Here's a little bit about what I did this semester that wasn't related to classes or math!
Society of Women Engineers
I was SWE president this semester. We held a couple of events on campus, ran West Hall Open House during Candidates' Weekends, and were always at CW club fair. A lot of what we did this semester was really laying the groundwork for next year and figuring out what the role of SWE should be at Olin. Because Olin is about 50% women, we're in a different situation than a lot of other chapters, and because Olin has a club devoted to K-12 engineering education, outreach isn't one of our main activities like at other schools.
Olin Christian Fellowship and Babson-Olin Catholic Association
I was involved in both OCF and BOCA this semester. I went to OCF Praise & Worship and Lifegroup, and I attended BOCA mass and faith group. BOCA has also started having activities and discussions related to prison ministry, so a few of us worked on putting together prayer cards that could be used in prisons.
OCF made some good changes this year in terms of becoming more ecumenical and, in particular, being welcoming of Olin's Catholic community. At PWs, we sang both contemporary songs with guitar accompaniment and hymns with piano accompaniment. They also hosted some events to discuss faith and culture, including one this semester that was centered around food.
West Hall Third Floor Lounge
The lounges are a really important part of West Hall culture. If you take the standard Olin tour, the tour guide emphasizes this. The main stairs are built so that you have to go through the lounges as you go up, and lounges really are the center of West Hall social life. (In East Hall, suite lounges dominate the culture, and lounges are pretty empty.) Despite this, while I lived in West Hall I didn't hang out much in the lounges.
So, of course, the first semester that I lived in East Hall, I started spending a lot of time in one of the West Hall lounges. If I wasn't in class or in my room, the next best place to look for me was the WH third floor lounge (WH3L), and near the end of the semester I was more likely to be there than in my room. The rest of the WH3L group was first years, many of whom actually lived on the first floor, with a few sophomores. We watched tv shows and movies, worked, and generally hung out. It was a lot of fun, and I understand and appreciate lounge culture in a way I didn't before.
Church
I was really happy to be back at Christ Church this semester. For the first time since an all-church conversation in February 2014, the Strategic Team (of which I'm a member) met and did work this semester. We mostly focused on sharing space with another congregation. It looks like we should have a covenant for that to go forward by the end of the summer! I was appointed to Steering Team, which meets once a quarter. We too had a number of discussions around sharing space, but we also talked a lot about church finances and building maintenance, particularly after the rough winter. I'm really excited and a little nervous to be the lay delegate to Annual Conference in a couple of weeks.
We rang bells on Easter, and I sang in the choir on Easter and on one other Sunday. (I got to sing tenor!) I was liturgist a couple of times, and one Sunday in May I preached.
I also started going to the Tuesday night study group, which is really the only adult Christian ed at the church. We did a couple of different studies over the course of the semester, but what I appreciated most was getting to have faith discussions with a group that varied so widely in background and age. That was one of the things I had missed from my Disciple group the year before.
Por Supuesto
I loved Por Supuesto my first year, but it's been rough since then. Oscar was gone a lot, especially in the first month of the semester, for a variety of reasons this spring, last spring, and the fall before that. In some ways, I've never really gotten used to Por Supuesto without the class of 2013. My first year, I attended more consistently than almost anyone else, but that investment has fallen away. I'm probably not going to sign up for Por Supuesto in the fall. I might try another co-curricular. If I miss Por Supuesto, I can always just start going. Oscar would give me grief, but with Por Supuesto, registration is a formality. It's being there that really matters.
Babson Baseball
I went to a lot of games! Because of all the snow, there weren't any games at Govoni Field until April, so the season felt really short. As usual, though, it was fun, and it was an easy way for me to get out of the Bubble for a while.
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