Summer in Wellesley

Hi all! 

Back again with another blog post! I’ve been at Wellesley now for almost a month—after spring semester ended, I was able to go home to Virginia for 10 whole days (so short!!) before driving back up to start my job and internship. I love being here in the summer—the weather is beautiful, the free time (when I’m not working from 8:30–4:30 at the Office of Admission) is refreshing, and there’s a certain tranquility on campus that you just don’t get during the busy academic year. I’ve spent so much of this past month going to the lake, going into the ville, and exploring Boston. A lot of time spent with friends, and a lot of time spent with myself, too—which has been unexpectedly really peaceful. Summer has given me time to slow down and appreciate Wellesley in a whole new way.

My past few weeks here have been insanely busy. I got back to campus in late May, where I worked at Wellesley’s Reunion as a student employee. I was able to meet past Wellesley classes, talking with them about their past experiences and telling them about mine. Hearing their stories from generations ago that so closely echoed my own gave me a greater sense of the legacy I’m part of; it’s crazy to think that so many people before me have lived here, walked the same paths I have, studied in the same libraries, and made memories in the same dorms. I spoke to an alum from 1975 that told me about traying—the sledding down Sev Green tradition that I’ve done many times already—and how back then she and her friends would stash dining hall trays in her dorm room in Severance and go out as early in the morning as they could at the first fall of snow. Last winter, I had to make do with a misshapen piece of cardboard.

Since then, I’ve started my summer internship (the reason I am spending the next few months at Wellesley!) at the Office of Admission. I’ve been leading tours, learning about college access and higher education, and bonding with the other interns from 8:30 to 4:30 every day. We take our lunch breaks at Lulu Chow Wang Campus Center and spend most of the day walking around Wellesley and giving anecdotes and spiels about our favorite memories and classes and spots around campus. We’re trying to calculate how many miles we’ll have walked by the end of the summer—it’s about 2 miles per tour (Rachel says 1.7, Chelsea says closer to 2.5… so I’m estimating off of their very precise math). Either way, I’ll be getting my cardio up. Last night, my coworkers and I went out to Brookline’s Coolidge Corner to watch Sinners. Of course, the theater sold out of all but four tickets, and the five of us were determined to still watch it, so we did drive 30 minutes back to Framingham AMC for a 10pm showing. Definitely worth it. We spent the car rides to and from the movie theater  listening to Rihanna and Beyoncé and discussing the film’s religious and historical symbolism. If you have yet to watch Sinners, you must go see it. Life-changing.

Aside from working, I’ve spent a lot of time with friends both on and off campus. Last week my friends and I went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum, one of my favorite places in Boston—it’s an art museum that houses Isabella Stewart Gardner’s personal collection of European, Asian, and American art that she began in 1891. Completely free to Wellesley students!!

After a few hours at the museum, we took the T into Chinatown for some food, stopping at our favorite dumpling place—Dumpling King—that sells 10 dumplings for $6.50. My friend Cami, who is in California right now doing research at USC (I miss her dearly), took us here for the first time last year, and I’ve yet to find better dumplings. We also explored a bit more of Chinatown, because the weather was lovely and it’s summer which means we have no obligations besides trying and doing as many things as we possibly can. We got some good Chinese food at a sit down restaurant nearby, and then some boba and matcha. We went down to the Boston Public Garden to sit by the pond (we love bodies of water and can’t get enough of them even with Wellesley having its own lake), and even found the TikTok-famous guy that sits at Boston common and draws people for a dollar!

Last weekend I went into Boston again, but this time for Boston Pride! My friends and I met up with some other friends staying in Cambridge over the summer, and though the weather was not ideal (Cold! Raining!) I had a great time in the city once again. We even stopped by Faneuil hall and Dumpling King yet again.

On Wellesley’s campus  I’ve been going to the lake a lot, listening to music and reading at the spoons on Tupelo Lane, playing guitar on the Quint lawn, and teaching my friends to skateboard.

I feel so lucky to be here!! A Wellesley student, a Boston area resident, a summer intern—I keep reflecting on past versions of myself and the journey I took to get to where I am now and I feel incredibly grateful. Grateful for the friends I’ve gained, the opportunities I’ve been given, and the home I’ve made for myself at Wellesley. I’m writing this at the airport while I wait for my flight to San Diego and feeling very emotional and existential as  I sit through a very unfortunate and annoying 3 hour delay. I’m spending the next few days in California, visiting Cami and reuniting with some of  my best friends from Wellesley after the devastatingly long time (a whole month) we’ve been apart. Stay tuned for my new updates next week when I post my next blog! 

Until next week! 

Bri❤️