The other day, I joined the Bryn Mawr College Class of 2020 page. As I began reading through the posts, I started feeling nostalgic and remembering the time when I was counting down the days to college, thinking of everything I would do, the people I would meet, and the things I would learn. Fast forward to second semester of sophomore year, and I still feel like I am waiting for those things to happen.

Baby me at a monthly school board meeting

In high school, my days consisted of school-learning (obviously…I did get into Bryn Mawr) and staying after school nearly every day for orchestra practice, or planning events and fundraisers for student government. Almost every night (except for Friday and Sunday) consisted of dance, coming home around 10 each night. I would come home exhausted but fulfilled because I had a sense of who I was and what I was good at in high school. I was the vice president of my class, a dancer, a violinist, and a distinguished student. School administrators would ask me to help give tours of the school and I represented the student body at monthly school board meetings. In college, I only hoped that these few niches would be enriched and I hoped that I would add more to my description.

Bi-Co Orchestra Concert Fall 2014

But as I scramble to finish problem sets and learn French vocab, I can’t help but feel like I don’t know who I am anymore, or even what I’m good at. I am not involved in SGA, I have not taken a dance class since first semester of my first year, I did not get a job as a tour guide, and I often feel confused and upset that I’m not nearly as involved as I once was. The only constant is that I’m in orchestra, and I’m sure my orchestra teacher since 4th grade would be happy about that. It is hard to go from being so involved, to barely attending a club meeting. Is it because I don’t have as much time as I once did, or is it because I never truly loved those things? Honestly, I have no idea.

I ask myself the question “who are you,” almost everyday, but I think that is something that everyone-even people who have long since graduated college-struggle with. As we grow, this question does not become as simple as it once was. Everything comes into play when you have to figure out who you are, especially in college. You talk about your major, your minor, your future goals, your job, the activities you are involved with. I feel like the only thing missing is your star sign and social security number.

So to incoming first year students, seniors about to graduate and others in between, I think it is okay not to have a niche. It can be frustrating, saddening, and confusing to not know who you truly are, or not know “what you’re good at” (probably a lot of things by the way), but the great thing is that we are not limited to find ourselves at Bryn Mawr College or crunched to suddenly find it in only the four years we are here. Bryn Mawr is a great place to start the search, but it is not the final destination.

~”The greatest challenge in life is discovering who you are. The second greatest is being happy with what you find.”~

We see it in movies and in TV shows, if you are not studying all the time, you will probably fail. Well, almost 3 semesters of college later (!!!), the phenomenon of all nighters is not helpful.

Finals week rolls around and we get emails, and see signs about “24 Hour Canaday.” It is definitely difficult not to stress about everything that needs to be finished in the short amount of time, but 24 hour Canaday is NOT a challenge! Please, please, PLEASE do not stay in Canaday for 24 hours! In the world we live in of snapchatting your study guide at 2:34 AM, tweeting about the finals struggle, the constant Bryn Mawr work poker (ie. Friend A: I have 2 papers and 3 exams due next week, Friend B: Well I have 3 papers and 4 exams next week…), and of course thinking college is all about staying up very late to study, it is difficult to not take advantage of 24 hour Canaday. But when you are working, it is important to think about if what you are doing is really effective, or if you are just wearing yourself out for no reason.

There have been many studies done to showing how studying late at night effects academic performance. I’ll save you a click, it’s better to sleep early and not cram/pull all nighters. Of course if you have a 10 page paper due tomorrow afternoon and you are only on page 3, work on that paper! But don’t make it an everyday occurrence.

So as the number of “tomorrows you have left to study” decreases, please don’t increase the number of days you in Canaday without leaving. Get some food, take a shower, and get some sleep! Good luck and remember done is good!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Just kidding, it’s finals season! With papers, exams, projects, etc. it is often a stressful time for everyone. Personally, I’ve never felt more stressed out in my life than I have the last couple of weeks, and the worst is yet to come.

Let me tell you something, this stress is not doing anything helpful. It’s natural to feel the pressure to get things done, but it is also extremely important to take breaks. I’m not saying go on a road trip to New York or anything, but step away from your book/computer/paper for a little bit and just breathe!

It is so very important for students to take breaks while studying because after a while, studying for x amount of hours straight is not effective. After a while, you just cannot retain any information, so while you are “studying” nothing is really going in your brain. But with breaks in between, your studying can become much more effective. It is even great to study take a break and quiz yourself on what you were working on, or to re-read your essay to see if it makes sense!

Here are my top break ideas, that don’t waste too much time but is enough to relieve some stress:

1. Call a friend or family member, it’ll make them happy and in turn make you happy! These positive endorphins actually will help you study more effectively and make you less stressed!
2. Take a dance break! Recently, I’ve had the urge to just dance (the new Bieber songs are completely danceable and so catchy.) and one of my friends loves doing Zumba in her room!
3. Take a quick power nap. 30 minutes max! Anything longer will make you feel groggy and you will not want to go back to studying.
4. Watch ONE funny youtube video. Again endorphins are good for you!
5. Take a shower, maybe even sing or listen to the new Adele album!

As the exam season continues please remember to take take care of yourselves! Make sure you are eating (no, ramen and easy mac don’t count), drink plenty of water, and be sure you are getting sleep! Remember,it doesn’t matter how much you study if you are not at your best (aka hangry, dehydrated and sleep deprived), your final work will probably reflect that!

And never forget: DONE IS GOOD!

This weekend, was definitely the weekend to support the arts in the Bi-Co.

On Friday, November 20, as a member of the Bi-Co Orchestra, we performed our annual Fall concert in Marshall Auditorium. We performed three pieces, including a . I’m very glad that I am a part of the orchestra. It is a great way to keep up with the violin, which I have been playing since the 4th grade. I also appreciate the two and a half hours on Thursdays where I can focus solely on the music we are playing, rather then upcoming exams and lab reports.

On Saturday, November 21, the Bi-Co Fall Student Dance Concert took place in Marshall Auditorium. As mentioned in a previous blog post, I had the amazing opportunity to choreograph and perform in the concert. Over the last 2 months, myself as well as the other dancers and choreographers have been working hard. I am so proud of what I was able to do for this show.bThis concert had many different types of dances, which was awesome. There was tap, flamenco, hip-hop and more. The best part was how many people came to support us. I was handing out programs with some other dancers, and we actually ran out of programs; the auditorium was packed (balcony included). It was so great dancing for the energetic crowd. I cannot wait to watch the tape when it comes out!

Pictures to come!

The days are getting shorter, the homework is getting tougher, the world is getting scarier, but we need to keep moving forward.

It’s okay to have a bad day, or a few bad days. After all, flowers need rain to grow. But sometimes, all you need is a little bit of positivity to reverse your bad day. It can all start with a smile from a stranger. One of the reasons why I love Bryn Mawr is because I see the interactions between students every day. I se students actually smiling at each other as they pass by, rather than avoiding eye contact when going to classes.

The past few weeks-and days-have been pretty awful. I am a huge fan of quotes, so I have some inspirational quotes that I’d like to share with you all. Whenever I am having a rough day, or am feeling sad, I usually look up quotes to try to make myself feel a little bit better. Whether you need some motivation to finish a problem set or essay, a little bit of positivity if you’re feeling down, or maybe a little bit of hope after the tragic past few days, I hope these quotes make you feel just a little bit better.

• “We know what we are, but not what we may be” William Shakespeare.
  • AKA, do NOT give up on yourself. Where you are right now, is not final, you can change yourself for the better!
• “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it” Edith Wharton.
• “Find out who you are and be that person. That’s what your soul was put on this Earth to be. Find that truth, live that truth and everything else will come” Ellen Degeneres.
• “You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can” Jimmy Carter.
• “A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference” Winnie the Pooh.
• “When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable” Walt Disney.

It’s no secret that classes at Bryn Mawr are tough. Around this time of the semester, it is not uncommon to find students in the library at very late hours, or hearing about how someone hasn’t slept in days. Well, while it important that you complete all work and study, it is also so very important to self-care. We are so lucky to be at a place that promotes self-care, that sometimes it is okay to say, “I’ll take an hour to myself and comeback to reading that chapter.” Here are my top 5 self-care tips on campus that don’t take you too far away from you textbooks, but far enough to relieve some stress!

1. Lay on the hammocks! While the weather is still bearable, take sometime to listen to some music, or read a (non-school related) book for a little bit.
2. Take a nap! It is important to get sleep, take a quick nap. New studies say that napping “can make you thinner, smarter and happier.”
3. Take a walk or jog around campus or go to the gym for 30 minutes. Take advantage of our beautiful campus and gym. There are so many benefits about how exercise makes you feel better.
4. Go to UnCommon Grounds with some friends. Treat yourself to a chai or just sit and chat with your friends.
5. Watch that episode on Netflix. I’m not saying binge on all 7 seasons of Gilmore Girls, but watch a quick episode, or watch the news, etc. But again, don’t get carried away.

While this is a stressful time, and studying and doing your work is super important, it is also imperative that you take care of yourself. Your grades and your social life will suffer if you are burned out, and we don’t want that to happen J

Having a car on campus is a privilege. Yes, I know that and I am very thankful to Bryn Mawr and my family for allowing me to have this privilege and I don’t mean to be rude, but WE NEED MORE STUDENT PARKING! The rules right now for parking on campus are as follows (generalized), you must have a permit ($50 dollars for 1 semester, or $100 for the year), you can only park in student parking spots. I know what you may be thinking, “what’s wrong about that?” Nothing is wrong with that, except for the only places students can park is in the lower level parking lot of Erdman, which holds maybe 20 spots, a small section by admissions (10 spots), and of course in front of New Dorm/across from Pem Arch, but that is a huge gamble and half the time there are no spots, or a spot is too small

My car Olly parked in front of New Dorm. I was lucky enough to find a spot!

for you to park. But don’t worry, overflow parking is all the way across campus by the gym.

I know that really isn’t too bad in retrospect, but when you’re coming back to campus after a late class or a club event you really just want to park as close to your dorm as you can. And let’s be clear the closest dorm to the athletics lot is Brecon* so… And when you look across the street to see Shipley’s really big parking garage, it makes us students mad sometimes. Often times when I leave my parking spot, I tell whoever I am driving with to “say a prayer for a spot now.” That’s how bad it is. We pray when we LEAVE for a spot when we get back. I even remember telling my mom the other day that I don’t want to leave because I don’t want to lose my parking spot, which completely negates the whole having a car on campus thing.

Many visitors to campus and even some faculty sometimes park in student parking. When there is so few student parking spots on the main part of campus, every spot is precious and when a non-student takes the spot, it causes some major frustration from students. The other day, one of my friends wrote on Facebook how she had a really difficult time finding a parking spot the other day because the spots were taken by non-students. Other Bryn Mawr students also commented how this has been happening to them, and that they had even seen some students from Villanova parking in our spots, and that they had to find parking elsewhere and got a ticket from Campus Safety. I really hope that parking on campus can become more beneficial and less stressful for students, maybe a plenary resolution??

*Brecon is technically in another township.

The autumn is a very festive time in South Asia. This Sunday, members of South Asian Students, Dharmic Students Association, and Muslim Students Association celebrated Diwali and Eid! There was music, dancing, and of course yummy food!

The Eid/Diwali dinner is one of the biggest events of the semester for each club and it is a great way for students who celebrate these holidays to celebrate and wear their fancy clothes. But it is also a really great way for students and friends who don’t celebrate to learn about the culture and to have fun (and did I mention the wonderful food?)

After a stressful few weeks of midterms, lab reports, and readings, tonight was a great way to spend time with friends and kick-off the holiday season.

This weekend was family weekend at Bryn Mawr and it was a great weekend for families and students! Now let’s be real, a few years ago, I’d be so embarrassed for my family to come visit me in school (clarification, high school, not college), but now at Bryn Mawr, it is a weekend that I can’t wait for. It is always so wonderful to see the proud looks on my parents face when they see all that I am doing.

Last night in Thomas Great Hall, there was a concert including the Bi-Co Orchestra, Chorale and many acapella groups. The concert ran for about an hour and a half and was well received by parents (of course parents are going to tell you how good you are though.) The concert ended with the college hymn performed by the orchestra, chorale, and the college’s offical acapella group, the Night Owls.

The orchestra had a very interesting time playing in TGH. We usually rehearse and play our concerts at Marshall Auditorium at Haverford-the acoustics in TGH was very weird. However, our conductor said we did a great job, so I think the orchestra is pretty versatile.

The orchestra will play again next weekend at Haverford’s family weekend, with our full concert on November 21st at Haverford!

Last weekend, I attended and volunteered at the Scleroderma Walk in Philadelphia. I have been going to this walk for twelve plus years to support my aunt.

Our team!

Not many people know about scleroderma, let alone the walk to fight it. “Scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis, is a chronic connective tissue disease generally classified as one of the autoimmune rheumatic diseases.”* This walk raises money to fund research to find a cure for this disease. It is a great event with tons of people and you can really feel the love. It is always so great to see how many family members and friends come to support their loved ones. The Scleroderma walk takes place every year on the first Sunday of October, and I am proud to say that I have been to every walk since our team formed. The walk itself is a total of three miles along the Schuylkill River on Kelly Drive.

Handing out t-shirts.

Volunteering at the walk is always great and makes me feel good. My two friends (who are like my sisters) and I have been labeled the “t-shirt girls” as we are always assigned to the t-shirt table year after year. The last few years, my younger sister and cousin have also joined in on the action.

If you have anytime next October, be sure to check out this amazing event to find a cure for Scleroderma!

*Information was found on the Scleroderma foundation website.