By some miracle, after four days of slick rain and dense skies that felt like a Sherlock Holmes dark and stormy night, it is lovely outside. It is so lovely that I have retreated to my new favorite study destination of the year, the trellis just outside the Wellesley College Greenhouses, blanketed by thin vines bearing large heart-shaped leaves. Junior…
Category: Science
Catching up! And summer soul searching
My, oh, my a lot has happened since my last post! I’m going to get right into catching you all up with all my major soul searching that’s happened over the summer. But before I dive in, I just want to extend a welcome to anyone newly following my blog this year. I’m Eleanor; it’s nice to have you here,…
Broken bows, crude oil, and waterfalls
Hello everyone! I’m a little frazzled, because a little over an hour ago, as I was warming up my violin to rehearse with piano, my bow hair just snapped. Just snapped! You can see the photo below, although it actually pains me to look at. It’s like looking at an x-ray of a broken bone or something. This incident is…
Thoughts from a pond
Yesterday, dazed and confused after thinking about yeast in the back of my mind for five consecutive days, I took a nap on the bench by Paramecium pond. It was divine. The geese are nesting, for starters, which means fluffy babies in the next few weeks. (Between the geese and the new raven chicks, I am unusually invested in bird…
Concerts and Cell Bio
Another Friday almost done! If it seems like my blog posts are getting later than later, it’s because for the past month or so, as part of my final project for my ethnomusicology I’ve been going into Boston to volunteer and observe an El Sistema music education program at a local charter school. Because this is a public platform, and…
Winter Returns?
On Sunday, we had a little snowstorm blow through Wellesley: Just days ago, Wellesley looked like this: Ah well, spring is around the corner. At least, it needs to be around the corner because outdoor track has begun! Saturday’s meet at Coast Guard was COLD and WET and WINDY. But we had a great meet and placed third overall. Multiple…
Science and the Symphony
There is a robin singing very intently outside my dorm room. Unusually loud and unusually long, the song slips up and down a major third. The carillon bells are also playing in the background, and I can’t help but think the bird is singing along its own accompaniment. It’s a nice, peaceful ending to an otherwise jam-packed week. Since my…
Boston and Beta Galactosidase
It’s been a particularly eventful Friday at the end of a long week. I just got back from Boston, volunteering with an El Sistema program as part the final project for my Ethnomusicology class. As I mentioned the other week, El Sistema is a Venezuelan-born music education movement that aims to use power of playing in an orchestra to shape…
On being kind (to yourself)
Hello again everyone! I’ve been trying to keep the blog upbeat with all the fun things happening in my life, but to be honest, this is probably the most challenging semester I’ve had yet at Wellesley. It’s wearing me down a little, and there’s definitely been some self-doubt involved. But before we have a little heart to heart, I thought…