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Bright College Days: January Blogging Meme
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So, step with me into the Wayback Machine to March 5th of frosh year, my 19th birthday, the day before Spring Break. It was a weeknight, unseasonably warm for early March, and everyone was busy running around trying to wrap up their schoolwork and pack to get out of town, so I had no expectation of any real kind of celebration. But still, a couple of hours after dinner, a couple of friends -- I don't remember exactly whom -- dropped by my room with a blindfold. Fortunately, I had good, trustworthy friends, so I let them lead me blind out of the dorm and across campus to the Campus Center. There, on the steps, I was met by a most surprising sight: a whole bunch of our friend group, with lit lanterns*, and a pint of Ben & Jerry's (New York Super Fudge Chunk, if I recall) festooned with candles. They sang Happy Birthday, swinging the lanterns in unison (more or less :) ), and then we had an ice cream feast, right there on the Campus Center steps.
It was such a little thing in so many ways, and yet it sticks with me, as one of my favorite birthday memories as well as school memories. Because I felt, in that moment, like I belonged. That I had found a community of friends, connected to the much larger community of Bryn Mawrters. That, for the first time ever in my life really, I had found people who would go to some trouble to make me feel special and loved. Some of the women who were on the steps that night continue to be among the most important people in my world, and I can't be more glad of it.
*Every Bryn Mawr undergraduate is given a lantern during her first semester. (See a photo of
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The history and heritage of your college really piqued my interest though, so I did a little digging. You'll often hear me say this a lot, but I don't regret a lot of things in my life, but one of my biggest was not investigating my colleges a little better. I am a very family oriented person, so something like the culture that is ingrained within Bryn Mawr sounds like something that would have suited me (well, the male/co-ed representation of it, anyway).
I went to Robert Morris, myself, and while I learned a lot, and the experiences were there, they were few and far between. I'm sure a number of other factors played into that, but on the whole, I don't think there's a really strong family based community like that. It's truly remarkable.
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Again, I certainly could have been more adamant about pursuing my own resources, but what's done is done. I'm glad you were able to achieve such a positive experience from it.