Grave Matters: Professors

There is no doubt that Swarthmore chooses its professors wisely. Hundreds of candidates will apply for one or two positions, ensuring the highest quality of tutelage at this institution. Because of this, it is very likely to have mostly good experiences with professors, but it is also possible to have mediocre experiences.

The Professor is the most important factor in a course because they are the agent between the student and the readings/information. The readings can be dry, but the professor can illuminate them so that the student can make a relevant connection to their own experiences. For example, Kierkegaard isn’t the most compelling author, but Professor Wallace really helped us understand how to interpret his work in a modern day context. On the other hand, the readings can invite themselves to the understand of the students, but some professors can hinder the experience.

When I mean “good” teachers, I can say that all of them are insanely knowledgeable and always available to help you outside of class. But sometimes, professors are unable to communicate their knowledge effectively to help the students understand. This has only happened to me once, but it seems to be a rare occurrence. Another problem is that a student can have personality problems with the professors. Not that the professor are incapable or teaching or the students are dull, but both fail to communicate with each other. This hasn’t particularly been a problem for me, but it seems that it can be an issue in reading/discussion-heavy classes where the professor writes and judges the assignments.

But wait! There are several solutions to professor conundrums. Swat as a Student Rec book where students rate different courses offered. Some categories for a course are the teacher, the readings, the difficulty etc. and a comment box. It’s very helpful, especially to find out about the teaching style of the professor. A lot of times students will talk about how many assignments they are and what type. For example, knowing if a class has more papers or exams for assessments, if you have to do weekly presentations, if the professor prefers a lectures style. The possibilities are endless. Swat also allows students to shop classes for two weeks at the beginning of each semester. This is the best way to really experience the course before you decide to take it or drop it. Lastly, word of mouth is really helpful.

Summary: Professors are very very important.

Housing Lottery

So the time of year has come when housing for sophomore year hangs over our head. Ever since we entered as freshman, we heard scary stories about sophomore housing lottery. The system recognize seniority through lottery numbers, so sophomores always feel like they are screwed. Sophomore numbers range from 800-1200, meaning that we get to choose housing the last. Seniors do it on one day (their numbers range from 1-400), Juniors on another (400-800) and sophomores on the last day. There is also something about cohorts, which I still have not completely understood yet.

The drama that ensues is two fold: roommates and blocking, and numbers and dorms. The housing lottery forces people to form defined cliques, groups of two, four, five, six or eight. Can’t you already understand why it might cause problems? Someone might be left out from a block (friends housing together in a group more than 2), roommates might decide at the last minute that they don’t want to room with each-other anymore so people are scrambling to find other loners, friends can’t agree on where to live.

There are actually a lot of housing options for such a small school. Besides the normally advertised, Wharton, Willets, Danawell, Mertz and Alice Paul, there are the Lodges, Worth, Woolman, Kyle, PPR (most common sophomore housing), Strath Haven, and Mary Lyon. Woolman, Kyle, PPR, Strath and ML are all off-campus, ML being the farthest. We rising sophomores recognize the possibility of having a low number and being screwed, so people all have different ideas of how to beat the system.

One of my friends was struggling to find 6th person in their block, so they found someone kind of randomly. The problem is that they didn’t get their block, so now he is with someone he doesn’t really know very well. It could turn out to be really good or really bad. The worst situation is living in ML with a bad roommate. The guy can’t have had a good number because he didn’t get the block, so it is a very real fear.

As for me? I live in a cozy warm room Wharton. It is the closest dorm to everything on campus, has wonderful bathroom that is cleaned everyday and has continuous hot water, has a courtyard, and is near the amphitheater. My friend in ML says that I am a spoiled brat. It’s only downhill from here, so I am resigned to not being as happy about housing for next year. My lottery number, which I received in the mail today, is in the bottom of the top 1/3rd of sophomore numbers. I think that makes it mediocre.

Drama, drama, drama. The school wouldn’t let us live in a hellish environment. And Wharton is the best dorm. Next year will be somewhere in between.

Parents’ Weekend and Misc.

Sorry for the lack of update, but it has been a long, busy week. This is going to be a short entry because this weekend is busy! My parents are here for Parents’ weekend. It’s supposed to showcase the college and the campus at the very least. The weather, however, decided it didn’t want to comply. April has been a dark stretch of wind and rain. Where are the leaves? I visited Crum Woods (for the first time) and all the trees are bare.

Despite the dampening environment of the campus, it’s nice to have my parents visit and meet other peoples’ parents. I don’t know how much they have planned for them this weekend, but Into the Woods, a play, is showing for the next few days. The multicultural groups are coming together to host a cultural show tomorrow, in which I take part.

It’s all wonderful and busy, but I have a stats midterm on Monday, so I have to balance my time carefully.

Privacy of Rooms

When I give a tour to prospective students and parents, I always show them my room. I live in Wharton, the most beautiful and nicest dorm on campus, in most peoples’ opinions. If you haven’t yet, go down and look at pictures of our courtyard. Now the magnolia tree is in bloom and it looks like a beautiful tree of life. One tree umbrellas almost the whole courtyard with pale pinkness.

Anyways, so parents and students get to see my room. In my view, this is a privilege because rooms are the only personal space a college student has. We’re all collected together on this one small campus, and the only way “safe” physical space is one’s own room. It’s the most private part of a college student that is in physical manifestation, I think. Not just because of wall decoration, but it’s where you study, talk, sleep, create memories. Live.

When I go into a person’s room, I look around carefully because it tells so much about a person. Judgement. It’s a bedroom. Taking prospies on a tour to your room to show “real college life” is showing guests your bedroom in it’s most natural state. Even when it’s clean.

In such a private space, the closet is the most intimate and most private area. It’s just clothes, but our closets are large enough to hold much more.

This notion of a dorm room only develops through the college experience. Because parents on the tour sometimes disrespect that privacy. I have had instance where a parent tried to look through my roommate’s closet without asking me. Even though I wouldn’t have been able to give permission for my roommate. At least they asked before going through mine, but I felt uncomfortable because my closet was a bit messy at that time. They wanted to know how much closet space I had. It is a reasonably valid question, maybe, but it’s really quite trivial.

In another instance, my hall-mate’s door was slightly open, although I don’t think anyone was in there. Two parents pushed open the door further and started looking around, without me noticing. It was a large group so I was busy filing the tour in and out of my room. The courtesy, even if the door is open, is to knock before entering. Then the parents started looking around and making comments. My hall mate was in the lounge so he heard, but he didn’t have a problem with it. Nonetheless, I was surprised and uncomfortable.

Bottom line: college student’s room are private and personal. Most tour groups are respectful of that, but there’s always just one or two who seem to forget or not realise. Even my own hall mates sometimes cross the line of friendly neighborly behavior. It’s a hard boundary to create.

Holi: Colors Galore

So Hindu Club revived itself this semester and we threw our first public event, Holi. There are about 5 of us in the club but since we are all also part of Deshi, we didn’t completely flounder. Actually, it was a wonderful success. Wednesday was an information session about the religious story behind Holi and the cultural celebrations that accompany the festival. Friday was the actual event, from 2-4. Of course Ishi went through the usual motions of getting money from SAC and SBC, getting RatTech for music and Shai and I made posters. Friday night was a party called Holi Hangama, but it was hosted by Deshi not Hindu Club. Anyways, below are pictures from Holi.

Her t-shirt was white, that was unacceptable during Holi

How Swattie: Environment

Sarah has Beachwood bed-sheets because they are environmentally friendly and apparently far cozier than cotton. Maybe it’s because she’s from Berkley where environmental awareness is more prevalent, but she knows all the wiles and ways of how to live environmentally friendly and comfortably. Before I came to Swat, I admittedly was relatively apathetic towards living an environmentally friendly life. It had just seemed so inconvenient. And I really didn’t know enough. Now, I am bombarded with information.

In order to fulfill my science lab requirement, I took the class The Earth and Its Climate, which was my first exposure to these issues. Then my “screw” date (for screw your roommate where you set up your roommate for a blind date) turned out to be passionate about environmental science. In this blind date, you do end up spending hours with your screw (most of the time) so discussion about environmental issues was unavoidable.

The club Earthlust has spread its propaganda very well. They put pamphlets on every table at Sharples educating about more environmentally friendly living styles. Simple things like unplugging unused appliances, such as a cellphone charger when the cellphone isn’t being charged. By virtue of being plugged, it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Over time, that solitary appliance from one person adds to the problem. Now imagine millions of people doing it.

Washing clothes in cold water instead of hot water is another example. I don’t remember the exact reasons, but I think it deals with the amount of energy used to warm the cold water. They have posters over the washers with the exact statistics as a constant reminder of our excess. (Or American’s flippancy with excess, as an interpretation Loos’s and Fitzgerald’s literary works might illustrate.) Okay, so the cold water does my jeans turn out slightly more wrinkly, but it’s worth the trade-off. There are clothes lines strung around the basement, as well, but I don’t think anyone really goes that far in avoiding the dryers completely.

I came here as a vegetarian for religious/tradition reasons but currently appreciate it for the numerous environmental/economic reasons reinforced by my peers.

Lastly, my professor in my religion seminar movingly reflected that animals don’t destroy their home (birds in nests, etc), yet we humans do. Admittedly, that could seem to be a contentious claim, but it’s certainly worth thinking about.

It is impossible to be unaffected by the awareness efforts on campus. Some people maybe annoyed, but I think it’s necessary for us to be jolted out of our comfort zone of apathy. Reading it about it in the newspapers just doesn’t make it real enough.

Hurrah for organic bananas in Sharples. Although there was an article a few weeks back in Time magazine disputing the organic craze and promoting a “locally-produced” philosophy. Hmmm.

How Swattie.

Everyday Swat and Admissions

Everything is beginning to bloom. Isabel, Katerina and I lay out on Parrish beach studying. A few other friends tossed the disc in the rose garden. It was a contrasting sight with mist trees barren of leaves yet the sun pretending it is summer. 80 degrees, really. We all agree that Swat is made for spring…it’s making every day more worthwhile.

It’s the everyday experience of college that makes it worthwhile, to me, more than the knowledge of the end result. You might go to college for the end result, but you stay and love it for the experience. I realize that I have taken it for granted, how accessible my teachers make themselves to us and how valuable are the classes. Well, I’d rather enjoy it than contemplate it. I’m meeting with my English professor to discuss Tender is the Night…hopefully I don’t get carried away again.

Admissions letters went out today, good luck and keep tight! I can’t wait to see y’all prospective students at Ride the Tide.

Small School: Perspective from Literary Magazines (And Misc.)

I love the small size of Swarthmore. It has innumerable benefits such as small classes, being able to maintain intimate friendships, and knowing about all the events and opportunities available. But for literary magazines, it’s a tight squeeze. Ourstory has been around for almost 10 years, I believe. Yet this year, we have been struggling to receive submissions. We’ve been creative and tried every marketing tactic possible, but it boils down to writing: we can’t force people to express themselves.

Small Craft Warnings hasn’t had much trouble, but they have broader category of submissions. The problem is that there is such a diversity of literary magazines: SCW (all-inclusive lit mag) Enie (ñ) (Spanish), Ourstory (Multicultural), Remappings (Asian-American), Mjumbe (African/Black community) Scarlet Letters (Women’s), Spike (Humor) but a small population of students willing to submit their work! Some editors noted that the dearth of submissions is unique to this year, but they just don’t know why. Coming from a small high school, our lit mag faced similar problems and it’s a bit frustrating to go through this again. Hopefully next year will be better.

Traveling here on Sunday was worse than usual. My flight was delayed and I decided to take the Septa from the Airport to Swat. That meant I switched trains from the R1 to the R 3 with luggage that did not fit in between the seats. I thought I had a rough time until I saw Arlys. He had come by bus from Boston to Philly and just missed the R3 at 9. On weekends, it comes every two hours after a certain time, so he came in all worn out around midnight. Oh, the adventurous lives of college students.

Monday was classes all day, Tuesday was Phoenix all day (don’t download illegally, the RIAA is watching YOU, check out the online version this week’s edition of the Phoenix), and by Wednesday everyone was exhausted. Happy Thursday, almost Friday!

Grenades of Pop Culture

I felt like I stepped out of the Swarthmore bubble into the real world when I came off the plane last night. When I first read about the Swarthmore bubble on Swat forums, I freaked out. Existing without the constant bombardment of consumerist culture? Oh em gee! That’s essentially the Swarthmore bubble. It’s a bit of a relief but also a bit strange.

There are no advertisements except the ones in the New York Times and those colorful brochures that go into every bookstore purchase with a bag. Our hall doesn’t have a TV and the one on the second floor is the kind my great-grandparents might have had in the 1970s. In order to fulfill our TV cravings, we turn to YouTube or other websites with commercial free, free episodes. When we walk around campus, there are obviously no large signs advertising “FORMLESS OR SHAPELESS HAIR? TRY NEW BRAND X SHAMPOO”.

In the movie “After the Sunset,” an independent film featuring two people walking around Paris and conversing, Celine narrates a similar experience she had in an Eastern European country, and she “felt at peace,” for the first time.

I used the word constant in the first paragraph, because advertisements not completely avoidable. Bright, flashing pop-up ads on websites and whatnot are not entirely escapable. But they aren’t on the same level; they are easier to ignore.

Of course, pop culture is more than annoying ads. When I come home for breaks I try to make up for all the lost time. (I know this is true of my other collegemates.) Watch long hours of TV, spend hours shopping, listen to trashy pop songs on the radio, and read new cheap thrills at the bookstore.

Cheers to spring break.

Quick Update

Midterms are next week! I just finished a philosophy paper and now I am trying to find time to study. The problem is that there are so many wonderful and exciting things happening this weekend. Guerilla Girls, Boy Meets Tractor Sketch Comedy, a variety of parties, I’m going to dinner with Deshi at an Afgahni restaurant, Social Savvy dinner, Tour Guide Party, Holi festivities, Wanda Sykes for the Large Scale Event…and I bet you there is more! Sunday will be a long day, haha.

But on very good news, I see green again! The snow magically melted and it looks like spring. PA weather is so bipolar…it was raining terribly this morning! Whatever, I’ll just accept it for what it is.