Fall Break to Mt. Washington

 

Tiff and Fiona

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey everyone!

Today, Sunday, I just came back from a fantastic hiking trip in New Hampshire. (I struggle every time, but it is indeed “New Hampshire” not “New Hamster.”) This long weekend is Wellesley’s Fall Break, which means we don’t have school Monday or Tuesday! I actually have school on Tuesday, because MIT doesn’t have school off, but I’m so happy for the long weekend.

This will have been my fifth time staying overnight at Ms. Kovacikova’s house in Hanover, NH, and I have had astonishingly wonderful stays every time. This time, a portion of the Wellesley varsity swim team decided to climb the tallest mountain in New England, Mt. Washington. We were led by our fearless super senior Ika! (Kidding. Ika was a senior captain on the swim team last year, and Ms. Kovacikova is her mom. However, like me, she maintains close ties to the swim team, and we were happily still invited to stay over at her house this year despite the fact that Ika has graduated.)

(Also, a note to anyone not familiar with my Wellesley background—I swam on the varsity team for my first and sophomore years before I ended up quitting, but I still have many good friends on the team and can get myself invited to functions like this :).)

Thus, Dorothy, Maddie, Leah, me, Tiffany, Suman, Gabby, Erin, Fiona, Patricia, Sarah, Michelle, Ika, and Ms. Kovacikova set off at 9am on Saturday to climb up a mountain. I was fearful, since when I had checked the weather forecast a few days prior, it had read “freezing fog” and “feels like 3 degrees.” As a Minnesotan, I have much respect for the weather and was hesitant, but it actually turned out to be the most beautiful day Ika had ever seen when climbing Mt. Washington. There was snow at the top, but we were only cold for a short while before we got moving again. (As an aside, the only time I tripped on the hike was when I was relating these fears to Ika. I’d gotten as far as “I wasn’t sure it was safe—” before I fell over one leg, braced myself with the other, flipped over that one, braced myself with one arm, and ended up upside down and having skidded five feet. There was quite a bit of laughing.)

What I love most about these hikes and the overnight stays is how well everyone on the trip gets to know each other. These are all Wellesley girls, but I learn more about them in a trip to NH than I do staying at Wellesley! We have a three hour car ride both ways, and hiking brings out the conversation like nothing else. Everyone on this trip likes each other and enjoys everyone’s presence, and we’re incredibly taken care of by Ms. Kovacikova, who mothers us on the hike, loves spending time with all of us, and feeds us wonderful food as well as providing us her house and her love.

Interestingly, I have some new insights on Wellesley from this trip! One realization was that many of my friends now have boyfriends. The ratio still isn’t high in terms of overall student population, but I can confidently say that is possible for many highly-successful Wellesley students to date and focus on academics at the same time! So for those prospective students asking about what it’s like to be at a women’s college—first, most of the time you forget there are only women (and I’m serious about this. Once you get used to not seeing guys around, you don’t expect to see guys around), and second, if you want to date, there’s plenty of people from neighboring schools available. (…Wow, that statement has been a long time coming :). I’ve been talking hypothetically about the ability to date at Wellesley since first year, but it seems that I’ve only finally become aware of friends doing so now that we’re upperclasswomen!)

Second, it’s only after spending hours talking with people that I get a sense of the problems in their lives. I’ve been wrapped up in my own type of problems for years (mostly academic, research, or future-related—you’ve read about most of them :)), but it’s so valuable to get yanked out of my own bubble for a second and actually see what everyone else is going through, what I need to be sensitive to and how I can help. For example, I heard more about divorce than I’ve ever been exposed to. And so much about parents—parents who have trouble adjusting to their daughter being gone, or how much support or independence to supply to their daughter. I only get it from one side of course, and family dynamics are so complex that I can’t ever do more than listen. Yet that particular situation is not something I’ve had to struggle with, due to my own family’s complex dynamics… which means I’m not sensitive to the issues, I haven’t put my feet in their positions, and I need to be empathetic to these “new” situations.

(One thing I think Wellesley does well is respect differences. Everyone has their own opinions on how accepting Wellesley is as a community, but as a whole I think we are very sensitive to potential conflicts, and do our best to support each other. Personally, I know I’ve been made more aware of differences and how to respect them by being here.)

Hmmm, a great weekend, and a good break before school starts up again :). I have good news on another front as well—I was selected as Wellesley’s nominee for the Churchill Scholarship! I’m so grateful to all of the people who helped me with my essays to get to this point—this was the most collective application endeavor I’ve ever undertaken. And even if I don’t get any further, I’m so glad I applied :).

Hope you all have a great weekend, and make sure to email the Admissions Office if you have questions or comments! (They’ll get forwarded to me.)

Happy fall, Monica