Hey oh!
Guess who had a marvelous week :). I’m a bit sleepy now (stayed up late studying for the math quiz last night with Julia, which involved lots of giggling, nerdy jokes, and the most fun I’ve ever had which involved actual studying), but last night I was insanely bubbly, and it really has been a great week. Starting from last Friday…
Friday was very exciting because Cathy came and met the team. Cathy is a freshman in high school who missed most of middle school because she was undergoing treatment for leukemia. There is this awesome program, Team Impact, that exists to help Cathy and kids like her by letting her be a part of a college athletic team. She gets the opportunity to hang out with us periodically throughout the year, attending meets and practices as she can, and we get the opportunity to act as a second family, as the team is for us. Last Friday was her “recruiting trip,” so we had dinner with her, brought her to Slater’s Culture Show, and played with her at “Rock the Sports Center.” I think it’s a fantastic program for all involved (and I’m very happy we were chosen as Cathy’s match!), and the whole team is excited to see Cathy again this weekend!
Emily, Misha, Cathy, Ika, Shaheen, Suman
She is spinning in a giant flowing dress. This performance looked like it could have been on ice.
After eating dinner with Cathy and attending the Culture Show with her (where I had several friends performing, mostly in Wushu, Wellesley’s martial arts performance group), Suman, Zoe, Keelin, Ceallach and I went to “Rock the Sports Center” a bit after Cathy’s group went. Every year, the Sports Center has a night where they rent out several moonwalks/inflatable bouncy things (“bouncy things” seems to be the common term wherever I go ;)), and then they feed us food and we’re allowed to go run around in them. I have to say, I always forget that playing is just as hard as any swim workout, and we were pretty tired by the time we were done :). It was a ton of fun though – punctuated with repeated “I feel like a kid again!”… at least until Suman twisted her ankle on the sticky wall!
Yeah Suman!
Needless to say, we spent the rest of the night icing it, though happily over the weekend it seems to have healed :). Saturday morning we had practice and then team goal setting, where the first-years astounded us with their far-reaching and intelligent future goals for the team. I’m very excited about swimming this year, if you can’t tell—I think we have a great group of girls, both physically and mentally, who will push each other until we achieve something remarkable. I’m definitely looking forward to it :).
So after practice I spent Saturday studying, and then I spent Sunday studying (research at Harvard Medical School was cancelled, so I was reading research papers (which was a tad boring) and trying to figure out MATLAB (which was by turns frustrating and extremely exciting)). Saturday night I also went out to dinner with Tiffany, Theresa, Suman, Gabby, and Erin—where we got nailed at the restaurant for not tipping enough :). Note to all college students—bring small bills wherever you go, otherwise you’ll end up with the frequent problem of having twenty dollar bills and no way to divvy up who owes what. I very much enjoyed the weekend, actually—it’s hard for me to get work done during the day, because I don’t have any long blocks of studying time, plus, during the week, there are so many things I need to take care of, and so many people I interact with. And while I very much wouldn’t want to sit by myself in my room all the time (see finals period—that is one of my primary reasons for disliking it), it’s restful to have some space all to myself. (Note: I most likely will have a roommate moving in next week. I’ll keep you updated!)
Then came Monday: HURRICANE DAY!! In my hometown in Minnesota, we had a total of one snow day (we all cursed the maddeningly-efficient snowplows), one frozen pipe explosion day, and one chemical spill day, all of which stick out prominently in my mind. I can now add to that hurricane Sandy day, which meant we had no practice and no school! As I’ve learned in Neuro, my dopamine cells, which code prediction error, were firing like mad. I spent the day doing more homework and listening to the wind outside and enjoyed myself immensely (embrace the nerdiness, Monica). We weren’t hit very hard, especially since Wellesley generates most of its own electricity and the dining halls were still open, but we did have three large trees down on my walk to class the next day!
Tuesday was wonderful because we had Tanner Conference, which is where Wellesley students talk about their summer internships. I will never get over how impressive everyone here is, from starting businesses to doing research to working at nonprofits to teaching overseas. I was only able to attend the morning sessions (I think I got about 6 talks in) before I was headed to math office hours, but that too was soothing even as it was a touch stressful (math homework is due at 5pm on Tuesdays, so basically the entire hall and his office are full). Then I had swimming lessons, which was wonderful since we spent the whole time focusing on gliding and diving, and I was feeling fantastic at practice. I remember thinking “I’m flying! I’m flying!” and then being told I needed to try a little harder, after which the mantra became “I’m flying aggressively!” Then a study session with Julia (where we ended up talking about Harry Potter-physics fanfiction, mathematical symbols that can be used in every other context (∀, anyone?), the interesting fact that we have not used the word “river” in our notes since we can’t remember when, and other terribly amusing things.
Whohoo! Not many people at 9am, but by 11am much of the campus had arrived :).
That’s all I’ve got right now, guys :). Funny how the relationship between ideas of depth and general good mood seem to be inversely related ;). Well, as long as it stays on a cycle, it’s all good to me! Hope you’re safe if you’re on the East Coast, and I wish you all the best.
Tanners are between 10-20 minutes long, and are presentations by Wellesley students about their summer experiences. Karina, one of our captains, talked about her experience in helping to create a new geosciences exhibit at a museum in CA. It combined her interest in psych, geosciences, and education all in one go!
And the swim team showed up to support her! Charlotte, Gabby, Tiff, Zoe, Annie, Theresa
Monica
TZE (Tau Zeta Epsilon) hosted Toga Party this year, and several swimmers attended :). Shaheen, Cellach, Annie, Suman, and Grace– and their bedsheets looked just like dresses!
Goodness, I almost forgot it was Halloween today! But these little guys trooping around the Science Center were a good reminder… I shall wear my pumpkin swim cap today in practice (though regretfully I left my favorite cape at home!)