I’m ready.
I’m ready.
I’m soooooo reaaaadyyyyyyy!!! for this weekend. but also to keep fighting the necessary fight.
I’m taking a break from the Senior Interview Series this week even though we just got started because 1) I have too many thoughts and emotions to sort through, and so do my interviewees, to focus just on ourselves right now, and 2) I feel like you (prospective students) are probably wondering what the hillary is going on at HRC’s alma mater after this election.
Here are some photos of election night before I got too drunk I fell asleep and before the polls began to scare people.
The hours leading up to the announcement of our next president proved to me once again that Wellesley is proudly a school for nerds – lots of schools throughout the world (but especially in this country) show their school spirit through cheering for sports teams – some of the football games I’ve been to at other schools in Boston blew my mind. Wellesley, meanwhile, is a school where academia-loving people have come to do even more academics since 1875 so the school spirit shows itself in the form of elections and other politically oriented events.
Wellesley College is a place where women learn their importance, where women unlearn the ambivalence/hatred/scorn we were taught to have for each other, where women lead, follow, and work together. I am so proud to be a student but even more excited to be an alum – yes, I’m ready to graduate but I’m so ready to start giving back. I hope to be the kind of alumna who my peers and younger students can be proud of — I don’t need cardboard cutouts of my face or a campus center built in my name, but I do want to make a positive impact on the image of the school – and more importantly, on the EVERYDAY LIFE of students living and learning on this campus.
So, what’s campus life like right now?
Right now I’m feeling a little overwhelmed, but a lot more hopeful. Tuesday was also my birthday (feeling a lot older than 22), but my incredible friends had enough foresight to celebrate the weekend before and not after the election. After so many days jam-packed with the spirit of love, community, and festivities, the shift in mood throughout campus (and the country) that happened on Tuesday night gave me emotional whiplash. But, I’m recovering, and I hope you all are too.
I can only tell you what my own life is like, which is why I started the interview project. Next week I will make sure I stick to the schedule, but for now please read some of the links I share. If you’re wondering What is it like to be a low-income, high-achieving student at Wellesley? I can’t tell you from personal experience, but my friend can. What is it like to be a Black student at Wellesley? I can’t tell you from personal experience, but my friend can. What is it like to be a Muslim Student at Wellesley? I can’t tell you from personal experience, but my friend can.
My Women’s and Gender Studies education has taught me to amplify the voices of those we care about and those who are not heard enough. My education has led me to believe that recognizing people’s multiple identities is not only the right thing to do, but the best thing to do in order to build communities that don’t just advantage one group of people. My education has taught me to think globally & act locally, that we can make change happen by learning from the past, acting in the present, and imagining a better future.
One of my heroes and professors, Susan Reverby, shared these words with us WGST majors yesterday morning:
“To all our students,
If you ever wondered about the relevance of picking this major, this should be proof how much we need all of you. As I get ready to retire, I have great faith in what you will all do. I fear right now for those of you who are more vulnerable. But I also believe that this is a long fight and we have begun to equip you with the tools to be in it. My heart goes out to you all.”
I am so grateful for my Wellesley education. I can’t say it enough.
I am so grateful.
ママの苦労のおかげです。心から感謝してます。
これからもがんばります。
This is why I am torn – do I stay home in the United States, and work to make this country true to its name, or do I go home to Japan and do the same work there?
No matter where I end up, though, I want to be someone who is invested in a community, serves and protects women and children, and makes tangible progress in ensuring the successes of future generations. Right now I’m leaning towards staying in the States and doing community organizing work but I change my mind a lot so we’ll see what I end up doing!
Lastly, I want to remind myself publicly to balance pragmatism and optimism. As we approach the end of the academic semester, I need to remind myself to think about what I can do, what I want to do, and what I should do, and figure out where these things intersect. I need to remind myself that I alone can achieve very little; my biological family, chosen family, classmates, professors, dining hall staff, custodial workers, neighbors are all living in this country, too. Together we will be able to achieve more than what we probably think is possible right now. United, we shall overcome.
This was a big election. November 8th was a big day.
But let’s not forget the little things! I’ll end with words by Emilie Townes:
ultimately, i believe that somewhere deep inside each of us
we know that perhaps the simplest, yet the most difficult answer to the challenge of
“what will we do with the fullness and incompleteness of
what we have brought to this time and place?”
is: live your life and faith with a deep love and respect for others and yourself.
now i am not talking about perfection—i’m an american baptist
i’m talking about what we call in christian ethics,
the everydayness of moral acts it’s what we do every day
that shapes us and says more about us than those
grand moments of righteous indignation and action
the everydayness of listening closely when folks talk or don’t talk to hear what they are saying
the everydayness of taking some time, however short or long, to refresh us through prayer or meditation
the everydayness of speaking to folks and actually meaning whatever it is
that is coming out of our mouths
the everydayness of being a presence in people’s lives
the everydayness of designing a class session or lecture or reading or writing or thinking
the everydayness of sharing a meal
the everydayness of facing heartache and disappointment
the everydayness of joy and laughter
the everydayness of facing people who expect us to lead them somewhere or at least point them in the right direction and walk with them
the everydayness of blending head and heart
the everydayness of getting up and trying one more time to get our living
right
it is in this everydayness that “we the people” are formed
and we, the people of faith, live and must witness to a justice wrapped in
a love that will not let us go
and a peace that is simply too ornery to give up on us
won’t you join in this celebration?
***
Dr. Townes is a pivotal player in the construction of the field of “womanist theology.” Broadly defined, “womanist theology” is a field of theological and ethical reflection in what historic and present-day insights of African American women are brought into critical engagement with the traditions of Christian theology. Her first two major works, Womanist Justice, Womanist Hope 1993 and In a Blaze of Glory: Womanist Spirituality as Social Witness 1995 were seminal texts in the field.
taken from https://voicesofsophia.wordpress.com/2006/07/09/everydayness-by-emilie-townes/
***