Well, this is actually totally not the home stretch, but weeks last forever here! So much to do. Especially during Midterms weeks, which are this week and the next for most of us.
Since I just came from high school, I had no idea how tests work here. Turns out, unlike in high school where we have periodic unit tests, at college they have three tests per semester, and the majority of your grade rests on your performance on these three tests. These tests are called Midterms (thought they aren’t exactly in the middle of the term, so it’s a bit misleading) or are essay for some of my classes. I only had one essay due this week, for my writing class, so I am comparatively not as bad off as those who have had two or three major assignments due.
However, that means that all of my tests are next week, the week before Fall Break. And this is why I say it’s sort of the home stretch, because Fall Break is a good four days long (including the weekend) in which I plan to finally… well, actually, catch up on reading. But I’m also visiting a friend at MIT, so one mustn’t say I’m a complete workaholic :).
I’d like to insert a quick note on reading, and on my newest interpretations of class in general. I thought I had it all under control last week—turns out I still have a way to go :).
So, you know when college students tell you that humanities college classes are more work because they involve more reading? And you totally don’t believe them, because reading is a relatively easy thing (well, I like it, at least)? Turns out they are actually right. Because while recreational reading might be fun and easy, we get to read primary documents. I wasn’t exposed to many primary documents in high school, but they are articles and essays written by people who actually experienced specific events. This means that though they have arguments, many of these documents are somewhat convoluted, and sadly not organized into neat bullet points. Further, upon arrival in class you still do not get the wonderful bullet points. Rather, we discuss the general ideas and subtle inflections and point of view and other necessary, very advanced college-level stuff. It still leaves me yearning for my lovely high school bullet-pointed information…
Essentially what I’m recounting is that in college you are expected to think about what you are reading and learning, and it takes a bit of an adjustment for anyone :). So when students tell you that college involves more reading, it does, on the one hand (and it takes quite a few hours out of the day), but what they really mean is that you are expected to synthesize information more succinctly than you are expected to in high school. Well, that’s my go at it. Choose your own interpretation, of course (ooh, preparation for college thinking already!).
So that’s what I’ve been experiencing in terms of humanities. In my chemistry and math classes, of course, we do have nice neat text with few jack-in-the-box opinions sprouting out at us. On the other hand, we have a lot of information we need to process, and a really long lab yesterday. I got off on the easy end (it only took me four and a half hours), and I got all my screenshots. Yesterday we were in Lab 5 (we have a different lab each week, and we have a three and a half hour block to do it in), which has to do with molecular orbitals. I had a fantastic AP Chemistry teacher in high school, but we didn’t learn much about molecular orbitals, and I can see why. They take quite a bit of mental willpower to understand, plus they take a long time to create on Gauss View on the computer (which is what we did in lab yesterday).
But enough about schoolwork! Though we are here to learn and study and constantly freak out about our educations, that is not the only thing that gets done here :). We do engage in normal work as well (uh, I suppose I’m not heading in the right direction here, whoops 😉 and I’m actually finding normal work very soothing. I work writing the blog and at the library, for a quick reminder. Writing the blog is just fun—though uploading pictures is a pain, it’s great to run around taking photos of people and telling them they’re going to be famous. It’s also great to talk about everything I’ve been stressing over the past week, because as I was told as a young girl: “You are a naturally anxious child, Monica [so you’d best figure out how to deal with it].” Though the brackets are mine, I really enjoy sharing what I’m experiencing with others and hoping they can learn from it. If you’ve read my blog, thanks very much! Additionally, huge thanks to the people who have written comments. I love knowing that hearing about what I’ve been doing can be of some use to someone.
The library work is fun too. I work six hours a week, and usually I wander around the Clapp library looking for books, or checking printers, or resetting the library laptops. I work one of the night shifts, from 8:00pm-9:30pm, so it’s usually pretty quiet when I’m on shift. I find it’s a great time to slow down, think about the day, and ruminate on what happened and where I’m going next. I think that we all need some time to think about the little errors or successes that occur each day.
My singing lessons are going well too. I must say, the payment process is quite a windy one, but with the help of my parents (they called the financial office for me) I was able to pay for my lessons. I am going in today to talk to the financial office, because I, unlike my parents, have little grasp of my financial situation. I would not at all apply this to the other Wellesley students; I’m just personally ignorant in this fashion. I’m also very ignorant in terms of popular culture and TV etc, though I know quite a bit about young adult fiction books and AP classes. Nevertheless, I am determined to triumph over my ignorance (well, of the financial part at least 😉 and so I will embark on my quest to Green Hall, where the counselors at the Financial Office are located!
Otherwise, my singing lessons have been quite informative and enriching. I have learned more about the techniques of singing in three lessons than I have after an entire lifetime of listening to music, so for those who haven’t taken a music class, I recommend it. I also recommend taking a drawing class, which I hope to take eventually. Though I’ve heard that the introductory drawing class takes quite a bit of time, I’ve also heard that it leaves you with a new view of the world (credits to Leigh on that statement). And what are we hear for if not to broaden our view on the world?
Swimming is going swimmingly as well. (What an odd adverb—when has “swimmingly” meant “smoothly”? It’s a darn struggle to swim smoothly… perhaps it means that one works very hard at appearing to look beautiful and be effective? Ah, I digress) This week marks the end of our two-week tryout period; the team will be announced shortly. This is actually the first year the team has had to be cut; NCAA rules say we can only have a 28-person travel team, and we had 35 or so trying out in the beginning. I’m not sure how many remain; in any case, I’m just proud of myself for learning all the names!
This week is also a swimming recruit weekend! Last week was the huge alumni weekend, and Saturday we had a pool party where we met lots of swimming alumni and hung out with the recruits who were here to visit. That was actually awesome; I met a teacher who did the five-year certification program here, and also a professor who works part-time here with Professor Chris Arumainayagam. He’s my Chemistry teacher, so I was very excited. It was fun to meet all the alumni, and eat food and know that we’ll be there someday. I can’t wait to work on my senior thesis, and I don’t know if I’m kidding or not ;).
I have mostly retreated out of this weekend’s recruit weekend, and I’ll only be joining the team at meals and practice. The team as a whole is expected to hang out and host the recruits, but we all take turns unless there are a whole host of recruits. Since I am crazy busy this weekend (Midterms, my lovelies, plus I was put behind last weekend due to the recruit weekend) I am mostly opting out and volunteering the next recruiting weekends. Swimming does take a lot of commitment (we’re going to be teaching swim lessons shortly to fundraise for our training trip in December, for example); and meets haven’t even started yet! I’m sure you’ll hear more about that in the future; our first meet rolls around in November. (If you’re around here you should come ;)).
And that’s everything, I think! I am working on cutting things down, because I have too much to do right now. So I decided not to join Wellesley-in-Translation, which is an organization on campus that translates documents for nonprofits (my French and Spanish will regress, I regret), and I’ve backed off the things that don’t need my immediate attention. Which still leaves me with lots to do: Classes (ah, school), swimming, work, and voice lessons, in order of hours committed. And I think that will do me quite well; life really is wonderful here, and if it’s not wonderful, it can easily be made so.
I hope you all have an enjoyable Friday! It’s a beautiful fall afternoon here (perfect weather for those of us going apple picking today, which bring to mind freshness and cinnamon and happiness), and I hope it is where you are. As always, I’m here to answer questions; just post and I’ll be sure to answer!
Monica
Pictures 🙂
