Is there anything more wonderful than October at Bryn Mawr? Leaves, pumpkin flavoring, scarves, and fall break make for a pretty wonderful month. Between my stints in both Maine and Chicago, Bryn Mawr autumn is definitely my favorite. The air is crisp, but not too cold, and there’s so much excitement on campus.
Now for some much needed photo documentation–
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While looking through my iPhoto, I realized I take a lot of photos of food. As in, an absolutely absurd amount of photos. Instead of simply taking up storage on my decrepit MacBook, I’ve decided to put my catalog of meals to use on this blog. Before Bryn Mawr I was a little concerned I’d only be eating pizza and fries when I got here, but that’s really far from the case. Curious about what a Mawrtyr eats? Here’s my semester in food (so far): Continue reading
I think many would agree that one of Bryn Mawr’s greatest assets is the Quaker Consortium. Comprised of Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Swarthmore, and UPenn, the consortium allows students to freely take courses or participate in activities at any of the listed schools. The Bi-Co, referring specifically to the historical ties between Bryn Mawr and Haverford, is especially close. While I do enjoy my sojourns to these campuses, I admit I spend most of my time on a campus not tied to Bryn Mawr at all: Temple University.
To be honest, I was pretty ignorant of Temple until I began dating my boyfriend and current student. This past year, mostly in thanks to my flexible schedule, I’ve found myself studying, eating, and hanging out on their campus at least once a week. I never considered large universities during my college search because I preferred a smaller environment, but through my self-created Bi-Co I’ve been able to get a feel for university culture. While that environment certainly has its perks (Starbucks on campus? Into it.), I’ve also been able to appreciate my own campus even more. Though Bryn Mawr and Temple are completely different institutions, I can still find a few reminders of home while walking around the North Philly campus…
Did I mention Radnor was in the New York Times? A photo I took of our dorm banner was submitted (unbeknownst to me!) and subsequently featured on their site. You can check it out here.
“Radnor What? Radnor Love!” is our dorm’s official cheer and is as popular as the anass, Bryn Mawr’s Greek cheer.
A Customs Week tradition, each Dorm Leadership Team creates a banner to represent the dorm and welcome new first-years. We wanted our banner to integrate our three hall themes: pop art, vintage Bryn Mawr, and superheros. We decided upon a reconstructed Rosie the Riveter that was devoid of skin tone or facial features to best represent the spectrum of Mawrters. I kvell whenever I see her in the foyer.
I’m never shy in expressing my undying love for my dorm– it is the banner picture for this blog, after all. The smallest traditional residence, Radnor is marked by an unbreakable sense of community and pride. We frequently host dorm-wide barbeques in the spring and have our own secret traditions. Having lived here all three years, Radnor is as much my home as Bryn Mawr is.
Now a Hall Advisor on the second floor, I’ve been charged with the duty of decorating my hall. While initially at a loss for what my theme should be, I finally had an epiphany: vintage Bryn Mawr. I’ve long been obsessed with ephemera. Whether it was looking through stacks of old yearbooks at my high school or pouring over abandoned photographs at flea markets, I love finding lost or underappreciated relics from the past. So when Vintage Bryn Mawr was started last year by a friend and recent BMC graduate, I fell in love. It was a perfect theme– both visually pleasing and simple to pursue. Check out some pictures after the jump.
To be perfectly honest, I’ve always been hesitant about joining the blogosphere. I never dabbled in Xanaga as a preteen, nor did I develop into a Blogspot devotee. I would, however, leave it to Bryn Mawr to break me out of this comfort zone of resistance. Thus begins this new blog and new academic year, all courtesy of Athena.
So, hi everyone. To catch you up to speed, my name is Ivy and I’m a junior History of Art major and English minor. In addition to being a Hall Advisor in Radnor (the best dorm on campus, pictured above), I work as a tour guide in Admissions and as the Director of Marketing for Dining Services. I’m from downtown Chicago, but spent a stint of my adolescence in a small town on the coast of Maine– suffice to say, I’m well-versed in the woes of both public transit and the lobstering industry.
When I’m not making Amy Heckerling references in class, I’m most often found fawning over old Bryn Mawr yearbooks, making kugels for my hall, or going to concerts in Philly. Bryn Mawr has offered me countless amazing opportunities, like being featured with my professor in the New York Times and having dinner with Judith Butler. Off campus, I’ve interned and written for several museums and publications, most recently the Museum of Contemporary Art and Time Out Chicago.
Now that’s out of the way, I do think there is one more piece of information worth explaining: my blog’s title. It’s a pun referring to “Sophias,” the Greek song recited by all first year students during Lantern Night. The opening line, Sophias philai Paromen (“Friends of wisdom, let us gather”), while hauntingly beautiful, is likely the only part Mawrters remember post-Lantern Night. In summary, like this blog, “it’s a Bryn Mawr thing.”