Wellesley College is like a bubble, set apart from the world through a very distinctive aura shaped by both physical and abstract aspects. Physical because there are few cars, no excessive noise, vegetation all around, and buildings that seem out of a fairytale. Abstract due to the cluster of open-mindedness found on campus that allows most of us to feel great being ourselves, whatever that may mean.
As much as I love Wellesley for this, though, I personally love leaving campus. I usually go into the Ville (Wellesley Town) daily to get coffee, and I love going to MIT for a change of scenery. While some people prefer to be on campus for months on end without leaving once, I have come to realize that I am much more productive when I get away from the source of my stress (I am leaving at school, after all) and get to interact with people that are different than myself.
The town center and MIT are not the only places to go, however. First of all, we also have daily shuttles to Olin and Babson since there are people that choose to take some of their classes there. Second, we have shuttles that go to the Natick Mall in the weekend (as well as a few other stops such as Target). In addition, the shuttle stops at Harvard before heading to MIT on weekends, but even during school days it is easily accessible by subway.
That’s not really what I wanted to talk about, though. Sure, going to other Boston suburbs and/or other colleges in and around Boston is always a possibility, but the great thing about being so close to Boston is how close to Boston we are. Being such an important city, Boston often has events open to the public, as well as the public locations accessible to all (such as the Boston Public Library). There’s concerts, sport games, art shows, and so on.
Last Saturday I went to a free event outside Fenway Park called Illuminus, better described as a “nighttime contemporary art event.” Given that it was the very beginning of Fall Break (which sadly ends today), there were not too many people on campus, so I ended up going with a girl that I wasn’t very close to but had always had a lot of fun with. We decided to stop at Dado for a quick meal and boba tea before taking the subway to Fenway from Harvard. We each ended up spending almost $25 due to transportation and meals, but if you are worried about money you could bring the price down by bringing your own food and/or walking instead of taking the subway.
The event was a lot of fun. I have to admit that I did not understand half of the exhibits, but it was nevertheless time well spent. We both took loads of pictures, some of which I have attached throughout this blog post.
There are hundreds of ways to find out about events in Boston, but Google and Facebook are probably the most convenient. There is a huge variety: whether you are a comic book geek or a sports lover, you need not go even a weekend without a fun event in Boston.