The People

Hello everyone!

Man, it has been quite a week. I forget how frenetic the pace is here at Wellesley—we all have goals reaching to the moon, and we’re certain we can accomplish them if we just push a little harder! Luckily, working hard at college is unlike working hard anywhere else, because here there are so many people around. People to relax with, get advice from, mentor in return. For this post, I thought I’d give you a sampling of some of the people I’ve interacted with during the past few weeks. Not in any particular order, though I’ll try for roughly chronological.

Valerie and Hannah

Wellesley has a long-standing tradition of “Flower Sunday,” when older students are paired with first-years in their dorms to create a lasting mentorship and friendship. The older students are called “Big Sisters” and the first-year “Little Sisters,” and it’s common enough to hear on campus that “I’m meeting with my Little,” or “She’s my Big.” This year, I was paired with two Littles, Valerie and Hannah. Valerie’s almost a local, and plays piano and is thinking of being pre-med. Hannah did almost the same sports I did in high school— cross-country, Nordic, and lacrosse— and is exploring all possible majors. We went to the Flower Sunday ceremony together at the Chapel, where we recited poetry, sang, and heard the student group Yanvolou perform. It was a lovely morning, all the more so when we met up with more friends for lunch afterwards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tiffany, Suman, Gabby, Leah and the Swim Team

These are some of my most stalwart friends on campus, and I’ve already hung out with them probably more than is advisable :). Gabby has returned from China, Suman has been hanging around Stone-Davis (despite living in Munger), Leah lives on my floor, and I always find a place to meet Tiffany. We’ve already recounted the beginning-of-the-year drama to each other, and have been catching up about our summers, as well as watching “Les Choristes,” in any other time we can scrounge up together. I’ve yet to spend much time with the new first-years on the swim team, but I’m hoping to continue to meet up with them and the rest of my friends on Wellesley’s varsity Swim and Dive team.

Professor Mike Wiest

Professor Wiest has been spending a humbling amount of time with me and/or my online presence. I have been applying for the Churchill scholarship, a multi-part scholarship which first involves contacting a member of the faculty at the University of Cambridge to see if they would be willing to let me work in their lab. It turns out that I have no idea how to write a cover letter. Professor Wiest (along with Professor Hildreth) have thus been editing my drafts back-and-forth, back-and-forth, helping me swiftly and cheerfully despite it being completely out of their job descriptions. And when I received a positive reply from the Cambridge professor, they rejoiced with me… and then I went right back to emailing Professor Wiest about what to reply to the Cambridge professor’s replies. I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without people like Professor Wiest behind me.

Professor Bevil Conway, Kaitlin, Galen, Evelyn, Eileen, Katherine, Emma, Isabelle, Oana… do I have all of them? My Research People.

For those of you who don’t know, research is a big deal in my life. I do neuroscience research with Professor Conway, and most of that involves analyzing data by myself on my computer. But being part of a lab is so much more than our individual work—from lab meetings, to secondary lab meetings, to supplemental Journal Clubs, to additional homework help, to giving advice, to getting advice, to emailing back and forth, to hanging out as friends, to sharing a task and divvying up the work. In terms of sheer hours, I probably spent more time with these people than other last year. It’s an odd mix of professionalism and friendship that has yet to grow old, and they will continue to be one of my rocks throughout the year.

Professor Nancy Kolodny

Full disclosure—Prof. Kolodny retired last year. But that doesn’t mean she’s not still running her lab and working in the Science Center! Professor Kolodny was assigned to be my Beckman Faculty Advisor this year, which for me means I have an excuse to ask her for advice. And she gave me excellent advice—about graduate school, about lab technician positions, about post-bac programs, about thesising, about classes… everything that I’m currently juggling right now. She was meeting with people all afternoon, and slipped me into a slot the day I asked her. None of us could be where we are without this community.

Cassandra

After my second full day of class at MIT, I was walking across the street from Building 46 to the Stata Center when I ran into my friend Cassandra. Cassandra’s boyfriend Alejandro was in my CBMM program this summer, and Cassandra joined us partway through the summer as she is beginning her first year as a graduate student at MIT! We set off chatting, and she told me about her classes and about how she was deciding which lab to do her next rotation with. We even headed over to her apartment, which I was very impressed with. Seeing her in the swing of things was such a jolt in realizing that I might be a first-year graduate student in the near future.

 

Caitlin

Walking into 9.66 (Computational Cognitive Science) at MIT was a bit scary that first day. It’s a combined undergraduate and graduate-level class, which means there are a lot of scientists in there much more mature than I. But I had barely sat down when my friend Caitlin, who I had two classes with last semester, sat down next to me. Later I talked to Rosa, who used to be a lab technician in the Conway lab and is now beginning her second year as a graduate student at MIT, who is also in the class. MIT is all about having people to work on the problem sets with, and I am now set :).

Professor Stella Kakavouli and Professor Jeremy Wilmer

Do you know who also gives great advice, and are genuinely caring and wonderful people? These two professors. I told myself I was running out of time and wouldn’t write out each of their paragraphs, but couldn’t help myself, so here they are.

Professor Kakavouli bent over backwards to let me into her CS 230 lab. I had been talking to her about how I wanted to take CS 230 at the first-year career fair, before I knew it was even a possibility. And then when I mentioned that I might be able to take it this semester if I had this exception, and that exception, and that final exception there (not even kidding. Three major exceptions) she put her hands on my shoulders, looked me in the eye, her curls nodding along with her, and said “Don’t worry, Monica. We will do it.” And she did it. I still can’t believe it.

Professor Wilmer is a gem. I discussed some of the social situations I was dealing with, as well as my future plans, and he welcomed me back to talk about it later in the semester, because “I’m curious where all the balls you have up in the air will fall!” It is so special to have a random adult care about you as a person, do even more than do anything they can to help you along your way when you ask. I had Professor Wilmer as a first-year, and didn’t appreciate him as I should have back then. You come in with certain expectations straight out of high school, and Wellesley kind of maintains those expectations. And then you start applying for other things and running around in the more-real world, and you realize how incredibly special these people truly are.

Sebiha, Jeanne, Alice, Audrey, Katherine, Nathalie… the old Chem 120 crew.

Did any of you read my blog way back when I was a first-year? According to my photo logs, these were my first friends. The Chem 120 kids—the students who took accelerated introductory chemistry—have always been my “science” friends, and they are so impressive now compared to when everyone was just bags of potential sloshing about. Katherine’s Chief Justice this year, and just gave an inspiring and funny welcome speech to the entire school. Alice is finishing up her secondaries, and then heading to medical school. Nathalie just came back from Germany, Audrey’s continuing to sing original songs in many of Boston’s Starbucks, and most of these guys are thesising this year, and happen to live on the second floor of Stone-D along with me. We don’t catch up as much as we should (everyone is always busy :)) but I see them around, and they are always worth talking with.

And now, because I’m running out of time, not because anyone here doesn’t deserve pages of praise:

Professor Barb Beltz

Who walked me through what’s involved in a thesis, and offered to help smooth my way.

Professor Ellen Hildreth

Who is an amazing, amazing mentor, and who I couldn’t have done so many things without.

Christine 

Who is my adopted Little from last year, and will be my little forever.

Leslie 

Who is my actual younger sister, and is adjusting to college so much better than I ever did!

Professor Kanwisher

Who has let me into her seminar, and who I am so excited to learn from.

Emily, Blair, Ika, Helen, Stephanie, and all of the new friends I am meeting and have yet to meet:

Who are friends who don’t fit into neat categories, or new friends still :).

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I hope this gives a sense of the incredible networks on campus—that by turns you form, nurture, and are sheltered by. Looking forward into the future, I can tell I’ll miss this most of all. But in the present I give thanks to being here, surrounded by this intricate living system. It’s the best work and the best place to do work that I could hope to imagine.

Monica