New Classses

Hell hello! It’s been a while since I’ve posted a blog, but we just started our semester last week, so I’ve been inspired to write again. I’m really excited about all of my classes this semester; I’m taking Educational Psychology, Language and Culture, and Cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa. A typical course load here is 4 classes, so then for my fourth class I’m taking two “half” classes, if you will. I’m taking Physical Fitness this half of the semester, and then Yoga the second half of the semester. Ah, the perks of being a second-semester junior… I get to take Yoga! Yoga is a very popular class here, so usually by the time sophomores of freshman get to register, the juniors and seniors have filled up that class.

I’m an anthropology major, so I’m really excited about the Language and the Africa class. I’ve also been considering adding Education as a minor. I took one education class last semester and really loved it. I took the class as a test-run, to see if I actually would enjoy the department of education. We got to do service every week with kindergarteners at a local elementary school in Black Mountain and, well, those short-legged people were just so much fun, and they really taught me loads more than I think I taught them. That experience, that class, and the professor, all solidified my interest in the minor. Just this morning, actually, I went to meet with Pat Tuttle, one of the two education professors here, to get more information about the minor. And, turns out, I’m officially going to do it! I’m really excited to officially declare it as a minor and to delve into more education classes!

 

Even though I’m feeling really excited about all my classes, and even though my work crew is really great and really familiar, it is still taking me a little while to get back into the groove here. I spent the month of winter break at home back up in Pennsylvania. It was so wonderful and so relaxing and I ate so much great, home-cooked food. And let me tell you, I certainly was not preoccupied with reading academic journal articles, or with creating strong transitions in a paper. So getting back into the swing of things (as they say) here is definitely a little tricky for me. College is just such a different way of being than it was at home, so it just takes me a little to get used to it again. From my experience with past semesters, I suspect that by the end of the week, I’ll feel truly settled in J.

 

Before I close, I wanted to share an interesting conversation we had in my Language and Culture class this morning. We were talking about how language is used in jokes, and how when people joke, there are often multiple “texts,” multiple layers of meaning, happening all at once. One of my peers, we’ll call him John (why is it that arbitrary men are named John, and arbitrary women are named Jane?) told a story of a “joke” he experienced while sitting in the Morse Science Hall. Essentially, John’s peers were teasing him for liking classes that happen in Jensen Humanities building. I’ll let you all in on something… there’s a bit of a silent rivalry between students whose majors are in Jensen (the Humanities and Social Science building) and students whose majors are in Morse (the Science Hall). John’s peers were teasing him, telling him that there were easier classes in Jensen, that the Humanities students couldn’t possibly work nearly as hard. Of course, John, being a biology major and a Sociology/Anthropology minor, defended Jensen, saying those classes were just as valuable, etc.

 

It’s interesting to me, though, that this tendency exists, a tendency to compare and to “one-up,” even if it is in a joking way. In response, from my own prospective, from my Anthropology perspective, here’s what I think… there’s no denying that science students spend more time in class. They have longer lab class time, whereas humanities students have no labs. Nonetheless, both types of course content are equally challenging, just in different ways. In the sciences, most information is clearly laid out in a text book. Most homework is writing up lab reports, maybe reading text book chapters, and running complex equations and math problems. They deal with lots of challenging content, and lots of abstract “in the clouds” ideas. In the humanities, rather, at least from my experience, we do much more reading… reading, reading, reading. But it’s very evaluative, very analytical. We have to have our critical eye all the way on. We, of course, write lots of papers and such as well. Of course, I don’t have a solid grasp on the types of work that science students do because I am not one of them. Regardless, there isn’t (or there shouldn’t be) any higher value placed on one kind of work, or one major, over another.

 

The thing to remember is this: we all learn differently, and we all like to learn different things. We all retain different bits of information, and different kinds of information. My mind works better in the humanities, and I find it more interesting. The other thing is, and a beauty of Warren Wilson is, that if you major in chemistry or environmental studies or what-have-you, you’re not limiting yourself to just that discipline. I might even be so bold to say it’s impossible to limit yourself to one discipline here. Here at WWC, you really can learn from many different disciplines, and dapple in many different areas. And there’s certainly no denying that they’re all connected. I love this part about Warren Wilson.

Thanks for reading! And certainly, if you’re interested to know more, feel free to contact us, to give us a call or an email or even to come for a visit. We’d love to hear from you!

Hannah

Summer Construction

Hey guys! Samantha here, I am working in the admissions office all summer. It is great to be on the crew.

Anyways, it is a slow day at the Admissions Office, but we have so many exciting things happening on campus! Construction is happening in many places around the school, updating buildings and such. Part of the library is being worked on, Gladfelter, the basement of Sunderland (next week’s edition), Shepard, and the WPO/College Press cabin. Everyone on campus is working hard to prepare the school for next year, and for our incoming students.

The most exciting one is Gladfelter, our main cafeteria. It is looking completely different than it did just a few months ago, and I am super excited to see the finished project. Gladfelter is the larger of our two cafeterias on campus and it always has vegetarian and vegan options. This updated cafeteria will have more choices than our previous set-up. (A pizza station, a more permanent action station, desert bar, breakfast bar, etc.) These updates and editions are super exciting, and I am happy they have added options that are more permanent. We also have completely new flooring and lighting (which both look awesome). The students voted on the flooring during last semester where they set out different tiles and you could vote on the one you liked the most.

The lighting is also a lot different, as you can see in some of these pictures. All together, the cafeteria is coming along nicely. The workers that have been here everyday are the nicest people and I thank them for it looking so nice. I am truly excited to see the difference in the cafeteria and the finished project. I guess all we have to do now is wait to see the big unveiling.

This will be soon, hopefully.
 Hope all is well,
Samantha

Westward Philosophy

Two weeks ago I spent a weekend in and around Portland, Oregon. I was in the region to present a paper in philosophy at the 16th Annual Pacific University Undergraduate Philosophy Conference in Forest Grove, Oregon. My trip westward was incredible and wouldn’t have happened without the support of the Warren Wilson College community.

I first heard about this conference while enrolled in a modern philosophy course. My professor sent out an e-mail with a few fellowship and conference opportunities, and I thought this one was particularly interesting. I knew I couldn’t afford it, but just being accepted would have been enough for me; it would have been an indicator that I’m doing something right.

A few weeks after submitting my paper, I received confirmation that I was accepted into the conference in the category of social and political philosophy. I was thrilled, but never even considered the possibility of heading out there. I simply didn’t have the money. By some odd twist of fate, in a meeting with my political science advisor later that week, in an entirely different conversation, I was made aware of undergraduate research grants. The gears in my head went haywire as I considered the possibility of heading out to Oregon. Still, I knew I would need to ask for a pretty penny and refused to get my hopes up yet.

Despite my skepticism, I applied for the grant and submitted it to the Dean of Teaching, Gary Hawkins, with my modern philosophy professor, Matt Whitt, serving as my sponsor—essentially, he would vouch for me when the grant was being considered for acceptance. Only a few weeks after submitting my application, I found out that my grant was accepted. I was shocked. In a few weeks I went from considering the trip impossible to having the financial wherewithal to make it happen.
It was only two weeks ago, but I still have fond memories of Portland. The conference was great and I was granted the opportunity to speak for an hour-and-a-half when the presentation before mine cancelled. I was able to experience a new city and amazing people, network within my field of study and gain insight into what philosophy can be outside the classroom.

All in all, this experience was an indicator of what I love about Warren Wilson. I had a strong support network that presented me with this opportunity to represent the college and to advance my own studies. I was able to escape the college during the end of the semester crunch, which has been a tremendous help as I blast through these last few weeks of the academic year. Most importantly, traveling to a new place offered a reminder of what life is like outside the college.

As I stress out over final exams, cumulative papers, quizzes, tests, and the like, I have clarity and perspective and remember why I’m doing this. Sometimes, when my eyes are bloodshot from writing for hours and hours, or I struggle to stay awake to finish my night’s reading assignments, it can be a daunting task to try and recall what all of this is for. When the college supports me to the degree it did in this experience, and hints at what life can be like after graduation, I’m grounded and can carry on with my work with peace of mind.

Slooooow

Today happens to be a slow day in the Admissions office. There are only six visitors today, compared to twenty-six per day we had a few weeks ago. The majority of accept-packets have been mailed out, so there aren’t any huge mailings to do, just a few stragglers that I took care of already. So I figured I'd write you all a blog post! I’m not really sure what it’s going to be about yet, though, so I’m just going to ramble and hope that it sounds good! I’m really excited about this project that I’m doing for my Dance, Culture, and Identity class, which is an upper level anthropology class. For our final project, we get to pick any kind of dance we want, study it, observe it, participate in it, and write a paper called an ethnography about it. An ethnography is a fancy name for a paper written by anthropologists, in short. Some people in my class are doing fire-spinning, Zumba fitness classes, burlesque classes, etc. I'm studying African dance. There’s an African dance class off campus that happens every Tuesday at 7:30 that I went to the last two weeks. I got to borrow a friends car to get there, which was a lot of fun to go a little too fast on the highway and get off campus. There were drummers there and lots of dancers. I had loads of fun, and the more I stopped caring about what I looked like, the better I felt and the more fun I had. I’m going to conduct interviews this week with a few of the participants and with the instructor.

I’m thinking I'm going to write about how this African dance class is a form of community, and maybe even a form of escape, maybe how it’s a “sacred” event… not sure yet. That’s the tricky thing in anthropology: you have to let your informants form your thesis for you. I love anthropology, but sometimes it’s hard to let go of control like that. I'm really happy that I picked anthropology as my major. When I got to school, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to study. Well, that’s not entirely true… I knew I wanted to do something that had to do with people, not anything science-y with cells and chemicals and stuff. So I just took a lot of intro classes, starting with Intro to Psych my first semester. Psych felt too narrow for what I was interested in. I moved on to Intro to Anthropology the following semester and it just totally clicked. I related to it and it made sense and my mind wondered to all of these wonderful academic places every class period. I didn't want to put all my eggs in one basket, though, so I didn’t declare anthro as my major yet, but rather took Intro to Sociology the next semester. Again, I daydreamed and let my mind wonder, but I could just tell that Anthro was where I really wanted to be. And then this semester I declared! And it's perfect and it’s great and I love it…

I have no idea what I'm going to do with my major or what I want to be when I grow up, but I find Anthropology fascinating. It looks like this blog post turned into "A History of Hannah's Academic Journey at Warren Wilson."

Maybe next time I'll tell you about my work history...

I just switched to Admissions Crew at the beginning of this semester. I used to work at Cow Pie, the vegan cafeteria on campus, and was ready for a change of work crews. I spoke with Ian Robertson, our Dean of Work, several times and he helped me with the process of picking a new crew. And here I am on Admission!

Last week, Keri, one of the Admissions Counselors here in the office, asked me to write a letter to prospective students. She wanted me to tell the students what I liked about Warren Wilson, the things that drew me here, and the things that make me feel at home here. We then printed out my letter and sent it to the students who have been accepted but are still deciding which school to go to. Below if the final draft of the letter.

Dear Student,
Yeah, I get it, it’s stressful, all this college stuff.

There is pressure from every angle imaginable to decide which college to attend. The last thing you probably want is another piece of mail from a college. I get that. This isn’t one of those advertisements, praising a school for its high national ranking. I’m not going to tell you statistics or tuition costs. This letter is just me, telling you about Warren Wilson College from a student’s perspective. I hope that this letter, my perspective, will help make your decision a littler easier.

I’ve come to love Warren Wilson. I love the small class sizes; I love that I get to know my professors; I love that almost everyone eats outside when the temperature reaches seventy degrees; I love that I learn not only through my classes and text books, but also through my work crew and service adventures; I love that there are compost bins in every dorm; I love that I stayed ten minutes after class today to chat with my adviser; I love that I’m a person, not a number; I love that there are a myriad of opportunities to make personal connections.

I love that we don’t all fit the Warren Wilson stereotype.

We don’t all have dreads, hair on our arms, and in our armpits. We aren’t all vegans. We don’t all love being outside all the time. We’re not all Environmental Science majors. And the best thing is that there is a place for all those different types of people here. There are students who love mixing chemicals and running through chemistry problems, and others who learn the craft of analyzing literature or study the effects of globalization. There are people who love being on forestry crew and people who would much rather work in an office. There are people who wouldn’t dream of eating cheese or even honey, and there are people who eat meat at every meal. There are people who go on trail runs every day, and there are people who would much rather play video games. There are Buddhist, Quaker, Pagan, Jewish, and Christian groups on campus. There are a myriad of different interests at Warren Wilson. And they’re all accepted here, and they all exist here.

I’m not going to lie, even though I visited campus in my junior year of college, Warren Wilson was a really overwhelming and unfamiliar place at first. It took me a while to get used to this culture, this place, so different than my hometown, a rather homogenous place. So it took me a while, but I’ve found my niche, too. I’ve fallen in love with Anthropology and enjoy my small class sizes, and how close I am with my professors. I’ve been on three different crews: Chapel Crew, Cow Pie Café, and now Admissions Crew. I’ve finally found my niche in service, focusing mainly on food insecurity and working in community and school gardens and food banks. I’ve taken up knitting again since I’ve been here, and enjoy meeting other young knitters on campus and at a yarn shop in downtown Asheville. I try to go on a hike once a week on one of the beautiful trails on campus, and jump in the river when it’s warmer out. And the best thing: I’m comfortable here at Warren Wilson.

The take away message: come as you are. Enjoy all that Warren Wilson has to offer. It’s an amazing place, something to be experienced.

I hope you’ll join us for the fall semester!

Peace,
Hannah

I Love

I love my professors.

This morning I awoke to an e-mail from a professor in philosophy that contained a thrash-punk EP themed to philosopher Theodor Adorno’s text Minima Moralia.Earlier this week, Robert Nozick’s concept of entitlement theory was discussed in an ethics class. As I became more and more heated about my disdain towards Nozick’s notion of libertarianism, my professor jokingly added, “you should try to be more passionate.”

A few weeks ago my advisor in history and political science e-mailed me a slideshow coupling characters from two of my favorite television shows: Downton Abbey and Mad Men. Before class we often gush over details of the latest episode of each program.Two semesters ago, when Bayard Rustin was introduced during a lecture on civil rights in my Grassroots Politics course, the professor added an aside in my direction along the lines of, “He’s a gay, African-American socialist, you’ll love him!”It’s personal touches like these that assure me I’m in the right place. But I wasn’t always so certain of my decision to come to Warren Wilson College.

I transferred into Warren Wilson College in the fall of 2010. In the first few weeks something felt off and I began questioning whether or not I had made the right choice. I had twice attempted to transfer prior to coming here, and it seemed that once again I had failed. In my disquiet, I sent a lengthy and panicked e-mail to a former professor of mine at community college. After several e-mails back and forth I was encouraged to see the semester out and decide what to do from there.

Now in my fourth semester at Warren Wilson, I’m glad I stuck through the initial disconcertion.The eccentricities of professors are worn on their sleeves. Conversations in and out of the classroom assure me of my professors' humanity. Their passion is contagious and their accessibility abundant.

The ease with which communicate, either about comprehension of course material or personal interests, is indicative of their commitment to students. Without them, I would still be figuring out what I want to study and where.Often, discussions about Warren Wilson wither down to work and service, with academics shoved to the side. As great as my job is, and as much as I enjoy service, they just don't match up to my experience with academics.

I love my professors.

Salsa at Warren Wilson

In the mountains surrounding Warren Wilson, the sounds of bluegrass and banjos are the most common. As a new student this was very frustrating to me, as I’m an avid fan of all music apart from country and bluegrass. For a few weeks I indulged in contra dancing which is a very entertaining, very southern dance. However, even with me contra dancing every Thursday, I longed for a dance with a little more flavor.

A month or so into my first semester I was ecstatic to see a poster about salsa lessons starting at Warren Wilson. In my home in Orlando, Fla., I was a keen student of salsa and other Latin dances. Ever since I first saw that posted, Monday nights have been dedicated to salsa. Two Warren Wilson graduates run the salsa lessons and everyone has a great time.

Recently the salsa enthusiasts like myself were invited to perform at the Multicultural Dinner, the international students were hosting. For a week our little salsa community put together a routine complete with spins, dips and turns. Every day we worked on our routine to perfect our moves. We were all extremely happy when our last day of practice came. We were ready to show the entire Warren Wilson community our love of salsa. Unfortunately, our salsa performance at the multicultural dinner was canceled at the last minute because of a change of location, but our love of salsa has not diminished.

Warren Wilson is a unique community with many unique clubs such as step team, fire twirlers, belly dancing and more. Salsa is a nice addition to our unique community and our diverse tastes. Don’t be fooled by the bluegrass and country music; I promise you there is diverse and exciting culture here at Warren Wilson full of all different kinds of music and dance.

Grace Hatton ’14

A Night of Lounges

Currently I am working on two research papers simultaneously. My paper for Grassroots Politics of the 20th Century is based on the primary source of an interview with Harvey Gantt. Gantt was the first African American mayor of Charlotte, NC and I am focusing on his activism within the greater Civil Rights Movement. My second paper is more or less comparing the penal systems in the U.S. and Sweden. My thesis reflects how well each system prepares prisoners to reenter society and rehabilitates them once they have served their time. I have been spending every night working on both these papers in between my regular homework.

When I am not working on homework I am at the theatre working on props for the upcoming production of The Cherry Orchard. I am in charge of finding, making, buying, etc all the props for the productions. Tech week starts Saturday and opening night is April 21st. So I am putting in extra hours at the theater to make sure all of my props are ready to go.

However, last night I took a night off from long hours in the library and theatre to celebrate a friend’s birthday. A group of seven of us put on our ‘night on the town’ clothes and headed to Asheville. Our first stop was the Champagne Lounge. This is a bookstore and champagne bar. There are bookcases upon bookcases in this two story lounge all for perusing, and purchasing if you found you need to finish the book at home. It has the perfect lighting and the warm colors of dark wood tables and bookcases, and comfy couches and chairs that you melt into. We found a cluster of couches and chairs in one cozy nook. Considering it was Lindsay’s birthday they gave us a complimentary bottle of pink sparkling wine. Being under 21 myself, I enjoyed an amazing glass of raspberry Italian Soda. I would go back just to have another glass of that delightful drink. After an hour or so of laughing and snacking on chocolates we left for our next stop.

We then walked over to the French Broad Chocolate Lounge. Here we all ordered warm sipping chocolates, liquid truffles, mint brownies, and cheesecakes.

Break Trip!

I’ve been lucky enough to participate in a Break Trip every year I’ve attended Warren Wilson—first to Pine Ridge Reservation to look at hunger issues and cultural preservation my first year, then a local trip in Asheville working with arts organizations when I was a sophomore.

This year, I applied to travel to Detroit to work with organizations that grow food in the city’s urban and economic context. It seems that a lot of non-Detroiters see the city as a sort of lost cause—that Detroit is somehow so abandoned or crime-ridden or jobless that it’s a throwaway place. Our group’s experience, though, was one of vibrant, thriving community—not a blank slate city, not a forsaken urban skeleton.

Working with several organizations through the course of the week began to illuminate the network of individuals and organizations partnering to strengthen the proud and growing city. Greening Detroit is reforesting a city that used to be famous for its trees. Emily at Hostel Detroit, where we stayed, is working to open a space for visitors and volunteers. The Jeanne Wiley House continues to establish intentional community in a neighborhood with a historic Catholic Worker presence. Earthworks distributes seedlings and seeds to community and family gardeners. Catherine Ferguson Academy, a public high school for pregnant and parenting teenagers, teaches science through experiential learning on a farm connected to the school that sells its own produce.

Throughout the week, we had a lot of discussions about what it means for us to work in a community that is not our own. What does our vision of community development count for in spaces where it isn’t our place to lead, but to listen? How do questions of class and race and education play out? Is gentrification ever altered by good intention, or does it always yield the same negative result? None of the questions have simple answers—addressing power and privilege requires constant vigilance—but we did come up with some steps when thinking about equity. Listening and humility were two qualities essential to being in community in an appropriate way. Conscious and responsible tourism was another answer for us as visitors to another city.

At the end of the week, we visited the Detroit Institute of Art. It’s a lovely, large museum, and its prime claim to fame is a room of fresco murals painted by Diego Rivera in 1932 and 1933. The museum was a grounding way to end the week, to be surrounded by larger-than-life depictions of the automobile industry. The museum pulled it together for me. The marbled, echoing, colorful room that holds the murals is a space that invites reflection.

I realized there that the biggest significance the trip held for me was the way it made me reconsider my own place in community development. I was born and lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin until coming to Warren Wilson three years ago. The fact that Detroit had that uniquely urban Midwestern quality of a presence both unassuming and grand reminded me of own my home city, a place with which my relationship is ambivalent but loyal. The Break Trip was an opportunity for many of us to reach that reflection, a chance to go to another locale to consider our own.

I'm a Little Surprised

I didn’t intend to want to be a fundraiser. I transferred to Warren Wilson to become a writer. I knew I would almost definitely need a day job to support that passion (let’s just say the novel hasn’t been sold, by dint of it not yet existing), but fundraising was one of the furthest things from my mind.

So, in retrospect, I’m a little surprised to say that not only did I attend the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Western North Carolina chapter’s monthly luncheon for March, but that I was excited to do so and am excited at the possibility of getting to go again next month.

See, my parents own and operate a consulting firm for nonprofits organizations back home in Rhode Island. Basically, they get paid to offer various nonprofits constructive criticism about how they might improve. There’s more to it than that, obviously, but that’s what it boils down to.

For a long time, I avoided learning as much as I possibly could about the “family business.” My parents work long hours from their home office, and the topic of work frequently invaded our dinner table conversations, alienating us children. The last thing I imagined doing with my life was what my parents do. I suspect most children experience this desire, at some point in their lives. I imagine some of them even manage to avoid following in their parents’ footsteps.

Then I came to Warren Wilson College and started working in the Advancement Office, which handles fundraising and relations for the college. Advancement is the college version of my parents’ area of expertise. My crew supervisor assures me he had no idea that was the case when I was selected for the crew. He’s an honest man, so I believe him (mostly).

Of course, once in Advancement, all that jargon like “development,” “donor appeals,” “grant writing,” and “strategic planning” that had bandied around our home came rushing back. And I realized that not only did I remember hearing the words, but that I remembered what they meant and how to put them to use. And, to my initial quiet horror, that I liked it. I’ve since come to accept that which I cannot change about myself. I guess I was just raised this way. It might even be in my blood.

In fact, when Miranda Hipple, our Annual Fund Director, suggested that I attend the AFP luncheon a while back, I started thinking about how to make the time. And the past Wednesday during spring break, while working full-time for Advancement, I pulled on a pair of khakis, some nice shoes, and a dress shirt my parents gave me for Christmas, and rubbed elbows with Western North Carolina’s fundraising community. I was nervous and shy, although I realize now that I shouldn’t have been. These are fundraisers, after all, they don’t bite; it wouldn’t get them anywhere. There was a guest speaker: an events consultant who certainly gave me a crash course in planning a successful event, and had some tips and tricks for managing even little things to maximize success (such as what day to mail invitations so guests would receive them on a day when they had time to process the request).

I’m about to graduate, and if my life takes me where I’m hoping it will, I’ll become an AFP member and attend a lot more of these luncheons, especially those in Western North Carolina. I’m always delighted to find that Warren Wilson doesn’t just teach me new things, but teaches me to revisit my past and use it to make what I want of my future.

Alex

Yesterday

7:00am- Woke up and got ready for my day.
7:45am- Headed to Gladfelter and get a bowl of cereal and grapefruit to go.
8:00am- Bring my breakfast to the Admission Office and snack on it while I read and respond to all the Admission Office emails. Yep that is me you are talking to.
9:30am- Walked up to Kittredge Theatre with my fellow crew members to give a tour to 30 high schoolers from a nearby school. We break the students up into smaller groups and head out around campus.
11:00am- I walked up to Jensen to my 11:00 a.m. class- Constitutional Law. We digested the Supreme Court case Barren vs. Baltimore. Apparently, citizens are not protected by the Bill of Rights against States. Who knew?
12:20am- Went to CowPie Café for lunch. Ate a yummy green salad, focaccia bread, and bean salad. I was in need of an afternoon pick-me-up and got a cup of coffee to go. Sadly when I was pouring in my half-n-half it came out too fast on accident so I ended up having coffee with my cream.
1:00pm- I went to Statistics class to realize that if “you do not use, it you lose it.” Wow is my math rusty. But I made it though class in one piece.
2:30pm- Walked over to the Theatre again, but this time as the Property Mistress for the production of Women Beware Women. I spent the next two hours washing the goblets I bought, designing an alter tapestry, among other things I need to finish.
4:30pm- I went to the Theatre Crew meeting. I am not on the crew and this was my first time going to one of these meetings. It was fun. I spend so much time at the theatre that I guess it was not that out of line that I went.
5:30pm- I went back to CowPie for dinner. Indian night.
6:30-10:30pm- Lived in the Library doing homework.
10:30pm- Got ready for bed while trying to finish up the original Pink Panther movie. I was so tired that I did not last long. This movie is turning into a 4 part movie considering I keep starting an stopping it.
11ish- Switched over to reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad a personal finance book about what makes the rich rich and the poor poor. My chapter was about the difference between assets and liabilities.
11:30ish- Turned out the light.

PS- The picture I chose has nothing to do with my day but it makes me so happy that I thought it needs to be shown. This is me (left) and my sister at the stage door of Memphis: A New Musical in NYC. We are standing with the female lead Montego Glover! I made a point to go into the city over winter break just to see what is now my favorite musical!

Hockadoo!

Andrea

Reflections

I remember the day my parents dropped me off at Warren Wilson back in August. I remember thinking, how I am I going to do this? Yet as I come to the end of my first semester here at WWC I have come to realize now only can I do the triad system of education, I can excel at it. Granted, it’s not an easy task. However I’ve discovered the key to excelling at Warren Wilson: balance. That word will save your skin at the school.

Unlike other schools, we have to learn, work and serve in order to graduate. That triad of education alone puts more stress on your time than most regular college students. After the triad there are extra activates to factor in. For example, I am on Step Team and we practice twice a week and then perform at the basketball games. I also work Phonathon on certain nights. I have to factor in that time. On top of all extra activities there is of course social life. So as you can see, time gets taken up very quickly at WWC. Therefore, balance is key to my wellness.

I suppose that’s the biggest thing the triad has taught me so far – how to maintain balance and wellness. Thanks to the triad I know I can balance work, service and academics without too much trouble. If I can handle the triad I know I can handle the real world just as well. As I continue to grow here at Wilson my view of the triad will surely change, but for now it has been a truly unique experience. Although it’s finals week now and I am a tad stressed, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this first semester at Wilson has been amazing and I am looking forward to doing it all again in January.

Grace

Cloud Nine

On My Own Cloud Nine

This year I decided to try something new. I saw the audition signs for the upcoming theatre production of Cloud Nine around campus. I love watching theatrical productions, especially musicals. I knew that I did not want to be an actor but thought it would be fun to be somehow involved in one my greatest interests. I spent a week contemplating whether I should go and ask if they needed any help back stage. On Monday morning, I woke up with my mind set- I would walk straight to the theatre and ask. But then when afternoon hit I got cold feet. I would not know anyone; I would be the outsider trying to weasel my way into what appeared to be a close-knit group.

Monday came and went, then Tuesday was gone. I played tug-of-war with myself on whether I should go with my gut instinct. All my friends were telling me just to do it, but I was nervous. Finally, on Wednesday I marched to the theatre and signed up for back stage help, not knowing exactly what that meant.

Two weeks had gone by with no word from the Theatre, I just assumed that they had found someone else. Then I received an email from the two stage managers asking if I would be interested in being the Property Mistress. I was extremely excited but nervous at my new title.

I was more or less handed a script and list of all the props needed in order to successfully run the show. I started out by just going to the prop shop and doing what I could and then leaving. I was not really socializing with anyone. However, over time I started to spend more time with Bev and Tori in the Costume Shop asking questions. Eventually I just started doing all my projects in there with them, with my new friends.

I have made so many new friends by leaving my comfort zone of familiar friends and people. Spending so much time at the Theatre and with all the amazing people there has been the time of my life. The experience I have had by trying something new on campus has shown me that I wish I had started with the theatre sooner! Everyone has been so welcoming at the Theatre considering this is my first time. I also cannot forget to thank my amazing Office of Admission for being so understanding with sharing my time between work and props.

I write this the morning after our last performance night. I have on a production t-shirt that all of the cast and crew are wearing today. Last night went amazing. Being backstage and being a part of the theatre I have never seen before brings a smile to my face. All the organized chaos backstage during performances was so much fun to be apart of.

It is now over and I am slowly coming down off ‘my’ cloud nine. But not for long- signups for the next performance are this week!

Inger

Will I Get In?

I'm often (well, at least a couple times a year) asked, "Will I get into Warren Wilson College?" And I usually reply, "Why do you want in?" I'm not trying to be glib, but the reality is that your motive for wanting to attend Warren Wilson is important to those of us in the Admission Office who make decisions about who we admit. Of course we look at grades, test scores, and high school course selection, and we read each and every essay and letter of recommendation. But your motive is what sometimes makes the difference. You need to know -- Why Warren Wilson.
The fact that you are reading this probably bodes well for you. The fact that you have explored the web site this deeply illustrates how hungry you probably are for information.

As we state in our viewbook, "Warren Wilson is not for everyone." Some other small colleges seem to preach to college-bound students as if you are all alike. Well, I've meet very few "alike" students at Warren Wilson. This college is so unique that we scare some students away the minute they read a piece of our literature, and that's okay. The idea of working hard in a campus job, performing service for the community, and balancing a full load of challenging academics along with work and service might not seem like the sort of college experience many of your classmates are looking for. But that's the point - - we're not for everyone. The selection process starts with your interest in finding the right match, and if you have read our material, you are well on your way to being able to tell us if you are a match -- and why you want in.

So, in answer to your question, will I… "get in?" If you are a solid academic student and been engaged in your academic endeavors, if you are someone who cares about making a difference in the world (not just through words but through actions), if you are environmentally aware, and if to you, service means what you can offer others (and in return learn from those you serve) and not how fast you can get fries to go with a customer's coke. And if you can work really hard and work really well with others. Yes, you'll have a really really good chance of "getting in."

Richard for the Admission Staff
(Guest Blogger)

Expo

Warren Wilson is a unique school and when I started my search for the perfect college that was one of the reasons I was drawn to WWC. I was drawn to the triad, the campus and the one of a kind student body. As an immigrant from the United Kingdom, a published author and entrepreneur, I suppose I qualify as unique.
This school is full to the brim of unique students and that’s why I am in love with this place. Alas my commitments to my work took me away from the beautiful Warren Wilson campus last week. I flew from the tiny airport that is Asheville Regional Airport to the one of the largest airports in the country, Orlando. From Orlando I drove down to Miami to attend the Performance Marketing Expo.

I had been booked as a speaker for this event since February. I was speaking on social media (facebook, twitter etc) and how companies can use social media to grow their business. At the conference there were representatives from such companies as Google, 123 print, Finish Line and more. The conference was held at a beautiful Hotel called the Eden Roc right on South Beach.

I have spoken at various conferences before since I have been speaking professionally for almost a year now. Apart from speaking at Girl Scout events every time I have spoken the audience is older and more experienced than me. The Performance Marketing Expo was no different. The closest attendee to me in age was 23. However I have learned that everything in business is about attitude. Regardless of how young or inexperienced you are if you carry yourself like you know what you’re talking about, people assume you do.

On the day of my presentation I donned my business suit, did a walkthrough with the AV tech for the room I was presenting in and listened to other speakers as I waited for my presentation in the afternoon. During the day as I networked many people asked me about my business and why I was at the conference. When I told them I was one of the speakers the shocked looks were plentiful.

Finally my time to speak arrived and as always the butterfly’s were playing havoc in my stomach. I listened as I was introduced to the audience. They clapped out of habit and I took the stage. The first moment before I start talking is always the most daunting. I look out into the crowd and see the audience with their arms crossed waiting to be impressed. In that moment the audience is judging me and in a way I am judging the audience. It’s at that moment when I can allow my nerves to take over or remind myself that out of thousands of potential speakers, they picked me. I was chosen to be there and thus I had a responsibility to do my very best.
As I have done with every professional speaking engagement I take a deep breath, glance at my notes and begin my presentation. I suppose speaking is like riding a bike the first time is always the hardest and the first moments are always the shakiest. Once I get past those first few moments I begin to speak my material with confidence because I know its content inside out. After the first moments I run through my presentation without a hitch. A couple of times I forget my place but the audience never picks up on my momentary confusion. At the end of the presentation I thank the audience and as they applause, they thank me.

I am now back on the WWC campus and I have to admit it feels like two different worlds. The world of my business and the world of college are as different as can be. However both are a part of me and what makes me unique. I am only one of the students here at Warren Wilson and as this series continues you will see just how truly special our student body is.

Grace

Uppsala Redux

How to put into words...

It has now been a few weeks since I landed back in the States- after a summer in Sweden. I was enrolled in the Uppsala International Summer Session, which is a language course designed for international students of all ages and levels. This year, there were over 200 students from 17-75 year’s old, representing 32 different nations. In the morning, we all went to our respective level of Swedish Language. I already have a good understanding of the conversational aspect of the language, but my grammar was lacking. Now after a summer of intense classes, my vocabulary and grammar have become much better.

Every morning we took a traditional coffee break called fika. This involved taking a break from class to drink coffee with cookies and an open-faced sandwich. Mmm. In the afternoon, we all reconvened for various afternoon classes- I took Conversation and Grammar. After classes ended for the day at 3:15, I had the rest of the afternoon to do as I pleased.

My friends and I would go out for coffee (again) to one of the many cafés or go exploring around the city. Everything was in walking distance and there was never a reason not to go on an adventure. Some evenings my friends and I would go to the University Botanical Gardens or to a student nation for dinner. Student Nations are these pubs sprinkled around the city for university students with ID to go eat and hang out for much cheaper than a regular restaurant.

Every Friday we had a "field trip" of sorts to some city or site. My favorite place we went was an old copper mine, which was once the third largest exporter of copper in the world. They had guided tours of down inside the mine which was by far one of my favorite Friday trips. It was cold, wet, and eerie. In one very large part of the mine, they blew out all the lights and we all stood in complete and utter darkness.

On the weekends, we were free so I typically took the 45 min train ride south into Stockholm. My grandparents and rest of my family live in Stockholm, so I would spend the weekends with them. The first week I was in Sweden, I spent it in southern Sweden with my aunt and two cousins in Malmö. Then I spent a week in Stockholm before I moved to on my own in Uppsala. I flew straight from Stockholm to Asheville two days before classes started. Once back I was having a hard time with being away from my grandparents and family, it is always hard to say goodbye.

I had a hard time leaving my family and my summer life in Sweden. Luckily, I have great friends to come back to- they have made all the difference. Let the countdown begin to my next trip to Sweden.

Inger

Ronan’s Blended Family

As many first year college students will explain, leaving a pet behind to pursue educational endeavors can be as challenging as parting with a human family. As I enter my senior year at Warren Wilson, I can reflect on my many tearful comings and goings. Several times per year I travel from my home in New York to this beautiful valley. While Warren Wilson has truly become my home away from home, Wilson is also home to my beloved dog, Ronan.

On one fateful spring evening last April my friend called me to explain how he happened upon a stray dog. However, the docile black lab was not a stray, but a loved companion also residing on Warren Wilson Road. The following morning the sweet dog, named Ducky, was joyfully reunited with his mom and dad. Upon returning him, Ducky’s parents gave me the gift of a lifetime- an eight week old puppy. Ducky’s parents had recently rescued a pregnant pooch during the great snow storm of 2010. Ducky’s dad explained that my little black puppy was so special that they called him “Duckling.” I renamed the baby, Ronan, meaning “little seal” in Gaelic.

When the school year commenced, I brought my puppy home to his temporary residence in New York. He has grown from a tiny puppy to a sixty pound dog almost over night. Ronan loves his new family on Long Island including our miniature dachshund, Delilah. However, I long for the moment when Ronan and I return to our home together. Hopefully, he will be joining me for family weekend in the meantime!

Cait

Great Expectations

My expectations of college before I actually got here was that it is cold and institutionalized. I also had the eerie expectation that during the transition to college I would feel alone and like a stranger among new faces and new buildings. The expectation that I had of the work program was a negative one due to a previously bad experience as a computer technician that I had for a year and a half during high school. Included in that negative expectation were some concerns about having to create a relationship with the work crew. Living in my home town and seeing people say one thing and do another left me questioning “Can a college actually practice what it preaches?” or is it just a bunch of talk to justify not following what they preach?

In reality Warren Wilson is much more than I could have ever expected.

The atmosphere is friendly and full of people who are willing to help with anything that is needed. All you have to do is ask. I never expected that any “American” college would be so open and excepting of so many people of different races, creeds, beliefs, cultures, and backgrounds. It is such a great feeling to be accepted as who you are and for your skills rather than the pre-constructed norm that society imposes on us from the time we are born. Also “Camp Wilson” is a lot more like a “summer camp” that I would have ever expected, but I know that the pace is about to be quickened and that summer camp feeling is about to disappear.

The transition from high school to college has been much easier than I ever expected due to the ability to share ideas freely and openly without the worry of being judged. The transition was also helped along by the fact that things shared in a peer group are done with a certain level of confidence that increases as the bonds forged get stronger.

Work. The work crew assignments although may not be what you were hoping for will probably be a good fit after we are able to adjust to the somewhat random order of the assignments. I like working. I’m just not fond of workplace politics.

It was refreshing to have my expectations shattered when it came to seeing how Warren Wilson practices what it preaches. I’m glad to see for the most part the staff and students pitching in to help “walk the walk” instead of just talking. One good example is service day 2010, in which the freshmen peer groups went out to local community gardens to help give notice to the issue of food insecurity. This is also a way of giving back to the community that helped to start the college. Another area that Warren Wilson practices what it preaches is in using bio-fuels to power almost all of the vehicles used on campus. Giving back to a community can be a very rewarding experience, because it allows a younger generation to see that there is more to life than computers and technology.

All in all college is what you make of it, that means not being hold-up in your room on your computer but experiencing all of what Warren Wilson has to offer.

So Long Ago... So Far Away...

I started the applications for Teach for America and graduate school just this week. I am beginning my senior year at Warren Wilson in two weeks. As I look forward into this year, I cannot help but look back at how this whole amazing journey started with a letter four and a half years ago.

I can still remember the day I got my first information packet from Warren Wilson. I had been searching fruitlessly for the right college for months. No matter what college search site I used, all my searches came up empty. When I got the envelope from Wilson, I did what I did with all college mailings; I tore it open and glanced at the first page, prepared to throw it into the recycling. Instead, I burst into tears; I had finally found my school. All I had to read was “work program. . .service requirement. . .working farm” to know it was perfect. I visited on my 17th birthday, applied early decision, was accepted, and arrived in August of 2007. From the beginning, I loved Warren Wilson despite the fact that I lived in Sunderland next to one of the loudest residents in the dorm, and I worked on dining, two things many incoming students may dread. By the end of the year, I had managed to accumulate 97 service hours, learned to drum, attended every contra dance except one, avoided getting the flu when it ran through Sunderland, started singing (a lifelong dream), went to yoga twice a week every week, completed training to become an advocate for Our VOICE, the Asheville rape crisis center, and declared a History major with a Gender and Women's Studies minor. It was, without a doubt, one of the best years of my life.

When we let out for summer, I counted the days until I would be back at Wilson with my friends, in a new dorm, Ballfield B, and on my new crew, RISE Project (www.warren-wilson.edu/~rise). I re-declared my major as Gender and Women's studies with a History minor and then added a second minor in Music. By the time summer arrived, I was already counting down the days until I would be back at Wilson for my junior year. When I got back home to New Mexico, I realized something had changed. In the past, the trip to New Mexico was a trip home. That summer, the trip to New Mexico was a visit home. Warren Wilson had become my real home, a place where I had built a family of amazing, strong, and wonderful friends, had a job, and had established myself as part of the community.

Back at Wilson that fall, I face the most stressful year to date. I was returning to school after a lot of drama at home during the summer. I needed time to process and recover but school was in full swing before I really got the chance. My high stress made it hard at times to function and when I came down with mono, the situation did not improve. I made it through the fall semester still in good academic standing but completely exhausted. Spring semester, I decided to take both the capstone (thesis) classes – Feminist Thought and Gender and Social Change – for my Gender Studies major. After turning in my two 21 page papers which completed those classes, there was nothing I wanted more than for the year to end. Academia seemed to be getting the best of me. I began to worry that the dreaded senioritis had arrived a year early and I might have burnt myself out for my senior year which I had been looking forward to.

My dread evaporated about half way through the summer, turning into overwhelming excitement to see my friends again, move back to my old room, sing with the college chorale, work on my old crew (RISE), and try to squeeze in as many service hours as I can manage even though I don't technically need them. It is strange getting to the place in school where I am finishing things. It's both happy and sad to realize that fall semester I will be taking my final gender studies course, my final general education course, and my final elective for my music minor. Come spring, I will be preparing for my senior solo voice recital and sorting through my various belongings to decide which ones are going with me wherever I go next. Finally, I will be walking across the stage to receive my diploma. It is surreal, wonderful, and sad. I cannot believe my time here has passed so fast. Of course it hasn't always been an easy or fun process but on this side of things, it is much easier to see the good in everything I have learned while at Wilson. Attending Wilson has been and I know will continue to be a gift which informs every action in my life. In the end, what can I say but, thank you to everyone who has made this experience what it is.

Victoria

Been there, done that - But not really...

When I first came to WWC, I was not planning to study abroad. I had traveled all over the world working with my mother and thought I would not like a trip where I was learning rather than working. However, when I saw my name on the list of eligible study abroad students for the 2009/2010 year, I decided to check out the trips just in case I wanted to do one of them. I wasn’t interested in going to London, Costa Rica, Italy, or Mexico. However, when I saw there was a trip going to Ghana, I knew I had to go. It was a short-term study abroad course called Globalization, Culture, and Development in Ghana. Short-term study abroad courses meet for a semester and then go to the place of study for a couple of weeks during winter or summer break. I applied for the trip and was accepted. Every Monday at 4:00 during spring semester, I met with a group of seven other students and my professor. We learned about the many cultures in Ghana. We learned to critically look at the term “development” and understand the real implications behind “globalization.” We started learning a little bit of Twi (pronounced “tree”), one of the main languages spoken in Ghana. We had a lot to learn but we also took time to get to know each other. It was a very diverse group of students and we weren’t sure we could all get along for two weeks.

Finally, it was May 19, the day of our departure. I got up at 5:30 in the morning, cooked myself breakfast, checked my email one last time, and walked across campus to meet the bus to the airport. Three plane flights later, we were in Accra, the political capital of Ghana. As soon as the plane touched down, all the Ghanaians on the plane erupted into applause (something or professor told us they would do) and for the first time it hit me that I was finally in Ghana. Over the next two weeks, we did a lot of things. We were based in home stays in Accra but also spent time traveling outside of Accra to see various sites around Ghana. It was an eventful trip about which it would take pages to write. However, there were a few days which stood out.

The day after we got to Ghana, we went to a restaurant called Chez Afrique where every Friday a live band plays Highlife music. Highlife is Ghanaian music which mixes Ghanaian drum beats with western instruments. We danced from 8:00 PM to 12:30 AM. While it would have been nice to sleep in the next day, our bus picked us up at our home stays at 7:00 to go sight seeing in Accra. For the next couple days, we traveled around Accra, visited a primary school in Pima (a very poor, coastal section of Accra), and had a generally fantastic time. Six days after we got to Ghana, we headed out to Cape Coast to visit Ghana’s most popular tourist attraction, Elmina Slave Castle. Elmina is a beautiful fishing town on the coast of Ghana. Elmina Castle was built by the Portuguese to assist with gold exportation and later was used in the exportation of slaves. The castle consists of a chapel, dungeons used to hold the people before they were loaded onto ships, and officer’s headquarters. While I have seen first hand the legacy slavery has left in the US, it is different seeing the legacy slave exportation left in Ghana. We were shown around the castle and given vivid descriptions of what the people taken into slavery would have experienced before being loaded onto ships. We were given the opportunity to look out the “door of no return” which leads out of a room whose walls are now lined with wreaths in memory of people’s friends and family. While looking out the door of no return, I started crying and could not stop until well after we were back on the bus. It was a hard morning but I am very glad I got to have that experience.

That afternoon, to help us unwind from a very intense morning, we drove to Kakum National Forest. There, we took a walk on a swinging canopy bridge and got to see the incredibly beautiful Ghanaian rainforest from the tops of the trees. That evening, we drove to Kumasi, the cultural capital of Ghana. There, we toured the Asanti kings’ old palace which is now a museum, and visited a couple of villages which make beads, Adinkra cloth, and Kente cloth. Then we drove back to Accra. After two nights back with our families, we were on the road again, this time heading for the Volta region of Ghana. The drive was spectacular. We drove much of the way next to the Volta River which looks something like what you would expect to see in a fairytale. The water is almost silver; small, multicolored fishing boats can easily be seen floating along catching fish; the banks of the river slope up into mountains which are silhouetted by a beautiful blue sky. On our way to Ho, the capital of Volta, we stopped at a community-run monkey sanctuary where we fed bananas to a troupe of Mona monkeys.

We spent the night in Ho and in the morning headed to a secondary school for the service section of our trip. There, we were working with a group of students age 15-22 teaching them internet skills. Because there were not enough computers at the school for each of the people in my class to teach on one, I opted to stay outside with my professor and the students waiting to go into the computer lab. Outside, we danced, played circle games, and sang with the students. By the end of the morning I had exchanged email addresses with around 20 of the students and was thoroughly sunburned and exhausted. I was glad to get back on the bus and head back to Accra. The next day was our last day in Ghana so we went souvenir shopping at an incredibly overwhelming art market. At 5:00 the next morning, we were headed to the airport to catch our plane home. For me, coming home was the hardest part of the trip. The entire group had gotten really close during our travels (we all got along the entire trip) and I knew I was going to miss them a lot. I had also fallen in love with Ghana. My last taste of Ghana came when we touched down in New York and yet again all the Ghanaians burst into applause. This time, we joined them as well.

Victoria