Stress is a very real experience at Bryn Mawr. Everyone has that one semester, or for some it seems like a whole year, where they just can’t catch a break. When I was signing up for classes at the end of last year, my thought process went something like this: I’m not a first year anymore! I get to start in on the meaty stuff of my education; I’m going to take all of these classes that are really interesting and also really hard!

That was not one of my better ideas. When picking classes, it is always a good idea to ask yourself this question: what will I do if every single class has a major assignment due in the space of two days? This will undoubtedly happen at some point, because all professors are on some sort of super smart person ESP network. It feels incredibly overwhelming, and the only thing to do is head to the library. I don’t study in the library very often, but when I do, there’s either food, or I’m about to plow through a lot of homework.  And there’s never food in the library, because it might get on the books. So this past week I’ve had a lot of work. I was in the library until it closed one night (Carpenter closes at 8 some nights—it’s not that impressive).

Luckily for my social life, it’s more likely that I’ll close down the dining hall than the library. Because, after all, I’m a Mawrtyr. The reason why I was so excited to take hard classes this semester was because my freshman year professors were so awesome. The professors assign so much work because they know we can do it, or at least enough to learn what they’re trying to teach us. I finished my term paper with plenty of time to spare, and was so excited about what I was writing it on that my friends told me to stop telling them psychology fun facts. It all worked out.

I just hope I never have a semester like this one again.

This week was fall break. It was short. This isn’t high school folks, where you might have a powerpoint project over your week-long break and are bored out of your mind and fed up with your parents by the end. This is college, where you have 2 term papers and a mountain of reading to do over break, and you feel that little tug at the back of your eyes every time you have to say goodbye to your parents. Gives you a perspective of what’s important (I’ll give you a hint: it’s not the middle 38 pages of that chapter on DNA replication).

My fall break started off with a surprisingly painless train ride home with a ‘nova bro as my seat buddy. Villanova is very attractive to people from my home state; it’s something about the Catholic preppiness that those Connecticut-ians love. Fun fact that I just Googled: according to state-facts.findthedata.org, the correct terms for a Connecticut local are Connecticuter, Nutmegger, Connecticotian, or Connecticutensian. So there’s something you’ll never use in real life.

Anyway, I arrived home, and lo and behold, my mom had stocked up on my favorite food; Swedish fish and marshmallows. When my sister comes home she buys immense quantities of yogurts and cooks several batches of tabouli, but it’s clear who gets the special treatment. My time at home sadly involved a lot of Netflix, cuddling with my unwilling dog, and pestering my brother for details of his personal life.

Four days later I was on the train again, back to Bryn Mawr. Despite the fact that the team was a little bummed we missed out on extra time at home/on adventures in Philly, New York and D.C., our coach had planned extra special activities for us leading up to our extra special Seven Sisters meet. One night we went to King of Prussia mall (I’m pretty sure I heard “Let’s go to the Mall” 6 times that night; people were pretty excited). The next day, we went apple picking, which involved some weird type of apple baseball and later, several tupperwares full of homemade apple sauce. That night, President Kim Cassidy invited about 80 athletes to the President’s house for dinner (and keep in mind, athletes are hungry). Then Kim Cassidy (K-Sass?) proved how well she understands college kids. She invited us to explore the President’s house, which was a brave and generous move. I can now say that I know firsthand that the President’s house is beautiful and it has a balcony. Anyone who wants to know more should ingratiate herself to President Cassidy and get a tour.

Of course, the culmination of the weekend (and the reason we were there) was the 7 sisters meet, and on this note, here are pictures:

thank you so much to the lovely Yue Yang for allowing me to use these photos

I’m wearing a pretty dress!

This weekend the team competed in the Paul Short Invite at Lehigh. For the uninitiated, this meet is a pretty big deal. In fact, it could be considered as the start of… (drumroll, please)…Championship Season! Championship Season is always accompanied by a motivational speech by my coach. My high school coach’s favorite line during this speech was “this is NOT the time to take up skydiving”. My college coach knows better than to put such ideas in our heads.

Paul Short, like all meets of its caliber, was a very exciting experience that also made me a little nauseous. Literally some of the best cross country teams in the nation were at this meet. The woman who won ran a 6k in under 20 minutes. That’s a 5:20 mile for well over 3 miles. So the first exciting thing about this meet is running on the same course as these people, literally brushing shoulders with these giants of running (but it’s distance running; the giant bit is all in the figurative).  My other favorite part of the meet was its sheer size. There were hundreds of people in my race, and probably thousands of people at the race, if you take spectators into account. There’s nothing like the start of a big cross country race; all the colors of the uniforms mixing together as runners jostle, elbow, and occasionally trample each other for position, streaming  across a wide expanse of open field before we all get funneled into a tiny path in the woods. It was also over 80 degrees out, which added another level of challenge. In fact, it was so hot that the meet had to be cancelled halfway through due to inclement weather, which, as the survivors of Centennial Conference XC ’11 will confirm, does not happen often.

photo from youtube

The next few parts of Championship Season are as follows: the Seven Sisters meet 2 weeks from now, Conferences, and then Regionals. Seven Sisters is exciting because we get to run against women we rarely see for the rest of the year, and also we get delicious food after at the Seven Sisters banquet. The banquet is special because we meet women from other women’s colleges. There are some universals across the board which create a feeling of sisterhood, but there is always a moment in the conversation where the rest of the table will stop and stare at you (this is around the time lanterns are mentioned). Often the race is far away, and after a 6-hour drive full of an incredibly eclectic selection of movies and several cat naps, the whole team gets shuttled into a hotel. We are told to “get lots of sleep” and then are left alone with some of our closest friends. Naturally, we first roam all of the floors, looking for a pool, an ice machine, hot chocolate, a free popcorn machine, and other delights. Then we figure out sleeping arrangements and chit-chat into the night, allowing our teammates to share the burden of our collective race anxiety.

So in the spirit of the gathering chill in the air, I decided to write a post about the coldest buildings on campus. Think of it as a handy reference for you Southerners who need to train for winter. I’m super sensitive to the cold, so every building feels pretty chilly to me, but these are the top five to me. In order to make this a little more interesting, I’m including a little history lesson along with each building, to try to get at the reason for the drafts.

5. English House

all photos by me

The English House was built in 1911, which I’m assuming is before they had insulated windows. The original owner was George Vaux Jr., a Haverford alumnus. He was a prison reformist and very interested in Native American issues. He seems like that type of socially minded guy in whose house any Bryn Mawr woman would be proud to learn.

info about George Vaux, Jr. from Haverford College Library, Haverford, PA, Quaker Collection, Vaux family papers, Coll. No. 1217

4. Park Science Building

It seems to me that any place that I’ve ever learned biology in has been freezing. Also, the ostentatious smell of science is inescapable. The other thing I noticed while I was wandering aimlessly through the halls (it’s impossible to navigate) is that the mineralogy department had a big hand in the interior decorating of a large part of Park. I must say, they did a pretty good job; I don’t know what any of the rocks are, but they’re pretty.

3. Erdman Dining Hall

Erdman was built in the 60s by Louis I. Kahn, a really famous architect who was based in Philly for a large part of his career. His style is apparently very modern, which I guess explains all of the concrete. Unfortunately this also doesn’t lend itself well to insulation either. On the bright side, I’ve heard that Erdman is fireproof.

“A dormitory should not express a nostalgia for home, it is not a permanent place, but an interim place”-Louis I. Kahn

http://lmconservancy.org/erdman-hall/

2. Canaday Library

Canaday doesn’t have very many architectural or historical fun facts. However, there is a point of clarification on this part: the main floor of Canaday is the cold floor. The bottom floor, where Lusty Cup is located, is a comfortable temperature and smells like coffee and also where your focus goes to die because all your friends are there.

1. Haffner Dining Hall  

This is hands down THE coldest place on campus. It’s unfortunate because the food is so good, but when I’m coming there after practice and I have ice on me (or worse; just got out of the ice bath) I want to die, and also drink a lot of hot tea and hot chocolate. It might be the large windows that are so beautiful in the summertime, but it is incredibly drafty, so bring a sweatshirt!

this is the arctic circle

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.