One of the things I love about Swarthmore is the enjoyment I get from walking around campus. The changing seasons bring new vistas every day. The Arboretum has so many different plants, so that there is literally always something blooming from March to November. If I’m walking around at any time other than early in the morning, I have many chances to say hello to friends, classmates, and professors who cross my path. I appreciate being part of a small student body and seeing many familiar faces during my day. Finally, I like the fact that I’m getting good exercise!
This semester, my Monday schedule takes me from one end of campus to the other (and back again) and offers a nice glimpse into the variety of things I’m doing and learning. From morning to evening, I’m trekking back and forth, uphill and down, and having a pretty interesting day along the way. Here’s a tour of campus via my busy day…
8:00 am Leave Parrish
Rays of morning sun are slanting across Magill Walk as I leave my dorm. Parrish is the original campus building and houses the administration and admissions offices, as well as student housing on the upper floors. Some of the rooms have a view of the Philly skyline on a clear day or at night. I head down the hill to the Dining and Community Commons (DCC), the main dining hall on campus.
8:15am Breakfast in the Dining Center
There aren’t too many people in the Dining Center at this hour. My Monday is brightened as I’m greeted by name by the friendly woman who prepares my daily fried egg. She knows the name and order of every student “regular”.
9:00am Walk to Science Center
Now it’s time to start getting that exercise. It’s a bit of a hike uphill from the Dining Center to Parrish, and then I continue through Parrish and on to the Science Center, a building housing the Chemistry, Physics, and other Natural Science Departments and that borders Crum Woods on the North edge of campus.
9:30am Organic Chemistry II class
I’m attending the Orgo II class as a student helper, or “Alchemist”. This semester, the Orgo II Professor, Dr. Yang, has decided to use the “flipped classroom” model of instruction. This means that instead of students passively absorbing info while she lectures in class, they are exposed to the material before class, and then spend the class period engaging with problems and trying to apply what they’ve learned with guidance from the professor and the in-class peer assistants, “Alchemists”.
10:45am Walk to Dining Center or Science Center Cafe
I have to catch a quick, early lunch before my next class because it’s the last chance I’ll have to eat for a while. Depending on the menu for the day (posted well ahead of time on The Dash. I’ll either walk back downhill to the Dining Center or grab takeout from the Science Center Cafe. Here they serve sandwiches, salads, and Asian takeout from a local restaurant as well as a plethora of snacks and drinks.
11:30am Ballet III class
Refueled, I head to my ballet class in LPAC (Lang Performing Arts Center).
1:00pm Hustle to the Matchbox
After ballet, I can’t stick around to chat with my dance friends. I’ve got to quickly make the 7 min walk down to the Matchbox – our campus fitness facility – for my acting class. Luckily, it’s all downhill from LPAC because I’ve got to half-run to get there in time.
1:15pm THEA001 (Acting) Class
My acting class is somewhat unusual for a non-seminar class in that it meets once a week for 4 hours. (Seminars usually meet once a week for 4 hours.) For me, this would be a long time to sit still, but luckily we’re not doing much sitting. The professor is passionate about acting and we’re constantly trying new things. I’m well out of my comfort zone, but feel supported by my classmates. We get a snack break in the middle, and the time goes quickly.
5:15pm Hurry to Singer for Conservation Biology research meeting
It’s time to get a serious leg workout – all the way up-hill and to the opposite corner of campus to Singer Hall for a meeting with my Conservation Biology lab group. I went to Ecuador with this group last summer and now I’m helping to write a paper investigating the impact of urbanized environments on the toad microbiome. This short meeting is our weekly check-in.
6:15pm Walk to Chester Children’s Chorus (CCC) building for Math Coaching.
I head back down to the Chester Children’s Chorus building just off campus in the village of Swarthmore and enjoy an hour of working on math with my tutee who is a soprano in the Chester Children’s Chorus.
7:30pm Back to the Dining Center for dinner
With all the walking (about 4 miles total) and dancing and acting and thinking that I’ve done today, I’m definitely feeling hungry. I’ll seek out a friend to chat with over dinner in the DCC. Then I’ll either head back to my dorm, or to another favorite study spot to get some work done.
