Spring Is So Wonderful!

A recent theme of the Admissions Blog page has been the high that is spring term. While it might come off sort-of overly positive, it’s the truth! After surviving the Minnesota winter, spring term is the time to celebrate. Not to mention the sheer increase in the ability to spend time outside! If there’s one thing that’s universally true about us Carls, it’s that we love to get outside as much as humanly possible.

On a more personal level, this spring term has been really really wonderful for me. This year has been a year of change—last fall, I went on an Off-Campus Studies program in the south of France that genuinely changed my life (beautiful pictures here). I’ve spent the last two terms trying to carry the lessons I learned there into my life at Carleton. Don’t get me wrong, winter was lovely in its own right, but this spring I’ve felt settled in a way that I haven’t felt in a really long time. I owe a lot of that to Carleton itself: the people, the opportunities, and the place.

Here’s some of the best parts of my spring term routine, and how it’s become a part of one of the best years I’ve ever had.

Getting Active (and Silly)

One of the best parts of this term was finding time to really unwind outside of classes. Winter term, my primary silliness time was spent in the DJ booth at KRLX, Carleton’s radio station, where “it’s always better on the bottom!” My friend (and fellow admissions blogger) Leo and I had a show called Massholes Take On Minnesota where we reflected on our favorite parts of growing up in the great state of Massachusetts. The show was extremely early every Saturday morning, and the cozy inside time was the perfect way to start a weekend. We used our airtime well and got extremely silly with it. Did you know that Bruno Mars doesn’t label his music as explicit? Our deepest apologies to the Northfield listeners for the occasional panic when we had to censored swears on air.

But this term demanded a new kind of silliness. Gone are the days of hiding from the cold in the basement of Sayles. It’s time for Synchrony, Carleton’s favorite non-audition dance group where silliness is the name of the game. One of my friends choreographed for an incredible mash-up of Kesha’s greatest hits. We did, in fact, get extremely silly with it. We even made incredible feather earrings and matching t-shirts in the Makerspace! (We also danced with fellow admissions blogger Jess, more on his Synchrony experiences here and here!)

Finding time in my schedule to truly unwind has become an awesome part of my routine. Especially when classes get stressful, it’s so important to take time to get silly.

Classes that Rule

This term has also been an awesome term academically! I’ve been taking French, Geology, and Art History classes. French has been an unexpected endeavor for me—in fact, one of my first blogs was all about taking Spanish at Carleton. The opportunity to study multiple languages wasn’t something I ever expected to do, but I’ve really learned to value my language classes as a new way to stretch my brain. I’ve felt similarly about Geology. I talk more about Geology in my blog post on the craziest classes Carleton made me take, but it’s actually become a really welcome part of my week because it allows me to get outside!

The highlight of my term academically has hands-down been all of the art history I’ve been working on. I’m currently enrolled in The History of Art History, the department’s methods course, and as part of this class, students write their own research proposal. Not only is it preparation for Comps, but it gives Art History majors/minors an opportunity to work on something they’re interested in. It’s been an awesome process that I’m excited to keep working on, and I might start wearing a shirt that says “ask me about Paul Gauguin.”

Togetherness, Togetherness, Togetherness!

The absolute best part of this term has been time spent with friends and family. I hope we all understand why these things make life better, so I’ll just show you with pictures instead of waxing poetic.