I don’t think I’m alone in saying this has been one of the longest weeks of my life, and it’s only Thursday. Whether it was being slammed with readings and responsibilities, bad news from back home, anything to do with COVID-19, or the looming storm cloud that has been the 2020 United States Presidential Election, I think any stressful thing that could have happened this week really did. I’ve gathered that this seems to be a pretty universal experience, and so in the interest of lifting all of our spirits, this post is dedicated to the good parts of the week.
I’ve been reminded a lot lately of that one scene from Inside Out where Joy is looking back at Riley’s memory from the day on the lake with her hockey team back in Minnesota. The team came to her because she was crying about missing the winning shot in the game and they wanted to make her feel better; “they came because of Sadness”. I think I’ve really discovered this week, in some of my lowest points, just how strong the support system I’ve built here is, and it’s so much more wonderful than I imagined.
So, as promised, the good parts of my week (in no particular order):
1. I was approved for on-campus housing spring semester!
This isn’t something I’ve mentioned at all on the blog before, but for the past couple of weeks- and really since I arrived at Wellesley- I’ve been struggling to figure out what the spring semester would look like for me. With the COVID situation back home, my family’s in-person status at school, and my own medical history, I was very concerned about how safe it would be for me to return home for the spring, especially given how involved my mom’s job is- as an elementary school special education teacher, she doesn’t always have the luxury of distancing from her students. My safety was really riding on being able to stay at Wellesley for the spring, and I’ve really been anxious about it; getting my approval email on Tuesday morning was a huge relief for me, and I’m very grateful! My blockmate Anastasija is also staying, so the two of us will have to find a couple new companions to take on Wellesley with after the rest of our block leaves!
2. I knitted a mitten!
That’s right, in addition to being a weaver of words, I also have quite a way with a set of needles. My mom’s family is very big into the stitching arts- is that a phrase?- so I have become very adept at all things sewing, knitting, mending, embroidering, you name it- if you stitch it, I can probably do it; though I still lack the ability to crochet. My Great Grandma Irene actually taught me how to knit when I was maybe in the third grade, and I’ve dropped it and picked it up again several times since. I was very bored one afternoon during our finals period and I needed something to do with my hands but didn’t really feel like breaking out my embroidery project, so I texted my mom and asked her to send some yarn and a pair of knitting needles. I was actually planning on making a scarf and just giving it to the next person I saw after finishing it, but then the first snow came and I realized I had forgotten my gloves, so mittens it was! I’ve finished one and I should have the other one done by the end of the day, which is very exciting. I’ll have a whole lot of yarn left over, so I think I’ll have my blockmates go through my pattern book and pick out something for me to knit them as my next project! Updates to come on knitting adventures.
Thumbs up for a successful knitting projects (and warm hands)!
3. First snow!
There is absolutely nothing in the entire world capable of making me as inexplicably happy as a snowfall makes me. Coming from Iowa, I’m pretty used to October snow- we tend to have it happen every couple of years- but what I absolutely was not prepared for is how beautiful Wellesley looks covered in snow. I’ll attach several pictures so you can see for yourself, but even those can’t translate how magical it was; I don’t think anything compares. I really felt like I was falling in love with Wellesley for the first time all over again, and it made everything that day so much better. The snow ball fights I had with my blockmates didn’t exactly hurt my mood, either.
The quad at the beginning of the snowfall! I wish I had remembered to get some pictures when there was more of it; I’ll have to remember that for next time it snows!
4. Halloween!
Given the pandemic, there wasn’t exactly a lot that we could do for Halloween this year, but my blockmates and I decided to make the most of what we had! We dressed ourselves up as the Scooby Doo gang and hung out in- you guessed it- the Pom Morning Room, just eating candy and doing Sudoku puzzles and watching movies. The other block on our floor actually separately decided to dress up as the Hex Girls from Scooby Doo, so all of the first years on Pom First were really a big group costume! Because I’m a master of improvisation, I managed to make both a Scooby Doo dog collar for myself and Fred’s ascot for my friend Katie out of some embroidery floss, the bag that came with my embroidery kit, and a couple felt squares I had in my room. Please, hold your applause.
Mystery Inc.
5. The Pom Res Staff!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the Pomeroy Hall res staff are the best people on the whole planet. On Tuesday night, everyone was feeling a little stressed about you-know-what, and in our time of need, Pom res staff really came through for us. My RA, Bobo, hosted what could loosely be referred to as an Among Us tournament in the Pom Blue Room- as previously mentioned, I am terrible at Among Us, but I find it very fun and watching my block and Bobo tear into each other over who the imposter is was absolutely hilarious. My friend Alexandra is really the one that will get you- she goes so hard with her innocent act that she’ll have you feeling guilty about voting her off even when she is the imposter! Later that night, Caroline, our HP, hosted slime making in the Morning Room, and she played music and we hung out and did puzzles and played catch with the slime we made; it was really the breather I needed at the end of the day.
6. New Classes, New Friends
Making friends in a pandemic can be really hard, but I’ve really felt like I’m on top of it lately. For my American Politics class, we were given project groups to work with for the whole term assigned based on vague availability and common interests; I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it at all on the blog, but I was very involved in theatre in high school, and I’m hoping to get back into it as soon as the pandemic ends and the theatre orgs start running again. My poli sci group was assembled around our common theatre experience, and I don’t know if you’ve ever stuck three theatre kids in a room together, but they can make even a Zoom call very lively. It really didn’t take more than ten minutes for me to feel completely comfortable calling them friends, and that was something I really needed; I feel like it’s been taking me a little longer to make friends at Wellesley than I anticipated, and it was nice to have that immediate ease and connection with other people that I was used to from making friends in shows. I’ve also gained myself a calc study buddy in Sasha from Pom Second; we started last night silently going through practice problems and ended it belting out “All I Want For Christmas Is You” with a fully choreographed dance performance by Sasha; yes, it was absolutely as incredible as it sounds. The Rockettes could never.
7. Morning Room Shenanigans
As previously mentioned, I’ve sort of moved into the Pom Morning Room completely; I spend practically every second of every day in there. Lately, my block and I have been utilising the common space for some more unconventional purposes; it started with horror movies all crowded around a laptop, then devolved into sing alongs and dance parties. The absolute shining moment of our Morning Room time so far was without a doubt last night. Anastasija signed up to take Fusion Fitness without actually reading the course requirements, and was shocked to learn that instead of just being meditation and mindfulness, the class actually involves lots of exercising. My blockmate Katie is on the varsity crew team, so she of course offered to do Anastasija’s fitness routine with her this evening; I choked on my popcorn watching the two of them do jumps and “birddogs” and “clamshells”. Needless to say, it was incredibly entertaining, and I eagerly await the next assignment.
8. Carillon!
Last week I performed in my very first Open Tower for the Guild of Carillonneurs; yes it was very scary, yes I messed up quite a few times, yes one of the pedals did completely freeze while I was playing and refuse to come up for the rest of my set, but you know what? I did it! It may not have been the complete and total success I had hoped for, but it happened and it’s over and I’m looking forward to giving it my all again at the next one and hopefully coming away much prouder of my performance. I actually get my Christmas music to start practicing this evening, and I don’t think I even have to tell you how excited I am about that. Maybe after I nail my Christmas music I’ll post a video so you can hear what it sounds like when I play; we’ll have to see how it goes!
9. Graham Central
This probably isn’t of any great significance, but what I always heard about before coming to Wellesley was the ice cream endowment and how incredible it was, and when I arrived on an ice cream-less campus, I was just a little bit bummed. They’ve been sprinkling in more ice cream lately, and last night I finally got to try what is heralded as the great Wellesley ice cream flavor: Graham Central Station! And yes, it was totally amazing and absolutely worth the hype and I think all of you need to attend this school so that you can experience it, because wow. Just wow.
Things have absolutely been hectic lately, but I encourage you to find times to pause like I have; go watch Cinderella, lie in bed and listen to Ella Fitzgerald for an hour, or maybe knit your own pair of mittens. Allow yourself a moment to breathe, and remember that you are important, your health is important, and you deserve kindness, so you should show yourself some.
Sending you joy,
A
P.S. Any guesses on where this week’s title is from?