So Long, Farewell...

Oh the final post! So much gravity placed on this one act of writing. I feel as though I should say something grand and reassuring but have no idea what to say. I'm not very good at this sort of thing but here's my best shot: Don't fret. College is a transformative part of life. You will be lonely, scared, and sad at one point or another during your college career but in the end what you learn and experience will be worth the trouble.

In other news, today was the last day of classes and I draw ever closer to that place I call home--Mankato, Minnesota. I am so excited to see my folks again. I have yet to hand in one paper, which is almost finished, and then pack. Sorting through papers is the most tedious part of the packing process--what to keep and what to discard? Who knows when I might want to read an excerpt from "The Waste Land" or some travel writing theory again? I've already started packing my books, trying to decide if I should attempt to sell any back to the bookstore. Less for me to carry anyway since the money is never much.

Weaving was my last class of the day/semester. We compared our body of work and discussed what pieces were our favorites and what we would change in the future. My prof brought us cookies. Pretty sweet. I shall miss my days at the loom and the seniors I met through this class. Admissions hosted a lunch for all the student workers today which was awesome. Everyone brought a dish to pass and we were fed well. I stayed longer than I thought, catching up with coworkers and counselors. They even gave us treat bags. Nothing like junk food to fuel us for studies!

No matter where you end up, (my faceless, nameless audience) I hope that these blog posts helped you visualize what life at Beloit is like and the kinds of wonders/travails you can look forward to in the coming years. Good luck on the journey!

The End is Nigh

No, this isn't some apocalyptic post. I haven't had visions of the end of the world recently, just the end of my second year at Beloit. Part of me is sorrowful at this realization. I'm already halfway through my college education. But I'm mostly happy and excited for some change. In less than five days I will be on my way home to Minnesota. Most people around campus are scurrying about trying to finish papers, projects, portfolios, and studying for final exams. I am not a part of this crowd though my friends are. I am in the very tiny minority of people who will be done with everything come Wednesday--the last day of classes. I'm standing on the cusp, folks. Done with Beloit, back to Minnesota, and a summer spent taking care of my nephew in St. Paul. Then on to Chicago in the fall!

I have been doing a lot of reading lately. That and attending special events on campus. Since I have the time and all. Events pile up this time of year. Everyone wants in on the action. Saturday I attended a scholarship luncheon with the board of trustees, which was awkward and stiff. A bunch of people standing around trying to network, holding glasses of punch, while classical piano plays in the background. At least the food was good and I did meet a nice alum from Minneapolis. We bonded over fettuccine. In the afternoon was the senior dance show where senior dance majors choreographed and performed their work. It was a lot of fun and I got to see some really cool dances. One was done with glowsticks.

Sunday was the Beloit Janesville Symphony Orchestra concert featuring the vocal talents of a young Beloit alum who has gone on to opera stardom. I could only stay for the first half of the performance but it was pleasant to sit there and let the music wash over me. I read Richard Bausch's short stories while listening to the concert. A perfect combination. Afterwards I went out to dinner with Shanna--you know, the SOI queen--which was lovely. It was a nice walk downtown and we ate at Domenico's, an Italian restaurant that is often frequented by college students due to its close proximity. Tomorrow night there is a poetry reading at Gallery ABBA, which I will attend, and Thursday there will be the unveiling of the Beloit Travel Anthology. Since I have been published in the anthology I will definitely go to that as well. I've snagged some masculine strength for my move into storage on Friday so that means I'd better make some cookies as compensation. Everything is wrapped up neatly in a ball of twine.

Winding Down

I suppose this post will be contradictory to that of my coworkers but my semester is beginning to wind down in workload these days. Ah, the benefits of a creative writing major. This year I haven't had a single final. Instead I have final papers and portfolios which I love because I can plan ahead and get them done early. In truth I am probably one of the only people on campus who doesn't procrastinate. This means I will have a very lonely final week at Beloit because everyone else will be studying like mad. Just nine more days, folks. Nine more days.

Don't think that I am only too glad to leave Beloit. On the contrary, I am feeling kind of blue thinking that I won't be back on campus until next January. But it will be a big exciting adventure in Chicago for wee little Krista, with no one to hold her itsy bitsy hand. Actually it could be similar to New Student Days. All these folks I don't know gathering together from all sorts of ACM schools to come to the Newberry for a semester. Could be like an FYI. Strange.

Yoga Week has continued without a hitch. I taught a beginner class and got some newbies, which is always fun. Tomorrow is the late night relaxation yoga class. Hopefully the teacher won't have to compete with nice weather and will get a big turnout. Friday the week ends with a meet and greet featuring cookies. Maybe no one will come but if that is the case I will have plenty of cookies for finals week!

Only one more paper to write. One more paper. It is 4-5 pages. Short, insignificant. All I have to do is sit down and write it but I find myself balking at the task. If there is one type of assignment I hate, it is literary analysis. I am good at it but I hate it with the passion of a thousand suns. Ah, well. Builds character and all that yippety yap. So I am procrastinating by weaving a rag rug. Now this is truly procrastinating because I have no assignments in my weaving class. Purely self-indulgence of the worst kind.

Monday Meditations

I'm a fool for alliteration, not gonna lie. But this title does possess some significance in the way of content prelude. I have organized Yoga Week on campus this week, which began yesterday with a free dinner at the intercultural center. It has been beautiful all weekend in Beloit with high temps and sunny skies. Everyone is hanging around outside, laying in the grass, reading under trees, playing Frisbee. I was a little worried that I wouldn't get much of a showing for my dinner what with the weather as competition. But I made a bunch of lentils and rice and hoped for the best. I ended up with maybe 25 people, which wasn't bad. All the food was eaten up so no leftovers to crowd my mini fridge. It was a shameless promotion for Yoga Club but hopefully I get some new faces at this week's yoga events.

It has been a wonderfully productive and relaxing weekend for me. The weather is intoxicating. I want to roll around in the grass and stare at the sky. Everything is so green and lush! The daffodils are blooming and some of the yards in Beloit are completely overrun with blue flowers. I went for a walk on Sunday morning around the neighborhood. Everyone was outside doing yard work. It was quiet and lovely. I even bumped into my tutee who was outside walking her pet rabbit. We talked for a while and then I headed back to campus. I think this is my last week of tutoring which is kind of sad.

Saturday night I stayed up late making cookies. I don't really know what possessed me to begin baking at 11 PM but the results are delicious. So many cookies in my room. Temptation all around.

Friday night I was checking my email and discovered that I have been accepted into the Newberry program. I had figured as much but now it is official. Rather underwhelming to receive the news via email but I don't need to worry. This is exciting! I will be living in Chicago next fall. Should be a stressful but amazing time. Actually I have been trying to tell each of the professors who wrote me recommendations about this news in person. I only caught up with Linda Sturtz today but will catch the rest tomorrow. Turns out Linda already knew because she's friends with the professor who is co-leading it. She was terribly excited for me and made me promise that I will take another class with her before I graduate even though I am not a history major. I have already promised Chris Fink that I will take the Beloit Fiction Journal class my senior year as well. My friends tell me I have to stop making these kinds of promises but it is so nice that professors here care about students as individuals and not just as bodies in the classroom.

My weaving class put our semester's work in the library display case this afternoon. I didn't stick Izzy and Irwin in but did include my inkle scarf, overshot table runner, and rya sample. The case looked a little forlorn since most kids forgot to bring their finished work. Oh well. At least we try hard. Actually, since I am finished with my weaving class I have decided to spend my final class periods spinning wool. Feels good to bond with the spinning wheel again. My hands have missed it.

Glorious Spring Day!

Today was Spring Day on campus. This means no classes just frolicsome good times outside. Programming board brings in lots of activities to entertain the kiddies--inflatable battle rings, tie-dye, spin art, live music, popcorn, ice cream, dunk tanks...the list goes on. The majority of campus spent the day outdoors in the beautiful weather. Highs in the 70s and blue, cloudless skies. Unfortunately I forgot my sunscreen and got a little pink. But that will just act as a reminder of my fabulous day off from school!

Some years the weather doesn't cooperate. Last year, for instance. It was cold and rainy on Spring Day and few people were out in the quads for jello wrestling. But this year was perfect. There were even water balloon fights. My day began well. I made pancakes for my friend. Afterwards I went to the weaving studio and finished my final project--a gorgeous black alpaca shawl. I am so happy with it. Truly, my finest creation yet. Not only was I pleased with its appearance but this also means that I have no more work to do for my weaving class. Essentially I am done with it! Only three more to go...

After lunch my friends and I decided to go fly a kite since it was windy enough. We went to the academic side of campus since there were fewer people around to maim when the kite took a nosedive. Lots of professors were about and watched our pathetic efforts with amused faces. Finally, my friend Alyssa caught a strong breeze and the kite took off high, high. It soured over the trees and past the science building. It was a beautiful sight. Then the inevitable happened. The breeze stuttered, the string became tangled in several trees, and the kite landed on the roof of the new science center. The string broke so we climbed to the roof of the old science building to see if we could spot the kite. To no avail. It was pretty funny actually. Now the construction workers will have a kite of their very own.

I did little to no work today. Slacker, slacker. But on Spring Day that hardly matters. I listened to a fun band, ate some ice cream, spun around really fast with my friends, ate picnic food in Chapin Quad for dinner...now to work in admissions. Next week is Yoga Week on campus. I'm coordinating the whole shebang by myself so we'll see how it goes. It kicks off on Sunday night with a free curried lentil and rice dinner. I bought the groceries today and Shanna was kind enough to give me a ride to and from Cubs. It was a heavy load. I wish I could sit outside and read the rest of tonight but duty calls. What a glorious day!

April Showers

It has been rain, rain, raining all day today. Steady downpours and wind howling around corners. The grass is greening up and flowers are poking through the soil. Unfortunately I won't be around to appreciate the lovely outcome of all this moisture. May will barely have its foot in the door before I leave campus for the summer. Three weeks. It's a mantra running through my head these days. Three weeks.

We're getting to the crunch time of the semester as I'm sure you seniors out there are too. Big decisions coming up--summer jobs, where to spend the next four years of your life, etc. Don't sweat it. People will try to tell you that there is one perfect college for everyone but that's a lie. Some colleges will be better fits than others but rarely does one encounter someone who steps onto a campus and instantly souls meld and birds sing. Most people can carve out a place for themselves anywhere they go. Be optimistic and go with your gut or, failing that, pocketbook. My sister is a director of financial aid at a small liberal arts college in Minnesota and if there is one thing any vacillating high school senior should know it's this: never leave college with more than $20,000 of debt. Any more and paying those loans back will become a major burden. Also, private lenders are a bad idea. No bank loans under any circumstances. Take a Stafford, even unsubsidized, or other federal loan over a private loan that is subject to jumping interest rates and can rarely be consolidated.

Okay, enough money talk. It was student Symposium Day so classes were canceled. I went to see three symposiums, a modest amount. All of them were informative and interesting but some more polished or attention-grabbing than others. The one about librarian stereotypes was hilarious, particularly because my brother in law is a research librarian. Therefore I am very familiar with modern librarian culture and the whole "hipster librarian" movement. Fun, fun. It feels like a long weekend for me, especially because I only have one class tomorrow. Lazy girl. This rain makes me want to curl up in bed with a good book but unfortunately I have plumb run out of new literature! I really, really, really want to read Jhumpa Lahiri's newest short story collection--Unaccustomed Earth--but can't get a copy of it. In lieu of reading perhaps I'll spend my weekend in the weaving studio. I finished my muppet blanket and am on to alpaca. Baa. Or whatever an alpaca says. Do they make sounds? Perhaps they are the strong, silent types of the camelid family.

Monday, Monday

A cold wind is blowing today, chasing away the fine weather of the weekend. That's the nature of April. To quote T.S. Elliot, "April is the cruelest month." Actually, I don't agree with that statement. February is much crueler in my opinion and I'm not that big of a fan of "The Waste Land" anyway.

I finally finished weaving my wretched table runner today. Only five broken warp strings later and I have something I can hang in my closet. Not too bad. Really it looks fine. There is only one mistake and it isn't even that noticeable though it fills me with quiet shame. Wednesday I begin my muppet project and after that an alpaca shawl. Should be a fun and exciting time ahead.

This week is only four days long at Beloit because Thursday is student symposium day. Classes are cancelled so everyone can attend presentations on student research. The booklet describing the symposiums came out last week and everyone has been flipping through them trying to decide which to attend. Many look fascinating so it will be hard to choose. A couple seniors I know have presentations so I'll try to make it to those and maybe one about librarian stereotypes through the ages. Lord knows I love librarians.

Wednesday night the creative writing department is hosting a flash fiction reading at the student-run art gallery downtown--Gallery ABBA. The theme this semester is "One Night Fever" and I'd really like to see what people came up with. I haven't written anything for this reading since I'm firmly mired in journalism and creative non fiction this semester. Fall the topic was "Dinosaurs" and I wrote a piece about a plastic dinosaur I used to have named Mongo. In any case I should put in an appearance on Wednesday to support the department.

Sunday Night Shift

Tonight we had a little SOI get-together in admissions to discuss important upcoming events like May 1st declaration day (deposit paid on or postmarked by May 1st only), financial aid awards letters (the majority have been sent off and should be received in the next 7-10 days), and the senior open house (this upcoming weekend--call for reservations). This is a busy season for students on all levels of education, from seniors graduating from high school and setting off to college to seniors graduating from college and heading off to the workaday world. In between are the rest of us, steadily pushing onward to another year through piles of paperwork and assignments that seem to grow bigger with each passing day. Only four more weeks and I'm home for the summer but in between now and then are 3 essays, a couple revisions, alpaca shawls, and one Brit Lit exam. Daunting, but the beautiful spring weather invigorates me. In Wisconsin we say "Forward!" (sorry, bad WI joke referencing the state motto)

One of the best things about working in admissions--besides meeting all the wonderful prospective students of course--is the free food. Bryan fed us cake and ice cream as an incentive to come to tonight's meeting. I was going to show up anyway because of my work ethic and all but free food sweetens the deal, no pun intended.

Yesterday I spent a goodly portion of my time outdoors exploring Beloit on foot with my friends. We walked around downtown and headed to a deserted school playground to swing and fool around on the zip line. It was a windswept school in the country. Stubbled fields of corn stretching as far as the eye could see. The wind tugged at my skirt and carried my spirits high. Afterwards my friend's visiting father drove us around Beloit to see other parts of the city beyond walking distance--for example Woodman's and Shopko. He took us out to dinner at Tilley's pizza, which is cheap and delicious. A local fave that more students should frequent. Last night was part two of the 24 hour Voodoo Barbie performance where the performers stay up together for 24 hours and give two shows. By the end they are terribly irritable and exhausted which makes for amusing situations. Students came to watch in full force. That's what Beloiters like--seeing folks make fools of themselves for the amusement of others. It's a great attitude, really carefree and unselfconscious.

One is the loneliest number...

Song titles make excellent blog posts. I am very much alone in admissions tonight. No other SOIs or counselors to keep me company. But there are benefits to solitude such as playing my music as loud as I please and singing along with abandon. Rockin' out on Wednesday night, folks. That's Beloit for you.

It is a lovely evening in Wisconsin. Warm and blue skies. It probably strikes some readers as odd that SOIs have a tendency to blog about the weather. But the weather becomes dreadfully important in the Midwest. It dictates what you wear and do, to a certain extent. There are always some people who will defy logic (read: weather) and wear sandals and shorts in the snow. But the rest of us check the forecast daily and begin conversations with classmates comparing weather reports. More snow on the way? Cloudy and cool tomorrow. Yep. Looks like rain. Sure does. Time to get out the umbrella. You know it.

Recently my life has become a Jane Austen novel but I'm afraid I can't elaborate. In weaving today we had ourselves a regular party complete with folksy rock music. Everyone was busy at individual looms working on individual projects and one student brought in his laptop to make the time past quicker. It was rather pleasant. Usually people just plug into their I-pods and hunch over the looms all Silas Marner-like but playing music aloud creates a communal atmosphere, which is pretty nice. My table runner is progressing nicely. I finished the first patch of overshot and have gotten about halfway through the body. I should finish by next week for certain. Hurray!

Jan Egeland, world-famous humanitarian and diplomat, will come to campus tomorrow as the 2008 Weissberg Distinguished Professor of International Studies. He's giving a speech about “Progress and Setbacks at Humanity’s Frontlines” tomorrow night in Pearsons hall on campus. Every year the college asks activists for global issues to visit campus as part of the Weissberg program. Unfortunately I have night class and won't be able to attend unless my professor decides to be charitable. One can never tell with him, especially since we are supposed to have a guest speaker come to our journalism class to talk about life at a daily paper. Ah, the conflicts of life at Beloit. Too much to do and not nearly enough time.

Raindrops keep falling on my head...

The first rainstorm of the spring has arrived! I find this terribly exciting. Umbrellas sprout across campus in various hues--yellow, bright red, polka dot, navy, black. Campus is refreshed. Gone are the last vestiges of snow and slush. The air is warm and fragrant with a hint of growth to come. Standing beneath a pine tree after a hard rain is heavenly. The crisp tang of evergreen, the delicate beads of moisture clinging to needles. Nothing makes me happier except possibly the sight of worms poking through good black earth. Now I can believe in my heart that spring is really here.

I began weaving my overshot today. My design has proven slightly larger than I had anticipated but I guess it doesn't matter. It is only a table runner after all. It feels good to finally be weaving on the loom. Nothing I hate more than setting the whole thing up. Painstaking and time-consuming work. But that is momentarily behind me. Now I can focus my attention on the process of weaving, which is most enjoyable. It goes pretty quickly too. I am already almost done with my first band of pattern. Not too shabby since the rest will be broadcloth.

I spent most of Saturday outdoors, which was incredibly uplifting. I didn't plan on taking three walks around town. It just sort of happened but what a pleasant diversion. I woke early on Saturday and decided to take a walk around the neighborhoods bordering campus. It was a lovely day--sunny and warm. The streets were sleepy, hardly anyone stirred. After lunch I went for another walk with my friends down to the Rock River. Mallards were swimming and a lone fisherman sat on a picnic bench casting. We ended up downtown and walked back to campus via the park. Naturally we stopped to swing and play on the equipment. Across the street we could see the campus Poetry Garden where a youth group had gathered with a bunch of balloons that they released before we left. A chaotic and lovely scene with all the different colors drifting away, fading into the horizon. After dinner my friends and I headed down to the Pleasant Street Coffeehouse to relax and read their fascinating coffee table books. If I have one piece of advice for incoming freshmen it is as follows: take advantage of gorgeous days by exploring off campus. You never know what you might discover.

Between the Doors

It is strange being at work while the sun shines and students frolic outside on the muddy grass. How I long to join my peers in a game of frisbee or tag on the burial mounds but alas, I have my occupational duties to attend to. It has been a lovely spring day in Beloit with temps in the 50s and minimal breezes. One can't help but be cheerful about such lovely weather in the Midwest, especially as winter seems particularly persistent this year. Again we are to expect some slushy snow/rain tomorrow with highs in the 30s. Lame.

It is advising week on campus so students are busy picking out classes for next fall and stopping in to see their academic advisers for signatures. Nothing like mapping out the future to get a person excited about life. There will be a new academic schedule next fall that will cause all the upperclassmen endless confusion for the first couple weeks but the incoming freshmen will be savvy from the get-go. Lucky freshmen. I get to bypass the entire process next fall since I will be off campus but will have to deal with the change come spring semester. I looked at the fall course offering for fun even though I won't be on campus and it seems like there will be quite a fascinating array of classes. I'm a little jealous actually. Some of the classes look pretty neat. Ah well. There will be other fall semesters for me, though not many.

Speaking of the future, my FYI is getting together for a reunion dinner this Thursday at my adviser's house just up on Chapin Street. We're ordering in pizza, catching up on old times, and getting advice on choosing a major if we haven't already done so. I guess I'm going more for the free food and company than for the advice but it never hurts to have a second opinion. I liked my first year advisor though I haven't taken any other classes with her besides FYI. This dinner and the major declaration fair will portend the end of the SYI program and help wrap up my first two years at Beloit. A little sad but I'm excited for what the future holds--a semester in Chicago and the Real World.

One Foot in the Door

Life is a folly. Beloit's delicious spring weather has met an untimely end in a cold snap that brought another couple inches of snow to campus on Friday and has yet to leave. Many students refuse to face the reality of the momentarily winter-like visage of Wisconsin and walk around in scanty clothing and play frisbee in the slush. While I long to wear flip flops and short skirts again I am not foolish enough to pretend it isn't cold in a futile defiance of the weather. I wore my boots to Madison this weekend and was shocked to see UW students prancing around puddles in sandals and capris. Crazy.

I went home with a college friend to celebrate Easter. While I really longed to go home, Beloit doesn't designate any time off for the holiday so I joined someone else's family temporarily. We left campus on Saturday morning to catch the Van Galder bus to Madison. For $7 we were able to purchase round trip tickets to Madison through Student Activities. No one can beat that price--it is unbelievably low. We arrived in Madison around 2 PM and headed to Middleton, where my friend's family resides. For the uninitiated, Middleton was named the best city in America to live in last year. I have journeyed to Middleton twice and while it is cute and friendly I don't know if it is the best city in America. After all it is only a suburb of Madison, WI. Everything is subjective, however. At the house we began the preparations for Easter dinner--veggie lasagna for the vegetarians which include only my friend and me.

We hit the town and shopped along Monroe Avenue in Madison which I have visited on several occasions. There are a lot of cute stores on that stretch of street and we meandered in and out of several. We enjoyed dinner on State Street at Frida's, a lovely Mexican restaurant named in honor of the painter that features fabulous chips and giant murals of Kahlo's paintings. We went for an evening drive along the back roads of Middleton where farmland still dominates. It was peaceful and beautiful. Dusk was settling along the hills with towering clouds tinged blue and purple. We stopped at a couple old country churches to admire the architecture before heading back to my friend's home. The evening was spent watching a silly movie with my friend's little brother and enjoying ice cream sundaes.

Sunday I awoke early to my friend and her brother peeking into the guest room and urging me to get up and hunt for Easter baskets. In this household the Easter Bunny hides the baskets and everyone must search for theirs. I was still pretty sleepy but I rolled out of bed and trudged up the stairs. The hunt was on. Everyone quickly found their respective baskets and enjoyed the spoils. My friend's parents are especially generous people and included me in this annual chocolate smorgasbord. We ate breakfast quickly and headed to church. The choir sang the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah, which I absolutely love. Back at the house, relative began trickling in and introductions were made. Lunch was at 1:00. Our bus didn't leave until 4 so we entertained ourselves with conversation and looking at old Beloit College year books from when my friend's stepdad attended. He graduated in 1987 and it was hilarious to see which professors from today were traipsing around campus in the 80s. Some departments were much smaller back in '87 and the majority of professors were male but other than that, not much has changed at Beloit. Similar student body and attitudes. But what fun it is to unearth the past.

We were back on campus by 6 and I spent my evening catching up with folks back home, comparing festivities and weekend plans. This has been my second weekend in a row to leave campus for fun and relaxation in a neighboring city. Now I am besieged by wanderlust and want nothing more than to explore the area around Beloit. Dangerous times, spring. In only six weeks I will be finishing up my second year at Beloit and while I am nervous about all I must accomplish during this time, I am filled with wordless excitement. Hurray!

Spring colds and other fun

So today I feel a little like Death--or a rusted leaky sink. Spring colds have hit campus full blast this week. My journalism professor was pretty sick last night but refused to cancel class out of pure stubbornness. He hasn't once canceled class due to illness in all his years of teaching so, by gum, he wasn't about to start. I woke up to mental fog and utter exhaustion this morning but popped two aspirins and dragged myself to class. I am also stubborn when it comes to skipping class--or work, especially since we are understaffed this evening. I am the only SOI on duty tonight so hopefully I can hold the fort together. Should be interesting anyway.

All I seem to do is warp looms. In weaving class I am beginning two projects simultaneously and as such have been consumed with the tedious process of warping two rickety harness looms. Warping involves working with thin strings and poking them through metal vents without tangling or otherwise harming them. In truth, not terribly exciting. Makes me wish I had an apprentice that I could assign to the task. Alas, in this class, I am the apprentice! As I bend over the loom, fiddling with thread, visions of Silas Marner dance in my head. That was not supposed to rhyme actually but I guess I'll keep it out of sheer laziness.

I am currently working on writing a delicious new essay about family vacations. I begin with my pink cowboy boots--emblematic of the era when I fancied myself a sheriff and occasional outlaw back in '93. This obsession with cowboys permeated childhood vacations because my father also loved the idealized West and so we practiced our own form of Manifest Destiny, eventually making it to Oregon in '98. Writing about travel is truly fascinating, which is why I love my creative nonfiction class. My professor has a personal interest in travel writing (like Bill Bryson!) and encourages the class to use writing as a path to discovery. Also, the fact that he bakes cookies for his students doesn't hurt.

Shootin' the Breeze

It was hailing/sleeting on my walk over to Admissions this evening. Just a friendly reminder that winter hasn't lost its grip on Wisconsin quite yet. Soon thunderstorms and gentle rain will take the place of ice slicks and sleet. I can hardly wait.

This past weekend has been chockfull of entertainment so I have plenty to write about tonight. First of all, Friday night was deliciously low-key. I went to see a documentary that I've wanted to see for years called "The Real Dirt on Farmer John." Perhaps some of you have heard of it? Anyway, it's about a Beloit alum who runs an organic farm and CSA (community supported agriculture) in northern Illinois called Angelic Organics. I went to visit the farm with my FYI but didn't get to meet Farmer John. The documentary was shown in cooperation with the Spiritual Life program at Beloit and they served us popcorn in little cups. Pretty sweet. I went with a friend of mine. I'd recommend the film to anyone who can get their hands on a copy, especially if they are serious about spending the next four years of their life at Beloit.

After the film my friend and I went back to my dorm to hang out and chat. Soon another friend of ours wandered in and joined the party. We managed to polish off a bag of chips and a box of Girl Scout cookies--Samoas, my favorite. Conversation ran all over the spectrum from Ethiopian cuisine to modern farm policy. Typical Beloit night.

Saturday I went to Chicago with some other friends. We caught an early bus and arrived at O'Hare airport around 10 AM. My friend Alyssa's father lives in Chicago and was nice enough to offer his services as chauffeur around the city and crash pad. We each chose one place to see and he took us there while offering a history of the neighborhood and anecdotes. In the course of our stay we did the following:
1. Ate lunch in the Logan Square area at a Mexican restaurant called El Cid
2. Stopped at an ostentatious bakery called Pierre's with floor-to-ceiling marble, golden chandeliers, and the motto "Cakes to get married over!"
3. Popped into the Newberry Library to see where I will be spending my time next fall and toured their recent acquisitions
4. Shopped at a couple bead stores along Lincoln Avenue and stumbled into an aptly named used bookstore called "Books"
5. Drove down Devon Street to find a Russian bakery and discovered a Georgian one instead
6. Ate dinner at Giordano's pizza then ran over a mile to catch the 7:30 showing of "Juno"
7. Grabbed a hot fudge sundae at Margie's Candies where the Beatles stopped after one of their Chicago tours
8. Played a mean game of Scrabble

I don't believe that we could have packed more fun into one day than we managed to do. We returned to campus at 2:30 on Sunday and ate some Russian potato dumplings for dinner. Yum! Now it is back to the same old routine until next weekend when I'll skip town for an Easter gathering in Madison. I'm sensing a trend here...

Failure to Communicate

I am not often in the business of quoting "Cool Hand Luke" but today seems to warrant it. In my weaving class I just learned that I am required to weave a muppet. Okay, so maybe not a muppet per say, but we have to complete a project involving Swedish rya technique which produces fabric with a pile similar in appearance to muppet hair. In truth, weaving a muppet would actually be fun. I didn't realize that we had to use this technique for one of our final projects until this afternoon. I had rather hoped to use a rag rug, alpaca shawl, and overshot table runner to round out my projects. But no, rya must find its way into the picture. When my professor showed us a sample of the technique I was immediately reminded of shag rugs and Santa Claus tapestries with fluffy 3D beards. Not incredibly attractive but I will follow the rules and make a fluffy blanket for my sock monster. Such is the way of collegiate life.

Revisions, revisions, revisions. That is the mantra running through my head. I must turn in my first round of revisions for creative writing tomorrow and have the opportunity to revise my Brit Lit paper. The professor told me that I was in no way obligated to revise my lit paper since I would still receive a "pretty good grade on it" such as it is. What 'pretty good' means in terms of grading is a little fuzzy. We'll see how much time I have this weekend. Who 'we' is in this sentence is another mystery.

So Shanna and I have been arguing about whether Paul Newman is the most beautiful man alive. I say he is. She says he's not and Johnny Depp is like nectar. My friend Sarah describes Mr. Newman as a "big sack of nummy." I agree wholeheartedly with this statement. Unfortunately some people are not as enlightened. Sorry Shanna.

Back in Beloit

Spring Break has already come and gone leaving a bunch of melting snow and catch-up work in its wake. I always think I'm going to get more done during a week than I actually can but I am resigned to the fact. Considering all the distractions that await me at home--can we just say adorable 4 month old nephew--it is amazing that I managed to accomplish everything that I needed to get done. But I am not going to blog about schoolwork. Rather I will regale you with the highlights of my journey north. So let's pretend that we are sitting together in a cozy coffee house drinking hot tea. I show you some pictures on my digital camera. Unfortunately I wasn't much of a shutterbug this past week so the majority of my pictures feature the local terrain around my house. A couple nephew shots are thrown in for good measure. Some sock monsters too. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

What did I do over break? Well, I decided to hit the road and went back home to Minnesota. I took the trusty Greyhound from Madison and made it to St. Paul in record time thanks to my lead foot driver. It was sunny and bright in Minnesota, which made me happy. Wisconsin's grey skies were clouding up my spirits. While the past week was frigid and frostbite-inducing, I won't complain. I didn't go to Minnesota to sunbathe. Since I'm sure all the eccentricities of my break won't be of interest to anyone but myself I will only list the highlights. If you really want to hear a day-by-day account of my spring break, simply send me a SASE and I'll be sure to send you a copy of the daily record I kept for an article I'm writing for my journalism class. Here are the highlights:

1. Spent lots of time playing with my giggly and smiley nephew who spit up on me right before I left for the bus.
2. Ate lunch with my grandma every day that I was in Mankato and had scandalous conversations about family secrets.
3. Reunited with my best friend and vented about crowded living conditions, middle aged suitors, and unrequited love affairs.
4. Made a pair of sock monsters named Izzy and Irwin out of holey socks.
5. Discovered an amazing author--Michael Perry--and read his delightful memoir "Population: 485." Check. It. Out.
6. Danced with my cats.
7. Cooked Thanksgiving-esque reunion feasts for my immediate and extended family.
8. Went to the MN History Center and learned that Lutheranism is one of the 150 best things about Minnesota. Also saw Prince's Purple Rain outfit. That man is uber short.
9. Took an ambitious hike on the Sakatah State Trail in 11 degree weather. Daaang.
10. Hung out with my favorite people in the world watching movies, shopping for socks, cooking, and talking. Low key but so good.

The Final Countdown

No, I'm not planning on rocking out to 80s synth music tonight though that would be fun. This title is in reference to the fact that in less than two days I will back on Minnesotan soil for the first time in seven weeks! The excitement on campus is palpable. Change is in the wind--spring is on the horizon despite the best attempts of late season snowstorms. The weather is warm and the sky a dazzling shade of blue. Walking on campus yesterday I couldn't suppress my buoyant spirits--greeting everyone I saw, smiling often and indiscriminately. My friend, who had several midterm exams awaiting her lashed out telling me to "stop being so happy!" This time of year (meaning both the season and part of the semester) brings out conflicting emotions in the student body. Luckily I found myself with only one paper due before Friday so my workload has been relatively mild compared to most. But the heady mixture of spring break approaching, positive interactions with several of my professors, and the beautiful weather combined to make me almost giddy with excitement. Yippee!

Tomorrow my friends and I will celebrate the midterm of the semester by going to La Casa Grande for dinner. It's simply a hike down the hill to 4th street. Since I don't own a car Beloit businesses within walking-distance receive the majority of my patronage. La Casa Grande is a local west-Mex restaurant that is pretty popular with the college crowd for serving up heaping plates of tasty food for cheap. They even deliver, in case you have a hankerin' for quesadillas some odd night or Sundays. Not too shabby. In any case, it should be a fun time with my chums who I won't see for a whole ten days. We shall take pictures to record the momentous occasion. Otherwise I only have to print off my Brit Lit paper, attend two classes, and pack before hitting the road. I promise to return to Beloit full of gossip and highlights from my journey!

February Snowstorms and Other Hazards of College Life

It always seems to blizzard on nights when I have to work in admissions. Perhaps someone is trying to tell me something about the nature of my college employment. Hmm...something to ponder when I shovel my way out of Middle College at 10:00 tonight. It has been an exceptionally snowy year in Beloit, Wisconsin and I have been lucky enough to be a part of history. Apparently this winter has been a 'doozy' which local folks haven't experienced since the 70s. When I was weaving in class today I watched the heavy flakes falling outside the studio window and felt terribly sad. This past weekend was so lovely with clear, blue skies and warm weather heralding a seasonal change just around the corner and now...slush as far as the eye can see. Oh well. If it has to storm this week at least it's happening before Friday when I leave campus for spring break.

Life has been very busy lately, as it generally is right before midterms. I am currently working on writing a paper about Dr. Faustus for my Brit Lit class. This is our first paper in the class and it happens to be worth 25% of our grade. Rather nerve wracking but I'm sure I can manage. I am an English major after all. If I can't write a five page paper about Dr. Faustus before Friday then I better start looking at another field. I am also interviewing a bunch of people for a journalism article I'm writing about the Presidential Scholarship Weekends. I've already accumulated a lot of information and different perspectives from people in admissions as well as current students and former Pres scholars. Should be interesting. At least that is my hope. I am also working on the second round of Newberry program applications which will be due following spring break--March 15th to be precise. I have been tracking people all over campus for signatures, forms, and recommendations. Tiring work, I tell you, which will hopefully turn out in the end. One must stay optimistic in these snow-filled, turbulent times!

Oh! This weekend I saw a great movie with my friends--"Once." It was so cute and the songs were uber catchy. No wonder the film's musicians won Best Song at the Oscars last night. I am seriously tempted to buy the soundtrack but I try not to spend much of my hard earned money these days particularly with a journey in my near future. I admit that I am already counting the days until spring break. I can't help it. Today my bus tickets came in the mail, which made the whole thing much more concrete and exciting. I'm heading home in less than five days. Hurray for Minnesota and hot dish!

Barack in Beloit

I'm sure all the other SOIs have recently blogged about the Barack Obama rally that came to campus on Monday. Not to be a mindless duck but I will fall in line with this trend and briefly regale you with my personal experience. Luckily, admissions work was cancelled Monday so the student workers could attend the rally if they so desired. My friends and I got in line at 6:30 and entered the arena where Obama would speak at around 8. Security was tight--we had to walk through a metal detector and empty our pockets. Still, the crowd was buzzing with excitement. The arena was covered with handmade posters bearing messages like "Cheeseheads for Change" and "Yes WI Can"--a delightful regional play on the Obama slogan. The local high school pep band played rousing marches. When Obama made his appearance at 9:45 the entire room was packed and people were screaming and cheering and clapping for a full five minutes. The energy and optimism were catching. Whatever your political views, one has to admit that Obama is a charismatic speaker. He won the crowd over with his smile, ironic humor, and message of hope. I wasn't surprised with the outcome of yesterday's primary election. Beloit was putty in Obama's hand.

In other news, my application for domestic off-campus study was accepted! Now I move on to the second round of applications which requires more recommendations, essays, and liability waivers. Thank goodness spring break is coming up so I will have a moment or two to breathe and get cracking on the second application. It is difficult to juggle classes, social life, and the future while in college but a necessary evil to learn. I finished my first project in weaving which is a scarf made on the inkle loom. We are beginning to learn broadcloth weaving this week and I should finish my sample early next week. I hand in my apple essay tomorrow--did you know that singles in ancient Greece would throw apples at their love interests? It's a shame that practice died out. Certainly sounds effective. Today I saw a visiting writer on campus for a Q & A session. Unfortunately it wasn't widely publicized and so I was one of only two students that showed up. Awkward. But this writer was a Beloit alum and very chatty about the old days so it worked out.

Hard Act to Follow

Today my life is a musical. Well, actually that's a lie. Certain aspects of my life have been recently set to music, however. Dinner, for instance. Tonight was the annual Chinese spring fest and karaoke party in Commons complete with cliché love songs and raucous laughter. While I didn't sing I enjoyed listening to the brave souls that did get up in front of the smiling sea of students and kitchen staff. Reflecting on this experience I almost regret that I didn't possess the audacity to get up and make a fool of myself. Almost. An attitude of good-natured tomfoolery is really the hallmark of a Beloit student and I have yet to expose myself to that aspect of my liberal arts education on the grand scale. If I had decided to sing in the cafeteria, which song would I sing? I would love to belt out Gillian Welch's "Caleb Myer" but the DJ probably wouldn't know it. I guess I would have to sing "Beautiful Ones" in that case. That's right. This mild-mannered, unassuming admissions student worker has a soft spot for Prince. He is a homegrown Minnesota boy after all. Plus the 80s were great, musically speaking. Can't say that I want to return to the days of stirrup leggings and shoulder pads though.

Oh Valentine's Day is upon us and all the lovelorn losers cry into their pillows. Actually, I don't think a lot of people pay attention to Valentine's anymore. Unless of course they are hopeless romantics or work for Hallmark. Personally I do have a hot date tomorrow night--with my journalism class. Ha. Ha. Lame joke. My professor better bring candy. We are workshopping our first articles so he told us to write a love letter on the back of the drafts we're editing. I haven't actually taken him up on that but who knows? The night is still young and my pen isn't quite dry. Though it is getting there. I will be interviewing again for the second Presidential Scholarship weekend. That will be exciting and add some more fodder to the creative fire!

Notes from a Dye Pot

My hands are magenta and blue today--regular dye pot hands. In weaving class we painted our warp strings various hues of our choosing. Mine are a spring green and blue with deep purple at the ends. It looks better than it sounds, I assure you. It will be fascinating to see what my first attempt at broadcloth becomes but I won't know until I set up the loom on Wednesday. As part of my weaving class I am required to design and make five projects--four of which use particular techniques and one free style. Since I had some extra time during class I decided to peruse weaving magazines from the 1980s for ideas in planning my projects and came up with four of the five. It is terribly exciting. I plan on making a rag rug, which I have always wanted to do, a stole with some lovely alpaca yarn I've had for years, a stripy fashion scarf on the inkle loom, and a family of sock monsters. It will be absolutely wonderful, especially since I can use up some of those holely socks I have lying around my dorm room.

These days I am consumed with a steady workload. Not a ton of time to skip and dance in my schedule. I have three papers due before spring break which is in three weeks. This wouldn't be so bad except that two of those papers are due in the same week (You'd think the professors could have planned this better taking my schedule into account). I am currently researching the life and times of apples for an essay in creative nonfiction. Granted, the tactic of taking a common entity of popular culture and exploring its hidden side has recently been overdone with books like A Natural History of the Senses, The Botany of Desire, and The Secret Life of Lobsters, I believe there are still some creative ways to deal with apples in a six page essay. And I'll be sure to share with you all the fascinating details about apples that I discover as well as any notes from the underbelly of the apple industry.

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

So it's blizzarding outside at the moment. Beloit has had a foot of snow dumped on it in the last 24 hours. Typical midwestern weather, really. Nothing much to say about it other than if you are planning to spend the next four years of your life here, invest in a really nice pair of boots like mine. They're perfect for herding reindeer or other frolicky winter activities. In other news, Shanna is currently suffering from a fit of hysterics. Crazy...

Today in my weaving class we are learning how to set up the big floor looms. This an exciting enterprise for the uninitiated. We are going to make broadcloth. But first we are learning how to dye cotton. This means I will get to work with caustic chemicals! First we have to prepare the warps to make them colorfast. This involves washing them in a solution that leeches all the oils from your hands. Pleasant, no? But the important thing is that we will get to choose our colors on Monday and that makes it all worthwhile. The things one must do for ones art...

My first feature article for journalism is slowly coming together. I will do some 'shadowing' of Chef Peter on Friday (which is quickly approaching!) and interview one of his closest colleagues come Monday. In the meantime I am whipping together the organizational structure of my profile and have developed my 'angle' as they call it. I made the mistake of telling my professor that I had already completed my first round of interviews as we were walking to class yesterday and so he naturally asked me to workshop my article first. But I stood fast and refused. That's right. You can say 'no' to a professor. The consequences might not be all that favorable--it just depends on the prof--but you can still say no. In this case, he didn't really care as long as someone else volunteered to go first.

I am not relishing the walk to class tomorrow morning or the walk back to the dorms tonight, for that matter. Good thing I have my boots. Yay for pedestrians!

Another week begins

This weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to meet with a portion of those folks who are thinking about joining the Beloit class of 2012. It was a hopping time on campus with lots of new faces and exciting events to see. This year I was able to participate in the scholarship interviews again, which is always a good time. I hope those of you who spent this past Saturday at Beloit being interviewed would agree that it wasn't as scary as you thought it would be. I remember when I was visiting campus for the interview. All the students kept telling me not to worry, it wouldn't be bad but I didn't believe them for a minute. It didn't help that the weekend was the coldest of the month either. My hair froze on my way to the interview! But looking back at my experience that weekend, I would have to agree that Beloit tries really hard to take the anxiety out of the interviews. Let's hope they were successful!

I spent a lot of my time this weekend interviewing people. First, there was my interview with Chef Peter on Friday for my journalism class. That went really well. I gathered a ton of information and collected some good quotes. It was fun. Then on Saturday I spent my morning interviewing for the scholarships, which was also a blast. I love talking with prospective students about their high school experiences, favorite books, aspirations, you name it. For those of you who end up at Beloit as Pres scholars, don't pass up the chance to interview the next crop of scholars your freshman year. It will be an experience that you look forward to every spring. It seems like I spent my entire weekend talking to people--friends, strangers, former employers, well-wishers. It was odd but good.

And no, I didn't watch the Superbowl. Instead I ate pizza with my friends and laid around Haven lounge, often upside down because everything is funnier when you're upside down. I'm not kidding. Try it sometime. Today is wet and sloppy outside. The snow that proved a bane for those people heading to Chicago is leaving in a hurry and creating big puddles on the sidewalks. It was quite warm outside again which is unsettling but also made it somewhat pleasant for me when I went outside to pick up pinecones to use as weights for my next weaving project.

Slippin' and Slidin'

Brrr! The forty degree weather of yesterday is nothing but a long-forgotten dream. From rain to hail and -25 windchills in a matter of hours. That's the Midwest for you. I try to stay indoors as much as humanly possible but had to brave the gail last night for my journalism class. Frigid, frigid weather when a five minute walk isn't a five minute walk but a little piece of eternity dropped in our hands. Sorry. Tennessee Williams is probably rolling over in his grave right now.

Today I am officially 20.5 years old. Time really does slip through your fingers the older you get. All those times that you laughed when an old person sighed and asked "Where does the time go?" will come back to bite you when you catch yourself asking that ridiculous rhetorical question. I used to throw myself half birthdays all the time when I was young. And I mean real parties with friends, cake, and half a birthday gift. One year I received the bottom of a heart-shaped jewelry box. I think I still have it stashed away somewhere in the back of my closet. Really these celebrations were just an excuse to celebrate in the dead of winter when life started getting monotonous. Ah, the tyranny of childhood! How I miss those heady days.

I don't have class tomorrow due to a glitch in the space/time continuum. Both my Thursday classes happen to be taught by writers that just happen to be attending the AWP conference. Pretty sweet, I tells ya. However this shall not be a day to laze about and procrastinate. No, no, no. I have to workshop an essay with my classmates and will teach yoga at 8 AM. Still, that means I can spend most my day working on weaving. Hurray!

Stormy Weather

Unseasonably warm weather greeted me as I left my dorm this morning. A playful breeze made me wish that I was sporting a red coat and gaily colored ribbons in my hair instead of a drab black peacoat and sensible topknot. Spring seems to have slipped under winter's radar in a teasing preview of good things to come. The heavy snow cover of last week was melting in a torrent of rivulets and streams that turned the sidewalk into a sinking quagmire of slush and mud. While I welcome the break from frigid temperatures I dislike the lovely deception that lurks behind balmy 40 degree weather. Tired of winter, I look towards a spring that is still an entire month and final snow storm away.

My weekend was relaxed and, admittedly, I did little of interest to the masses. I took care of some business for Yoga Club (yes, I do realize that I'm being purposely ambiguous) and essentially lounged around. On Friday afternoon it began to snow and my friends threw me a half birthday party since we will be apart for my actual birthday. It was pleasant to be snug indoors cooking in the kitchen of Haven while fat snowflakes fell outside the windows. We made enchiladas and danced to Cuban melodies. A German chocolate cake was produced and devoured. Pleasantries were exchanged and silliness prevailed. A good old Beloit time. I worked ahead in some of my classes since I had the time because I am one of the few students that doesn't procrastinate. Next weekend will prove much busier especially with the Presidential Scholarship weekend. I will be participating again this year as a member of the interview teams--part of my annual power trip fix. For those of you who are coming to campus for a scholarship interview, here's some advice. Relax. It won't be that bad. Think of the experience as an opportunity to sit down and have a conversation with faculty and students. You are getting to feel out if the college is right for you just as much as they are figuring out if you're right for the college.

Warning: Stream of consciousness blog post ahead

So I've been thinking a lot lately about how I circumspect my language now that I'm an aunt. This occurs even when my darling nephew is not present. I find myself saying things like "goodness!" or "oh, mercy"--frowzy phrases that I wouldn't normally be caught dead uttering. When did I begin speaking in so dowdy a fashion? Why did the birth of my beloved nephew turn me into such a terminally unhip person (as evidenced by the fact that I even used the phrase "unhip" as Shanna just informed me)? Perhaps this is what motherhood or aunthood really does to a person--makes them cautious and prim. I always vowed that if or when I become a mother I would never dress like a New Haven matron or a second-grade teacher. No plaid jumpers for me. Now I find myself chuckling politely, hand over my mouth. I've always been inclined toward modesty in dress and action but I seem to have recently devolved into a nineteenth century school marm in behavior and language. Is this the beginning of a whole new Krista, one whose fiery tendencies are banished to a land of mild placidity? Perhaps aunthood is akin to sainthood. Wait. Now I'm just getting narcissistic.

Sorry for the rambling post. It has absolutely nothing to do with life at Beloit, just life in general. Truthfully, nothing much has happened to me since I last posted on Monday. I went to classes, did homework, wrote a film review, ate, slept, repeat. All quiet on the Beloit front. This isn't helping to make the post more coherent. Again, my apologies. Hopefully exciting things will happen over the weekend and I can share all the gory details with you come Monday!

Back in Business

My goodness! It's already time to update my SOI blog and let all you faithful readers know about the wonder that is a Beloit education. Sorry but that will be my one and only admissions plug. Scout's honor. So much has happened since I last posted back in December. It seems eons have passed. All those classes I was lamenting about and worrying over have been tidily finished and put away in that convenient back drawer called an undergraduate transcript. But I promise new classes will take their place and give me fresh fodder (read: angst) to share with everyone.

Let's see. I'll just give you the highlights of my month home and to make it stylistically interesting I'll compile it in a list.
1. My best friend drove to Beloit to pick me up for break the day after classes let out. Winter roadtrip ensued complete with getting lost on a back road in Hope, MN after dark.
2. Spent lots of time with my new nephew. Fell in love with him over and over again.
3. Holiday celebrations with too much food and herds of camels.
4. Played many rounds of Apples to Apples and Rummy Royal with merry relatives.
5. Watched Sweetland and Omkara again. Fell in love with Ajay Devgan.
6. Wandered around the St. Paul public library with sleeping nephew. Received sore arms but great knitting patterns.
7. Made potstickers for New Years eve with my grandmother.
8. Danced with my cat.
9. Went to favorite pub with my best friend and took silly pictures of french fry eatery and straw shenanigans.
10. Read books at my leisure.

Goodness, what fun it was to go home but now it's time to buckle down and hit the pages again. This last weekend was the Beloit International Film Festival, which is always a lot of fun but seems to fall on the coldest weekend of the winter. Luckily most of the films I went to see were close to campus so I didn't have to trek too far into the raw cold. I saw a set of shorts which were really funny, a documentary about Cuban healthcare, and a comedy called The Ten which wasn't what I expected. The festival is always a great way to get off campus and watch some films you might not otherwise see.