range pond

Range Pond is about 15 minutes away by car, and then another 10 minutes walk from the road where you park. It’s a big ol’ pond that has a nice beach, and today, it was overrun with Bates students.

 

Apparently not a lot of people have class on a Wednesday afternoon. I saw so many different groups of friends at the Pond– with either a frisbee or football in hand (or in air, I suppose). Some people brought speakers so they could all listen to music, and there was a nice mixture of textbooks and trashy magazines lying neglected on beach towels.

 

It’s 75 degrees outside, and it may as well be 90. Oo it’s a heat wave.

First Friday

The Student Activities Office offers weekly trips off campus, sometimes to Freeport, sometimes to Boston, and like last night, to Portland. Typically for the first Friday of every month, the bus will take Batesies free of charge to Old Port (yeah, I guess I’ve been spending a lot of time there…) to enjoy the museums that stay open late and are free. First Friday (or First Night, depending on who you talk to) is a fun chance to see the museums if you’re on a budget, and enjoy the fun restaurants in the area. 

 

I went with two of my best friends, and we met up with two of our other good friends– random, but it was just fun to spend time with people you don’t normally hang out with on campus. I guess this is reason number 264 that I’ll be sad to leave Bates in oh, about 3 weeks: being able to sit down and talk with just about anyone, and not have it filled with awkward silences. We spent about five hours together, just hanging out in Old Port– going to the candy store and out to dinner (Flatbread), and then ended up at this cool bar (Bull Feeney’s) with two different bands. I only wish we had realized that the museums closed at 8, so we didn’t miss all the art. Oops…

take back the night

Last Friday (yeah, I know I’m a little late in reporting on this, but apparently Short Term is a lot busier than I expected…) I went with a group of Batesies to Portland to participate in Take Back the Night. This rally/march/event was a great way to show support of survivors of sexual assault, and to recognize that sexual assault continues to be a problem.

 

One of the things I love about being politically active in Maine is that you not only begin to recognize faces, but also you get to be close to the “big wigs”. Not only are the US senators’ offices in Lewiston, but there were Maine state representatives at our rally in Portland. We were marching alongside the a few policy makers and elected officials chanting together. We marched around about a 2-block radius in Old Port, and the vibe amongst us was really inspiring. Maybe even more so were the supporters who cheered us on as we passed by on the streets, from the sidewalks and the second-story apartments.

 

This (quick) march was sandwiched between opening remarks by local advocacy groups and great musical performances at the beginning, and ended with testimonials from participants. These individuals were so brave to stand in front of a group of almost all strangers and share their experiences with sexual assault, either as survivors or supporters of survivors. 

 

The Bates group decided afterwards that it would be a good idea to get ice cream at Cold Stone afterwards, kind of an uplifting activity after something somber (although very inspiring– to not only get involved, but also to recognize the strength we have). Waffle cones and shakes later, we were in the van on the way back to campus. 

apparently board games never get old…

I guess graduating college makes you nostalgic for all aspects of life…? For general interest, I bring board games to college. I mean, who knows when you have a free afternoon or evening to get in a good game of Monopoly? (Plus, I had a hard time finding people to play Monopoly with when I was younger, but apparently there are enough people who enjoy it here…) 

 

So anyway, I brought Monopoly, Twister, Boggle, and Apples to Apples with me to college. Last week, my friends and I expanded on that collection. We added Hungry Hungry Hippos, Candy Land, Trouble, and Life. I guess we went a little overboard, but they were forecasting rain for this week– we wanted to make sure Short Term was going to stay fun!

 

On Saturday night, we played an intense couple rounds of Candy Land and Trouble before the Strange Bedfellows reunion/alumni show. I haven’t been to a Bedfellows show since freshman or sophomore year, to be honest. It just hasn’t been a priority for me– and they usually perform at the Ronj, which is a wee bit far away for me, seeing as how I tend to live on the opposite side of campus (yeah, I know it’s not that far away, but I get lazy in the evenings). Post-improv show, I headed to a Country Club themed birthday party (the best part was that the birthday girl was worried about offending people with the theme… since there are friends of hers that wear double popped collars…). 

 

I love Short Term. 

short term morale

I forgot how nice Short Term is. Honestly. Once the snow melts, the sun is out, and finals are over, everyone really seems footloose and fancy-free. I mean, turtlenecks and scarves aren’t preventing people from saying hi, nor obstructing their usual friendly smile. Plus, Dairy Joy being open is a MAJOR plus. What else do I like about Short Term? The chance to buy new flip flops. That’s what I like so far. Frankly, after taking last year off, I don’t necessarily remember just HOW great everything else is– like Range Pond, or the midday trip to Freeport, or the Wednesday BBQs… it’s almost like I’m relearning the fabulous-ness of April/May. (Maybe you should ask me what I think of Short Term in a few weeks after it has rained a couple of days…) 

Procrastination during finals week.

Well, I guess technically I’m done with my finals, but I thought that maybe this might be interesting… My friend Kate and I were in a class last year about the Rwandan genocide (a French seminar), and then she got a grant to go to Rwanda! It was one of the 100 Projects for Peace.  So you should probably read about her and how she turned her experience into a thesis.

I have cool friends:

http://media.www.batesstudent.com/media/storage/paper1116/news/2008/03/25/News/HarmsworthMorrissey.Studies.History.Of.Representation.Of.Rwandan.Genocide.In.Lef-3282147.shtml

lions and tigers and bobcats, oh my!

Yeah, it’s corny… but the theme of this year’s Gala was “There’s no place like Bates”. Thank you, Bates College, for making my last Gala extremely sentimental. Heck, I even wore red shoes and clicked my heels together throughout the night. Needless to say, I greatly enjoyed the whole shebang. I planned ahead, and got my work done throughout the week so I could relax on Saturday. Watched some tv, made a pre-Gala dance mix… you know, the usual. (Definitely not a typical Saturday for me. I happily avoided the library…) Anyway… a lot of people go out to eat the night before, but other people have the attitude that they’ll eat at the event– our dining services always has a chocolate fountain or two, plus some meat carving thing and sometimes sushi… there are dinner rolls, I think… I only made it to the chocolate fountain this year– I was too busy making sure I saw everyone I wanted to see (I didn’t) and making sure I collected a souvenir from this year (my freshman year there were decks of cards for the Monte Carlo theme, glittery light up rings for last year’s (2)007 theme…). This year, I snagged a golden wand and a pinwheel. There were lollipops around too, but I forgot about that part of the movie until after I got home. The other really fun part was that some of the staff dressed up as characters from the movie– so Glinda, the Cowardly Lion and Dorothy were there. And in the entry way, there was a Bates bike with a bobcat in the basket next to a yellow brick road. Awww…. luckily, my preemptive graduation nostalgia didn’t give way to tears.

 

three out of four roommates

ice sculptures every year

hopefully friendly not sketchy

(Anyone who was hoping to see pictures of “Gala 2008: There’s no place like Bates” is out of luck. Sorry.)

But I can tell you about how I skipped dinner in Commons to call accepted students and eat Thai food provided by the Admissions Office. Why did I do that and not work on my thesis? (Good question….)

One of my more memorable experiences at Bates happened before I even got here. It was when I got a phone call from a random Batesie, calling to say congratulations and asking if I had any questions. At the time, I was naive and thought that I was something special. Now I realize the students have a sheet of paper to guide them in the general outline of the conversation. But hey, that personal touch is still there.

So if you’re in that group of students, you may have gotten your phone call already. I hope you asked questions, because after making these calls for the past four years, it’s always a wee bit awkward when the accepted student doesn’t have much to say– since the “guide” doesn’t really give too many pointers to fill the silence.

If you didn’t get a phone call, here’s the key info:

1. CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ACCEPTANCE TO BATES!

2. Do you have any questions? Please feel free to email and ask if you can’t think of any right now.

3. Hope to see you at the Accepted Student Reception! (April 23, here on campus)

But really. I think this is a great thing Bates does, and I definitely remember thinking that the phone call totally went along with the impression I had already gotten from the campus– friendly and invested in each other. I mean, I always have fun talking to prospective students. It’s weird this year though, because I won’t recognize anyone next year– because I won’t be here.

Funny story: I called someone my freshman year– a transfer student who was still on the fence about coming to Bates– and then when I saw they were a “friend of a friend” on good ol’ Facebook I friended him– super happy he decided to come to Bates. Apparently I came off as sketchy and not friendly (or maybe our conversation wasn’t too memorable), because we’re not Facebook friends to this day.

feeling cheated by thesis

I feel as though my thesis has deceived me. I worked so hard for so long, and thought that I might actually have an anticlimatic ending to my year-long endeavor. But instead, here I am, making more and more corrections… and am started to understand less and less of what I have written. I wonder if this is normal?

I definitely have gotten a lot out of this process, but as of late, thesis hasn’t give me much more than headaches from lack of sleep. Until my last final ever in Physics, all the work I have left to do is in French. As a result, my English is suffering.

PS. Gala was a big deal and lots of fun. Maybe I’ll get to mention it later, after my thesis is in the nice black binder…

Mount David Summit

Mount David Summit is this once-a-year event in which students present their research/thesis/activity/passion…. I guess the list goes on and on. Some times there are group presentations, and for the most part, people design huge posters that get printed out on glossy paper to be displayed. Most of these students present their thesis work, and that basically means they stand next to their poster and answer questions that people might have. The atrium in Pettengill is packed, and I always end up knocking into people trying to navigate the crowd to find my friends’ posters. I typically have no idea what they’re talking about, and I get the impression that they usually get a bit tired of answering lame questions, like defining what it is they’re working with. I mean, they’ve spent all year/semester investigating and reading up on something, and I’m just not usually capable of asking them challenging questions– something which I think ultimately bores the typical Batesie. Or at least the Batesie that presents at Mount David.

I should mention that Mount David Summit is named for the (small) mountain behind Rand and New Rand Village. Before that new dorm was built, people would steal trays from old commons (they were bigger than the new ones) and slide down the hill. There have been various incarnations of this “traying team”. Another thing Mount David is great for is the quick hike for a view, which seniors typically climb the night before/morning of graduation. On top of that, apparently the first person you kiss on the top of Mount David is the one that you marry…. so maybe that’s where the inter-Batesie marriage statistic comes from….