But first, a quick introduction. My name is Madeleine Colvin and I'm a third-year student at Pomona. As this post's title indicates, I'm not in Claremont, but in Kunming, China, where I am spending the fall semester abroad at Yunnan University. While essentially everything I see/hear/smell/eat here is remarkably different from Claremont, here are some more obvious standouts (in...
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A Day in the Life (Abroad)
I'm Madeleine, a Pomona junior spending the fall semester abroad in Kunming, China. Here's a little taste of my average weekday:
7:00- If I wake up this early, I like to go down to Cuihu Lake where exclusively old people practice Tai Chi, their Chinese opera skills, embroidery, dancing, etc. I am a Chinese grandma at heart, so I feel especially at home here.
7:45- Wak...
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Nowhere Near Completion: The End of Summer
Of all the words buzzing around my still-embryonic and, thus, still-optimistic thesis research - which, now, can be best characterized as a heap of mistreated books, fingertip-oiled keytops, and looseleaf essays-that-I-should-have-read-electronically-but-printed-so-I-could-scribble-academic-nonsense-on-them - there are a few that linger a bit longer, that resonate in a higher r...
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A Meditation on Culture/Internationalism
Drip.
I sigh as I brush my damp hair out of my eyes.
Drip.
Another sigh.
Drip.
“Where’s that sound coming from?” My hand moves to my forehead again as I get up from my prone position.
A flash of light. The sound of rain pattering violently on tile.
“Ah.” I shuffle wearily to the window. “That’s where the drip came from.”
“About time,” my mom grumbles in ...
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Good Vibes
Today marks seven weeks of my marathon of dance intensives this summer; I spent three weeks at the American Ballet Theatre in New York and next week I will finish my fifth week at Foster Dance Studio in Chicago. ABT’s curriculum was heavily focused on ballet technique; we rarely ventured out of the bun-head realm. But at Foster, our classes include jazz, modern, and contemp...
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Receptions Galore in DC
There's so much to do in DC -- for tourists that is. Personally, I think I'm a local by now, having spent 10 weeks in the district last summer, a few weekends throughout the school year, and three weeks this summer so far. With that being said, it should almost be a given that I have been to the White House (both outside and inside), the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Mem...
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Discarding Convention: Embodying the Liberal Arts
We, earnest advocates and defenders of the artes liberales, are destined for a crossroads; whether it is acknowledged or avoided or completely suppressed, it is there before us - a critical intersection, where all undergraduates invariably converge, where the "real world" becomes visible on the L.A. horizon.
Some Pomona students - those of optimistic tendencies - imagine thi...
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Scared on the Front Desk
Ah, the front desk. I have an interesting relationship with the front desk at the admissions office. Juanita, the receptionist at the front desk, truly makes it look easy. She is so calm transferring calls, greeting people and filing paperwork. Going into the summer, I knew I’d have to work the front desk a couple times when Juanita is on vacation. It seemed simple enough. At l...
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If You Give a Mouse a Lysolecithin Injection…
She may lead you to a cure for multiple sclerosis (I work with female mice).
The world of scientific research captivated me the summer prior to my first year at Pomona College. I found a summer research internship through the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center to gain first-hand perspective with a research setting. I worked my mentors to investigate drug combinations for T-cell leu...
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Getting Adjusted
Ok, well, I have a couple of weeks under my belt now, and I think I might be getting the hang of things. Well, I mean, hopefully I’m getting the hang of things. While the first couple of weeks as a Senior Interview have been incredibly informative (think information sessions and tours at all the 5-C’s), I’ve found that I’ve definitely still had my fair share of slip-ups…
Wha...
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