Monthly Archives: May 2011

Murmur — Hear It Here

As most senior fellows mentioned in their recent blog posts, it is time for us to wrap up our undergraduate career and leave. Needless to say, Middlebury will always be a home to come back to, but, we won’t be blogging for a while. Next year, you will hear from another group of senior fellows.

Until then, I highly encourage you to update yourself about Middlebury through MURMUR! Murmur is a bunch of recorded stories about different locations on campus.

You can simply call 802.443.2600. To hear a story, you will be asked to enter a 3-digit code. Here are a few codes for locations on campus:

111: Axxin Center at Starr Library
112: Battell South
113: McCardel Bicentennial Hall/Great Hall
114: McCardel Bicentennial Hall/Greenhouse
115: Bikeshop at Adirondack House
116: The Bunker at FIC
117: Mohaney Center for the Arts
118: Coltrane Lounge in Ross Commons
119: Dog Sculpture at Munroe Hall
121: Franklin Environtmental Center
122: Gifford Hall
123: Mead Chapel (Harris)
124: Parton Health Center
125: Johnson Memorial Building
126: Davis Family Library
127: Mead Chapel (Marlow)
128: Natatorium in Athletics Complex
129: McCardel Bicentennial Hall/Observatory
131: Proctor Dining Hall
132: Stewart Hall

Hear a story!

The final final

So this week is the final final week for seniors. Wow. Usually I wanted the final week to be over as soon as possible, but this time I hoped that it could last longer. Once it’s over, it is time to graduate! Bitterweet moment.

What does the final week look like at Middlebury? Most people will say it is pretty crazy and stressful, especially if you have three exams and two papers clustering into one week. However, Middkids usually manage it pretty well. There is a lot of work during final week, but we won’t usually be running in nude, screaming at plants, or staying up every single night ending up having a panda bear face. Middlebury is a rigorous school, but the workload is still managable. The key to be less stressful is just to start early.

Many seniors were struggling with their “babies”– their thesis. An undergraduate thesis at Middlebury is usually a two-semester-long project, ranging from 70-120 pages on a specific topic within the department. It is not required by every department, but a large portion of seniors still do a thesis because it is a great learning process and it could be a nice summary for the entire college career. Thesis are often due at the beginning of the final week. It is so much fun to see how seniors react after submitting their thesis– Here are some quotes:

— “Thesis Free!”

— “Thesis IN!”

— “I just gave birth to my 100-page baby after 10 months!”

— “DONE! Time to go sleep”

— “Oh no I just found a typo in my thesis– I wrote ‘chemical shifts’ as ‘chemical shits’…”

Cute isn’t it? 🙂

Seniors also have a lot to do during their final final week other than completing their thesis and exams. Send gratitude to professors and friends, arrange meals with friends, prepare for commencement and leaving, and try to accomplish everything on the Middlebury Bucket list (some must-dos before graduating from Middlebury). Even cuter, crush lists were covering the entire walls in front of our two dining halls, Proctor and Ross. Students were crowding in the dining halls, eagerly trying to find their names on the list of the people they care about. Once in our youth, we were flipped by someone iridescent. As time goes by the innocent little crushes will be fading away but our great memories with these people will last forever deep in our hearts.

The final final week will be over soon and it is time to say goodbye. It will be a new start. Middlebury has taught us so much: deal with challenges, share our passion, and hard work will be paid off eventually.

Let’s wish our seniors best luck in their life after Middlebury!

“How Did You Get Here?”

“How Did You Get Here?” is stories of Middlebury students collected by Middlebury Fellows in Narrative Journalism. This project was launched in 2008. This fellowship seeks “highly motivated and intellectually curious students” who are interested in nurturing their skills in narrative journalism.

These fellows who are Middlebury students have done a phenomenal job in gathering digital portraits of other Middlebury students.

If you want to get a sense what kind of students form and enrich our community, please listen to their stories here.

Videos of this project from 2010 can be found here.

Enjoy!

The End of an Era

So all of your bloggers here will be graduating in just a little over two weeks so soon we’ll have to say good-bye to not only you, but Middlebury.  My last articles for the school paper hit presses today.  And tonight D8 and the Mischords, two of our beloved acapella groups will send off their senior members in their Spring Jambo.  Over the course of the next week or two all 8 acapella groups (Study break concerts in dorm lounges are so much fun!) will be doing the same.  We’re all approaching the end of an era.  Soon, we’ll have no more papers (score!), but there’ll be no more crawling into a friend’s bed for a mid-day heart to heart either.  No more racing across campus at 1:57 a.m. to make it to the Grille before it closes at 2.  No more middle-of-the-night trips to Denny’s just because it’s practically the only sit-down restaurant Vermont that’s open 24-7.  More than anything else all of my friends won’t be in the same place anymore.  No more Weybridge Feasts full of local foods, that are delicious enough to make even standing in the rain worth it.  There’s so much more that I could add, but you get the point.  I wonder what everyone else is saying goodbye to? 

It’s been a wonderful ride, Middlebury.  I hope that some day you can try it too!

Middlebury Footwear

This might seem a rather frivolous topic but… I went to high school every day wearing Rainbows sandals.   Shoes never really crossed my mind.  After only a few weeks here my freshman year, I was so surprised at how many people sport the same footwear!  Most of these types of shoes I had never seen before coming to Middlebury, but here’s a heads up for those of you who will be experiencing a change in climate when you get to school!

Bean Boots: all-terrain, all-weather, and somehow worn from November through April.  Potentially even May this year. You’d think they’d only be worn for duck-hunting, but as it turns out, are acceptably paired with jeans, skirts, and even leggings.

Dansko Clogs: comfortably crunchy and Vermont-sensible.

Frye Boots: they’re everywhere.  Nice looking leather and appropriate for everything from class to bike riding to a capella concerts.

Toms: comfortable slip-ons that give back.

Top Siders: again, they’re everywhere. As soon as it’s warm enough to go without socks!

Survival tip: Smartwool.  Dry quickly, keep your toes warm, and last forever! (and come in fun colors…)

Last Week of Classes

It’s hard to believe that my orientation trip with a crew of 12 freshmen, biking along the smooth roads of Vermont in the beautiful late summer, happened four years ago.

It seems like all of those clichés about time apply now more than ever before.

“Four years fly by…”

“In the blink of an eye…”

“Time flies when you’re having fun…”

Etcetera.

Thankfully, after this action-packed last week of classes, we have finals week, and then senior week — time dedicated to seniors having fun. A team of seniors have gotten together to plan this week for us, and they have done an amazing job. Below are the events that are planned for that week:

TUESDAY, May 17
3:00-5:00pm – Senior Carnival, Battell Beach
*Moon bounce, obstacle course, jousting, carnival snacks, music and more!

9:30-11:30pm – Bonfire, Ross Fire Pit
*acoustic music and open mic

WEDNESDAY, May 18
Sunset Cruise on Lake Champlain

THURSDAY, May 19
Lake Dunmore Day – shuttles from ADK to Dunmore, 11am-4pm

6:00pm – President’s Senior BBQ, Proctor Terrace

FRIDAY, May 20
10:00am-12:00pm – Mimosa Reception, Atwater Dining Hall

1:00pm-2:00pm – Class Photo, Mead Chapel Lawn

11:00pm-2:00am – Last Chance Dance: “Hello, My Name Is…”, McCullough Social Space

SATURDAY, May 21
12:30-1:30pm – Solar Decathlon Open House
10:00pm-2:00am – Senior Tent Formal, Battell Beach
*Featuring live band Soularium

SUNDAY, May 22
GRADUATION!!

 

Sun’s Out Guns Out

It’s springtime in Vermont which means as soon as the mercury hits 60° I refuse to wear anything other than tanktops. That is not actually true, but it is pretty close to true. A product of dealing  New England weather is that when it is nice out everyone gets super pumped.

Since Spring Break, I have divided my time evenly between reading, eating on the terrace outside of the dinning hall, and throwing a Frisbee as hard possible. Also getting very sunburned most days. In the last few weeks the weather has really taken a turn for the best and as a result everyone is much happier and much less work is getting done. I have had two classes taught outside since last Monday, and this Friday is Midd Mayhem—an all campus picnic on one of our massive grass quad areas known as Battell Beach. According to the email, Midd Mayhem promises to provide a slip and slide, a photobooth and beverages, among others. Also if last year is any indication, they’ll be handing out free tanktops. Sun’s Out Guns Out.