Mawrter Musing

‘Tis the season of Room Draw: the bane of many a Mawrter’s existence.

For myself, I’m glad to be going abroad–though I fear I may end my days in what would be (for me) a place of supreme displeasure, namely Erdman or Denbigh, upon my return. In any regard, Room Draw is (somewhat evidently) when Mawrters choose their room for the next year. All dorms and floors are mixed: no senior or frosh only dorms/floors (which ResLife works hard to maintain). It has been a fairly quiet year. Last year, when room draw numbers were announced, it was the talk of the town. It was the conversation topic on everyone’s lips during dinner (as numbers are announced at dinner time). At that time, as now, I was little bothered by this sign of the apocalypse. I think I was somewhere in the low 200s, 270 or so. This meant I had no chance of gaining a single as a rising sophomore and was likely to find myself in the Haverford apartments, the horror of every Mawrter. Thankfully, I used my wit and wiles to get a real steal of a deal: a three-room triple in Rhodes (the only dorm with air-conditioning!)

With the New Dorm (Codename: Nueddurm) finished, the Haverford apartments have been abolished. All Mawrters may pass their days among their fellows in comfort. I do greatly hope I can inhabit either Rockefeller or Nueddurm upon my return from study abroad. The beaming facade of Nueddurm and the twisting passages of Rock have thoroughly enchanted me.

To return to the Room Draw adventures of my more determined peers, many a Mawrter crafts elaborate lists to decide which room she/he/they want in advance of the official draw. Dorms are visited, the room diagrams with Room Draw number included (to give people an idea of what they can aspire to) are read with intensely desperate eyes, and questions about dorms and room conditions (heating problems, etc) are asked. This all seemed like WAAAAY too much work for me (also: hello, low number), so last year I opted for the chill approach. I popped into like two dorms, found someone I thought I could spend a whole year with, reviewed the floor plans on the BMC website, and called it a day.

And that worked quite perfectly for me 😀

There is little better than a friendly gathering.

Example of a Departmental Tea poster.

That is the idea driving Bryn Mawr’s love of teas. Teas are an art form–one which is rarely carried out to its zenith but is nonetheless enjoyable to partake in. Because we are a free and easy lot, “tea” is used to refer to essentially any kind of social gathering. There are academic teas, dorm teas, and organizational teas (such as Haffner Dining Hall teas).

 Just to start, the hallmarks of any successful tea are: good attendance and FOOD!

Without food, the whole entreprise is doomed to tank.

Academic teas are hosted by departments in the hopes of luring students to majoring with those professors. The professors of the department advertise the tea (and craft the posters, I assume). As the hosts, they provide snacks to lighten our spirits and discuss future course offerings within the department. The whole point of having academic teas is so students can know (1. which professors are within a certain major, (2. whether they think they can work with these professors/are interested in their subject, (3. what other students who are already majoring in that department have to say and what they think. All in all, academic teas are helpful for the indecisive. Don’t know what you want to do? Then why not go and eat someone else’s snacks and let them try to cajole you into joining them?

Dorm teas are held to encourage community within your place of residence. These can be held by your Peer Mentors (students who are designated to give academic advice to others), Hall Adviser (upperclassperson who is in charge of fostering a bond of wellbeing on the hall), Customspeople (sophomores who mentor the freshman), or Dorm Presidents (they don’t really do anything). Cookies, drinks, pizza, Chinese, or Tiffin (the local Indian place) are served and games are played. Most of these teas are also themed, such as an HA tea geared towards talking about how to manage stress.

I attended two very successful teas just this past week. The first, the French tea, was populated by lovely individuals who were handing me plates and plates of FRESHLY-MADE CREPES! I’ve literally never gone to a tea where the food was that high-quality, warm, or just…awesome. Needless to say, I ate 3 ham, cheese, and egg crepes and 2 Nutella ones.

Soap and deodorant arrayed in my window.

I also attended the Green Ambassadors’ (natural) deodorant making-tea. They had all the fancy organic supplies laid out and all I had to do was stir a pan and collect the booty. I’ve taken advantage of their generosity in the past–I have some lovely natural soap.

Even though it’s Spring Break, since I promised you an entry, an entry is what I shall give!

A short personal addend before I get into business: I got accepted to study abroad in Toulouse! It was my top choice and, though I want to talk to Financial Aid to make sure everything is set and OK, I think I can go! Expect pictures of beautiful river scenes and French people next semester!

SELF CARE

So anyway, did I not say I would write about Self-Care?

Anyway, this post is really meant to intertwine with “Misery Business“–probably because the ideas are so incongruent.

Self Care is one of the first concepts I was introduced to at Bryn Mawr. Seriously, it’s like a buzzword. There’s like a Wellness committee who discusses…stuff. SGA talks about it. KCass (Our President) talks about it. The HAs and Customs people text, email, and whisper it in your ears while you sleep (K, just joking. They just text and email–no whispering–I promise! We’re not quite that weird here!) It’s all they talk about in the Wellness Seminar (our delightfully [boring/discomforting] health and wellness issues created exclusively to harangue the freshpersons).

So: I’ll keep you waiting no longer.

Self-Care: knowing and understanding your physical and mental needs to protect against the stresses and stressors of collegiate life => sleeping enough, eating well, exercising (as needed), etc.

Self-Care is about supporting yourself and knowing when to ask for space. While it sounds kinda cheesy, it’s actually a really nice concept. It’s about self love and having a supportive community–all in a non-obtrusive way.

Anyway, it’s all in the name of self-care that we have our truly awesome [but sadly, not this semester] 100 mile meals – food from within the 100-miles around Bryn Mawr. It’s why there were counseling hours offered when everyone was in an uproar about the hanging of the Confederate Flag. It’s why the HA’s give us candy semester-round (though I’ve never gotten any…) and especially why they give us candy near finals. And also why there was a petition to include Trigger Warnings (such as: we will discuss rape/race/violence) in course syllabi.

Things overheard at Bryn Mawr – “Don’t say to me, ‘I’m too busy to do something.’ We’re all busy. Even with 5 classes (2 of which are 300 levels), 3 jobs, and 2 elected positions…I keep up with my commitments, then so can you.”

I include this quote as a starting point to today’s topic. Many Mawrters are in the bad habit(s) of: doing more things than would be considered wise by most humans, AND/OR proclaiming they are busy. What this leads to are: all nighters and misery poker.

All-nighter: staying up all night in order to finish homework.

Misery poker: when people try to one-up each other in terms of work.

These two items have gained such notoriety that it is an adage that “you will pull (at least) one all-nighter during your college career” and Mawrters frequently complain of their vast amounts of homework. Now, I will tell you, you do not have to do either of these things. I have never pulled an all-nighter, and I’m pretty sure I never will. I have 1 1/2 jobs, 4 classes + Chamber Singers and Voice, and am fairly content. Is that a ton of work…not really. I show up to engagements and have the time to do those things that are important to me. Being busy isn’t actually a trophy. Sometimes it’s just a sign that you’re not working efficiently enough.

Now, there is an unspoken communal value of not-revealing-of-grades. The lack of backbiting and aggressive competition is HIGHLY refreshing and wonderful. However, I do feel that misery poker is one of the results of this value. Instead of complaining about class rank, we instead use busyness to garner sympathy and be a shield.

I’m also pretty sure all this misery business is why Mawrters are so intent about Self-Care (a valuable concept which I will discuss later in the week since I need to catch up) and why we, as a group, have such poor health. I cannot tell you how often there is a campus-wide bug. We are sick waaaay too often. Period.

Seriously, we all need to start sleeping more.