We Like Grass

Hi friends! You can tell that it is still the beginning of the semester because I am so bored I’m blogging more! I finally started getting a fair amount of homework this week, but still nothing crazy so I am left here with a lot of energy but nothing to do. However, I have solidified my schedule for this semester (almost) and want to share it with you guys. Class 1: Chemistry This isn’t very exciting as it is just a continuation of the chem class I took last semester. The only change is the TAs, which is annoying because I loved my last two TAs and the new ones have made less than an optimal first impression… However one good thing to come out of this is if I really don’t get anything out of their recitations I don’t have to show up which frees up time. Class 2: Spanish 3 Subject wise, this is a continuation of my last Spanish class, but class wise I have all new classmates and a new professor! It’s incredible how much Spanish I forgot in the four weeks I had off for break, but...

By Tamika Whitenack Well folks, today was my first day of classes for second semester! It has been over a month since I last blogged, and I am pretty sure I am a different person than I was last time I wrote. Loads has happened, but luckily, I got to see many of you in that time so I'll just dive right in to life back at Vassar. I got back to campus on Monday afternoon after taking a red-eye plane ride Sunday night (though it was actually really early Monday morning), a shuttle to Grand Central (where I spent about an hour exploring since I missed a Poughkeepsie train by five minutes), a train to Poughkeepsie, and finally, an Uber to campus. The journey went smoothly, but I was very tired throughout, which resulted in a very discombobulating return to campus. I know that I was here for four months before and that it should feel normal, but it did not feel normal! Home will always be home for me, and I think even as I grow more accustomed to life here, I will never be fully comf...

Hi friends! I just finished early return, which is a silly thing in which sports teams that are in season come back super early to school so we can practice or something. I had to come back 10 days early, which seems long, but hockey and basketball had to come back multiple weeks early so I guess I should be grateful. In a way early return was busy, as we normally had two practices a day, but because practice was the only thing we had to do, we also had a lot of time to kill. I guess the time-filling is what I’ll talk about most, because who wants to hear about my adventures on a stationary bike. Saturday was our biggest day! We had our first meet! I didn’t run, but it was really fun to watch. It wasn’t a scored meet, so I can’t tell you what place we got, but I think we did pretty well. After the meet was “Freshmen Fun Night,” which is kind of like being hazed but also not because Tufts is super strict about no hazing so it was a super friendly initiation. Every...

By Cameron Rusin Hi friends! It’s been years! I’m not even sure what the last blog I posted was about. I think it was before thanksgiving? Oops… Anyways I felt the need to write just a little something about my last couple weeks of school because if I don’t blog now I’ll have not blogged for probably 2 months by the time I’m back at school. Also this is a nice way to procrastinate studying for my sociology exam that starts in 4.5 hours. At this point I’m done with ⅘ of my classes, with my sociology final being that last ⅕, which is crazy. I know we did this in high school after every semester, but this feels different. Like in high school even though whatever class I was taking was ending, I knew I would still see all of my friends elsewhere and could stop by to say hi to teachers if I really wanted to, but now with a student body of 5,500 instead of 1,500 and the increased number of classes available to take, finishing a class means that there is a fair chance that I will...

By Tamika Whitenack I am standing at a charging station in the JetBlue terminal of JFK. I have been in the terminal since a little after 12 noon, and my flight doesn't begin boarding until 3:10. I took a nice stroll down all of the gates of the terminal and discovered a nice outdoor space. I feel very much like my father's daughter because I am trying to minimize seated time as much as possible. My plan is to write this post (standing) and then perhaps go do some yoga in the corner (or maybe in the kid's play area, that sounds like a good idea!). It is a bit surreal to me that I am finally leaving, and also that I have been living in New York the past four months? I am trying to process it, but I am also mainly just so, so happy to finally be going home. Yesterday was long, but not terribly so. My friend’s uncle generously offered to take the two of us out to breakfast before our Psych final, so that was a nice way to start the morning. I then ...

By Jae-An Wang Hello! As I write this, I sit alone in my room. Kyle left on Monday, Jonathan this morning. There’s a string of tangled lights sitting on my desk, but I’ve been too lazy to hang them up, so they’ll be unlit for a while. The fridge is open and empty; we had to thaw it out yesterday and wipe up all the water so it wouldn’t get all nasty on the inside. Now that my suitcase is out of the wardrobe, the doors are finally closed. It makes the room look bigger than it actually is, although it’s still a lot of space for one person. These past several weeks have been…strange, I guess? I meant to post something around Thanksgiving break, but never got around to it for whatever reason. I guess I’ll start from then, even though by now it’s already been three weeks, I think. This is an insult to pizza. I still tried it tho I stayed in the dorm for Thanksgiving. That’s pretty much about it, I think. I didn’t go out much since all the places to go w...

Hello everyone! It's been quite a while since I've last posted -- eek! Here's a word bank that will hopefully be helpful in understanding my life at the moment: Hanoar Haoved ve Halomed = our sister youth movement (translates to the working and learning youth) NOAL = acronym for Hanoar Haoved that makes sense in Hebrew Ken = literally, nest. In this context, the place where programming takes place. Machoz = region Madrichim = counselors Communarim = the people our age in NOAL who are the madrichim of the high schoolers who are the madrichim of the little kids Luz = short for luach zman which means schedule :) it's cool these days Kfar Yona = the city where I lead Giyusim = recruitment Yom peilut = the day in the ken when there's programming Yom kvutza = the day when our counselors come and run programming for us Okay actually I sent you all an email link to a video recap... it's awkward. Enjoy.