And just like that it all flew by- I’m at the end of my first term at Wellesley!
It still feels a little bit too early for any sort of personal reflection- I’ll save that for the ends of semesters and of years- but I do think it’s time for a little bit of looking back, and what better way to celebrate the end of classes than actually telling you about my classes?
That’s right, I have just now realized that I went through a full quarter of a college year barely telling you anything about my actual academics. I’m not entirely sure how that happened- my classes are absolutely the biggest part of my life at Wellesley right now, and they’re very fun and very interesting and they absolutely deserved their own blog post long before now. Given that I- unfortunately- cannot turn back the clock and give them that well-deserved earlier blog post, I’ll just have to write it now and hope that’s acceptable for you all!
My first of two courses this term was Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology with Professor Justin Armstrong. I actually signed up to take this class because of Justin; when I was interviewing for my Wellesley application the summer before senior year, my interviewer and I were talking about the relationships she’d been able to cultivate with her professors during her Wellesley experience, and she specifically mentioned Justin and how much she felt like he had impacted her academic experience at Wellesley, and that’s a kind of ringing endorsement I can’t ignore.
I will be completely honest and say that I had very little idea what anthropology was before I started this class, and I really didn’t think it would be super applicable to the rest of my life unless I suddenly decided to become an anthropologist. I was so completely wrong about that.
Through this class, I really feel like my eyes have been opened to the reasons why I do things and how I look at the world around me. We talk a lot about the concept of ethnocentrism and thinking that the way you live is indisputably superior to others and how wrong that is, and we also consider the myth that there is only one right way for progression to happen, and that the state of the world today is natural and inevitable, rather than just one possible path we could be on. There are so many things that we assume are a part of human nature that are actually just aspects of our culture that we have been enculturated into, and it’s important to be able to step back and really think about what things- if any- are truly universal across all cultures. Though I know at this point that I won’t be going into anthropology as a future career, I’m definitely not done taking anthropology classes yet; as Justin says “if you’re going to be interacting with humans, you could use anthropology”. I think my anthropology class has really helped shape my experience of adjusting to Wellesley and being away from home for the first time, and I would seriously recommend that everyone take it.
My second class this term was Critical Interpretation with Professor Dan Chiasson. Dan actually ended up releasing a book while I was in his class- The Math Campers, if you’re interested- which is kind of crazy to think about. I just spent a term learning about poetry from an actual published poet. Wow.
I’ve got to be honest, this class I actually did struggle with a bit in the beginning. I’ve always thought of myself as a poetry fan, but I tend to stick more to poets coming from backgrounds more similar to my own; diving into poem after poem with references to The Odyssey or The Iliad or some obscure french phrase or archaic word that apparently was a staple of every New England- or non-public school- education was sort of rough. I felt like everything was flying over my head and I didn’t really think the things we were talking about were important enough to merit an hour of discussion each day. There are so many problems in the world we could be learning about and fixing; why are we sitting around dissecting the life of Emily Dickinson?
I can’t say that I’ve completely gotten over this mindset, but I think while it hasn’t dissolved, it definitely shifted; I understand that I am the kind of person who needs to get out there and roll up my sleeves and make the world a better place, but not everyone’s the same way, and that doesn’t make what they’re doing less important. There a million different cogs in the machine, and writing incredibly inspiring poetry that moves us to climb mountains and to fight the good fight is a pretty important one. It may not be the kind of gear I am, but it’s a gear I’ve found I work very well with through the friendships I made this term.
Right now Wellesley is on our last day of reading period before finals officially begin tomorrow, but I happen to be pretty ahead of the game and I finished all of my work last night! I had a final essay for both classes, and we also had an open-note exam for anthropology. It feels so weird to know that I’m- almost- officially done with my first term of college!
Next week is a very welcome break from academics for the Wellesley community; our term two classes don’t start until the 26th, and I’m planning to use my free time to write letters home, spend time with my friends, and take lots of naps. Knowing me- and knowing how much is always happening at Wellesley- this slow approach will last maybe a day before I find myself in the middle of a socially distant water balloon fight on Sev Green, or get roped into a Zoom karaoke tournament; if there has ever existed a place as capable of evading boredom as Wellesley College, I’ve never seen it. I’ll be sure to update you next week on the state of my break, and you can decide for yourselves whether or not I’ve really followed through with my commitment to relax!
Sending you joy,
A
P.S. The header photo is a few members from my English class this term! We all went for a walk and took nature pictures on a day we didn’t have class. My friend Abby is taking the photo; I’m behind her on the right!
P.P.S. The title of this post is a reference to a movie my blockmate and I are planning to watch over break. Can you guess what it is?