Positive experiences come in endless supply throughout the whole of the year, but there is something unmistakably special about the end of the semester here at Swarthmore. Amidst the exams and essays, I always find my calendar uniquely full of new, exciting plans with friends, fun adventures, and countless extracurricular events.
This semester, I am registered for 4.5 credits worth of courses–First-Year Japanese, History of the Black Body, Children’s Fiction Books, and American Politics. Children’s Fiction concluded earlier this semester, with our final project being the presentation of a piece of self-written children’s literature. Japanese is primarily exam-based, with an upcoming oral and written exam, along with a performance at the department’s karaoke party. Interesting dichotomy, I know. American Politics has an exam-based final, so my friends and I have planned a couple of study sessions at Hobbs, the coffee shop in the Ville (town of Swarthmore), for that. Finally, History of the Black Body has an eight-pager due this upcoming week, then a semester-long final paper that “should be able to be published in an undergraduate history journal.”
Contrary to popular belief, however, less of my day is spent working than it is building fond memories. This past Friday, my friend and I took the SEPTA to Jefferson Station to watch Wicked: For Good. On Saturday, two of my close friends and I went to a Board Game Cafe in University City. Today, I attended a brunch and book exchange with the “Plato” group chat members, attended a performance of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ GLORIA by some members of the senior class, and visited the Philadelphia winter night market with the Amos J. Peaslee Debate Society. This coming week, too, is full of plans of ice-skating near Old City, attending extracurricular banquets for Youths for Innocence, Fencing, and Debate, and having daily one-on-one dinners with different friends. The following week’s itinerary? Gingerbread house making and a group hot-pot trip with some friends from the fencing team. The most serious of activities, I am aware.
Various photos from this weekend: the Wicked movie, the GLORIA play, shopping at Lunch-Break Vintage, dinner at Board and Brew, the SEPTA to Philly, and various treats from the winter market.
Historically, many of the most unforgettable moments of my college experience have always seemed to come about around the end of the semester. The final weeks of last spring were filled with trips to Philadelphia and Media, PA, friendship dates to the Cheesecake Factory, and going to different concerts in the greater Philly area. I recall thrift shopping, going to banquets, planning picnics, and being filled with an overwhelming sense of satisfaction for how the semester went. My freshman fall finals week, too, consisted of one-on-one walks through the campus’ Crum Woods, visits to the various art museums in Philadelphia, attendance at friends’ board game nights, and doordashing Dominos to the Science Center, eating WAY too much pizza at two in the morning, and talking about nothing in particular. Conversations like those, I think, are what I love most about this time of the semester.
Last week of freshman winter: art museums, Philly trips, late night pizza/convo, and fencing (with an audience)
Last week of freshman spring: Chinatown dinner, performing in my first Swarthmore play, cheesecake factory trip, my not-so-real-jellycat from an RA’s picnic event, and the Crane Wives’ concert
As I sit here pseudo-writing my final essay about anti-draft rallies for my History of the Black Body course (which is INCREDIBLY interesting, by the way), I remind myself of just how grateful I am to have ended up where I am. From the very beginning, Swarthmore has always felt like a second home: warm, comforting, and so full of grace. So, as I begin planning which clothes are going to be packed for winter break, my heart remains incredibly full with the incredible memories that this semester has brought. I truly believe that there is no place I would rather be right now than here, in the vaguely lit Cornell basement typing this blog post that I could never have imagined writing two years ago. Community shines all around, and the shenanigans of the semester’s conclusion only help to better illuminate it. It is life-changing.
