I'm done with my first final, and in three days I'll be done with all of them! Then I'm off to stay with some friends in Portland for a few days, before going to Vancouver and Seattle for a week, then home (where I will go up to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area for a few days, then down to Iowa to visit my grandparents, then stay home and start my job at my hometown's community center).
I think it's really cool to reflect on where I am now versus where I was at the beginning of this year, and where I was last year when I was at the beginning of my college career.
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| the first concert I went to, during my new student trip- I didn't know the band, but it was fun |
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| the most recent concert I've been to- Kimya Dawson and Paul Baribeau! |
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| last year I first experienced mushroom hunting when doing a research project for biology |
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| this year I went on a mushroom hunting trip with College Outdoors, along with nine other trips (three of them ones I student coordinated!) |
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| my friends liked dogs last year |
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| and my friends liked dogs this year (this is an important quality to have in a friend) |
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| my current roommates last year (before we were roommates) |
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| my current roommates now! We went out for brunch during reading days. |
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| studying for finals first semester last year |
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| studying for finals this year (I was studying, I promise I wasn't just sitting out in the sun) |
Other highlights from the year include:
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| breaking this board in self defense for women! |
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| the snow days! they were so pretty! |
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| getting Wilderness First Responder certification! (not real blood, that's stage makeup) |
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| getting to go on more College Outdoors trips, from the coast to the east side of the Cascades! |
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| getting better at ukulele (and getting to sit on the floor with a crown with a bunch of people behind me) |
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| doing more research for environmental studies, including researching people's perception of invasive species, and looking at justice surrounding the location of urban parks in Portland |
The list could go on- working with Symposium, taking on more leadership with ukulele orchestra, exploring more parts of Portland, on campus concerts and shows- It's been an amazing year, and every day I fall more in love with Lewis & Clark and with Portland. I have so many opportunities here, and I feel very supported by the faculty and staff of the college. There are so many creative, friendly, interesting people, and I am really grateful for the relationships I've made with the students and professors here. I have learned so many important things, both surrounding how I think and what I think about. This happens both in my classes, and in my extracurriculars. I'm going to miss the school and Portland this summer; I'm already looking forward to coming back in August. It's incredible how quickly these two years have gone by- I'm half done with my college career! Here's to the next two years!
If you have any questions, please email me at rekidder@lclark.edu. I will be checking my email this summer, and will respond!
-Rebecca