Back on the Mission!

 

Hello readers 🙂

Hope you are all well! I’m currently on a plane—which is usually cause for worry, as my plane blogs tend to be a bit gloomy :). However, as the blog at the end of spring break, it’s hard not to be cheerful. I just spent an entire week with three of my friends, and a lot of my family, in sunny San Jose, CA.

First, a note: I am missing school today, which is also why this blog will be late until I have access to internet and can publish it. My friends and I were scheduled to come back Saturday morning. However, due to the huge snowstorms in Denver (enjoy, Midwest!), which was our connection, we had no way back until this morning. However, my uncle and aunt and her family were delighted to keep us in CA for another day, and took us out to one of the redwood forests! (Though regretfully Suman and I stayed home. Homework does not rest for college students on vacation!)

It was a great trip, with visits to Santa Cruz, San Jose, San Francisco, Los Gatos, and many, many restaurants. I will be surprised if we all manage to come back the same weight as when we left—Gabby commented that she hasn’t eaten this well for an entire week for ages. Then again, there were a few humorous mornings, as we often went out for dinner and lunch but didn’t have much in the fridge for breakfast. I believe yesterday morning’s meal was almonds with cream cheese, a bagel split in four, chocolates, and milk… beer too, but we all passed on that one ;).

What was most unexpected was the amount of time I spent with family. I called my immediate family a few days ago (heh heh, I don’t call as often as most ;)), but in California, my uncle and aunt welcomed us with open arms. They took us on adventures, meals, a multiple-family barbeque, Sunday sports time (a rousing game of ultimate Frisbee. Despite my utter lack of catching ability, I enjoy that game very much), redwood forest visiting, and more. Suman’s parents, who visited on Friday and Saturday, took us to the beach. Suman was sad that she was only able to spend a day with them—and I had forgotten that as the only first-year in our group, she was the most homesick—but I’m glad she was able to see them as well. For homesickness, a system that unfortunately works rather well is not to see parents for a while. Even more effective is the passing of time—first year, first semester, is the toughest, but spring semester is better than that, and second year is much improved for everyone I’ve talked to. Regardless, I am so thankful for all of the caring family members in our lives… we don’t see them that often, but our parents and cousins and uncles and aunts give up their schedules—cheerfully— to make sure we’re doing the best we can with our lives :).

And friends, of course—and friends. Vacationing with family is always fun, but traveling with a bunch of people your age, who you know well and all respect, is a delight I think specially reserved for the college years. We plan our schedule day-by-day, all like similar activities (who needs window-shopping when you can hike up a mountain; and the group’s philosophy: “I’ll always eat”), are flexible to strong preferences, and really, just can’t stop giggling. During the school year, it’s hard to find time for younger-years stories, the stories that shaped who were are today, but vacations are full of retold glories. We visited Michaela’s, my youngest cousin, elementary school and told stories about the transitions to middle school, high school, and college, and the stories poured forth from there.

More family: my sisters send emails to me, because in our family writing is by far the superior form of communication. I miss out on a lot of what’s going on at home; when I call, I mainly tell my parents what I’m up to. I get information on my sisters’ lives through their emails, and how their ideas are developing. At Wellesley you meet a lot of girls who are the oldest in their families… but as I’m discovering, the younger-sibling experience is in many ways much more interesting :). It’s wonderful to see my sisters reaching the places I reached, but with an understanding often unlike my own; we’re all growing, and in some ways I’m missing it, but in other ways I enjoy having the snapshots of their lives, because I can appreciate how far we’ve come.

More friends: I have such a good grasp of Tiffany that we know almost all of each others’ opinions. Suman’s spirit is exuberant—she’s a storyteller, a dancer, a singer. Gabby’s one-liners and facial expressions would be worth paying for to get on tape. We’ve lovely friends, and lovely family.

But now we’re heading back to Wellesley! It’ll be a busy week for me once again, but I had to sit down and establish some things for myself first. First: what would I do if I wasn’t so busy? Answer: spend a little more time at lectures and with friends, which I mostly do anyway, and then pour more effort into school projects. So, essentially, if I wasn’t so busy with school, I’d do more school. I don’t think I can claim the “busy” argument as long as I don’t have tests :). Second: what exactly is so stressful about school? Answer: well, tests. Grades. Future-planning, knowing thyself, getting into grad school. All of which will happen anyway, since I’m not suddenly going to undergo a personality change, so everything will be just fine :).

(Note: I was reading my college essays just now, and I really haven’t changed much at all in the core ideas. I wonder how early those develop, and if they’ll stay for my entire life, no matter what I learn?)

(Note: You know, the “knowing thyself” challenge takes up just as much time as homework. I’ll be pleased when I don’t have any more applications so I can give it a rest ;). It’s also quite humorous that I have to extract ideas about myself from actions that I’ve performed, since I can’t just reach inside my head and figure out what kind of crazy rules my unconscious follows.)

So I’m excited to be heading on back :). I loved this vacation, with friends and family and fun, and I’m ready to head back at Wellesley, where I’m taking interesting classes, being challenged, and working hard. I’m renewed in my vow that mindset is everything. Lots of learning awaits!

Monica

Ps, it just occurred to me that I should write to you about some of the projects we’re actually doing in school, since they are awesome, but I usually refer to “school” as a blanket category category. Mayhaps next week I’ll do that!

Also, if you have any topics you’d like me to address, please reply to the blog! I’m quite a circular person, so I’m sure you know how I think about most things by now. I’d love if you could prompt me to think in a different way (or hey, just ask me any questions about life at college, Wellesley, high school experience, college experience, school, sports, science, whatever. I’d be wonderful to know what YOU’RE interested in!)

🙂 Cheers to you all!