Snow and Stuff
By Tamika Whitenack
Can you believe my spring break is only a month away? It's kind of crazy. I truly believe this semester is going to fly by. I've been doing well this week though, and am excited for the semester.
Last weekend I went on a hike with a friend on Mt. Beacon. It was somewhat steep and icy, so it was a bit of an adventure, but the view from the top was nice! I don't think I've ever seen so many winter trees! We climbed up the top of the fire tower to maximize our view, and the wind chill factor really increased as we were ascending. Next time, I need to remember gloves and my warm headband.
There has been a fair bit of precipitation since I last blogged, which has made for interesting conditions. We've had snow, freezing rain, normal rain, and more snow, so everything is sort of a mix of snow, ice, slush, and salt. On Wednesday, the school was pretty much closed down as a snow day (the gym and all the admin offices were closed), but I still had all my classes. Because Vassar technically has the minimum number of school days to be a legitimate college (lol), the school can't cancel classes so it has to be professors' decision. And neither of mine did! I felt a little cheated since my roommate had all her classes canceled, but I don't mind class. In fact, I rather enjoy it! I feel like I talked about my classes a lot last time so I won't go to in detail about them here, but expect another nerdy post soon :)
This week we had a talk on campus featuring Cece MacDonald and Chelsea Manning. The event was titled "No Prisons, No Wars", and was a conversation about abolitionist activism. I wasn't able to get a ticket to the actual event, but I attended the livestream of the event with a friend and am glad that I did. Attending these sorts of events always forces me to think about things, and the way in which I engage with the world. Tonight I went to a poetry slam featuring Denice Frohman and Paul Tran. This was also a very good event and I am glad that I went.
Wow, this post is rather dry so far! I suppose I'm having difficulty making things sound interesting even though I had quite a good week and am feeling great! At the beginning of the week, I was very tired, but I am making an effort to get lots of sleep (lol I was getting a decent amount at the beginning of the week too but apparently I'm needy) and have been feeling more refreshed.
Two big things that I'm working on this semester:
We are starting an Asian American studies campaign! The first goal is just to get classes offered at Vassar, but the ultimate goal is to have a comprehensive program and major. Also, we are still working out the exact mission of the campaign because in our discussion today someone brought up the need not just for Asian American classes but also for South Asian and Southeast Asian classes and how the current Asian Studies department is very East Asian focused, so we are trying to incorporate that into our mission as well. I'm excited about this work and really hope that we can actually see some stuff happen!
I'm also working on a new student org this semester that is hoping to be a Food Community. Tomorrow we are doing a Valentine's Day baking event, and we hope to do cooking classes, potlucks, and food related events off campus throughout the semester. I'm sure I will have plenty of updates for y'all as we see how this goes!
I am somewhat running out of interesting material, so I suppose I'll end with my pics from this week. Also, my cooking adventures! I made lentil stew with a friend last weekend and made a very healthy vegan banana apple bread yesterday. Yay!
Can you believe my spring break is only a month away? It's kind of crazy. I truly believe this semester is going to fly by. I've been doing well this week though, and am excited for the semester.
Last weekend I went on a hike with a friend on Mt. Beacon. It was somewhat steep and icy, so it was a bit of an adventure, but the view from the top was nice! I don't think I've ever seen so many winter trees! We climbed up the top of the fire tower to maximize our view, and the wind chill factor really increased as we were ascending. Next time, I need to remember gloves and my warm headband.
There has been a fair bit of precipitation since I last blogged, which has made for interesting conditions. We've had snow, freezing rain, normal rain, and more snow, so everything is sort of a mix of snow, ice, slush, and salt. On Wednesday, the school was pretty much closed down as a snow day (the gym and all the admin offices were closed), but I still had all my classes. Because Vassar technically has the minimum number of school days to be a legitimate college (lol), the school can't cancel classes so it has to be professors' decision. And neither of mine did! I felt a little cheated since my roommate had all her classes canceled, but I don't mind class. In fact, I rather enjoy it! I feel like I talked about my classes a lot last time so I won't go to in detail about them here, but expect another nerdy post soon :)
This week we had a talk on campus featuring Cece MacDonald and Chelsea Manning. The event was titled "No Prisons, No Wars", and was a conversation about abolitionist activism. I wasn't able to get a ticket to the actual event, but I attended the livestream of the event with a friend and am glad that I did. Attending these sorts of events always forces me to think about things, and the way in which I engage with the world. Tonight I went to a poetry slam featuring Denice Frohman and Paul Tran. This was also a very good event and I am glad that I went.
Wow, this post is rather dry so far! I suppose I'm having difficulty making things sound interesting even though I had quite a good week and am feeling great! At the beginning of the week, I was very tired, but I am making an effort to get lots of sleep (lol I was getting a decent amount at the beginning of the week too but apparently I'm needy) and have been feeling more refreshed.
Two big things that I'm working on this semester:
We are starting an Asian American studies campaign! The first goal is just to get classes offered at Vassar, but the ultimate goal is to have a comprehensive program and major. Also, we are still working out the exact mission of the campaign because in our discussion today someone brought up the need not just for Asian American classes but also for South Asian and Southeast Asian classes and how the current Asian Studies department is very East Asian focused, so we are trying to incorporate that into our mission as well. I'm excited about this work and really hope that we can actually see some stuff happen!
I'm also working on a new student org this semester that is hoping to be a Food Community. Tomorrow we are doing a Valentine's Day baking event, and we hope to do cooking classes, potlucks, and food related events off campus throughout the semester. I'm sure I will have plenty of updates for y'all as we see how this goes!
I am somewhat running out of interesting material, so I suppose I'll end with my pics from this week. Also, my cooking adventures! I made lentil stew with a friend last weekend and made a very healthy vegan banana apple bread yesterday. Yay!
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| hike view |
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| other hike view (thats the hudson!) |
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| me + hike view |
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| picnic in my dorm room :) |
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| snow in action |
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| snowy dorm life |
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| some nice frozen needles |
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| deer at night! there were like 5 |
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| winter aesthetic |
Wauw the view is so pretty, Icy
ReplyDeleteBut i guess otherwise the hike would be (a)mountin(g) to nothing, and there would be (s)no(w) point
Alright this is actually terrible and i regret it
Delete