In my two years at Middlebury, I have been lucky enough not to have any serious medical issues. This means that I have never ventured farther than Parton Health Center or had more than a nasty cold while on campus. However, just a week before coming back to Midd, my stunning health record took a turn for the worse. Not two seconds after arriving home with a clean bill of health from my oral surgeon (I got my wisdom teeth out three weeks ago) my left eye started to feel pretty uncomfortable. It turns out, I had a cornea infection. After reading on WebMD and assuming I was either going to go blind or die, my mom rushed me to my eye doctor who probably sees these things everyday and thought I was being dramatic. She calmly put me on an hourly regiment of two different antibiotic drops and told me I would have to have a couple of follow-ups in Middlebury to make sure there wasn’t permanent damage (I again took this opportunity to nervously check the internet for what that “permanent damage” might entail).   

So, when I arrived in Middlebury on Sunday to join the squad in the admissions office I began searching for an ophthalmologist. As mentioned in the beginning, this was a new task for me but I put on a brave face and scheduled an appointment in town.  Now, two weeks after the beginning of this fiasco, I have been to the Middlebury ophthalmologist twice and am happily down to only six eye drops a day (I was originally on 24 so this is a big improvement)! I would say my first experience with health care in the greater Middlebury area has been a positive success!

GUESS WHO IS EXCITED ABOUT ORIENTATION?!?!?!

hint: it’s me

I love the way we do orientation here at Midd because everyone goes on trips. There’s no culture of who goes and who doesn’t, and you’re not worried about missing anything on campus because no one is here. I also just love to backpack. It’s not the only trip, but it’s my favorite. I led a trip last year and am sooooooo pumped to lead another one. My co-lead last year was fabulous (we skyped yesterday- she’s in New Zealand and not able to lead another trip with me. sad.), my group was fabulous, everything was fabulous. We may have had some technical difficulties, but I enjoyed getting to know the incoming students on a more personal level than where they were from and what their classes were. My group had reunions up until the end of the school year.

This incoming group has a high standard to live up to, but I believe in them. Also, my birthday is during orientation leader training so I’m also looking forward to that.

When I was a kid, family vacations consisted of loading food, sleeping bags, tents, and various supplies into a van and traveling to different national parks, museums, and hiking trails. We didn’t go to Disney Land, major cities, or massive theme parks. We saw Mount Rushmore, Crater Lake, the Oregon Trail, and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s home. The east coast, and all its cities, landmarks etc., was as far removed from my childhood as China or England. It was something to read about, but never to actually experience.

When I came to Middlebury College, I knew that I wanted to see and experience the east coast. I didn’t get to visit Boston, New York, and Washington D.C. during the regular school year, so I planned a two week trip over the summer. I stayed with friends, visited historical sites, ate delicious food, and explored the three cities.

In New York I had my first New York Bagel (I don’t know if I am going to be able to eat a non-New York bagel ever again), in Boston I climbed to the top of the Bunker Hill Monument, and in D.C. I was able to visit the national mall at night. I was up at seven in the morning and I didn’t fall asleep until about eleven o’clock at night. I tried to see as much as I could, but the more I saw the more I wanted to see. You could spend years visiting these places and never fully explore all the nooks and crannies. I walked about 13 miles every day, and I ate as much delicious food as I possibly could.

Places that stand out to me are the Boston Public Library, Botanical Gardens, MET, Highline, Italian District, Library of Congress, Smithsonian Museums, Freedom Trail, and parks. It was an amazing trip and I had a blast! I also really enjoyed meeting up with various MiddKids along the way.

Even though I had a wonderful time on my trip, I was excited to come home. I realized just how special Middlebury is and how much I have changed over the course of one year. I am not the same person that I was when I first came here. The community at Middlebury is incredible. I have been influenced, shaped, and changed by it. I look forward to next year and I can honestly say that choosing to come to Middlebury was one of the best decisions I have ever made… For both my academics and my personal growth.

This weekend I fell asleep in a car twice. Which means 1)I went on some pretty fun adventures  and 2)  I need to sleep more

The adventures started Thursday when a friend and I hiked sunset ledge. It was an easy 2 mile hike on part of the Long Trail, and the views were unbelievable. The picture doesn’t do it justice but I tried. This was the first time I fell asleep in the car.

Friday a bunch of friends and I made dinner (tabouli, watermelon & feta salad, potatos, roasted corn) then some of us went to a house in Leicester (15 minutes away). That house had a tree inside. I didnt know I needed that in my life unitl now. We swam in Fern Lake and looked at the stars. I fell asleep in the car on the way back.

Saturday I ran and sat a bunch afterwards. I let myself into my friends house to eat leftover tabouli (she was out berry picking) and watched two movies. Very relaxing.

Sunday I had to drive a friend to Burlington so we made an adventure out of the day. We got brunch at 3 squares cafe in Vergennes (mushroom truffle scrambled eggs 10/10) then wandered Burlington. We all got our ears pierced impulsively. I keep accidentally touching it, which hurts, but I think I look cool.

On Saturday, I ventured to Goshen, VT for the Goshen Gallop 10k. The back of my tshirt describes it as the “toughest 10k in New England”. Goshen is more mountain then town, so I believe them. It was great though to run on trails instead of farm roads (everything smelled like dirt and not cows) and get to experience another part of the Vermont community. There was food at the finish line and live music. I definitely could’ve run a faster 10k, but the race was part of my marathon training, so I did not want to overexert myself with my Sunday long run only one day away. They gave me a medium shirt instead of a small so now I have a new comfy dress.

I also want to use this blog post to talk about my love of dogs. They’re so great. If you ever bring a dog on a tour, come on my tour so I can pet your dog all the time. There was a pug in Goshen, and a 12 week old corgi in Middlebury. After my long run I went to Carol’s to treat myself to some coffee and I ran into Catie. so tiny so cute.

I tried to take a selfie with Catie but she was not having it. Maybe later new friend.

As many know, I am a trivia enthusiast and after trivia at the Marquis was cancelled because the emcee had a stand-up comedy show to perform, I turned my sight towards Two Bros. For a while I had been hesitant to try their trivia night, I had heard that it was way more serious AND you had to pay for it. But once I found out that first place won all the money and that there wasn’t ridiculous background music accompanying the questions, I was all for it. So yesterday I decided to go. My team started off strong, there were 6 of us and we were solidly in second place (only behind by a point) for the first two rounds. The third round is where we were demolished. Our average team age of 21.167 (yes I calculated) was really working against us. We finished third overall which is fairly strong but I wanted first. After so many weeks of going to trivia I’ve always been just a little short of winning. I have come to terms with losing though and have become a better person because of that

Luckily this time I at least got a ride back to my house afterward instead of walking back alone in the dark and cold.

Next time = victory

The last time I went to prom was my senior year of high school, two years ago. So you can imagine my surprise when I received a map with “Prom?” written over it in sharpie this past Thursday. One of the off campus apartments had decided to throw a mini prom. Julie and I put on pretty dresses, but some people wore outrageous finds from the thrift store. We took an assortment of silly prom photos, danced to songs from 2005-2013, and kept reminding people that prom is the most magical night of our lives. I named myself Prom Queen.

The ~magic~ continued with a long trip to Dunmore on Saturday and a trip to Bristol Falls on Sunday. Also on Sunday we wanted to go berry picking but the farm was closed. Both trips ended with delicious creemees (Saturday – vanilla, Sunday- mix)   .

I also got to attempt to even out that sports bra/ shorts tan that marathon training has so kindly given me, which I then immediately negated by running (a very sweaty) 10 miles on Sunday evening. (I rewarded myself with pad thai from Sabai Sabai – another fab restaurant in town)

All in all the weekend was quite  ~magical~. 10/10 would recommend. Especially all the creemees

This past weekend a friend of mine and I were walking around the town of Middlebury when we stopped in at the Vermont Bookstore. As we browsed through the books an elderly lady approached us and asked if we could grab the book “Babar the Elephant” off of a top shelf. We handed it to her and then started to have a conversation. It turns out that she was originally from France and that her mother helped Julia Child write her cookbook “The Art of French Cooking.” After the conversation she handed us her business card and then offered to teach us French, the art of french cooking, and how to set a table etc. She also invited us to her home to have tea.

Thursday, after work, we went to her home for tea and listened to her stories! She talked about her travels throughout  France and the US, her life experiences, and how she wanted to get to know us better. As we sat in her garden, I thought about how much it felt like a scene from a movie. She said that she didn’t know why she approached us, but she was glad she did. She also discussed how it wasn’t socially acceptable to talk to random strangers but that because she was old she didn’t care anymore what people thought. I definitely think that she has a point. Imagine how many people we could meet, or how many interesting stories you could hear if you were able to strike up conversations with people that you had never met before. You could learn so much about the world!

Oh, speaking of chance encounters, on the same day that we were in the Vermont Bookstore, we also went to the used bookstore in Marbleworks and ran into Middlebury College’s new president, Laurie Patton.

The summer before my sophomore year of high school was the only time that I have ever celebrated the Fourth of July in any official capacity. This past weekend was the second time that I celebrated it. In the morning, Maxwell and I made snacks and baked goods. Then we drove to Burlington with a group of friends to watch the fireworks explode across the night sky. We spread blankets out on the grass, ate the delicious food we had made, and saw the lights from the fireworks reflect off of Lake Champlain. The evening was perfect. I really enjoyed spending time in Burlington and hanging out with Daria, Maxwell, and other students here on campus. The sugar cookies you see on the right were decorated by a friend of mine. It was nice to spend the day with friends and to do something out of the ordinary.

It seems weird to me that out of all of the questions that I get asked in the admissions office, the most frequent one is: what do you do at Middlebury? My answer? Look at this blog. Yes, Middlebury is in rural Vermont, but there is always something going on. The question shouldn’t be what do you do, but rather, what don’t you do? There is so much going on that I am never bored. Burlington is 45 minutes away and the town of Middlebury provides lots of room for exploration and fun! And, if I don’t have anything planned, I can always look forward to having fantastic conversations with the people around me.

My weekend technically started Thursday night, when I ventured back into Burlington to get dinner with a friend and her family. Afterwards, we walked along the waterfront before getting destroyed by bugs. The sunset was absolutely gorgeous. Julie took a selfie. 

The admissions office was closed on Friday July 3rd, so I celebrated by waking up at 5:15 to drive Kendall to Burlington to catch her bus to Connecticut. While Kendall was headed south, one of my best friends was heading north to stay with me for the weekend. She goes to a city school but missed the outdoors so I immediately took her to Snake Mountain. 

That evening, a few friends and I drove to Bristol, VT for fireworks. One friend misinterpreted “dusk” as 8:30 so we arrived an hour before the fireworks began. Aside from the bugs, however, it was an enjoyable experience. Continuing with the spirit of patriotism, we woke up fairly early the next day to return to Bristol for the parade. Bristol goes HARD for all things America, and the parade did not disappoint. I bought a balloon because I am secretly 7. It’s living in my room but slowly deflating. 

I couldn’t have asked for a better fourth, with friends, food, and new places (Bristol bakery 10/10) and got to continue the fun WATCHING THE US WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM CRUSH THE WORLD CUP. I started in Crossroads and moved to a roof of an off campus apartment for the second half. Unreal. Unreal game. Still in shock.