross the stream, the ice (which was thinner than it appeared) cracked, I fell in, and before I knew it, was up to my thighs in freezing water. Everyone else freaked out, but I tried to remain calm by saying stuff like, "Oh, this happens all the time," and "Sure, I've fallen into freezing water before," but I couldn't ignore the fact that I was wearing cotton jeans (which we learned don't dry) and the insides of my shoes and my only pair of socks were wet. To put it in Oregon Trail lingo (because it was equally dramatic), I'd attempted to ford the river and failed, and was probably about to die of dysentery--or, more likely, frostbite.

But luckily I was wearing THE pants--you know, the spandex-y nylon-y ones--and was able to borrow another pair from my hiking instructor to wear over them. By moving my toes constantly and hiking for a couple other hours, I managed to get away with only red toes rather than blue ones, which was good news. And my instructor’s dog kept me in good spirits, which is always a plus.

My lessons for the day? Always bring extra socks, avoid wearing cotton, and most importantly, don't walk on thin ice.

We All Live In A Yellow Submarine....

Today was the moment I'd been waiting for (perhaps dreading is a better word) since the start of the semester--the moment that my thesis was due. By moment I mean a block of approximately 2 hours, but knowing both myself and my classmates, that thing wasn't turned in until at least several minutes before noon, which was the official deadline. As for me? I think I was the only person who didn't have a cover page for the draft (woops) but at least I had a bibliography, which is more than I had on Friday when I finished my last chapter. I think tonight calls for a screening of Star Wars (original trilogy only, please) and a milkshake.

In other news, Theodore Bikel is coming to my Legacies and Memories of the Holocaust class on Wednesday. Okay, I'll admit I'd never heard of him before last week, but I read his autobiography for class and he seems like a pretty cool guy--or at least as cool as you can be for 83. He is a film and stage actor (he tends to do the musical thing) and is also really big into activist movements, like the civil rights movement of the 1960's. Apparently he played Captain Von Trapp on Broadway for The Sound of Music and has been in a number of movies, notably, The African Queen (I think that's on the AFI Top 100 list). He was also in a movie called "The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!" which I'd never heard of before, but they screened it in the theatre on campus Saturday night and it was great. Oh, and he has an awesome beard.

So I decided to drink a cup on chamomile tea to relax after turning in my thesis draft and now I'm getting sleepy. I can't win.

The Founder's Day committee, which I join every year for some reason, is having it's first meeting tomorrow night. Founder's Day, in case I haven't explained it yet, is basically the super campus holiday with a theme (one of the past themes was Alice in Wonderland) where the college books amusement park rides, bands, off-campus food vendors (yes!), and free beer (those over 21 only, like me!). To make a long story short, the Founder's Day committee plans everything for Founder's Day and for some reason I join every year, which means that I have to help out with the event that day. Last year I said I wasn't going to join it again, but now I'm getting that feeling that if I don't join, the whole event will be sabotaged, which is absolutely not true. What can I say? I'm paranoid. Anyways, right now we're working on picking a theme and I totally think the theme should be Yellow Submarine. That would be awesome.

Yay Giants!

So.... my brother goes to West Point. (Isn't the picture cute?) It's true, which usually catches everyone off guard. I know my room looks like a war zone and his is spotless, and while I'm up at 3am he's been in bed for 4 hours. But he's pretty cool, and he likes to come to Vassar (the number of women here pretty much makes up for the lack of them at West Point, if you thought he was just coming to visit his favorite sister). So that's pretty much what happened over the weekend.

I also had a study party Saturday night-you know, with music, snacks, drinks (well, tea), and people dressed-to-impress. However, the study party kind of turned into more of a social event so it was abruptly canceled about halfway through and I retreated to my room in order to concentrate. Maybe by the end of the semester I'll be able to throw at least one "study party" that is successful.

That's about it. I'm almost done with my thesis, which is due next Monday. And did I mention I got a free massage and manicure at a bar during the Super Bowl? I swear it was just a ploy to get women to be there during the Super Bowl, but it definitely lured me and four of my friends out for the night.

Wait, You Mean I Have To Leave?

The first week of class is already over and to be honest, I feel like it went a little too fast. Seeing as this is my last semester of college, I want to be able to savor it. Unfortunately, having a thesis and two seminars doesn't exactly allow you to do that. Seminars (in case you are not yet a college student) are basically 2-3 hour long classes that meet once a week to discuss your assignment(s) (usually a book) that you read over the course of the past week. The pros? The class only meets once per week and discussions are generally more interesting. The cons? The classes are longer than normal and, well, you pretty much read until your eyes are about to fall out. Then you read more.

But the good news is that my thesis is due in mid April, after which point I basically only have two real classes. Even better? No classes on Tuesdays or Thursdays, and my only class Fridays is hiking and backpacking, which is for-real fun, not just something I try to convince myself of being fun. But until then, I have to write two chapters of my thesis within the next ten days (that's do-able.... right?) and just hope that everything works out.

On a more depressing note, I did receive notice of graduation today. Sometimes Vassar likes to psych me out by sending me little paper reminders telling me that I'm a senior, kind of like the one I got today. Except this one was the worst one yet. It basically outlined the entire schedule for graduation (which I guess is kind of good because it lets me know when and where the free food and champagne are), then reminded me to reserve dorm housing for guests that had not yet arranged for a hotel. After receiving this letter, I called my parents to say, "You reserved a room at that hotel, right?" while basically praying to every known God that they wouldn't be staying on campus during my senior week. Oh no, they'd forgotten. But on the bright side, they're normal middle aged people--maybe they'll fall asleep around 9 so I won't have to entertain them during my last few nights here. Yikes. Did I just say that?

Last week, I rented a book titled, Great Jobs For Sociology Majors!, which basically means that it holds the secrets to my post-college life. Luckily, the Career Development Office had these awesome pins that said, "No, I don't know what I'm doing after graduation," so maybe now people won't ask what my plans are. Over the weekend, I did manage to formulate some rough plans, which basically consist of signing up for Americorps in hopes of stalling my entrance to the Real World for at least one more year. Trust me, when you get here, the Real World is like a foreign universe. I don't know how to take care of myself--is this a joke or something? Okay, my boyfriend said it isn't. Yikes.

Well, seeing as I have class tomorrow at ten and I'm kind of tired, perhaps I shall go to bed. But trust me, I'm prepared for nightmares.

I Was Born A Ramblin' (Wo)Man

So that is probably one of my favorite pictures ever. That's right--two deans of the college serving ME, for a change. The event is called "midnight breakfast" and it's really the only time of year when you can catch the college deans wearing aprons and serving you free food. And yes, I most definitely had seconds.

I'm finally back at school and although it's nice to have a change of scenery, it's time for the endless cycle to kick into full gear once again. Winter break seemed unusually short this year, but I would say I made the most of it. Here's a short synopsis:

First of all, my family sort of spontaneously moved into another house and I had to help, which I wouldn't have minded missing. I kind of have a thing for manual labor, but not so much when my parents are around. They have a knack for making anything simple into absolute chaos.

The second fun thing was going to the west coast for the first time EVER. My boyfriend and I planned the trip back in October and ever since I'd been looking forward to it, and for good reason! We went to Portland, Oregon (and did manage to make it up to Vancouver, Washington for a day). Now, I know what you're thinking--"Why would you go during the winter? That's the rainy season!" Fer sher it rained, but it was still beautiful.

If on graduation day they asked me what trait I acquired during college, I'd say it was my love of travel. I'm scared to death of heights, which makes flying a bit scary, but I can handle it if it means going somewhere new. As I may have mentioned before, I studied abroad in Prague, Czech Republic, and while there I made a point to visit France, Austria, Turkey and Italy, then backpacked through the Balkans, meaning Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia (okay, so we more or less passed through that one), and Slovenia. I came back from Prague a few pounds thinner and a lot better traveled than before I had left.

In Portland, we mainly looked at colleges and schlepped around the city. What else would two tourists do? (Oh yeah, check out microbreweries). We also stayed at a hostel called the Hawthorne Hostel (it was in the Hawthorne district of the city, duh), which was awesome because beds cost only $17 a night--which is definitely in my price range.

On the way home, we had a layover in Houston, which was cool because I'd never been to Texas. I decided to get the southern breakfast classic, which included grits, and was pleased when the cashier referred to me as "youngster" in a pleasant southern drawl. I may be 21 years old, but apparently I qualified as a youngster. Then again I was mistaken for a 15 year old the week of my 21st birthday....

Are We There Yet?

Two days until I leave for Winter Break! Oops.. I should probably start packing and, uhm, clean my room. But in case you're wondering, the picture (soon to be posted) is from Midnight Breakfast, which is a huge free food event hosted by the college the day before final exams start--and you better believe I was there! It's not every day that you watch the Dean of the college serve you free food while wearing an apron, asking, "Is that enough? Or do you want more?" That's definitely an opportunity I'm going to take advantage of.

After spending many nights at my study carrel in the library, I have finally emerged from its depths and realize once again that I am alive! Finals always manage to make two days feel like two weeks, and after studying and writing from last Monday to Friday... well, we'll just say I feel like I was lost at sea for months. The library even has special extended hours for study week that keep it open until three in the morning, which is great for studying, although it tends to make you a little crazy when you see the clock finally hit midnight and think to yourself, "Is this place really open for another three hours?" If they think Skinner Hall (the music building) is haunted, I don't even want to know what is lurking around a huge Gothic library in the middle of the night! Whoa... wait, library? Reminds me of Ghostbusters.....

Now that I'm done with finals, I've pretty much just been lounging around in my pajamas, going to the gym, and watching movies for the past couple days. It's been a great way to end the semester, although perhaps I should be a little more productive. But yesterday I did go to the library and found a book to read for fun that WASN'T Harry Potter for the first time in maybe a year. I make not be working on my thesis, but at least I've varified that I can still read, right?

Yesterday, my boyfriend and I drove my housemate back to Albany for Winter Break. Her mother doesn't like to drive, so she tried to convince her to take the train home, but deciding this could be an opportunity for free food, I offered to drive her myself--probably one of the best decisions I had ever made in my life. Not only did my boyfriend and I get a three course Russian meal, but we also got to visit Albany and Saratoga, which was a pretty awesome town. In Saratoga, we visited a bookshop that had about ten rooms full of books on every subject, including a whole section on "Communism in Russia," which my Russian housemate found pretty amusing. I wanted probably every book that I picked up, but restrained myself because I'm supposed to be saving for my trip to Portland. If only I could think of a legal way to make money.....

Before having a car on campus, I only ever visited New York City when I was at school. Not saying that New York isn't interesting or full of culture, but you really miss out on a lot of cool places when that's the only place you can go. Vassar is in a great location because it's easy to get to the city, but it's also close to Woodstock, New Paltz, the Catskills, Albany, and Saratoga, to name a few of the places I've been over the past semester. The best part is that the entertainment in most of these places is either extremely cheap or free, while I could easily spend a hundred dollars or more by going to the city for one day. Hmm. I wonder where I'm going to go now that I have no money....... (In case you're wondering, I think I'm going to go with the free options.)

As much as I tend to get distracted over break (presents!) I'm going to try to stay in touch. (The key word there is "try.") Happy winter break and happy holidays!

AHHHHHHH!!

Sorry that the picture isn't quite related to the entry this time (Vassar is still not located in the metropolis of Chicago) but I thought it well represented my burning desire to finish the semester and enjoy myself (...and spend time on my thesis) for a few weeks before having to worry about such trivial things as exams and readings and papers once again. Bah, humbug.

I'm in the middle of studying for my "Energy: Sources and Policies" final, which basically means that I'm surfing the Internet (oops). Classes ended last Friday (meaning Thursday for me because I rigged my schedule) and this week is study week. Study week is probably my favorite of the semester because it's the week that I study the least, despite the somewhat suggestive name. Study week is officially the week before final exams begin and allows students a time to prepare for exams without the burden of classwork, and I'm sure those who have final exams appreciate the time off very much. But as a student of the social sciences, my main function is to write papers, meaning that I spend half of study week watching movies and calming my nerves and the other half writing to my hearts delight--except for this semester because my final papers were due prior to finals week. Now all I have are finals for my film and energy classes and two final essays, which I would say is a very light end of the semester load. In this case, I will probably spend 75% of my time chilling out and the rest working and studying. At the same time, one of my housemates is planning on pulling a couple all-nighters this week due to her large amount of work. What can I say? I got lucky.

But don't let me put too much emphasis on the joys of study week without mentioning the best part: Primal Scream. Some people think the Primal Scream is overrated, but honestly, what could an overly stressed-out, sleep-deprived college student ask for other than the chance to scream at the top of their lungs? Maybe a million dollars, but you get the point.

How does this scream function? Well, tradition is that on the last night of study week, all of the students gather in the center of the quad (that being the center between the four quad dorms--Raymond, Davison, Strong, and Lathrop), and at the stroke of midnight everyone screams as loud as they possibly can. Legend has it that the scream is heard for miles due to its intensity, but because I have attended the scream every semester I cannot attest to its validity. But considering how loud the scream is, it's hard to believe that the legend isn't true. I would say most students attend the scream, mostly because my boyfriend goes and he tends to not participate in many of the weird traditional activities on campus. (And yes, that fact is entirely what I base my attendance guess on).

Do I plan on attending this semester? Of course I do-and you better believe I'm bringing my camera. Not only is The Scream a great form of stress relief, it's also a pretty big end of the semester social event.

Aside from my studies, I've also been trying to plan for Winter Break. In the past, I didn't like to look forward to breaks (to be completely honest, Vassar is much more fun than home!), but this break should be pretty exciting. I planned a trip to Portland, Oregon for January and my boyfriend will be spending a week at my house beginning New Years Eve. But before I can go home, I need to prepare for the journey there (hey, eight hours is a long way to drive, especially on artificial energy AKA lots and lots of coffee). First of all, leaving my TA empty and alone for a month is really awkward. I have a tendency to humanize inanimate objects, and my house is one of them. I almost feel like I'm letting it down by leaving for so long. But perhaps more practically speaking, a month really is a long time to leave a refrigerator and an assortment of plants alone. It's important to clean out a refrigerator before a trip because who knows what kind of creepy, slimy gunk would grow in there otherwise. My point exactly. And as far as the plants go... well, leaving them all alone with no water is simply inhumane. That's one torturous death I would not like to endure, and I definitely wouldn't wish it upon my plants. Besides, considering the amount of time I've spent bashing Christmas as a holiday that encourages the killing of perfectly happy pine trees, I should probably find my plants a place before they suffer a similar fate.

Over the past summer, I decided that one of my goals is to watch all of the American Film Institute Top 100 Films at least once, so tonight I'm watching film number 28--"All About Eve." In other words, that means I'm done studying for the night and ready to chill out!

Blueberry Pie

So my friends and I have gotten really into baking lately (after all, my favorite channel is the food network) and now that we live in the TAs, we can bake as much as we want!

After a late night Stop & Shop run on Tuesday, we baked a blueberry pie in honor of our last week of class (and the first day of Hanukkah). Aside from some minor problems we faced due to our need to use frozen blueberries, the pie turned out really well!

And CHECK IT OUT! I added a picture! You better believe that from now on you'll be seeing a lot of food pictures on this site....

The Job Search: Act One!

So I should probably be studying for finals right now, but instead I'm looking for a job. I think this sudden desire to be employed stems from my visit to the Career Development Office earlier in the semester, which stemmed from my utter disenchantment with the current job market these days--you know, doctor, lawyer.... used car salesman. Please. Why can't I do something more tapered to my interests, such as a ukulele playing sociological film critic who specializes in Nazi propaganda, or a professional Scrabble player? It's always on one of these days where I say to myself, "I should seriously just become an academic," then remember that would require writing more than just my current thesis. Sigh.

At least my education and job experience has opened up a few job options. My current plan is to find some cool job that will keep me busy for a couple of years (I thought about applying to the Humane Society until one of my friends mentioned "euthanasia") and then go on to do something extraordinary, like working in an office. (Hmm. Now that I read that over, it didn't have the kind of effect I wanted. Ooops.)

Like the estimated 66% or so of Vassar grads that pursue graduate education, I plan on being one of them. Of course, this would mainly be for the purpose of stalling my need to find a real job--not that I don't have an interest in graduate study, but anything that would help me to avoid finding a career is more than welcome to become a part of my life. But until that point in time, I need to find something to keep me busy until I can figure out what I should go back to school to pursue.

I have a good number of friends who graduated Vassar and decided to pursue graduate study, as well as a few who are trying to get into schools right now. (What can I say, my friends are impressive!) I have a bunch of friends who are in law school, a couple in med. school, a bunch in graduate school (pursuing both Master's and Doctoral degrees), and one who is a rock star. (Actually, that last one was a bit of a stretch, but only a bit.) Of course, discussing my friends' achievements makes me feel a little bit like a loser, but I'll just keep telling myself that I haven't found my passion yet. Unfortunately, I'm starting to get the inkling that--like my parents--my passion will turn out to be some sort of self-started business requiring lots of steel. It runs in the family.

So far, I've applied to work at a few colleges (it's kind of scary that I could go from studying at a college to working at one) and some other non-profits, particularly the "Save The Wild Salmon" (or something along those lines) organization. I'll keep you posted on what happens, but until then I'll let you view the picture I took of my blueberry pie that I baked from scratch in my TA! I'll put it up ASAP. (It's about time I learned how to use the picture function on this contraption....)

O-H-I-O!

I spent the last few days working on a couple of projects that were due before break-one being the first chapter of my thesis and another my research paper for my German history class. I finished most of what needed to be done over the course of the past week, but still made the same mistake I always do: left editing to the last day. It's pretty amazing how much my concept of writing papers has evolved over the course of nearly four years here. I was always a spell-check kind of girl-I'd skim my papers over maybe once, use spell-check to fix any big problems, and then turned in my papers. While I still got pretty good grades back then, it's amazing what a little extra editing can do. Of course, it wasn't a skill I acquired until Junior year (some people *cough* don't really learn how to do work for college until about the time they leave college; it's kind of sad, really) but at least by the time I graduate I'll have a good idea of how to write a paper on the Perception of Hitler in the Film Triumph of the Will for my future employer, as if they'd care. By this point I'm so burned out on Nazis that I really need a break to get myself out of the 1940's and back into reality.

Thanksgiving Break is coming up, and while I think it's a pretty sketchy holiday, it's still a good excuse to miss class and eat lots of food--two of my favorite activities. Because I'm from Ohio, this trip also entails an eight to ten hour drive in a car that only has a cassette deck with two tapes--both by the Velvet Underground. If you ever plan on going on a drive with me, you'd better like the VU or else it's going to be a pretty miserable trip, because that's all I've got. One weekend, my boyfriend and I decided to go to Minnewaska State Park, which is about a 30-minute drive from campus (being from Ohio, I always measure distance in time). I volunteered to drive, but it didn't take long for my boyfriend to suggest that maybe next time he should drive because I didn't have any other tapes. If that's the case, he's really going to hate this next trip...

Regardless, I'm getting really excited about the aspect of being on the open road. The drive from New York to Ohio is quite beautiful because it's mostly trees without crossing any particularly big cities until you get to Cleveland, and I live close enough to Cleveland that we don't hit any really flat farmland, like the stuff you see in Indiana (don't you just love state rivalries?). Driving across that state was one of the longest days of my life. This will also be the first time I've driven home without my parents, which adds a bit more excitement to the trip. I'm thinking about bringing my laundry with me because that what everyone from the east coast does; I'll drive my entire wardrobe part way across the country to save $3.00 on laundry costs. What has happened to me?! At least that way I'll be making up a little bit of the cost of gas. My housemate mentioned to me that it'll add extra weight to the car, which would in turn bring down our gas mileage, but compared to four people and our luggage, I think the laundry weight is pretty negligible.

Ohio-here I come!

101 Things To Do (in and around Poughkeepsie)

Hey everybody!

I just started on a cool (almost) new project called 101 Things To Do In And Around Poughkeepsie (that capitalization always confuses me) that is basically what it sounds like--except that we do not yet have 101 things. But we're working on it!

Anyways, I'll leave a link so that you can check it out in case the blog is really boring you (it shouldn't be, but of course I may be the only person who thinks so).

Cheers!

http://vsa.vassar.edu/index.php/resources/101-things/

Denazification vs. Berlin

It's been a pretty crazy week, but at least now I feel like I'm getting somewhere. Most of my thesis chapter done? Check. Spring semester class pre-registration finished? Check. Half done with the Nazi paper? (Yes, you read that right. Nazi paper.) Check.

I started writing this paper on Nazi Germany a couple weeks ago for a class I'm taking called "German History from 1914-1990." Boy, they weren't kidding. If I had any sense when I signed up for the class I would have realized that we would spend most of the semester talking about the Nazis, considering that's pretty much what modern Germany history is; you know, Nazis taking over the government, starting World War II, denazification, now. It also doesn't help that I have blonde hair and blue eyes, which causes my Jewish housemate to interrogate me while I read a book called "The Racial State," or when I curl up on the couch with my popcorn while watching the propaganda film "Triumph of the Will." But I swear I don't do this for fun--I have a term paper! My paper focuses on Weber's definition of charismatic authority and it's representation in the film "Triumph of the Will," which I think is a pretty cool topic. But that also means I've seen the film so many times at this point that I'll catch myself whistling the music out of nowhere--then I have to pretend that I was whistling something else in an effort to make people feel less uncomfortable, especially considering the number of Jewish friends I have on campus.

As much as I need to get away from the Nazis, I have a very tempting offer to take a seminar next semester on the Holocaust. You may be wondering why I'm considering taking a class on such an uplifting subject. Well, the key to this class is that it offers a study trip and study trips are AWESOME! Well, I don't know that for sure because I've never actually taken a class with a study trip, but any class that makes you to travel to another country as homework must be awesome.

Basically, if I take the class, I get to spend Spring Break in BERLIN while getting financial aid to help cover the cost of the trip. And considering the amount of financial aid I'm on... well, we'll just say that for me it'd be a pretty sweet deal. Plus, the professor said that after Spring Break I wouldn't have that much work to do because going on the trip is a such an important part of the course, which would give me time to work on my thesis. And what's holding me back from this exclusive offer? Two things: a thesis and a Sociology seminar.

At this point, the question is: "Do I give in to senioritis and take some easy courses to balance the work of the thesis and a required seminar, or do take something interesting and opportunistic even though it might cause me to scream at random points throughout next semester?"

Decisions, decisions.

Actually, reading over that last big paragraph just talked me into it. I'm signing up for the seminar!

I'll Have History With A Side Of Swimming, But No Dance

......So I've been neglecting the blog. Ooops. But to be completely honest, I don't think I've ever had a busier semester. The classes I am taking are not that much harder than any of the other classes I've taken here (to tell you the truth, they might even be easier), but just as I suspected, writing a senior thesis is draining the life from my body. ....Okay, so that's a bit of a stretch, but only a bit.

I really want to do well on my thesis and so far I'd say it's coming along. But that also means that any free hour I have is spent working on my thesis and I basically have no free time left--weekday or weekend. I took off last Thursday night and Saturday night for hanging out with a friend/the campus Halloween Party (whooo!), but I really haven't had any time to just chill out and watch a movie or just do nothing. I'm like a hamster on a wheel...although much less fuzzy.

And now that I am back from October Break, it's time to start picking classes for next semester. Crazy, I know. FYI: Please don't remind me that this is the last time I get to fill in my little online sheet and constantly change my mind on courses and rearrange the order of the classes that are the most important for me to take--unless you want to make me cry. But on a more optimistic note, I'm pretty excited for my next selection of courses and I think that if everything goes according to plan, I can leave Vassar feeling fully satisfied.

One thing that I do not plan on taking again is dance. For the past three years, I have taken a dance course about every other semester. I took two course from modern dance, and right now I'm working on taking a jazz dance class. Actually, I take that back--I'm working on SURVIVING a jazz dance class. Why? Because I am the world's worst dancer. The title isn't exactly flattering, but trust me--I'd rather have that title than be forced to watch myself dance. When I was taking modern dance, I wasn't exactly good, but at least it wasn't painful to watch. But jazz dance on the other hand.... well, that's another story.

I'm a pretty athletic individual and I swam for six years between middle school and high school. But as soon as I step onto the dance floor, it looks as if I'm just learning how to walk as I stumble into what is supposed to be an arabesque but ends up looking like I tripped over an invisible staircase. I think most of the time the instructor tries to ignore me because if we spent the entire class going over what I did wrong, I don't think we'd get past the first exercise. Instead, she'll instruct those in the group who look like professionals in comparison as I sort of hobble along and make a sad attempt at what is supposed to be a dance move whenever I feel like it's safe to humiliate myself again.

Now, everyone has their on-days and their off-days, and you're all probably thinking that I just had an off-day today. But compared to the average person, my on-days are like off-days and my off-days are, well, extra-off if anything. It doesn't help my case that I had virtually no dance training as a child and my classmates seem like they've at least taken some form of classical dance. I'm pretty certain that the rugby player in my class decided to take it as a joke, but I end up making him look like John Travolta from Saturday Night Fever. When I walk into Kenyon Hall on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'm not walking into my dance class, I’m walking into my own worst nightmare--where all eyes are on me as I trip over myself while trying to doing twirls across the room, saying as if I were Derek Zoolander: "I can't turn left!" What's even more humiliating is that my mom was a dance instructor at a studio in Cleveland when she was about my age, and performed shows at discos back when they were cool. But somehow I was born with two left feet and I have no idea where they came from; a recessive trait, perhaps? I'll never know for sure.

So right now you're probably thinking, "So why do you keep putting yourself through this if you think it's comparable to torture?" Good question. As a Vassar student, I guess I'm kind of masochistic by nature. But as myself... well, you could say I'm probably crazy.