Season’s greetings! I just saw some more small snowflakes on my way over here but we still haven’t had an actual snow yet. It’s on the forecast for today so we’ll see what happens but I’m keeping my fingers crossed. During my first year we had a huge snowstorm at the end of the semester and I was practically snowed into my dorm! After turning in my final papers I was walking back to my dorm when I fell Julia Roberts style in Mona Lisa Smile (set at Wellesley) into a snow bank. It was quite humorous actually. I laid there in the snow laughing at how ridiculous it was. Check out this link at around 8:38 for an accurate interpretation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ0I_dzoJIM
Last Friday night turned out wonderfully. My friend Erika drove Sara and I to the grocery store in town to pick up supplies for Sara’s 21st birthday party and to pick up some finals food (I got pink lemonade juice boxes and was very excited). We came back to Wellesley, got all dressed up and attempted to make cheese fondu. We had a few issues in that we couldn’t find a corkscrew and we didn’t have the proper fondu pot so we ended up microwaving it, but all in all it turned out to be fun and yummy. The Logs concert at MIT was amazing as usual. They always have such awesome dance moves and funny skits. The theme of their show this year was Harry Logger, a pun on Harry Potter.
This week is my last week at Wellesley for a long time. I won’t be returning until next September to begin my senior year after studying abroad in Scotland. I still can’t believe that study abroad is finally here! After all of the planning, applying and figuring out logistical details, I’ll be on a plane bound for Edinburgh in 23 days! It was reassuring to see my Wellesley friend Rachael who came to visit last week after spending the semester in South Africa. She had learned and experienced so much! I only hope that I will have the same experience.
So as I said it’s finals week here. This year I have 4 final papers and no exams. It all depends on what you’re studying and who your professor is. Some classes and professors call for final papers, others call for final exams. Final papers are pretty straightforward but we have a pretty cool final exams system here. Some professors will choose to give scheduled finals but a lot of the time professors will choose self scheduled exams. This means that you get to decide when you want to take the exam during the week of finals. The nice part is that you could plan to take an exam on Tuesday for example, wake up and feel like you’re not ready and that’s totally fine. You can take the exam on another day. The other nice things about self scheduled finals is that this year there are three time slots to take them in: 9-11:30am, 1:30-4pm, and 6-8:30 pm.
Here’s an example: One of my friends Sara is taking a Chinese Politics final exam. She’s decided to take it tonight from 6 to 8:30 pm. A little bit before 6pm, Sara will walk over to the Science Center. She’ll show them her ID Card and they will release the exam to her. Sara will write down the time that she receives the exam and she’ll be responsible for handing the exam in 2 and half hours from the time she received it. Sara can choose to sit in a number of rooms in the Science Center with other students who could be taking the same test or a totally different test. How is this possible? Easy, Wellesley has an amazing Honor Code that is well respected here. This is the honor code in a nutshell:
As a Wellesley College student, I will act with honesty, integrity, and respect. In making this commitment, I am accountable to the community and dedicate myself to a life of honor.
This is my second to last series on Lake Waban and it’s one of my favorite spots. Near the Wellesley College Club, there is a beautiful stone bridge. I’ve sat here many a time with friends gazing into the ripples of the water and having some really insightful conversations. Maybe it will inspire you too?