Choose Wisely: Embrace Fear

Posted on by

So you want to study away. You’re stoked, but where should you go? The world is full of choices, and it’s overwhelming. I’ll narrow the field for you: you should study away in a developing country.

First, be fearless. Think of all of the places you’ve been to or would want to go on vacation. Now, cross them all out.

Chances are, most of the “first world” is now off your list. When I chose my study away location, I circled the parts of the world that were so foreign that I would almost certainly never visit them on my own, and I chose from those countries.

Continue reading →

Thank You Jesus! Tro-Tro

Posted on by

The door of the 15-seater van nearly falls off as it scratches along its track. The Mate hangs out and yells,
“ADUM-adum-adum-adum,”

A mass of bodies push into the Tro-Tro: Men in business suits, women in brightly colored swaths of cloth, a mechanic with half a transmission, kids in school uniforms. Before I, too, am swept into the van, I notice the bright yellow decal on the back window, “Thank you Jesus!” The door slams shuts.

Continue reading →

Take a Leave of Absence

Posted on by

In July, my internship in Mumbai wrapped up and I spent the next three and a half months touring India. By mid November, I was in Nepal. For Christmas, I joined my family in Peru, followed by a trek through Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador. At the time of writing, I am staying over in Olin while my visa for China processes, and by publishing time I’ll be in Shanghai to live, work and learn Mandarin.

Olin allows–no, encourages–its students to take time away from school. Your scholarship is valid for eight semesters in five years. That’s an implicit invitation that many students ignore, but that is a mistake. Taking a leave of absence makes you a better, more rounded person, makes you appreciate what you have here at Olin, and opens your eyes to a world of new experiences.

Continue reading →

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Posted on by

The lights come up on a formless landscape; two men sit, one flipping coins into the air, the other catching them. So begins the Franklin W. Olin Players’ magnificent production of Tom Stoppard’s absurdist comedy, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

Most of us are familiar with Shakespeare’s Hamlet – a tale of treachery and royal intrigue which examines such themes as suicide, misogyny, and tragic uncertainty – and many of us likely remember Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two peripheral characters who appear in three scenes, deliver a handful of lines, and are parenthetically killed off in the final act (oh yes, spoiler alert: at the end of Hamlet, EVERYONE DIES).

Continue reading →

Dr. Liu: March 2012

Posted on by

Wise Dr.,
I’m terribly unfortunate in the realm of dating. I’m irrevocably in love with my suitemate, but I don’t think he has any idea. He’s also dating a Wellesley chick, and I’m kind of in love with her too. What should I do?
-Confused in Canada

Dear Confused,
You should devise an elaborate scheme where you have one of your friends convince your suitemate that he is gay. He will break up with the Wellesley chick, who will find solace in your loving arms. Afterwards, your suitemate will realize that he is not in fact gay, feel dejected and forever alone, and also come seek sweet, sticky love in your room. You should also purchase a strap-on.
No, but really: this isn’t a serious question, is it? People don’t actually live in Canada, do they?

Continue reading →

Drowning in Attentions

Posted on by

This time last year, I was filling out the last of the application materials for my study away program, located in Rabat, Morocco. I knew it would be no walk in the park. The Arab Spring uprisings, threatening violence and upheaval even in typically stable Morocco, had me crossing my fingers that the program wouldn’t be cancelled before my flight took off. My advisor was against it, though she signed the papers amid talks of a “plan b” and “looking at options”. She may have known a little of what I would face, but for me there was no “plan b”. I didn’t want a walk in the park; I wanted a challenge-and I got one.

Continue reading →

A Safe Conversation Space

Posted on by

At the beginning of high school, I had the feeling I was gay, and I was very worried about this possibility. I had seen flamboyant gay men on TV and heard about bear culture [overweight, hairy gay men that are usually dressed in shiny black leather and chains] from friends who knew the internet. I did not feel that I had much in common with these people. I felt misrepresented and confused. If I was not “gay,” how could I be gay? By the end of the year, I was more convinced I was gay, and with this realization I had to resolve the disconnection between my idea of myself and what I knew about “gayness.”

Continue reading →

The Struggle for Good Enough

Posted on by

I was angry. I was right. And as usual, it didn’t make a bit of difference.

We were building a woodshed to earn our keep, and my father Rick and I were each adamant about our own, contradicting design decisions. My way would make the roof stronger. His would get the job done faster. Either way, our materials were poor salvage and the sun was too hot.

And Rick’s way was wrong.

Continue reading →

Announcing Extended BOW Shuttle Hours

Posted on by

Last semester, Thomas Dugger applied for a grant from the Mellon Foundation with a proposal to run a pilot of an extended shuttle service between Olin, Babson, and Wellesley Colleges.

With the money received from the foundation, extended shuttle services are being offered from Monday, January 30th until Sunday, February 19th. When riding during these extended times, please be sure to sign in—if there is enough demonstration of interest from students, the change may become permanent.

Continue reading →