New Year!

I realized that it has been quite a while since I last updated this…I don’t think I ever closed off last semester.  I did pass and am now a second year student! Last year I applied for the position of student adviser and was placed in Rathje for the semester.  I will have to move at the start of second semester due to some scheduling issues, but I will enjoy my time in A/C while I can!  I got here on August 10 for SA training which consisted of talking, writing, and lots of new information on policy and how to interact with residents.  We then helped facilitate New Student Orientation which was stressful but a lot of fun!  I’ve met some awesome new residents and now have some amazing friendships with other SAs I may not have met otherwise.  It was difficult at first to be at Grinnell with hardly any one else here as well as so early, but I think the small population of people created an environment for strong friendships to form. 

This semester I am taking Biology 251, Organic Chemistry, Literary Analysis, and an anthropology class called Indigenous Health and Human Biology.  I am excited for all of my classes, but I missed biology last semester when I took physics and chemistry, so I am ecstatic to be in a biology class again!  I was sitting in class today and we were just discussing cell function and I was disproportionately excited for the class compared to what we were reviewing.  I think that this will be a busy ad difficult semester, however, the material seems interesting and I am ready to learn!

During training there was the peak of a large meteor shower.  A couple other SAs and I decided to grab some blankets and head out to the soccer field to stargaze.  It was absolutely beautiful!  We so saw many meteors, there I not a lot of light pollution out here and even less when you go out onto the field.  There is another meteor shower in September that I am also hoping to go see and put a program on for my residents.  I have also found a group of SA and Student athlete mentors tht all love to play Settlers of Catan.  We have quite a competition going and it is great to just take a break from work and play a game.  A couple friends and I went to the Iowa state fair to listen to Bernie Sanders speak.  We got 4^th row seats and it was awesome!!  He is coming to Grinnell on Thursday, but  have a lab so I cant go, which is very disappointing! 

Anyways, I’ll try to post some pictures of my room and of training later this week, but I figured I would start out the semester with a quick update on life at Grinnell!  

9 Days and Counting!

Nine days until spring break and mid semester exams and projects are really picking up.  Next Friday I have an exam in both Chemistry and Sociology.  I already took my mid semester exam in Anthropology and Physics.  We also had a research paper and project in Sociology.  I feel pretty confident about my classes so far, although I may end up getting a tutor for Physics simply because my brain don’t wrap itself around Physics very well!

I think in the past few weeks I have really found my rhythm again.  When I came back from Winter Break I had a hard time adjusting to school and being away from home again.  In the past few weeks I have again gotten to the point where I am ahead in my work and efficient in how I work (I say this as I am using this post to procrastinate on doing homework for Friday…).  Although I will always miss home because that is where my family is and where I feel truly comfortable, Grinnell is a pretty darn great place too.  I think struggling to adjust here at Grinnell has brought me closer to friends here and I sit here doing homework with three girls from salsa, two of whom I met just two months ago when they came back from abroad. 

Over the past few weeks I have also gone through the process of applying to be a student advisor next year.  Student advisors (or SAs) are our equivalent of RAs at other schools.  SAs have no disciplinary responsibilities and serve as a resource for students in their dorm and work to build community and teach about self gov.  The application process consisted of an application with a few short answer essays, a letter of recommendation, an individual interview, and a group interview.  We were informed about a week ago of our positions.  I was not accepted as a full SA but rather an SA at large.  This means that I will help SAs in my dorm.  If another SA goes abroad or is unable to continue holding the position, one of the SAs at large will move into that dorm and become the student advisor of that dorm.  One of my good friends got accepted as a full SA and I am so excited for her!  We were going to room together, but I guess since we both will have singles (albeit on opposite sides of campus) we will just have to hang out in each other’s rooms!  I have also talked to several first years on the Softball team who plan on living on the same floor as me, and a few other girls are talking about trying to get a four person cluster a floor below me!  I’m sure I will be busy regardless of who is rooming where!

Next week the temperature is supposed to be in the mid-50s to 60s and I’m pretty sure it is going to feel like summer after our -30 degree (with windchill) day a few weeks ago!  Needless to say, I’m pretty sure everyone here has spring fever and is more than ready for a break!

2nd Semester!

Five weeks into this new semester I have finally felt that I have the time to write a short post about what has been going on.  Over winter break I had the opportunity to shadow 10 doctors in all different professions as well as six surgeries.  It was a great experience to have a first year student and really confirmed for me that medicine is what I would like to do!  This semester I am taking all introduction classes: Sociology, Anthropology, Chemistry, and Physics.  They are all really interesting, although right now Anthropology is my favorite class (maybe because we were just doing biological anthropology and evolution).  Salsa has of course started again, and we are working on choreography for our showcase performance in April.  There are also four couples working on choreography for a performance in Los Angeles in May.  I learned the first part of the dance and can’t wait to see how the rest turns out when the performers dance it! 

Some fun and interesting experiences so far this semester:

Frank – named after Frank Sinatra, women dressed in cocktail dress and men in dress shirts and ties (and the occasional jacket), for the first hour and a half or so it was all music from the 50s and (after I left) it turned to more modern music. 

Chains – The best way to describe chains might be a high school dance, only every date is blind date and you are physically handcuffed to your “chain”.  This was our Valentine’s Day dance.  I knew my friends had chained me to a few people, but they wouldn’t tell me who.  I almost backed out the last minute, being a bit of a control freak, it was a bit difficult for me to relinquish control!  I ended up going, to discover that I was chained to one of the salsa guys, we had a blast and I’m glad I went. 

Concerned Black Students’ (CBS) performance – Three of the guys in salsa were performed a Step dance performance and so I think almost everyone from salsa showed up to cheer them on.  It was incredibly entertaining.  A girl that lives in my dorm also gave a very moving and emotional slam poetry performance.  It was wonderful that such an amazing event was put on for Black History Month.

TEDxGrinnell – For the first time ever, Grinnell hosted a TEDx event.  Seven alumni spoke on the theme “Speak Out!”.  From scientific to moving, it was inspirational to hear these alumni tell their stories.  I won the design contest for the logo, so I got a ticket and a free t-shirt with my design on it!  If any of you are interested in listening to the TED talk, they should be online somewhere (possibly here: http://www.tedxgrinnell.com/home-1/).

Chinese New Year – Again, another one of the salsa guys was performing so everyone showed up to watch him dance!  Of course there was yummy food, and I heard a few stories found in Buddhism. 

 

The last three events were all this past weekend, I had quite the busy and culturally diverse experience! 

Weather wise, it has been a bit of a rollercoaster.  The first week or two after winter break, the temperature stayed around 40 degrees, and then dropped into single digits with negative windchill.  It then proceeded to snow 9” and stay really cold.  Today it was -6 when I woke up with windchill to -18 and now it is 16 with windchill to 3.  We are supposed to get snow later this week, then hopefully we can be out of the woods in terms of snow!  It is absolutely beautiful, but I am ready for spring!!

These pictures were taken Friday evening, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday morning.  For a total of 9 inches.

One Semester Down

I wanted to wait until the end of the semester to write another blog post but it has been hard because so many great and interesting things have happened!

To start off with, I cannot believe that I am done with my first semester in college!  It seems like it was not too long ago that it was my first day of classes and I was really nervous.  I am so lucky to have met some amazing people here that I’m sure I will miss over break.  I just turned in my take-home German test which was my last final of the week.  This morning I took Calculus and yesterday I had my biology final.  My tutorial class did not have a final, although we did turn in a paper that was a culmination of everything we had talked about in our class.  The last day of classes were a bit sad, my tutorial professor hesitated to walk out the door (he had to leave so we could fill out professor evaluations).  He actually stood around and talked to us for a good 10 minutes before actually leaving.  My biology professor brought us candy canes and Calculus and German got out early.  I am excited to start a whole new round of classes again, but I am also sad to leave these four behind.  Biology and tutorial ended up being my favorite classes this semester, but I can’t say that I disliked any one of my classes. 

To finish up our biology project, we were required to make a poster and present it at a poster session.  At Grinnell, these are common occurrences across all disciplines.  Basically you present your project in short paragraphs and bullet points as well as a section for results that often includes graphs or other images.  They are then put up on pin boards with others who have also done projects in the same area as yours.  A time is set, and it is like an open house.  People come up and ask you questions about your project and maybe stimulate some new ideas! 

On Saturday December 13, Salseros de Grinnell traveled to Davenport, Iowa for a salsa Christmas party at a dance studio. Twenty of us piled into 4 cars and off we drove, literally singing the whole way (at least my car was)!  There were quite a few people there, some great dancers, some not so great, but regardless, we all had a fantastic time.  When the party ended at 1, we all had to make the long, 2 and a half hour trek back to Grinnell through really thick fog.  By the time we got back I was exhausted….ok, let’s be honest, I started getting tired around midnight.  I have convinced two of my friends back home to go to another holiday salsa party with me on Saturday in Idaho! 

The Saturday before the lovely salsa party, was Winter Waltz!  I had so much fun.  It was a blast to get dressed up and feel fancy and go and dance the night away!  The event organizers hired a live band to play for us, honestly it felt as if we were at a party in the 1950s.  People looked classy and were dancing, laughing, and eating (they had desserts….and cheese!).  Before Waltz, a bunch of the people in my dorm were taking pictures dressed up, I had not yet gotten dressed up so I offered to take some pictures.  I love photography and getting to work with a nice camera and entertaining subjects was a blast. 

I will write about all the study breaks that the school so kindly put on for us over the past two weeks, but I have to go bake now! J

3 Weeks Left!

Biology experiment is done, second to last tutorial paper is written, half way through our last reading in German, and our last chapter test in Calculus has been taken, these past two weeks have been a little crazy!  Professors are wrapping things up for the semester and now that Thanksgiving break is almost over, I have two more weeks of classes until the end of my first semester of college and I get to go home!!! 

Working in a biology lab for the past four weeks on an experiment that my group and I created was a fantastic experience.  I know that not many big schools allow first years into the lab, and if they do, it is mostly prescribed experiments.  We are lucky enough to have the facilities and the program to allow first years into the lab investigating something they are really interested in!  My group was researching the effect of UV-C light on three types of bacteria as well as the length of exposure to UV-C light.  It was a bit complicated and I was in the lab everyday Monday-Friday and once in a while on Saturday as well.  Non-sciency people may balk at this idea, but I was certainly happy about it!  I really enjoyed working with other people who were interested in getting the project done and willing to put out the effort! 

This past Monday was my birthday.  I am very close to my family so not being at home for my birthday was really hard.  I wanted more than anything to be at home, but I had some pretty great people go the extra mile to make me feel special.

-        The Salsa dance group surprised me and made me a giant cookie and sang me happy birthday

-        My mom sent me presents from everyone in my family and had flowers delivered to me, as well as cupcakes in a Jar (from Wicked Good Cupcakes – VERY GOOD!)

-        Another one of my friends bought me a (really yummy) muffin and wrote me an incredibly sweet card

-        I had lunch with an awesome friend of mine

-        The salsa people had dinner with me and we all studied together after

Despite not being at home, I had an absolutely wonderful birthday.  After all of that, then Thanksgiving came.  In my family Thanksgiving is a big family holiday.  We did do “Thanksgiving in October” over fall break but Thursday was still Thanksgiving for the rest of the country.  The campus is really empty and I felt like everyone I had talked to earlier this week had said they were going to be out of town for Thanksgiving…..I did have a bit of a panic moment when I thought I wouldn’t know anyone here!  Regardless, I went to the massive buffet lunch the Dining hall put on by myself.  They had salads, turkey, dressing/stuffing, potatoes, gravy, something with apples and sweet potatoes that were glazed and had lots of delicious spices, roasted root vegetables, and of course apple, pumpkin, fruits of the forest, and berry pie.  It was an absolutely fantastic lunch!  I ended up sitting with a bunch of people I knew and we had lots of fun, even though we all wished we were at home.  If that wasn’t enough, I had been invited to a thanksgiving dinner hosted by someone in salsa and sponsored by Questbridge and Posse.  People cooked all day and made a very large amount of food.  Chicken, turkey, ham, potatoes, gravy, mac and cheese, fried rice, corn, green beans, and the best apple pie I have ever eaten.  I was so full after two meals.  At this dinner there happened to be about 6 salsa dancers there.  Near the end when many people had left, the DJ (a salsa person) started playing some salsa music and we were all up in a flash dancing and teaching the remaining people how to dance!  We really did take over, but it was a lot of fun!

On Wednesday we had a relatively big snow storm and we got maybe 4 inches of snow.  I really liked Grinnell in the summer and fall, but the campus is absolutely spectacular in the snow.  I wandered around for a while and took pictures, I will post a few! 

Here are just a few other things that stood out over the past few weeks:

Last week The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 was release.  Grinnell arranged to have an early showing of the movie at The Strand in town and bought out the entire theater (all 131 seats) for Grinnell College students to see the movie a full day before its release!  I managed to get tickets by getting in line a full 30 minutes before they started handing out tickets.  The line stretched out the Grille and down the hallway for I don’t know how long.  I was the 12^th person in line!  It was so much fun! 

A few weeks ago was the Latin American Festival.  Salseros de Grinnell (the salsa dance group) performed two pieces that we had been working on for a couple of weeks.  I chose not to perform but instead helped everyone out and got to see some amazing performances!  I think I will perform at the next performance!

 

Halloween Harris and Salsa Fun

So parties are not my thing.  BUT I did discover they can be a lot of fun when you go to hang out with friends.  This past Saturday was Halloween Harris.  Almost everyone came in some sort of costume (Some had more fabric than others…..someone came as Poseidon…with only blue leggings on, another guy came in a speedo....not sure what he was supposed to be...).  I spent a large portion of my time people watching from the edge of the room, but it was fun to dance with friends as well!  I dressed up as a vampire on Halloween and then as a Flapper on Saturday.

 

Salsa was on Sunday per usual.  They are preparing for a performance on November 15 so we have been learning choreography.  I decided not to perform, but I will be helping out that day!  After practice the group goes to dinner together and I joined them this week!  It was really nice to have a conversation with everybody and I actually felt like part of the group.  I don’t think I’ve really felt that yet here, so it was such a great experience!  After Sunday’s super fast practice, my friend and I felt like we didn’t know the choreography at all, so we decided to get together last night to try and figure it out from the performance video from last year.  We struggled for about 45 minutes before we realized it would be a lot easier with a lead to help and someone who knew the choreography.  So, after much debate, we decided to send a message to three of the leaders of the group asking for help.  One of the guys was able to come and help us and we all laughed and had fun!  Again, it was nice to feel like someone would take time out of their day just to help two girls who were trying to learn the choreography that we were not going to perform.  I think this is a trend throughout Grinnell.  If you ask for help, whether it be from friends, strangers, professors, or facilities management you are likely to be welcomed with open arms. 

 

So another busy week is ahead, but I am a little worried because of the seemingly light load of homework I have with only 6 weeks until finals…..I guess I shouldn’t be complaining! 

Pictures!!!!