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I generally think of myself as fairly scientific, an inquisitive mind with a desire to stay skeptical, reach for objectivity, and play devil's advocate, but I think underneath all is an idealist. Please indulge me as I move away from anthropology into personal opinion for a moment;-).

I have always loved fairy tales, something that I realized anew as a result of this class. I think what I love about them are the principles and ideals in them- the courage of the hero or heroine, the danger, the struggle, the triumph, the discovery of what a person is made of, the stark honesty in how he/she acts under extreme pressure- I love it!! On a certain level of fancy, I think this is why I chose Bryn Mawr- the readings brought out some of the ideals that make my heart race and fill with pride. No, her history is clearly not perfect or completely without areas of disappointment, but the fact that this place began as an institution committed to challenging women to question and learn, and use these skills to effect change in the world- and is still doing so, makes me confident that I came to the right place. I think as much as each of us takes the responsibility of making the most of our education, we can uphold this standard and meet this expectation- a challenge that I try to constantly remember. This reading confronted me a bit on my cavalier attitude towards learning that I seem to have slipped into and has made me eager to voraciously attack my subjects rather than passively just existing during my short time here.