A week from now I will be in sunny California.
That’s the thought that got me out of bed this morning when I saw this:
yay snow? nay snow.
Snow, again, of course. We had enjoyed such beautiful spring weather this past weekend I honestly (and foolishly) thought things (the temperature and my mood) were going up. but nope! The Massachusetts skies had some left over snow to dump on us today and here we are, trudging through the muddy ground and falling flakes to get to class.
Okay so I’m being a bit melodramatic. In all honestly the snow really isn’t that bad – it only feels like it because it was such a huge contrast with the 14+ degrees weather (thats 50+ degrees Fahrenheit for you American folk) I’d been basking in for the past few days. Another one of those adjustments to get used to here at Wellesley, but it’s a really small issue in the grand scheme of things. haha.
So last week, I had the pleasure of attending The Wellesley Monologues. This performance consisted of Wellesley students performing stories about “identities, sex, sexuality and gender” to a wonderful audience of fellow students.
Some of my friends performed, and I felt the familiar wow-i-have-such-beautiful-talented-friends-ohmygod feeling I’d felt time and time again since I’ve come to Wellesley. All of the performers (and directors and writers who contributed to the show) spoke beautifully, eloquently, and from the heart.
this is what the bar looks like from where I was sitting
Oh, and this all took place at Punch’s Alley, the campus bar. Yeah this school has a bar. Don’t worry I didn’t know about it either until I got here in August because I never did a campus tour – being from across the Pacific Ocean and all, you know, campus tours really weren’t an option for me – but yea it exists and it’s cool and it’s a great environment whether you’re drinking or not (which I am not, because I am underage and Punch’s is very strict about not letting people under 21 drink).
Other than listening to monologues about sexuality and gender and identity, I also attended a panel discussion at Babson College with Dr. Linda Murray, Dr. Roseanna Means and Dr. Kristin Mattocks. All of three of these women talked about their own experiences in the medical or health field of expertise, and gave advice on how to or why we should aspire to be involved with public health no matter what our specialties may be. I enjoyed the panel, made some new friends, and got to see Babson campus a bit. I can’t believe I hadn’t been there yet – it’s really close to our campus, and students from Babson, Wellesley, and Olin cross have the opportunity to cross-register in to the other schools’ classes.
photo of Me, Dr. Linda Murray, a fellow Wellesley Student, and Charlene Galarneau (Professor of the Women’s and Gender Studies Department @Wellesley)
My goals had been so set on becoming a pediatrician since I was in middle school, that I hadn’t really considered much else. I didn’t know that there was so much more TO consider. This panel opened my eyes to a whole field of
Also, I’ve started volunteering at the Tufts Medical Center on Saturday mornings. The waking-up-at-7am-on-saturdays struggle is TOO REAL but it’s so worth it. I did similar volunteer work throughout high school, tutoring and mentoring kids (on saturday mornings too, actually) so it’s been great to kind of get back into this routine of getting up early, helping kids out with school work.
That’s all for now.. I’ve got to go to class. I need ten minutes to get my sweater+coat+gloves+hat+scarf+boots on. Did I mention it’s cold out?