Ahhh thank goodness for President's Day weekend.
The break from the chaos of classes and work helped me get back on track with motivation to do well in school (sophomore slump is REAL y'all). I hope you enjoyed your long weekend! I worked on a memo for my World Politics course, went out to sushi, hung out at Harvard, caught up with friends, and went skiing on Monday!
I'm a little bit of a mountain snob, because I ski in the Cascades at home and up in British Columbia, and out here the "mountains" are really little hills. Nevertheless, I was happily surprised by Loon Mountain ski resort in New Hampshire. The sun was out, spirits were high, and my friends and I had all day to spend on the slopes. Since I left all of my gear at home, I rented everything I needed, which I thought might be stressful but it worked really well!
Regan and I at Loon Mountain
I'm happy as a clam as I'm writing this blog post because I just came from a wonderful lunch with my Writing 125 (a required writing class that all first-years have to take) class. Our professor was incredible last Spring; she taught us how to write proper research papers, which has helped me infinitely in the political science major. The class is titled Wealth & Poverty in America (yes, a HUGE topic) and taught by Professor Ann Velenchik, who is the head of the Writing Department.
Besides keeping us laughing throughout the semester, she showed such genuine interest in our personal lives that I think my entire class feels a special bond with her. Last year, in the last week of classes, she was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia. The news came as a shock to everyone. On a Tuesday she went to the doctor for blood work to see why she had a funny looking bruise on her arm, and by Thursday she was admitted into the hospital for her 7 week chemotherapy treatment. She came to class on Tuesday, and she had already been to the doctor. That afternoon she received the phone call from her doctor that changed her life.
Needless to say, she did not make it to our final class on Friday because she was already in the hospital. She had her husband deliver snacks to our room for our party we had planned (wayyy too nice, I know). Throughout her stay in the hospital, she kept us updated through a blog. When she was too sick to write, her husband wrote for her. Back at Wellesley, students started a petition to have George Clooney (her celebrity crush who she talks about all the time) visit her.
photo credit: google images
She felt terrible for having to leave us like that, so she sent us an email asking if we would join her for lunch once she was back this semester. Almost my whole class showed up today, and we ate sandwiches and caught up with her. She remembered everything about everybody: she even asked if I was still dating Rory (she met him last year when he came to visit and he stopped by her class and met her). We chatted and caught up for over an hour.
As a high school student applying to Wellesley, I heard a few stories about professors inviting their classes to their house for dinner, having lunch with students, and really making an effort to build meaningful relationships with their students. I never expected to have such a wonderful experience with such a renowned professor within my first year here.
xoxo
Kara