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 Big Ben in London, as photographed by a student who studied at McDaniel Europe in Budapest If you do not already know this, I spent the past semester abroad in Budapest, Hungary. I do miss Europe terribly, but I accepted a volunteer position as a Study Abroad Peer Advisor for the International Programs Office (IPO), which will hopefully ease the transition from living abroad to living back on campus (and I can also spread my enthusiasm for study abroad to others.).
During the first week of school, the Peer Advisers had our first meeting and I cannot wait for this semester to truly begin! Many students have misconceptions about studying abroad, or students are too fearful about leaving the comfort of McDaniel. As a Peer Adviser, my job is to try to address those concerns while also promoting and hosting activities so that study abroad is more widely advertised and noticeable throughout campus.
This semester, we are hosting IPO movie nights where we provide pizza and answer questions about study abroad. We are also going to assist students who need to apply for a passport or send in applications to study abroad programs. We have Café Nights where IPO provides hot chocolate, cookies, tea, and coffee and anyone can stop by, talk with the advisors and ask any questions about study abroad. In addition, IPO is taking students on a trip to Washington DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival!
I cannot wait to attend these activities and help increase students’ desires to go abroad. Studying abroad was the most fantastic time in my life, and I want to encourage students at McDaniel to think about going abroad during their college career (including Jan Term trips).
Every semester, my friends and I go through the same thing: shock. What do you mean another semester is gone? What do you mean we’re going to be seniors in less than a year? What do you MEAN we can’t go on living the good life in college forever?
For that reason, I do something every semester that grounds me to prepare for the rest of the semester to come. I reminisce.
Some people say that you can’t go forward until you go back, and I think the beginning of a semester is an important time to do that. Sometimes I look through old journal entries. I once sat and tried to remember every class I’ve taken since I came to college (I failed in doing so).
This semester, I decided that I would catch two squirrels with one acorn. I organized my file folders for my new external hard drive and reminisced at the same time. It was convenient, necessary, and cleansing.
It’s amazing how many things I forgot about doing over the last two and a half years. At the same time, it’s amazing I got so much done in the past two and a half years, and amazing that I did so many things not marked by a file on my computer. I’ve come so far in my ability to write papers, make videos, and find something interesting to talk about from material that seems dull.
The best part for me was also remembering the people who helped me with each paper, project, and presentation along the way. In twenty years, my degree is going to matter, but the people that helped me get it and stayed in my life afterwards are going to be much more important than a piece of paper with some fancy font on it.
At the beginning of every semester, academics take a huge jump to the top of my priorities list. It becomes the thing at the center of my existence. Therefore, it’s important for me to reminded, time and again, that one thing will always beat out academics: people, especially people I care about.
And that’s something I think everyone should be reminded of sometimes.
Though it was only the second week of the semester, this week felt long–possibly due to the dreary cold and lack of snow, possibly due to the mounting loads of work I had.
So I decided to rearrange all of the furniture in my room.
This may seem a little crazy, but it was a lot of fun. It made me clean everything up (though of course it took making an even bigger mess first!) and get everything organized, which immediately helped with my lack of motivation to do work. Then I moved everything so that my room is kind of divided into two sides, one side with my bed and desk and the other side with my fridge and cupboards.
The entire process actually took less than an hour, though I felt like it was going to be an all night venture. The hardest part was moving all of the items I store under my bed–suitcases, spare notebooks, and various random objects that don’t belong anywhere else.
I was on duty later that night, meaning I had my door open, and it was a lot of fun seeing how my residents reacted as they walked by.
Back when I was living with my parents, I used to rearrange my room at least once a year, so this in a way was a comforting process, and by the end, I finally felt motivated, organized, and ready to work!
 Picture of last years shirt Last night, I went to the opening performance of Vagina Monologues. Each spring semester, the Vagina Monologues are performed by a group of women from McDaniel. The entire show is about the empowerment of women. It talks about female sexuality and all the good and bad things that come with having a vagina. It is also really awesome because all the proceeds go to different organizations that help women.
This was my second time seeing the Vagina Monologues, and it was so good! It’s one of those interactive performances where you feel like you are on the stage with the people giving the monologues. Seeing it a second time was really empowering because it made me realize how much I have changed at McDaniel.
As a freshman, I was afraid to embrace my sexuality. I was never one to talk about sex, sexual assault, rape culture, feminism, or my vagina. As a junior, I am not afraid to engage in important conversations about being a woman in society, about inequalities and injustices, and about my own experiences. I transformed from frail freshman to empowered junior.
The Vagina Monologues rejuvenated me and reminded me why I want to fight and cause change in society. At the end of the monologues, two of the cast members share their own stories about their experiences. Last night, two women, both of whom I know, shared their assault stories. It took a special type of strength to write and share about the memories that most people try to run from.
I cried with compassion for them, and I cried with compassion for the women of the world who have had their power and sense of safety ripped from them. I felt inspired by their ability to overcome. The Vagina Monologues is such a beautiful piece of art because it makes you think, and it leaves you a more compassionate, understanding person.
 Decker College Center was the place to be on campus today! In the hour between working at the Writing Center this morning and my Graphic Novels class in the afternoon, I ventured down to Glar (our dining hall) to partake in Chicken Tender Thursday. But before I was able to make it in line for food, I was greeted by an unexpected surprise: in exchange for filling out a small, heart-shaped poster telling the world why I love the Hill, I could get a free t-shirt that says “I love the Hill.”
I genuinely do love McDaniel, so to be able to show that in more ways than one was exciting. On my heart, I wrote, “I love the Hill because it has changed my LIFE for the BETTER” — an homage to McDaniel’s slogan “changing lives for a changing world.” In parentheses, I wrote, “Thanks, English Dept.!”
The lower level of Decker was packed with people filling out hearts and receiving free shirts, and the air was filled with energy and excitement. There were also a handful of alumni on hand to pass out chocolate to students — a small taste of what was to come later in the evening.
Not in conjunction with the “I love the Hill” event, tonight was Death by Chocolate night in Glar, a perennial favorite for students. This is a night to skimp on dinner and load up on desserts. This semester, all diners had plenty of chocolaty goodness to choose from, including chocolate cakes, chocolate brownie cookies, chocolate-covered fruit and marshmallows, chocolate mousse, and chocolate pudding. I’m glad that overall this semester, I’ve been making the effort to eat healthier, because it allowed me to feel less guilty about all the chocolate I consumed.
Overall, today was a fun Thursday. With all the love and chocolate all around, it was as if Valentine’s Day had come a week early!
 Death by Chocolate night is one of the best theme dinners in Glar!
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