I finished my last final on Thursday, and since then my days and nights have been filled with crazy excursions, deep conversations, great people and anticipation.
Friday was Olin's carnival- we played on bouncy arenas and inflatable obstacle courses, ate grilled cheese and listened to many of Olin's multi-talented musicians sing in various bands and ensembles. The highlight was probably some impromptu boxing between the dorms, with sideline cheering from a Babson Police woman and the people who ran the carnival floats. Later, we had a school-wide bonfire near the soccer fields, made s'mores and roasted hot-dogs on sticks. After the fire was put out, Janie, my friend Ben and I lay on the grass for another hour looking at the stars and singing James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, and Cat Stevens. The night ended as one of my best friends, Alec, and I sat on my bed talking about everything and listening to This American Life as we both fell asleep.
(Photo Courtesy of Chris Gallello, Olin College '12)
On Saturday I played in an ultimate Frisbee tournament all day, running up and down the fields until I literally couldn't walk straight. Then I came back and went on a 5 mile walk with a group of adventurous folk: Jess, Geoff, Kelsey, Diana, Boris and Nathan. We walked to this cool spot in the Needham town forest where someone built a toy train track, a bench, a table, birdhouses, and a space for geocache. I'm pretty sure we walked in circles for awhile before finding our way back, but I didn't mind. When you come home and your feet are so sore every step is terribly painful you know you have had a successful day.
Yesterday, my friends Kate, Ingrid, Diana and I went swimming in a beautiful pool at Wellesley College. We meant to go somewhere else after, but instead sat in the sauna discussing feminism. I'm so lucky to be friends with such strong, smart, and independent women.
Kate and I started running a week ago. We have been going nearly everyday, increasing our distance and decreasing our time every run. She ran cross-country in high school, so she is mixing in sprint days and hill days as we get back in shape. It has been fun to track our progress and feel really good about all the effort we are putting in to our health.
Today we had the most amazing flash rain. Everything was perfectly timed- I felt a slight drizzle as I left the academic center and walked towards the dorms after the last student presentations at EXPO (an end-of-semester showcase of student projects at Olin). Kate and I changed into our running clothes and ran out in a sprint as it started to downpour to the cheers and encouragement of people watching and guys playing shirtless frisbee on the great lawn. Our shoes were soaked through before we had gone 100 feet. We ran 4.5 miles through the pouring rain, whooping and proclaiming our joy. The trails were soaked and beginning to flood, and we ran through every puddle. Running in the rain is probably one of the most exhilarating things ever. You don't notice your sweat or your fatigue- every part of your body becomes one with the raindrops and the earth that you are running on. And when you get back you feel like a champion.
But all these activities could have just came and went, been fun but not really memorable. What has made it awesome are all the amazing people I have become friends with this year and who have become part of my life. I think that is what is going to make this summer incredible- all the people that we will connect with at each stop and that will be generous with us beyond what we could ever imagine.
Life is pretty incredible, all of the time. We leave in 20 days!
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