What is there to do when it snows at Skidmore?

Snow at Skidmore is beautiful and SUPER FUN! Snowball fights and snowman building on the main green is a favorite. There are Ski mountains close by so some people go up there. There are lots of places for sledding, and in Febuary when there is a ton of snow the Student Government Association puts on a big bonfire with hot chocolate and fireworks. It's great! The town also has a winter festival with hot chocolate and cider, and the street is all lit up. They have carolers and reindeer too!!!! The snow doesn't keep us from going out and having fun!

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Made it Out Alive!

We Finished The Maze In A Record 42 minutes!

     It has been a while! I've been in midterm mode, but I am finally out. I finished my Organic Chemistry exam this morning, and now I have time to relax and prepare for Halloween. WOOHOO! Elle Woods from Legally Blonde is one of my inspirations so to pay tribute, I will be dressing as her. Don't worry, I will take pictures :) Since fall will be gone soon, I have been making sure to celebrate it fully. Last weekend Gab, Emily, Madi, Rafie, Johnny, and I had our first annual "Fall Day." We went to Saratoga Apple in the morning to pick apples, drink cider, and eat cider donuts. THEY WERE DELICIOUS. The apples that we picked we obviously took home, and now they are sitting in my room. I don't have to go to dhall to get an apple quickly...it's great! After apple picking, we went to Elmswood Farms to do the "aMAIZEing Corn Maze" and pick pumpkins. It was such a fun weekend. There were also bunnies at the farm which everyone knows are my favorite :) Moorbid Ball is this weekend and I cannot wait for all the other Halloween Festivities! I'll keep you updated on all the fun I have and candy I eat this weekend hahaha
Love always, Emmeline

ZOMBIES

     Last night I went to see our theatre departments blackbox show called "Pilgrims of the Night." It was very well done, and the playwright, Lee Jenkins, was in attendance! The set transformed the black box into a ferry terminal. The normally black floors were painted to resemble wood perfectly, and hanging from the ceiling were panels that framed the playing space to look as if there was a roof above them. The plot line is centered around a group of people stuck at a ferry terminal for the night, and in order to pass time they each take turn telling stories. While the ferry people are telling these stories, the stories then come alive for the audience. While the show was incredibly funny (there was a scene with a very complicated zombie dance) there were also some quite touching moments. In the end the play really showed the power of telling stories and encouraged the audience to go out and do the same. The show closes on Tuesday, but it was worth every penny. I may be going back tomorrow...Love always, Emmeline

Blurry Vision

Me Wearing My New Glasses!!!

  
     My life is hectic at the moment. My hours are filled with preparing for exams next week, writing pages of post-lab work, sewing costumes for the upcoming theatre department shows, selling tickets for the upcoming theatre department shows, planning events for the education club, writing papers about China.........I could go on, but I'll stop now. The point of that whole introduction was to make clear how stressful college life can be. If you come and walk around campus you will see smiling, happy faces walking around with strands of hair falling out after a night spent in the library. School is hard. It's a fact of life, but as of late I have been learning some key strategies for managing stress! Below is my list of ways to reduce stress whether you are a full time mom, a teacher, a student, a dad preparing to let his baby girl go to college, or just a plain, old, tired, super busy adult like me!
1. If you are having trouble seeing, but you think it's only because you're stressed, go to an eye doctor anyway. Turns out I needed glasses!
2. Inhale through your nose for 10 counts and exhale through your mouth for 6 counts. Repeat for 2 minutes.
3. Buy a coloring book and crayons. Disney Princesses, Dinosaurs...really it's your choice, but devote 5 minutes to just coloring in silence.
4. Weekly yoga. Skidmore has a yoga club that has hour long classes on Sunday. It's an excellent way to calm your mind and get in touch with your body.
5. DON'T PROCRASTINATE. Time management is key to success with minor stress :)
6. Take your vitamins. I have the gummy bear kind which makes taking my vitamins super fun!
7. Don't take yourself too seriously. If you take yourself too seriously then you forget to laugh and if you forget to laugh chances are you are not smiling which totally brings down your mood and makes you even more stressed.
8. Get enough sleep. Nobody likes a crabby pants, and you can't successfully get things accomplished if you keep dozing off in the middle of the day.
9. Exercise daily! You don't have to run a marathon or anything, but "exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy, and happy people just don't kill their husbands...they just don't." Yes, that was a quote from Legally Blond
10. Have faith and confidence in yourself. If you don't then nobody else will either.
Keep your chins up and have a wonderful, stressless (not a word, but that's okay) week!!!
Love always, Emmeline

"It's The Dawning of The Age of Aquarius"

Brittany, my sister, and I at HAIR!

     Friday night, I went to see the Homemade Theatre Company's production of Hair! It was excellent and the best part about it was that Skidmore students and alumni were involved. Emma Ayres, a first year student, was in the tribe and had many solos. I was impressed not only by her voice, but by how committed she was to her character. Skidmore alum, Chris Thomas, played the role of Claude while another Skidmore alum, Jaime Martinez-Rivera, assisted with the productions lighting design. Skidmore professors were involved as well! It was a fun show and had the audience engaged the entire time. It was great to see a piece of political theatre as well. Art is such a beautiful medium to use in order the make a statement. Current there is an art exhibit, Windows and Mirrors: Reflections on the War in Afghanistan, at our Wilson Chapel so I am very eager to check that out sometime this week.
     My sister was here for Celebration Weekend which was great! California to Albany was a long flight so I am really appreciative that she took the time to sit through that. Unfortunately, my upcoming week is crazy! This week is filled with preparation for my upcoming mid-terms and exams...all three a week from tomorrow...yikes! Well, I am off to the library to begin my week of studying. Wish me luck!!!
Love always, Emmeline

Days of D-Hall and Dorm Rooms

Part of college is spending  huge amounts of time in the dining hall and the dorms. Since many of you at home, and those of you checking in with me for the first time, have yet to see my dorm room I thought I would attach a video of it! Today was beautiful out so I actually didn't spend a whole lot of time in my room, but tonight is devoted to studying and reading which will take place at my lovely desk. Hope you enjoy my video :)Love always,
Emmeline

Do you ever get homesick? I am worried about missing my family are there opportunities for them to visit?

I definitely get homesick. I have a very close relationship with my family which made coming to Skidmore very difficult. That being said I found that Skype has been a great tool to help me stay in touch, and keeping busy with activities and really creating your own sort of "college family" really helps. Parent's Weekend is this weekend which is exciting -- My older sister is visiting Skidmore for the first time! Also, if your parents have time, there are long weekends that they can pay a visit. Homesickness is very common, but I think the most important thing to remember is that there are other people whoe end up feeling the same way. I've bonded with many friends over being homesick, and then we get together and come up with activities to get our minds off of it :)

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More Than Meets the Eye



Be Silly! College is Fun--Embrace It!!!

   I was sitting at Starbucks this afternoon and my new friend Tom came and sat with me for a bit. I met him last week at Starbucks and I was a little taken aback when he just came, sat at my table, and introduced himself. It was clear that Tom was intellectually disabled, but when I got to actually speaking with him he turned out to be highly interesting. Today, we didn't really talk about much, simply the sunshine and the caramel apple cider that we were both drinking. It was not a monumental conversation in any way, shape, or form, but it was one of those moments that made me embrace how happy I am to be alive. So often I get caught up in being irritated with the exam that's coming up, or the friend that won't return my calls, but really those are trivial little parts of what is an overall awesome life! I know my blogs lately have been fairly cheesy, but I almost lost a dear friend over the weekend and I implore you to really take the time to embrace life because all too soon it can be taken from you. Those who know me well know that I idolize Marilyn Monroe and the complexity of her life so I will leave you with her quote, “We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets.” -Marilyn Monroe
Love always, Emmeline

It's a Beautiful Day

Me and Gab being silly!

     It's easy to get wrapped up in the fast pace of college and forget to stop and smell the roses. I've been reminded lately that life is a beautiful gift, and unfortunately so many people lose sight of that. I'm thankful for my life, the opportunity to come to Skidmore, and the people I am lucky enough to call true friends.
   I'm happy that this week is over as it was filled with numerous exams and papers! This weekend is the all-college "Oktoberfest" weekend that is thrown annually by the senior class. Yesterday there were bouncy castles in the green and I was SOOOOO EXCITED! Tonight there is a semi-formal Victorian dance...I'm not sure what attire qualifies as "Victorian," but I'm excited nonetheless. Next week is the start of my work for the Skidmore theatre box office! The black box show, "Pilgrims of the Night," is very soon, and it turns out that the PLAYWRIGHT WILL BE IN ATTENDANCE for our show...OMG! Well, I'm off to give a tour!
Love always,
Emmeline

Dienstag!

I remember that much of my junior year of high school was spent in awe of my chemistry teacher. He went to Harvard, he tried medical school but realized he had more of a passion for teaching, he was an extremely talented baker, and he spoke German! My family comes from Norway and Ireland so I know very little about Germany and German culture except for what I’ve been told in history class. The language I’ve heard spoken a few times by my chemistry teacher and a couple friends, but that’s about it. When I called my mother yesterday morning and shared with her that I was planning to attend a German hip-hop concert she laughed and then said, “Emmeline, I admire that you always seem to branch out your interests.”

Part of college is experiencing things you may have never thought about before so last evening I walked over to the Skidmore Dance Theatre and witnessed the talent of two German DJs from Berlin. They mixed “DJ-ing” with rapping and threw in the beats of some of the U.S.’s top 40 music. It was a highly entertaining experience, but I was rather saddened by the lack of attendance. There were about 30 people total (one of those was my organic chemistry professor) and most of them were from the German class. Everyone there was super excited and participatory, but I think the event could have sparked much more interest if it was advertised more and placed in a venue like Falstaff’s. We were all encouraged to get up and dance on stage, but in a place the size of the dance theatre and with only about 30 other people it was kind of awkward to go to the front and “shake it.” On a Thursday night in Falstaff’s I could see the event being brilliant. The advertisement would have been better, attendance would have been up, and the student population would be ecstatic to have the opportunity to dance to some new beats! While I wish the concert had been set-up differently, I still enjoyed it. I got to meet new faces, sing and dance to German music, and have a far more upbeat Tuesday night than usual.

Liebe immer (love always), Emmeline

Summer is FALLing Away :)

Football with my Skiddies!!!

   
     The rain has been non-stop and the temperature has finally dropped which means that it must be fall! Last weekend a few of my friend and I took a road trip to the beautiful Adirondack Mountains and I was blown away by the vast amounts of leaves changing color. I never knew that so many shades of red, yellow, and orange existed!
    I've officially been back at Skidmore for one month and I am adjusting well. It was a tough start considering that my boyfriend decided that he wanted to end things, but the support of my friends and family has been great! My classes have been wonderful which also has helped. 9 hours of lab a week might seem overwhelming, but it has actually been quite exciting!!! My bio lab has really helped me delve into the mechanisms behind evolution and my organic chemistry professor has made the complicated world of organic chem into something fun and interesting so I can't complain! This coming weekend is the all-college Oktoberfest weekend so I'm preparing for all the fun. Karaoke night is Thursday and I am PUMPED!!!
    Love always, Emmeline