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
