Ok, so my mom asked me to post one of my papers. This one I had to write for Bio and Culture of Deafness about the book Deaf Like Me. I don't think its the best thing I've ever written, but I got it back yesterday with an A and the following comments from the professor, "Hillary, this is an excellent paper. You have a fluid, mature writing style and you communicate your ideas and thoughts very well. The summary is clear; the description of sensorineural hearing loss is easy to read and understand; and your reaction very frank and honest. Well done. "
Without further ado, please enjoy my paper.
BISC 7A Paper #1
Summary of Deaf like Me
Louise and Thomas Spradley are a fairly average American couple. They are young, married, and have one child, Bruce, and they of course love him deeply. One summer, Bruce becomes ill with German measles, or rubella. Just a few days before this diagnosis, Louise discovered that she was pregnant. The doctor tells her that contracting rubella while pregnant could lead to various congenital defects in the newborn. The indefinite quality of this warning serves as the material for Louise and Thomas’s nightmares for the next nine months.
When Lynn Spradley is finally born, she appears to be a perfectly normal and healthy child. She has no physical deformities, nor any noticeable mental deficiencies. Louise and Thomas are hesitantly relieved. Thomas admits in the book to having still lingering fears for months to come. However Lynn continues to grow and develop in a perfectly healthy manner. Gradually, her parents stop living in fear. They relax; secure in the love of their newest child.
Around the time Lynn reaches the age of six months, she and her family attend a Fourth of July celebration. As is typical of these events, there were fireworks. Characteristic of a child her age, Lynn fell asleep before the festivities started. When the fireworks started exploding, Thomas expected Lynn to wake. She did not. Nor did she start at all in reaction to the thunderous sounds. She slept soundly on. This was the first time Thomas and Louise suspected their daughter might be deaf.
After a barrage of tests and the passage of close to two years, it was determined that Lynn had a profound hearing loss. The next years were spent attempting to train Lynn’s residual hearing though use of a hearing aid. Another component to this approach was the efforts spent trying to get Lynn to talk. Louise and Thomas were led to believe that the only way Lynn could be a functioning part of society was if she was able to talk and lip read.
Years passed. Lynn’s residual hearing was next to useless in helping her to communicate. She was able to lip read many words, but not nearly enough. And she was able to articulate only a handful. She was completely isolated from everything and everyone because she had no way to communicate. This led to her constant frustration, which in turn forced her parents into dealing with her tantrums. The situation seemed next to hopeless.
Then Thomas met a group of deaf adults. These people were able to communicate with one another and with select hearing people. These adults were fluent in American Sign Language. Through ASL, deaf people were able to converse just as easily as hearing people. While the Spradleys had been led to believe since the diagnosis of Lynn’s hearing loss that learning to sign would isolate her; the opposite was true. When Louise and Thomas taught Lynn to sign and learned to sign themselves, a whole new world was opened up to her. Now she could clearly communicate what she wanted. No longer did she have to be frustrated by her own silence and the silence of those around her. By learning sign language, Lynn was given a way to tell the world what she wanted. American Sign Language gave Lynn a voice, and a life of her own.
Biological Explanation of Lynn Spradley’s Deafness
Lynn Spradley was diagnosed at 18 months with a profound sensorineural hearing loss. While her parents suspected that she might be deaf or hearing impaired at an earlier age, no definite diagnosis could be reached before Lynn was old enough to respond effectively to tests. Testing is typically done at around age two. Lynn’s early test age was no doubt due to the persistence of her parents. They wanted to know the exact details of their daughter’s hearing loss so they could learn what to do about it.
Unfortunately, there is typically very little that can be done about a hearing loss as serious as Lynn’s. By definition, a profound loss means that the individual has lost 90 or more decibels of hearing. This kind of deafness renders the person almost completely without the ability to process sound. Only the lowest noises register, even with the use of a hearing aid. A profound hearing loss is the most intense. The other classifications are mild, moderate, and severe. They are fairly self explanatory when viewed in context.
The sensorineural component to Lynn’s loss is rather complicated. Sensorineural is an inner ear hearing loss. The damage is found in the cochlea, a spiral-shaped organ in the deepest recesses of the human ear. The cochlea is filled with fluid that responds to sounds that come from the middle and outer ear. The movement of said fluid forces the numerous tiny hair cells into motion. These hair cells are essential for the hearing process. People with sensorineural hearing losses have somehow obtained damage to the hair cells. Thus, any sound that is received is distorted. This makes speech next to impossible, even with the help of a hearing aid.
Various things can cause damage to the hair cells. Loud noises (the bass at a rock concert, the sound of a gunshot, etc) can cause the hairs to fall limp. An illness can have the same effect. The illness can be contracted by the individual postpartum, or, as in Lynn’s case, while the child is in the womb. Louise Spradley, Lynn’s mother, had rubella while she was pregnant. This led to Lynn’s condition.
The combination of profound and sensorineural makes a hearing loss that is very difficult to improve upon. The profound component means that Lynn can hear only certain loud, low sounds to begin with. The sensorineural aspect garbles those sounds. The conclusion, even if a hearing aid can train Lynn’s residual hearing enough to enable her to discern her parents’ voices, she will not be able to understand what they are saying to her.
The remedies for a hearing loss like Lynn’s are, as previously stated, difficult to come by. Hearing aids can only do so much. There is new research into cochlear implants, but the controversy surrounding the issue is too great for the moment. As of right now, the main ‘cure’ for a child like Lynn is to teach her to lip read and to sign. Those things gave her the ability to communicate with the world around her.
Reaction to Deaf like Me
I was not planning on enjoying this book. I assumed it would be another one of those books assigned for class that would be interesting, but not especially intriguing. I was wrong. Plain and simple. From the first page, Deaf like Me had me enthralled. I waited anxiously with Louise and Thomas during the nine months of pregnancy. I was happy, but still nervous when Lynn was born physically normal. I, as the reader of a book about a deaf child, had the advantage of knowing what was coming. It didn’t help. I was still devastated when it was revealed how serious Lynn’s hearing loss was.
I was amazed by the processes involved in testing for hearing loss. I did not know, for example, that every deaf individual has some level of hearing. I assumed that deaf meant deaf. The levels of hearing impairment are much more varied and distinct than I had previously thought. I was impressed by the Spradleys’ determination to discern the exact details of Lynn’s impairment. I feel like most parents would have given up at ‘deaf’. Louise and Thomas stayed dedicated to Lynn through the entire process. Yet they also did not neglect their other child. They were as attentive to Lynn as they needed to be, and they were still loving parents to Bruce.
Throughout the book, I was completely drawn in. The long and seemingly futile attempts to teach Lynn to lip read and to speak were fascinatingly heartbreaking. I understood the thought process behind teaching Lynn to communicate through speech and was on board with the pure oral approach, I just gradually came to understand how difficult a task that was. I did not realize how much effort had to go into teaching a child what slight variations in lip movement corresponded to what object. Lynn was lucky to have parents who were so patient. It is truly amazing the amount of hard work they put into helping her. They literally had to rearrange their lives every time Lynn graduated from a lower level school. Thomas and Louise were constantly researching the latest innovations surrounding hearing losses so that they could provide Lynn with the most effective level of care. As learners and teachers, they were open to anything and everything that could help Lynn assimilate into a society that could be forever foreign to her.
The length of time devoted to the pure oral approach was disheartening, especially once it was revealed how few children are actually successful. I at first thought the idea made sense. Given how afraid our society is of people who appear obviously different, it was completely plausible that Lynn’s only chance of assimilating was to learn how to blend in. However, as the years passed and Lynn’s language did not improve, I, like the Spradleys, began to wonder if she would ever talk. True stories occasionally do not have the happy, inspirational endings found in fiction.
Then Louise and Thomas met the deaf couple. I have to say, after pages and pages of learning how awful sign language was, I was not overly excited for Lynn to resort to gestures. That was one thing I disliked about the book, how prejudiced it tried to make me against deaf signers. American Sign Language is not a primitive form of communication. It is a unique language that enables people who were for so long isolated to be able to interact. When Lynn first signed “I love you” to her parents, I was choking up. For so long their dream had been to hear her voice. Really, all they wanted was to hear her thoughts.
Signing opened up the world for Lynn. I thought it was so amazing that she picked up the signs so fast. It took years to teach her to say a few words. Yet teaching her sign language took weeks if that. She learned so much more quickly than her parents. I guess this is just a testament to how truly flexible a young mind is. With this new ability to actually communicate what she wants from people around her, Lynn is able to lead a normal life. Thomas’s realization that giving in to sign language was not forever barring Lynn from ‘normalcy’ was a fundamental turning point in her life and in the message of the book. Normal is a fluid concept. Normal should not be defined as being exactly like everyone else; it should instead be however a person is most comfortable and able to make their voice heard.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
You Know You're at a Dork School When (Pt. 2)
1. Anyone anywhere anytime can make a Harry Potter reference and EVERYONE IN THE ROOM GETS IT.
Seriously, (Siriously), somebody said they were EXPECTANT, and everyone yelled EXPECTO PATRONUM!
I have never seen more Harry Potter shirts in one place before. No lie.
2. A weekend can feasibly be killed studying. And no one finds this odd or lame.
Some things I can't even tell you because you will all think less of me :) Ask me in person. I might divulge. Might.
Oh, 3. People see my Robert Frost book and get REALLY honestly excited.
4. People talk about Romeo and Juliet and The Importance of Being Earnest while completely wasted.
5. I know I've said it before, but it still holds: People get honestly excited about their classes. It is completely legit to ramble about a class for like 20 mintes. It's considered cool. :)
Sorry I don't have time for more, but I have classss!!
PS I got an A on my first paper. I will try to remember to post it later.
Seriously, (Siriously), somebody said they were EXPECTANT, and everyone yelled EXPECTO PATRONUM!
I have never seen more Harry Potter shirts in one place before. No lie.
2. A weekend can feasibly be killed studying. And no one finds this odd or lame.
Some things I can't even tell you because you will all think less of me :) Ask me in person. I might divulge. Might.
Oh, 3. People see my Robert Frost book and get REALLY honestly excited.
4. People talk about Romeo and Juliet and The Importance of Being Earnest while completely wasted.
5. I know I've said it before, but it still holds: People get honestly excited about their classes. It is completely legit to ramble about a class for like 20 mintes. It's considered cool. :)
Sorry I don't have time for more, but I have classss!!
PS I got an A on my first paper. I will try to remember to post it later.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Comments
I also think I fixed the commenting issue. I think anyone should be able to comment now. Let me know if it worked.
Challenge
So I tried to post a video on here, but after much fruitless trying, it didn't work. But I love the video and want you all to try to watch it. So here is the challenge.
1. Go to youtube.com
2. Where is says Search type "Gordon Fellman O'Reilly Factor"-it's not case sensitive, so it actually does not matter what you capitalize.
3. Click on the first video.
4. Press Play
5. Watch video.
This is a vid o fthe professor of my War and Possibilites of Peace professor on the O'Reilly factor when he was younger. He clearly dominates O'Reilly. Clearly. No competition. At all. The professor is still just as awesome as he was then. He is one of the Brandeis celebs. He has legit groupies. I am considering becoming one of them. When we watched this video clip in class, everyone literally started cheering at one point. If you can't make the video play, I will help out at Thanksgiving. Or ask Jesse. I am sure he is Youtube efficient.
Love to all!
1. Go to youtube.com
2. Where is says Search type "Gordon Fellman O'Reilly Factor"-it's not case sensitive, so it actually does not matter what you capitalize.
3. Click on the first video.
4. Press Play
5. Watch video.
This is a vid o fthe professor of my War and Possibilites of Peace professor on the O'Reilly factor when he was younger. He clearly dominates O'Reilly. Clearly. No competition. At all. The professor is still just as awesome as he was then. He is one of the Brandeis celebs. He has legit groupies. I am considering becoming one of them. When we watched this video clip in class, everyone literally started cheering at one point. If you can't make the video play, I will help out at Thanksgiving. Or ask Jesse. I am sure he is Youtube efficient.
Love to all!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Jonas Brothers?
Haha yes. Trishna and I are listening to the Jonas Brothers, singing along, and facebook chatting the lyrics to each other. Yes. We are sitting in the same room. Instant messaging. We are SO cool :) I actually despise the Jonas brothers because they are marketed simply because they are cute. But boy are they cute. And thier songs are annoyingly catchy. I'm having fun. As per usual.
I have been pretty stressed recently just because there is a lot of homework. Or there was. I turned in two papers yesterday, so I have been riding a weird high all night and much of this morning. Haha let' s just say there was skipping involved. And bouncing on Trevor's bed. Fun stuff. Then I sat in the lounge and impeded Robbie in his attempts to learn linear algebra (not Robbie from home obviously. new Robbie.). He probably was close to hitting me with a textbook. Hehe.
On a less fun note, roommmate conflicts are escalating. Yay. But Trishna is going home this weekend, so we will all get some time away from each other. Because I don't plan on spending much time in the room, and Ilana will be busy with Yom Kippur festivities. Are there Yom Kippur festivities? OR is it not such a fun thing? I guess I will fidn out. Campus is going to be DEAD this weekend. Everyone is going home. I invited my friend Anthony from MIT (yes, I DO have a friend from MIT!) to come hang out, but he will be in Provincetown (yes, please pick up on that). Saad.
Oh, so I met Anthony and his friend Ruth at the Quizbowl scrimmage at MIT. Quizbowl is like the Academic Team I was on in high school. Jeopardy style trivia game. It's really fun. The three teams were Brandeis, MIT, and Harvard. Harvard kicked our asses. As the MIT team said, Harvard was fun to watch. And the kids were kind of bitchy. Elitist snobs :P All Boston area schools hate Harvard. Not jealousy. They are all pompous and rather jerky. Anyway, after round one of the game, we were given a lunch break. Anthony and I had been making faces at each other through the first round at all the questions that were RIDICULOUS and unanswerable. So we chatted a bit then he and his friend Ruth were going to go get lunch in Boston and I went with them. It was so fun! So now Anthony and I are friends on Facebook and we talk all the time :) And I have an MIT friend! SCORE!
What else? Oh, mom wants me to post a few of the papers I have written. I will, just not now because I have Bio and Culture of Deafness in like 20 minutes which means I should start leaving. it takes about 10 minutes to walk to Rabb and a few extra minutes to talk to people and gather books and such.
OOH! Random side note, Alex called today! For those of you who don't know, Alex is my friend who is in basic training for the army. It's always nice to talk to him.
Ok, I think I am done for now. Talk to ya later!
I have been pretty stressed recently just because there is a lot of homework. Or there was. I turned in two papers yesterday, so I have been riding a weird high all night and much of this morning. Haha let' s just say there was skipping involved. And bouncing on Trevor's bed. Fun stuff. Then I sat in the lounge and impeded Robbie in his attempts to learn linear algebra (not Robbie from home obviously. new Robbie.). He probably was close to hitting me with a textbook. Hehe.
On a less fun note, roommmate conflicts are escalating. Yay. But Trishna is going home this weekend, so we will all get some time away from each other. Because I don't plan on spending much time in the room, and Ilana will be busy with Yom Kippur festivities. Are there Yom Kippur festivities? OR is it not such a fun thing? I guess I will fidn out. Campus is going to be DEAD this weekend. Everyone is going home. I invited my friend Anthony from MIT (yes, I DO have a friend from MIT!) to come hang out, but he will be in Provincetown (yes, please pick up on that). Saad.
Oh, so I met Anthony and his friend Ruth at the Quizbowl scrimmage at MIT. Quizbowl is like the Academic Team I was on in high school. Jeopardy style trivia game. It's really fun. The three teams were Brandeis, MIT, and Harvard. Harvard kicked our asses. As the MIT team said, Harvard was fun to watch. And the kids were kind of bitchy. Elitist snobs :P All Boston area schools hate Harvard. Not jealousy. They are all pompous and rather jerky. Anyway, after round one of the game, we were given a lunch break. Anthony and I had been making faces at each other through the first round at all the questions that were RIDICULOUS and unanswerable. So we chatted a bit then he and his friend Ruth were going to go get lunch in Boston and I went with them. It was so fun! So now Anthony and I are friends on Facebook and we talk all the time :) And I have an MIT friend! SCORE!
What else? Oh, mom wants me to post a few of the papers I have written. I will, just not now because I have Bio and Culture of Deafness in like 20 minutes which means I should start leaving. it takes about 10 minutes to walk to Rabb and a few extra minutes to talk to people and gather books and such.
OOH! Random side note, Alex called today! For those of you who don't know, Alex is my friend who is in basic training for the army. It's always nice to talk to him.
Ok, I think I am done for now. Talk to ya later!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
I Love This Morning
Yes, I said that.
I was up at 8:15 this morning and relatively pissed. Then I spilled milk and cereal all over my keyboard which did nothing to improve my mood. But I cleaned it up, no worries. Soo, angry with the world, I set off for my First Year Seminar, Identities in Modern Drama. Topic of discussion? Our thoughts on the play we jsut read...
Spring Awakening :)
I LOVE SPRING AWAKENING. The script was originally written by Frank Wedekind in Germany in like the 1700s. Everyone hated it and thought Wedekind was cuhraaazy. So it was never produced. Well, Broadway in 2006 decided to take the script and make it into a rock musical! I love the music, and I was able to see the show over the summer. WOW. Youtube that shit. Right now. It's beauty. Art in its truest form. Love, angst, sex, more angst...haha wow. I don't even know how to describe it. Sheer Awesome.
So today's class w as devoted to talking about play vs musical and the amazingness of both. I went on a long rant about Melchior and how he wants to know about more than sex. He wants to know about EVERYHING. I can so hugely identify with Melchior. True he ends up sort of raping Wendla, but hey. Chalk it up to angst. Jk. Read the play. Download the music. Doooo iiiittttt!!!
I just wanted to share that. This class might make me a morning person.
I was up at 8:15 this morning and relatively pissed. Then I spilled milk and cereal all over my keyboard which did nothing to improve my mood. But I cleaned it up, no worries. Soo, angry with the world, I set off for my First Year Seminar, Identities in Modern Drama. Topic of discussion? Our thoughts on the play we jsut read...
Spring Awakening :)
I LOVE SPRING AWAKENING. The script was originally written by Frank Wedekind in Germany in like the 1700s. Everyone hated it and thought Wedekind was cuhraaazy. So it was never produced. Well, Broadway in 2006 decided to take the script and make it into a rock musical! I love the music, and I was able to see the show over the summer. WOW. Youtube that shit. Right now. It's beauty. Art in its truest form. Love, angst, sex, more angst...haha wow. I don't even know how to describe it. Sheer Awesome.
So today's class w as devoted to talking about play vs musical and the amazingness of both. I went on a long rant about Melchior and how he wants to know about more than sex. He wants to know about EVERYHING. I can so hugely identify with Melchior. True he ends up sort of raping Wendla, but hey. Chalk it up to angst. Jk. Read the play. Download the music. Doooo iiiittttt!!!
I just wanted to share that. This class might make me a morning person.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Happiness
So I had the best weekend ever. And one of the best parts of it was being able to come back here :) To Brandeis, the place I love with all of my heart.
I went sort of home, if you say that home is where your loved ones are. I went to a family reunion (FUN! my family is fantastic. Our family reunions are nothing like the horrors imagined by popular TV). So that was great, everyone said I look happier than I ever have before. Which is legit. I am happier than I have ever been before. So aside from that, two unexpected things happened to make my weekend more than just great, but extraordinary.
1. I got to stop in Morgantown and see Mark, Rebecca, Caroline, and Zach :) Love them! Miss them!
2. While in Morgantown, I saw a truck with.... A MYSTERY HOLE BUMPER STICKER!!!!! I know. I was excited too.
Upon returning to school, I ran into Trevor's room (the hangout place on our hall) and was greeted by Trishna and Sara SCREAMING and running over and hugging me. Then we watched the VMAs (MTV Music Video Awards-yes, I hated myself a little) and laughed at how bizarre Lady Gaga is. What was with her weirdo hanging herself and bleeding from the eyes thing?! Aaaanyway, then we hung out in the loungs until laaate and laughed and laughed and laughed. It was a great time. It was good to be home :)
I went sort of home, if you say that home is where your loved ones are. I went to a family reunion (FUN! my family is fantastic. Our family reunions are nothing like the horrors imagined by popular TV). So that was great, everyone said I look happier than I ever have before. Which is legit. I am happier than I have ever been before. So aside from that, two unexpected things happened to make my weekend more than just great, but extraordinary.
1. I got to stop in Morgantown and see Mark, Rebecca, Caroline, and Zach :) Love them! Miss them!
2. While in Morgantown, I saw a truck with.... A MYSTERY HOLE BUMPER STICKER!!!!! I know. I was excited too.
Upon returning to school, I ran into Trevor's room (the hangout place on our hall) and was greeted by Trishna and Sara SCREAMING and running over and hugging me. Then we watched the VMAs (MTV Music Video Awards-yes, I hated myself a little) and laughed at how bizarre Lady Gaga is. What was with her weirdo hanging herself and bleeding from the eyes thing?! Aaaanyway, then we hung out in the loungs until laaate and laughed and laughed and laughed. It was a great time. It was good to be home :)
Friday, September 11, 2009
6 A.M.
I am awake at 6 a.m.
I would just like to share that with you all. I am awake. And therefore hating life.
I would just like to share that with you all. I am awake. And therefore hating life.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Fire Drill!
Agh.
Ok, so first of all I just have to say that I have been feeling icky for a few days, so the night before the above-mentioned atrocity I decided to put myself into NyQuil sleep. Which for me is akin to being dead.
So 11 a.m. I am dead asleep on my top bunk. Both Ilana and Trishna are in class (my first one on Wednesday is not until 1:10). Then,
THE FIRE ALARM GOES OFF.
FML. BML. WHATEVER.
I stagger out of bed, put my thougts in order enough to realize that I need real pants (not the tie dye boxer shorts I was wearing) and a sweatshirt (to hide the scandalous Shakespeare t-shirt that shows off my...well everything). Realize, that I also had to manipulate the ladder to get down from my bunk bed. All without dying! It was quite impressive.
Continuing. So the alarm is blaring like..I don't even know how to describe it. All the demons of Hell are screaming bloody murder. that's the sound. And I am half asleep staggering around. No one seems to be in my building. So I go outside, and see what must be half the Waltham police force and Bemco (Brandeis Medical..Co..). And a Waltham firetruck (aka a 15 seater van with FIRE SAFETY tattoed on the side. No lie). Someone tells me to go to Spingold (the theatre), so I stagger in that direction, wincing at the sunlight and the noise and just pissed to be awake ( my alarm was set for noon.).
** The sucky part of this fire drill is that it was jsut Massell Quad and 2/3 of them were in class anyway. So there was not a huge migration of people headed to a certain place that I could follow. I was much more on my own. No idea what to do. Yay for organization.**
So I made it to Spingold. Once inside I found a few of my hallmates, most of whom had also been rudely yanked from sleep. So we good-naturedly abused the administration for awhile, while waiting for the OK from the Very Important People gathered at the building. Someone go tup on stage and started counting us. There were only 35 people in the auditorium. That's like one floor of one building. There are 4 buildings in Massell, each with 4 floors. So there were a lot of people missing. But no way to determine if everyone who shoudl be in the building was in fact safe from the "fire". The guy counting us muttered "Typical Brandeis." My friends and I looke dat each other and were like, "Why are we here again??" Hahahaha. Oh right, because it's amazing. Except that if there actualyy was a fire we might all die.
Oh well.
We walked bakc to Massell, past the important people party outside Renfield (all uniformed and talking improtantly into walkie talkies. VEEERRRYYYY impressive).
Sleep at that point was a lost cause. Trishna had somehow made it back to the room before me, and she and I both established that we needed showers. So a mad dash ensued to get to the showers before they were taken ("Go go go! This is an emergecny drill! Go go go!"). And the guys in our hall now think we are insane thanks to our clad-only-in-towel hallway dashing. Fun times. :)
Ok, so first of all I just have to say that I have been feeling icky for a few days, so the night before the above-mentioned atrocity I decided to put myself into NyQuil sleep. Which for me is akin to being dead.
So 11 a.m. I am dead asleep on my top bunk. Both Ilana and Trishna are in class (my first one on Wednesday is not until 1:10). Then,
THE FIRE ALARM GOES OFF.
FML. BML. WHATEVER.
I stagger out of bed, put my thougts in order enough to realize that I need real pants (not the tie dye boxer shorts I was wearing) and a sweatshirt (to hide the scandalous Shakespeare t-shirt that shows off my...well everything). Realize, that I also had to manipulate the ladder to get down from my bunk bed. All without dying! It was quite impressive.
Continuing. So the alarm is blaring like..I don't even know how to describe it. All the demons of Hell are screaming bloody murder. that's the sound. And I am half asleep staggering around. No one seems to be in my building. So I go outside, and see what must be half the Waltham police force and Bemco (Brandeis Medical..Co..). And a Waltham firetruck (aka a 15 seater van with FIRE SAFETY tattoed on the side. No lie). Someone tells me to go to Spingold (the theatre), so I stagger in that direction, wincing at the sunlight and the noise and just pissed to be awake ( my alarm was set for noon.).
** The sucky part of this fire drill is that it was jsut Massell Quad and 2/3 of them were in class anyway. So there was not a huge migration of people headed to a certain place that I could follow. I was much more on my own. No idea what to do. Yay for organization.**
So I made it to Spingold. Once inside I found a few of my hallmates, most of whom had also been rudely yanked from sleep. So we good-naturedly abused the administration for awhile, while waiting for the OK from the Very Important People gathered at the building. Someone go tup on stage and started counting us. There were only 35 people in the auditorium. That's like one floor of one building. There are 4 buildings in Massell, each with 4 floors. So there were a lot of people missing. But no way to determine if everyone who shoudl be in the building was in fact safe from the "fire". The guy counting us muttered "Typical Brandeis." My friends and I looke dat each other and were like, "Why are we here again??" Hahahaha. Oh right, because it's amazing. Except that if there actualyy was a fire we might all die.
Oh well.
We walked bakc to Massell, past the important people party outside Renfield (all uniformed and talking improtantly into walkie talkies. VEEERRRYYYY impressive).
Sleep at that point was a lost cause. Trishna had somehow made it back to the room before me, and she and I both established that we needed showers. So a mad dash ensued to get to the showers before they were taken ("Go go go! This is an emergecny drill! Go go go!"). And the guys in our hall now think we are insane thanks to our clad-only-in-towel hallway dashing. Fun times. :)
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Miss Me?
Well that's really too bad now isn't it? :P (that's a smiley face with its tongue sticking out)
AAAAnyway, Brandeis is extra super mad wicked fantastic. Fall is descending on the campus. The air is cool, but the sun is warm. It's the kind of weather that makes you think the trees should be on fire with all the colors of autumn..but they are still green. I guess Massachusetts trees are made of stronger stuff than their WV counterparts. This little chill does not change their colors just yet.
I have been busy busy busy which is why I have been epically failing at posting regularly on this thing. My life for the past week or so has been taken up with homework, friends, set-building (I'll elaborate in a sec), and adventuring into Boston. Harvard Square to be exact. Yes, I went inside the Harvard gates and pretended I was a student there. Was tempted to get a t-shirt, but came to my senses. I LOVE BRANDEIS! haha, my loyalty remains strong. Damn Harvard elitists. :P
So set building. Brandeis does this wicked cool thing called the 24 Hour Musical. It's basically what it sounds like. Within 24 hours, a musical is cast, choreographed, learned, teched, and performed. It's crazy itnense and apparently the end result is typically HILARIOUS because no one knows what the F they are doing. Seeing as I do nto sing, I didn't audition. However my friend Emily was going to go paint sets so I decided to go with her. Super fun :) I went to bed around 2 covered in paint and sawdust (and whatever was in the paint filter...shudder...smelled like low tide. I didn't ask. Freshman got all the shit jobs.) the coolest part was that the theatre housing the show has a GRID! For all you non-tech theatre people, this means that there is space above the stage to hang set pieces for the purpose of flying them in and out during a performance. I got to go up on the grid and help tie things and untie things and let's be realistic I had no idea what I was doing but it was SO cool! So I am going to go see the show tonight. should be a great time.
(Side note, the Jake thing fizzled out. No worries. I wasn't that into it anyway.)
Getting slightly corny...I absolutely love Brandeis. Seriously, never have I felt such a deeply personal and all-encompassing connection to a place. The people, the academics, the location...everything. I don't even know how to describe it. Everyhting is perfect. Almost nothing makes me unhappy..I said almost because I am sure some smart-ass friend of mine will try to prove that wrong. But don't try. Because this is one of the most wonderful things that has ever happened to me. I will try to describe it...jsut...little things that are amazing.
Everyone holds the door for each other. Like, even if I am like 20 feet away from the building, the complete stranger in front of me will remain at the door until I am close enough to grab it. Everyone does this. Myself included of course.
People are so approachable. I was completely and totally lost on my way to a class the other day, and without even hesitating I asked the upperclassman in front of me how to get where I needed to go. No one has to be afraid of beign ridiculed for being a freshman, or for being different or for...well...anything.
My War and Possibilities of Peace class is one of those things almsot unique to Brandeis. The professor told us that almost all universities offer courses in war. Less than 4% offer courses in peace. Of course Brandeis would. How could they not? They are my dream school.
I guess my point is simply that Brandeis is absolutely the most perfect place in the world for me right now. And I am so thankful I was able to come.
AAAAnyway, Brandeis is extra super mad wicked fantastic. Fall is descending on the campus. The air is cool, but the sun is warm. It's the kind of weather that makes you think the trees should be on fire with all the colors of autumn..but they are still green. I guess Massachusetts trees are made of stronger stuff than their WV counterparts. This little chill does not change their colors just yet.
I have been busy busy busy which is why I have been epically failing at posting regularly on this thing. My life for the past week or so has been taken up with homework, friends, set-building (I'll elaborate in a sec), and adventuring into Boston. Harvard Square to be exact. Yes, I went inside the Harvard gates and pretended I was a student there. Was tempted to get a t-shirt, but came to my senses. I LOVE BRANDEIS! haha, my loyalty remains strong. Damn Harvard elitists. :P
So set building. Brandeis does this wicked cool thing called the 24 Hour Musical. It's basically what it sounds like. Within 24 hours, a musical is cast, choreographed, learned, teched, and performed. It's crazy itnense and apparently the end result is typically HILARIOUS because no one knows what the F they are doing. Seeing as I do nto sing, I didn't audition. However my friend Emily was going to go paint sets so I decided to go with her. Super fun :) I went to bed around 2 covered in paint and sawdust (and whatever was in the paint filter...shudder...smelled like low tide. I didn't ask. Freshman got all the shit jobs.) the coolest part was that the theatre housing the show has a GRID! For all you non-tech theatre people, this means that there is space above the stage to hang set pieces for the purpose of flying them in and out during a performance. I got to go up on the grid and help tie things and untie things and let's be realistic I had no idea what I was doing but it was SO cool! So I am going to go see the show tonight. should be a great time.
(Side note, the Jake thing fizzled out. No worries. I wasn't that into it anyway.)
Getting slightly corny...I absolutely love Brandeis. Seriously, never have I felt such a deeply personal and all-encompassing connection to a place. The people, the academics, the location...everything. I don't even know how to describe it. Everyhting is perfect. Almost nothing makes me unhappy..I said almost because I am sure some smart-ass friend of mine will try to prove that wrong. But don't try. Because this is one of the most wonderful things that has ever happened to me. I will try to describe it...jsut...little things that are amazing.
Everyone holds the door for each other. Like, even if I am like 20 feet away from the building, the complete stranger in front of me will remain at the door until I am close enough to grab it. Everyone does this. Myself included of course.
People are so approachable. I was completely and totally lost on my way to a class the other day, and without even hesitating I asked the upperclassman in front of me how to get where I needed to go. No one has to be afraid of beign ridiculed for being a freshman, or for being different or for...well...anything.
My War and Possibilities of Peace class is one of those things almsot unique to Brandeis. The professor told us that almost all universities offer courses in war. Less than 4% offer courses in peace. Of course Brandeis would. How could they not? They are my dream school.
I guess my point is simply that Brandeis is absolutely the most perfect place in the world for me right now. And I am so thankful I was able to come.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
You Know You're at a Dork School When...
1. The girl walking in front of you has the Pi symbol tattoed on the back of her neck
2. You mention Shakespeare and no one rolls their eyes and says "Shut up Hillary"
3. A happening conversation includes a debate over study habits
4. You stay up until 2 in the morning STUDYING. really. no party involved.
5. Everyone will freely admit that they love their classes and professors.
Those are just a few. But I am tired. Because, as point 4 says, I was up rather late last night. I guess I started out studying in the lounge area, then Trishna came in, then a whole bunch of other people showded up and our study party became a talk/massage/giggle party. It was fun :) And I did ultimately get my reading done. Yay!
Ah, for those of you who noticed my changed relationship status on Facebook and don't know the story, I will briefly enumerate the events. I met Jake, Jake and I hooked up, Jake and I are sort of dating. (hooked up=kissing. Calm down everyone.) So that's that.
Classes are fantastic. My final scedule looks like this:
Monday- 9-10am Cardio Workout
1:10-2 Biology of Deafness/American Sign Language
3:40-5 Haunted America
5:10-6 Iranian Revolution
Tuesday- 3:10-4:30 War and Possibilities of Peace
Wednesday- 1:10-2 Biology of Deafness
3:40-5 Hanuted America
5:10-6 Iranian Revolution
Thursday-9-10 Cardio Workout
1:10-2 Biology of Deafness
Friday-3:10-4:30 War and Possibilities of Peace
Sooo...that's about it. I love it here :) Talk more later!!!
2. You mention Shakespeare and no one rolls their eyes and says "Shut up Hillary"
3. A happening conversation includes a debate over study habits
4. You stay up until 2 in the morning STUDYING. really. no party involved.
5. Everyone will freely admit that they love their classes and professors.
Those are just a few. But I am tired. Because, as point 4 says, I was up rather late last night. I guess I started out studying in the lounge area, then Trishna came in, then a whole bunch of other people showded up and our study party became a talk/massage/giggle party. It was fun :) And I did ultimately get my reading done. Yay!
Ah, for those of you who noticed my changed relationship status on Facebook and don't know the story, I will briefly enumerate the events. I met Jake, Jake and I hooked up, Jake and I are sort of dating. (hooked up=kissing. Calm down everyone.) So that's that.
Classes are fantastic. My final scedule looks like this:
Monday- 9-10am Cardio Workout
1:10-2 Biology of Deafness/American Sign Language
3:40-5 Haunted America
5:10-6 Iranian Revolution
Tuesday- 3:10-4:30 War and Possibilities of Peace
Wednesday- 1:10-2 Biology of Deafness
3:40-5 Hanuted America
5:10-6 Iranian Revolution
Thursday-9-10 Cardio Workout
1:10-2 Biology of Deafness
Friday-3:10-4:30 War and Possibilities of Peace
Sooo...that's about it. I love it here :) Talk more later!!!
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