Bryn Mawr: Checklist

If anyone lives on or near the main line, you will know that Villanova is right next door to Bryn Mawr, despite the existence of Rosemont in between the two. Maybe you don't even know what the "main line" is, but that's ok! I didn't either before I started attending college here.

Anyway, my main point: There is a checklist for Bryn Mawr that I must accomplish before the year is over!!

1. Go study at Milkboy coffee. Seriously, this place always looks like the most awesome place to just take your computer and get some major studying done.

2. See a movie at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute.

3. Go to one of the Irish pubs. Haven't done this yeat cause I just turned 21 last month :P

As a side note: Today I had the most amazing blueberries the size of grapes. NO JOKE, they were HUGE!! But, as I started eating them I noticed one was slightly deformed. Like, you know the little spikes they have on top? It had one growing out of the side... just one. Then I started noticing that ALL of the blueberries had the same weird deformity. Were my blueberries genetically engineered mutant berries??? :O

Updated Class Schedule

Here are the wonderful classes I'm taking this year!!They have already proven to be very intellectually stimulating :D

Senior Seminar (for criminal justice)
Research Methods and Statistics
Arab Culture
Principles of Nutrition
Cross Cultural Psychology
Argentine Tango (a 1 credit fun course!)

So far, I love the nutrition class, cause I'm a health nut :P
My research and senior seminar mostly revolve around research projects so that will be kind of a lot of work. Arab culture is interesting as well, but we have weekly presentations to give, yippee... -_-
I actually haven't had my dance class yet, cause it's only once a week on Tuesdays so I'll see how that goes!

Has anyone else taken similar courses? Hey, let's take bets on which class will be my favorite/least favorite by the end of the year!

Stephanie, WWT

Hockey Nightmare

Our league logo! DVCHC!

So last night I played the game of my life! Our hockey team had a scrimmage against the wonderful St. Joe's team who is new to our league next season and wanted some practice. Of course I couldn't resist a chance to show off my lack of hockey skills so I went, expecting the rest of our team, oh, lets say 20 or so girls, would be there. When I jumped in the van ready to go, I was quickly informed that our six person van contained the entire team, minus our goalie. 6 players....to play three 17 minute periods of hockey....that equals ONE person getting to rest at a time. Now I'm not sure if you're familiar with hockey but normally there are three lines of offense (3 players each, a center and two wings) as well as 2 or 3 pairs of defensemen. Yeah, we had 6 people for the entire game and we had butterflies. We all agreed that this was the most nervous we had been before a game the entire season, and it was just a scrimmage!!

Anyway, we get out on the ice and tried to scrap together a meager excuse for a warm-up with only six people for drills. Then they state that it's time for the national anthem...sung by their acapella group. Oh, did I mention the 200+ fans at this stadium?? Plus, the game is located at the Class of '23 rink in the center of Philly. Like, we didn't even have this many fans at our Hagerstown playoffs for like 10 teams combined. So yeah, intimidation to the max. I digress though. The voices from their acapella group were heavenly. I mean this officially made the game legit. We trembled on the blue line, facing our stars and stripes not daring to look back at the army of 20-30 girls waiting to crush our souls.

After that we met back up at the bench to have a chat with our coach and an NHL sounding announcer voice booms over the loudspeaker.  He announces all of our names, I mean we only had 6 people so that pretty much was our starting lineup. Then they make a big show out of the St. Joe's lineup and they skate around on the ice when their name is called. Ok, I didn't have a problem with this at all. It was actually kind of nice, and I was happy for them that they were so excited and our scrimmage meant so much to them. Maybe they were just looking at their odds.

So after the ridiculously professional game announcements I was expecting fireworks and the whole nine yards. Well, no fireworks, but this old man in a suit comes out with a player helping him out to center ice....for the ceremonial first puck dropping. Yeah, no joke. One of our girls went out to take the 'face-off' and posed for pictures. We pretty much made history for them.  So at this point we're all freaking out and on the verge of nervously puking. We realize the game is starting and I go out on the first face off of the game, something I've never done before. Usually I'm on the third line so this was a rare opportunity that I fully took advantage of.

The game progressed and for not having practiced in about a month or two, the six of us were holding up pretty well. I'm pretty sure I had a 10 minute continuous shift. Bottom line, my thighs were on fire. Their obnoxious fans were beating on the plexiglass boards the entire game....yeah I'm not joking they stood up the ENTIRE GAME to pound like savages looking for blood. I felt like a gladiator in the colosseum who fans cheered at whenever I made a wrong move or missed a shot. Stress level over the roof? Check. Heart rate beating inhumanly fast? Check. Can't feel my legs anymore? Check. Sweating shotgun shells? Check. (get it? like instead of sweating bullets, i was sweating shotgun shells? ok nevermind)

We end up winning 3-1. I'll be honest, my goal was to just complete the game. We were all in a state of delirium afterwards and couldn't believe that we somehow managed to hold up and even win! I left feeling better about myself and our combined efforts to come out and beat our newest addition to the Delaware Valley Collegiate Hockey ....C....something. I forgot what the last C stands for but in short, the DVCHC! Of course we all went out to dinner afterwards and I realized something.  No matter how much more skilled the other girls were than me, and no matter how little experience I have compared to them, I mattered. If I hadn't been there, no one would have gotten the chance to rest. We may not have made it with the same 5 players playing the entire game, but we did it with 6.

Check out Villanova's Hockey Team here!

I consider myself lucky to be able to play college hockey, something a Californian never really aspires to. I have had amazing opportunities and this game just confirms that. What originally seemed like an impossible battle, became a historical achievement. We survived. We did it. WE WON!!!

Bottom Line = YOU MATTER! No matter how insignificant you might feel, no matter how better someone else is at something than you, you matter. You make a difference and people depend on you. It took an experience like this for me to realize this. Take time to think about who you matter to as well as who in your life matters to you.

-Stephanie, WWT

Spring Fever: The Groundhog Got it Wrong!

With spring here now, many of us have decided to take full advantage of the brilliant sunlight and 40 - 50 degree temperatures of March. I understand that the groundhog told you people that spring would be here quickly, but really? The month of February is still categorized as a winter month the last time I checked yet that's when I began to notice girls sporting dresses and skirts, dying to expose some skin in order to get some color back on their pale, sunlight-deprived legs. It's now nearing the end of March, and we're expecting snow in our forecast! The harsh winter just doesn't seem to want to let go. 

Growing up in California, spring was just a natural occurrence that didn't bring drastic changes in temperature. We had no snow to melt and the climate was always relatively mild. From where I'm from, it is unheard of to wear shorts below 60 degrees and most people panic when it drops below 40. When i came to the East coast, I was met with a class of people that seem to have an entirely different mindset about spring.  It's like, at the first sign or mention of good weather people start to dress as if it was summer. I asked myself whether these people had developed some sort of insulating skin layer or were just being anxious. My only conclusion is that these poor people who subject themselves to living in these awful conditions have developed something like a seasonal disease.

I began to realize that the cold, long, winter months here seem to exaggerate the false warmth of February and March.  Anything above 45 degrees becomes "nice" weather.  The sun starts to shine, yet it still remains freezing outside.  This doesn't seem to stop the rock hard determination of the people living here however.  They wear their dresses and shorts with pride, fighting the urge to shiver or grimace at the gusts of chilling wind.  So to all of you summer hungry people out there, I salute and applaud your enthusiasm! This truly is dedication...or foolishness.

This is what happens when you rely on a rodent for your weather forecast! Good luck and hang in there, summer is on its way...I hope.

-Stephanie, WWT

Valentine's Day Bummer

Again I apologize to all of my nonexistant readers out there for not updating in a few days. I've been sick and I've had midterms, haha funny story. So today I thought I had a midterm exam at 10:00, and I got up at 7:00 to study for it. Being sick has cut into my study time the past few days so I thought I would review this morning. I get to class, and look at everyone else who seems suprisingly nonchalant about today's impending midterm exam. I realize I'm the only one who typed up a six page study guide and I start to wonder.

My professor comes in and starts writing notes on the board and begins the lecture. I whisper to my neighbor, "I thought we had an exam today!" Well, it was more of a hoarse, throaty whisper because I can barely talk due to an unknown illness I currently have (the health center sent a culture in so, we'll see how that goes). Anyway, my neighbor goes, "No he decided to move it to Thursday."

Now I'm feeling two different things at this point. #1, I am so glad that I have another two days to study because I was totally cramming this morning and #2, I am so angry I came to an hour and fifteen minute lecture while I can barely concentrate due to my burning throat/chest.

On top of that, my Valentine's Day sucked. Not only do I not have any special someone to spend it with, but I am super far away from any family and friends that I have back home. Oh, yeah, and I got sick!
Anyway, that didn't stop me from enjoying the lovely Valentine's Day desserts in the dining hall last night! Between four different kinds of cakes, cupcakes, three different types of brownies, as well as a chocolate fondue, I think I enjoyed myself. I did find the standard candy hearts that are to be expected during Valentine's Day, however, I was greeted with unusual messages.

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but don't these seem like they came from a box of candy hearts for the confused lover or something? I mean seriously, what happened to "Be Mine" and "Love U"? These seem like what you might read in a bad breakup text. What has happened to our society??
I started to wonder, then I picked up some more just to check and found some slightly more normal messages.

Aww, that's more like it. Now this is something you would give to your lover. I realize Valentine's Day is a special day to show people you love exactly how much you love and care about them. Sometimes, I just feel as if it all becomes a little superficial after a while. Here's another thought I'll leave you with. My dorm is planning a Valentine's Day party for this Thursday...?? How can you have a V-Day party three days after the day already happened? I'm not sure I understand the logic behind that one.

I hope everyone else out there had a great time on V-Day. Enjoy the leftover sweets!

Stephanie, WWT

College Cuisine: American Soul Food

So, tonight was a theme night in my college dining hall and the theme was...you guessed it "American Soul Food." Now, I had to check out the menu beforehand to get an idea of what would be served and then I realized it was typical "southern" cuisine. Never have I lived in the south, visited the south, or been served a meal by someone from the south, so this was all new to me and I was excited to try a few things I hadn't before.

Here's a run down of the menu:

• Corn on the Cob
• Collard Greens
• Fried Chicken
• BBQ Baby Back Ribs
• Stewed Black Eyed Peas with Rice
• Hush Puppies
• Spooned Bread

I looked at this and immediately noticed some things that I had no idea existed. Namely the spooned bread and hush puppies. I mean, I'd heard of hush puppies before, but had no idea what they actually were. I bit into the small, dense ball of some cornbread-looking thing only to find that it pretty much was cornbread. I hope I'm not offending any hush puppy lovers out there, but seriously, I wasn't impressed. Neither was my stomach actually. I could only eat one of the dense little bread balls to save myself for dessert! Maybe our dining hall version of this just isn't up to par. Wouldn't be the first time...

Anyway, next I moved onto the spooned bread, which again, resembled a pan of flat cornbread, just not in a ball form. By this point I was wondering why they didn't just make cornbread.  I was surprised however, and didn't think it was too bad.  I picked up sort of an eggy, salty flavor that was slightly different than the sweeter, fried flavor of the hush puppy. Meh, it's something I could live without.

Recipe from KFC here (from the Colonel himself :P)



When I saw the collard greens I almost jumped for joy! I am ashamed that this is my first time trying them, I feel like all chefs know how to cook simple collard greens. They just never looked exciting to me. I was wrong. They were great! They didn't even need a lot of flavor to them and I was happy eating them mixed with the black eyed peas/rice mixture.

After a hearty meal with my stomach full of soul, I moved on to the dessert counter and spotted what I knew I had to try: Sweet Potato Pie! Just imagine a pumpkin pie here, but darker more sweet-potato-ey. It was alright, the spices were nice, but I have an inkling the dining hall just bought a bunch of packaged pies. Oh well, it was a nice way to end the dinner.

Overall, I would have to say this dinner inspired me to try more of this southern style "soul food." I will have to experiment with collard greens myself when I get home. I'm not even sure I've seen them in our grocery store. Hm, going to have to do some hunting... Anyone have any opinions or recipes they'd like to share? I'm a good listener and I'm still looking for that first comment/follower. Come on, you know you want to be the first right? :)

Eat Hearty and Be Healthy!

Stephanie, WWT

One Girl and Two Boys

This is a story about a girl. She moved away from home for four years in the hopes that a new place would bring fantastic new experiences. In some ways, she was right.

She quickly met two boys that were funny, nice, and everything you could ask for in a friend. The three became best friends.  They did everything together.  The girl would even walk all the way across campus to go see them every night because they were her friends.  As you might guess, she quickly found out that she liked one of the boys, a little bit more than just a friend. As she dropped subtle hints and wondered if he shared her feelings, she was oblivious to the second boy and his feelings toward her.

One night she admitted to the second boy that she liked the first, that she had liked him since she met him and didn't know what to do. She hoped to get some insight in the matter from the second boy, because he might know how the first felt about her. Instead she learned from the second boy that he had liked her since he met her. That he had sadly gotten over the crush and was now able to admit it.  She didn't know whether he was really over his feelings or not, but she felt in many ways horrible.  What signals had she given the second boy that suggested she had meant for their relationship to become more than friends?

She realized that he had been in the same situation she had all year long.  As she had wondered why the first boy never returned or made clear his affections for her, she hadn't been aware that the second boy was going through the same feelings about her.  She had just confessed her secret love of the first boy to the second boy whom she considered her friend and nothing more, unintentionally hurting his feelings.  The second boy seemed sad and told her that the first boy would never love her the way she wanted.

She never found out if the first boy whom she liked ever heard about the conversation she had with the second boy that night. She assumed that he had, but wasn't brave enough to confront her about it.

Now she still sees the boys every so often, but they never have fun or spend time together like they used to.  A courteous hello is all that is exchanged between the three. She remains alone now, left to wonder if her feelings got in the way of a perfect friendship.

(So if you couldn't tell this story was inspired by the falling out mentioned in the last post. I just needed to get that out!)

Stephanie, WWT

Loneliness

The reality of a 20 year old college student:
Many of us can think of a time when we have felt lonely in our lives. Whether you are ten years old or fifty years old, the feeling never gets any easier.  It may be for only a minute or two, or it may last for years. It seems to me that we reach points in our lives that seem as if we've taken a step backwards.  Why do you ask is a twenty year old college student writing about loneliness? What does she know! On the contrary, I've felt alone now for two years. And don't start accusing me of being dramatic just yet! I realize that my family loves me, but it's hard to be all the way across the country from the people who care about you the most.

Sure it was completely my decision to make the move to Pennsylvania to go to college, but I thought I would get a fresh start, which I did. It just didn't last...

My freshman year in college is what you might call typical of a college student nowadays.  I quickly made friends in my dorm, friends from orientation, and friends of other friends.  I was having fun every weekend and partying (yes I am guilty). Initially I started out with a group of about seven friends, but as others joined fraternities and sororities, our small group dwindled, which, I was actually quite happy about.  It brought me closer to the two guy-friends that I spent my entire year with. We were best friends, did everything together, even had movie nights every week. So why do I never talk to them anymore? I ask myself if our falling out after freshman year could have been prevented, but now I realize it was caused by a variety of things mainly, lack of communication, which frustrated me to no end.

Sophomore year changed. It didn't feel like it used to feel. It began with me becoming angry that they were late over thirty minutes for lunch.  It honestly wouldn't have bothered me if they had responded to my calls, texts, or messages, but when they finally showed up, a half hour later, they acted like nothing was wrong. It was no big deal and it was my job as a good friend to wait for them.  I guess after that, we really didn't hang out anymore. My sophomore year was filled with empty weekends and me pondering how it all changed so quickly.  Sure, I was still involved in a community service co-ed fraternity and played ice hockey on a club team, but I had really considered those two guys my friends. Now what would I do? A fellow player on my team assured me that I was just going through a Sophomore Slump. That this happened to her when she was in my year and it is completely normal. This gave me the slightest bit of reassurance.

I realized that I couldn't pick up the pieces of our old relationships and began to do things for me. I know how cheesy that sounds right? But it's true. I felt more confident and independent that I could do things completely on my own.  I took trips to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia by myself, something that my mother wasn't too fond of, but I did it anyway and I enjoyed it. Despite feeling that my life had changed for the worst, I knew I was still growing and learning as a person.

Now I sit here, in my dining hall, writing alone, blogging to no one about my lonely life. Sounds a little emo doesn't it? I'm not asking for pity or sympathy, simply trying to understand my life.  My junior year has been filled with much the same: lonely weekends, and meals alone.  The one thing that I want to slap myself for however is attempting once again to rekindle the dead friendship. Yes, I am guilty of being desperate.  In the first week of school I asked if either one of my "ex-friends" wanted to have dinner. One completely blew me off like a piece of lint, the other obliged, but brought along his friend (for company? I don't even know). Needless to say it was awkward and uncomfortable, and it is something that never happened again. My efforts to keep the friendship alive were never reciprocated.

I feel as if loneliness hits us all, and at the worst possible times. I realized last night, talking to my mom that if I died in my room, no one would find me for a month. She laughed and joked that I was lucky to have all of these friends. I asked her, what friends? Sure, I know people's faces and names, but that's all they remain to me are acquaintances. They are people who you can talk to about some common bond like class or sports, but at the end of the day, the most you would ever get out of them might be lunch, if they don't have any other plans.  They aren't people you can call and talk to if you need to, and you wouldn't hang out with them. I remain involved in my activities still and am planning a sightseeing trip to New York, but I do wish for friends to break this monotony of everyday life. I feel as if others see me now and feel sorry for me, which I don't want them to.

You can be lonely, but still be strong. That's what I try to tell myself.  I am the strongest most independent person I have ever been in all my twenty years of living... and I am alone.

Stephanie, WWT

College Farmer's Markets

Well, today it looks like I might be getting sick. What a joy right before finals.

Doesn't everyone just love farmer's markets?

What about one that comes to you!?

Yesterday here at my college campus, they had a special thing where they hosted a mini farmer's market. They had a bread stand from Le Bus Bakery and some fresh fruits and veggies, but the most amazing thing was that everything was under $2.00!

The major attraction though was the sample table, a long table under a tent that had people constantly cooking and making up different foods to sample! I have to admit that I went back for seconds because they were making so many different things. Of course I filled out a comment card, because who wouldn't want a farmer's market like this every week? Sure, they just set up a few tables and it wasn't big or anything but that's the point. It is easy for the school to put on, and us students get a chance to buy fresh produce that comes to us! (not to mention the 25 cent scoops of ice cream!)

I have to say, after some of the moldy/unripe/too ripe fruits or veggies I have had at this college, fresh fruit seems like heaven, and at an affordable cost for a college student.

Do any other colleges out there do something similar? Would all you other students, like me, love to have a farmer's market on your campuses? Share your experiences or what you think of the idea. Personally, I hope it becomes a regular thing next year.

-Stephanie, WWT