all photos by me

Last night I went to the Phillies game. Who knew the Blue Bus ventures outside of the Tri-Co? The Phils had a rough first few innings, but put up a fabulous fourth inning to keep themselves in the game. Of course, they ended up losing anyway. To the Mets. Not a great week to be a Philadelphia fan. There were some exciting plays; like a great run and probably an athletic sidestep from Ruf, who somehow dodged both the Met’s third baseman and shortstop to make it to third. Just goes to show that those younger guys are good to have on the team, even if the seasoned sluggers add a lot (I’m looking at you, Howard, Utley).

the liberty bell didn’t ring all game

The game was fun (a few hours spent heckling a sports team is a good time in a Philadelphia fan’s book). There were a couple of funny moments with the crowd cams and the kiss cam; I overheard a few people plotting how to best video-bomb every single shot. I don’t think they were successful, but it was a good idea. I got my fill of cheesesteak and water ice while spending some great quality time with the members of my team – we all decided to buy tickets through Student Activities together. There was something for everyone: cotton candy, some time out from homework, and of course, Cole Hamels in a pair of baseball pants.

I never thought that I’d be the type of person who obsessively checks their email, but that notification icon is hard to resist. And besides, if I don’t my inbox gets into the triple digits and that’s just depressing. You know you’ve had an unproductive week when you couldn’t even get around to clicking “mark as read” a few times; not even reading a single email.

So, in the spirit of adventure, curiosity, and a little bit of between classes boredom, I have decided to read some emails from ages past and reevaluate the “mark as read” status I relegated them to.

Contestant #1: This is an email that I received first semester of freshman year. It is entitled “Valley of Death” referring to the pair of large stairways that one needs to mount to reach my freshman year dorm, Brecon. It was a memo from my dorm presidents, notifying me that there would be chalk for people to draw all over the Valley of Death with. I remember seeing this happening – there were people drawing hearts, smiley faces (and the odd Dr. Who reference) on my way back from class one day. Something that I didn’t know because I had never read the email: all of those people had fudge! FUDGE! I missed out on free fudge! Status: Should Have Read

Contestant #2: This is a newsletter I signed up for through some internship website. I received this particular edition second semester of my freshman year. It is titled “Surviving the World’s Worst Internship”. It contains summaries of two articles and the links to the full articles. Other than that, there are a lot of broken links and about 6 inches of blank space until the footer. No free food was missed. Status: Mark As Read

Contestant #3: This is an email I received this summer shortly before I left for preseason for cross country. It basically states that the walkways to the gym would be under construction for the better part of preseason (construction was delayed; the walkways are only fully functional as of this week, but at least they’re pretty) in order to fix drainage problems. Now this would have been good to know on the first day of preseason when I was late to practice, only to find that I had to go the long way around and was even more late. It was not a good start.  Status: Should Have Read

So now I read emails as soon as I get them. I’m still late (that’s what Bryn Mawr time is for!) but I never miss free food.

Traditions are different when you’re a sophomore. I don’t just mean that you stay dry (ish) on Parade Night; it’s that the magic of discovery is gone. That doesn’t mean the magic is gone, but I’ll get back to that. It’s just that when you’re a freshman, corralled with your classmates in the common room; nervous, excited, with the kind of anticipatory heebie-jeebies you get in your stomach before a race. To wax overly poetic, it’s like the buildup before a first kiss. That’s how many things are freshman year; move in day, those first few conversations with the person who will become your best friend, the first day of classes, the first time you go up to a professor and try to hold an intelligent conversation.

As a sophomore, it’s completely different. The magic is in the nostalgia, the anticipatory heebie-jeebies are because you already know for sure that the thing that is about to happen is awesome. Now the nerves, the excitement, are a different kind. I’m not worried about the unknown, but about what I already know. It’s not a just a random professor that I get to talk to after class, but the brilliant one who’s class I wanted to take ever since October of last year. I’m excited for the Tradition not because I heard that it was fun, but because I have already lived it, and I know that it is.

There’s still the magic of discovery; I still don’t know all the words to the songs, I still don’t know what to expect in certain classes (I’ve avoided certain departments—history—like the plague) and I get a little lightheaded every time I think about choosing my major. But there’s one thing that I have that I didn’t have this time last year. Once again, to wax poetic, I have a trust in Bryn Mawr that I never thought I would. I know that everything will turn out ok because everything I was worried about last year, the things that drove me to make the most intensely categorized lists you’ve ever seen, turned out ok too.

And besides, this year I get to have way more fun with Traditions.

Friday was a great day to be a Bryn Mawr cross country runner. The sun was obscured by clouds, allowing a nice breeze to cool the 3 mile stretch of our first cross country course of the season. There was only one hill on the entire course. And, of course, Haverford’s home course-the nature trail-was overrun with about a thousand people and their overly excited dogs. I didn’t think that I was going to get a hurdle workout this early in the season, but I was glad I had kept up my skill over the summer by vaulting over fallen logs, small brooks and the occasional wayward child. After that rigorous training schedule, the runaway mini poodle’s attempt to sabotage my race was futile.

Despite the exuberance of our four-legged running companions, the various Haverpeople around the course were in very good spirits; they were especially excited to be reunited with their former teammate and the newest member of the BMC XC coaching staff, the former Goat Matt. Matt, on the other hand, was pretty excited that he got to tell people to pass his former teammates. That, however, could have been because we all got Peace A Pizza after, which made it the perfect start to the season.