“Confusing” September 30, 2009

One of the best things about college, or so I’ve always been told, is that you get to try out different identities before settling on who you’ll be as an adult. Personally, I’m the sort of person who has always been fairly well aware of who I am, but this past week there have been some paradigm shifting moments.

Besides the basic experiences you have to expect when going to a good school (e.g: What? I’m not one of the smartest ones here? I’m not guaranteed an A anymore?) several of my friends and I have encountered situations that made us change our minds about certain things, and maybe ever-so-slightly, change our personalities.

This phenomenon isn’t just confined to Swarthmore. One of my best childhood friends, who now goes to a different university, has gone from being apathetic about school spirit to being incredibly enthusiastic about the culture, history, and, maybe most shockingly, the football program of her college. That’s a nice change, I suppose, because she sounds happier than usual, and it’s always reassuring to hear that your friends made good decisions.

But, I would argue that we Swatties have the more exposure to these confounding situations than most. After all, Swarthmore does offer a wealth of opportunities and  an abundance of potential activities, so maybe it isn’t surprising that students here can be a bit baffled by some of the situations in which they find themselves. For example, at a study break nacho-party on Sunday evening, one of my friends and I were comparing our weekend activities.

“Did you go see Star Trek in LPAC on Saturday night? I didn’t see you there.” I asked, knowing his fondness for sci-fi.

“I really wanted to,” he lamented, “but I had a fencing team dinner!”

“Wow…” I marveled, “athleticism over Star-Trek.”

“I know. Does this mean I’m a jock now?”

“Don’t worry, you’re still much more Swattie than jock.” I said. “Me, on the other hand– I went to a party later that night. Does that mean I’m a party person?”

“YOU? At a party? Why?” he gasped, sounding both amused and concerned.

I explained the situation, saying a friend had wanted to go, but didn’t have anyone to go with. I had gotten tired of practicing my Latin grammar, and agreed. So I went, and I danced (slightly and badly) and I observed people and talked to a few friends. Afterwards, I came to the conclusion that parties are still not really my cup of tea, but I didn’t regret going.

The new roles my friends and I try out– fan, athlete, socialite– are occasionally uncomfortable, sometimes exciting, but almost always worthwhile. Being in a place where a person can experiment with different interests and activities is one of the most enjoyable parts of being in college– even if, at times, it lends itself to identity crises.

“Stressful” September 23, 2009

             

 

The Post-It notes on my desk that I use to keep track of my assignments

 

              Well, it’s finally happened. After a month of being a Swattie, I am officially stressed out. The Linguistics exam and Philosophy paper looming at the end of this week are the main reasons, though the realization that I need to do some in-depth Latin grammar review isn’t helping. On top of all the work, I’m hosting my first “spec” (prospective student) tomorrow. I’m really excited to host, actually. I think it will be fun, and I hope I can help the girl see if Swarthmore is a good place for her. But I can’t very well ignore her to write my paper and conjugate irregular verbs, so timing is definitely a concern.

           It hasn’t been all work over the last week, though. For example, yesterday, my Statistics professor had us do a project where we rated the amount of fun we had blowing different brands of soap bubbles, which was really entertaining (and educational, naturally). On a less scholarly level, one of my room mates brought a DVD of House, and some of the people on my hall and I occasionally take a break from studying to watch an episode. I also heard about a weekly Gossip Girl viewing party in one of the lounges… not exactly up my alley, but probably a fun time for people who went. Tonight, the RAs on my floor are teaching us how to salsa– which isn’t up my alley either. But I’ll try it, if only so I can think embarrassing things to myself like, “Nobody puts Baby in the corner!”

         I’ve also been trying to make it to the gym on the days when I don’t have class. I’m told exercise releases endorphins, so I go with the hope that I’ll experience a rush of joy that I could harness to increase my productivity. Of course, naps are also supposed to boost productiveness… maybe that would be a better route to take.

         It helps to know I’m not the only one going through this stress. People here talk a lot about “Misery Poker,” which is nothing more than sitting around comparing workloads with friends. I guess some people see it as sort of rude, or unappreciative of the opportunities we have here, but it legitimately makes me feel better. Talking about what I need to do with my friends helps me organize my thoughts, and hearing what they have to accomplish reminds me I’m not in this alone.

          I’m sure things will fall into place more neatly next week, as I get a better handle on balancing all this work.

“Busy” September 16, 2009

 

"Victory favors those who take pains"

          With classes and clubs officially underway, I’m starting to value free time like never before. In high school, I was able to keep track of my assignments and scheduled meetings in my head, but I’ve learned since that the consequences for doing that in college can be disastrous. (I completely forgot about an assignment for one of my classes! Luckily, my professor was very understanding, and let me email it to her that evening.)

           My schedule itself isn’t bad at all– I have two classes each day, not including my PE class, which meets twice a week. But in addition to academics, writing and copy editing for The Phoenix is a huge time commitment, and it usually takes up most of my Tuesdays. Every Thursday afternoon or Friday morning, we reporters get our new assignments, and have until Tuesday evening to conduct interviews, research the stories, and write the articles. At 5 pm, we have to submit the stories, and then the newspaper comes out on Thursday morning. Because I like grammar more than normal people do, I also signed up to copy edit, which is basically proof-reading. Copy editing takes place in three sessions: Tuesday night from 8 til 11, which is my shift, Wednesday mornings, and Wednesday afternoons. By the time 11 pm rolls around, I’m ready for bed (not that I’ve managed to go to sleep before midnight since coming to Swat)!

               The Knitting group meets Wednesday afternoons, which is a lot less high-stress. I just hope the day won’t come when I have to skip it, in favor of doing homework. This particular Wednesday, there’s also a really cool lecture that I want to attend. It’s about the language crisis affecting Latino/a ‘s, and it’s being given by a panel of a Linguistics professor, a professor of Spanish and Latin American studies, and a PhD candidate from the University of Chicago. I doubt there will be much overlap with what I’m learning in my Linguistics class, but as a half-Argentinean who doesn’t speak a word of Spanish, I think it’ll be pretty interesting.

                 Those are just the things I’m trying to do over two days, outside of academics. I’m not going to touch on the actual homework assignments I have to do, especially since, in a weird way, I think a lot of them are kind of fun. Most of the people I talked to have complained about how much work they have, but nobody seems to have a problem with its actual substance. Even Philosophy and Statistics, the classes I didn’t really expect to like much, have pretty interesting readings and assignments.

               All this craziness reminds me a little of one of the catch phrases from  a book by Kurt Vonnegut that I read this past summer, called Cat’s Cradle. In the story, whenever the characters think about how complex and intricate the universe is, they say, “Busy, busy, busy.” Swarthmore’s still something of a new universe to me, and I’m still figuring out how everything works. The flurry of fliers, times and dates, and mental notes is a little overwhelming at times, but I don’t know if I would like college to be any other way.

“Interesting” September 15, 2009

      According to the hilarious play performed by the Orientation committee, the stereotypical Swattie’s favorite words are “hegemony” and “hetero-normative.” Though it’s true that, with only a week and half under my belt, I’ve already heard my classmates bandying those words about with a sense of pride and belonging, I would say the most common word I both used and heard during the beginning of my Swarthmore experience was, “interesting.”

 “You went on an archaeological dig in Macedonia this summer? That’s so interesting!”

  “You started your own charity? That’s so interesting!”

   “You want to major in something that will change the world, that I’ve never heard of before? That is so interesting!”

      I’ve met so many people this week who are absolutely fascinating, and I’ve even started to have some rather curious experiences myself. Adjusting to a life at a a college five times the size of my high school, choosing classes to take, and bonding with my room mates– all of these have been studded with little adventures. Through this blog, I hope to give you a glimpse of what life is like here from week to week, accompanied by a single word summary for those of you with shorter attention spans. I hope you find it, if nothing else, interesting.