Week 13--Bryn Mawr's Story

In class on Tuesday Anne began talking about the posts on BM culture and stating that she felt that there was a sense of goodbye in many of them. I found this interesting, as I being one of the ones who posted saying goodbye, feel a need to do so at the end of a project, relationship….etc. Anne only stayed on the goodbye topic for a matter of seconds which I found interesting. Our society places much pomp and circumstance on our final goodbyes in death to loved ones at funerals, but it seems to me at the end of something we work on intensely in our lives we just move on, not acknowledging the other people who have traveled with us on the journey, or not acknowledging our own places we have come from and where we have landed…we do not give power to endings, to closure, to new beginnings. We just move on.

We spoke about Bryn Mawr culture and the disabling or enabling affects. Some students felt social difficulties and others felt academic difficulties due to BMC culture. Some students shared personal experiences of how they finally chose to come to Bryn Mawr College and their struggles with actually getting to Bryn Mawr College. We talked about the Summer School program for Women Workers that M. Cary Thomas started and how it impacted the three McBride students in the class.  Anne educated us on the Posse Program and how it began.

In my opinion, in comparison to other classes, I felt there was“quietness” amongst the women. I know for me it is hard to say goodbye though I know I will see most of you again on campus, in the library, in another class, or in the next dorm room over, but it will never be the same, intimate group situation we experienced in Storytelling as Inquiry.  

As I read about how Bryn Mawr was the more I wonder about what Bryn Mawr could be. There are many things I appreciate about being here- and many things I am learning about myself. I wonder though, if Bryn Mawr is disabled as a school and as a culture by its own prestigious history. 

Is Bryn Mawr is floundering in this modern world where life doesn't revolve around the Classics? Maybe we are too deeply entrenched in the academic world to be able to look around and see whats important.

I think this school could return to its old place in the minds and hearts of the general poplace- we just need to rethink some old ideas.   

In November of last year, I had no idea where I wanted to go to college, or even where I wanted to apply. Since both my parents work full time it was pretty difficult to even get the chance to visit schools, so my mother hired a woman whos job it was to help find the right colleges for people. Her name was Ann and she was very helpful. I told her I wanted a small school, I wanted to do Archaeology, and that I didn't want to move too far away. She suggested Bryn Mawr which I was a little hesitant about at first due to the all girls thing. My brother went to Swartmore, so I knew of BMC, but I hadn't actually visited. He took me to look at Swat and Haverford but not BMC. Of course, when I did visit Bryn Mawr for the first time, 5 days before the early decision application was due, I fell in love with it. This school has history, an excellent reputation and it felt like home.

I have to say I absolutely adore Bryn Mawr. There are very few things that agrivate me about it. I love the campus (though it would be nice to not live so far away in Brecon) the people are all very nice, classes are challenging and I feel that the education I get here will really help me make a difference in the world. Bryn Mawr has produced outstanding women, and I intend to do my best so that I can some day be one of them.

This last set of readings was extremely well arranged to conclude the semester. The first reading was simply captivating with its great detailing of Bryn Mawr’s rich history. It made me both proud and excited to be a Mawrter and it also led me to view the pieces about the Bryn Mawr Summer School for Labor in accordance with my own affinity for the school.

You see, from my perspective, I always thought Bryn Mawr was the type of school that you only attend if you really want to be here because: a) it’s difficult; b) it’s a women’s college; c) it’s very…quirky; d) it’s expensive. That does indeed seem to be it’s legacy based on the first reading. And from the second reading I was able to confirm my belief about education that says that the best educational experience is one with people who genuinely wish to be experiencing it. This is why, when I hear that people are dissatisfied with BMC, I become a little upset because not only is their educational experience compromised, but so is mine. There are few things more discouraging to the learning process than a person who has no interest in being there, and thankfully I’ve run into a relatively small amount of those people. I feel almost as if our CSEM is a good example of an environment comparable to that of the eager female laborers in the Bryn Mawr Summer School. Although we are not quite in the same situation, I still feel that, for the most part, we are a group of young women who are really excited about learning and have immense potential to make a  difference in the world.  

                People become more emotional at night than in the morning.  While reading my dearest people's posts, and remindnig myself of that this is the last post of CSEM (although I will continue to come back and post even after graduation as an alumnae), I cannot resist being emotional.  My roommate who started a trend of shedding tears is on her bed.  Sleeping Beauty, Bell, and Cinderella in the poster that she brought after Fall Break are smiling at us.  It's still amazing how we became dwellers in an extremely narrow, 80F degrees room on 4th fl of Merion.  So nervous of handing in the first CSEM paper on time, we woke each other up in the morning.  So amazing that I've met every one of you! 

                    Living in the oldest building, it was so interesting to read the history of Bryn Mawr from the foundation of each dormitory to summer school.  During open campus, I sat in Calculus class to experience the academic envionment at Bryn Mawr.  And I wondered if Park Science Building was built/donated by a Korean because most Koreans' last name is Park.  (I used to think Linkin Park was Korean too) But It's presumptuous to conclude it that way.  Back in the time, there was no Korean, not even one.  So, it didn't make sense, but that was one of my thought while reading this.

                    Bryn Mawr was my dad's first choice.  His co-worker's daughter went to Bryn Mawr, and during my senior year, she handed me "361 best colleges" by Princeton Review to my dad to study into varieties of American schools.  My dad circled the name of Bryn Mawr College in red sharpie marker.  When I sat down to write my college application, I was moved by the system of Bryn Mawr college application fee.  The college gave me an option to donate the application fee to any charities.  No other colleges offered such a practical, ethical, and beautiful way to receive the application fee. 

                    After submitting all my applications to about 10 colleges, I heard several interview requests.  Most interviews were held at Starbucks.  With all my interviews done, Bryn Mawr interview was the last one.  I would not have requested interview for Bryn Mawr if I had not seen the charity option of submitting a college application fee.  Unlike formal interviews of other colleges, I sincerely wanted to meet the alumnae in person and desperately wanted to know about the college.  Bryn Mawr's interview was located in some building in Manhattan.  Very impressive!! I was hillariously happy that it was not Starbucks any longer.  The formal location of interview, and very polite receptionist smiling at me were very impressive.  Bryn Mawr's special from the beginning.

                 My interviewer, who is now a graduate in NYU, majored in mathematics and psychology at Bryn Mawr.  I told her the dwarf story when she asked me why I wanted to study pre-med and become a doctor.  I was nerve-breaking and could not think of an English word, dwarf, while telling a 'dwarf story.'  But she understood me.  So many episodes during that interview.  Thank her, I made it and sitting in CSEM class telling people the dwarf story.  (still nervous to think of words, most of words are the results of slips of the tongue, though. haha)

                I love Bryn Mawr (to shorten my elaborate sentimental history)  It's a perfect place for me to truly be myself.  I love you all. 

I know only a few people have posted, but most of the postings seem focused on the author's "Coming to Bryn Mawr" story: how they came to be here, how they felt about coming here, and the reactions of their friends and family. Seeing how most of our reading focused on how Bryn Mawr was begun, this makes sense.

I too am compelled to share my story:

Because of my relationship with my parents, in preparation for the college application process I completely ignored any schools nearby- I flat out refused to even think about UPenn, Drexel, and even Bryn Mawr. Swarthmore was my only concession to the wealth of colleges in the Philadelphia area.

I was familiar with Bryn Mawr: my aunt is an alum, and my mother's best friend is the modern dance instructor here and often requests my mother's aid in creating costumes for the fall and spring dance shows. I often would come with Mom to bryn mawr to snip threads and take measurements.

What this came down to was I simply did not want to consider bryn mawr as a viable choice for my college life.

This changed a few days before the due date for bryn mawr's application: my father convinced me to apply for his sake. Not even to consider the college itself, just to apply to see if I would get in. I agreed, but with some reservations. I still wasn't interested in attending bryn mawr.

After the chaos was over, I hadn't been accepted to my top two choices Cornell and Wesleyan. I did, however, have several good options in my safety schools Drexel, University of Delaware, and Temple. I had been accepted to Bryn Mawr but STILL felt unsettled at the thought of actually attending.

Something strange happened when I attended Accepted Student's weekend, though. I knew that I was comfortable at bryn mawr, that I felt at home and accepted even before I had decided where to go. However, being stubborn, I refused to admit it outloud to myself or anyone else. It was inconceivable for me to let myself think that I could succeed at bryn mawr.

I eventually ended up choosing bryn mawr based (as I thought, anyway) soley on financial aid. I still felt unsettled two weeks before Customs Week began.

It wasn't until I really began packing that I realized that I was looking forward to going to bryn mawr, that I was excited about not just the academics but the campus, these women, the environment, the dorms, the activities, everything.

Ever since I decided to let my desires be heard, I have been ecstatic to return, sad to leave, glad to have, joyously celebrating the freedom and community that Bryn Mawr has given me. There is nothing else in my life that can compare to how I feel about this college as a whole. this is something that I don't really feel that my parents understand: they see bryn mawr as only a very good an academic institution. I know this assessment to be lacking in several areas, but I do not argue.

I rather enjoy keeping my happiness to myself. It lets me treasure my "mistake" all the more.

Elisa

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 think it's interesting to see the beginning of this school. I think a lot of people like to think of their schools as having a good, honest beginning. And, most schools just don't have that.

At Bryn Mawr we like to play up the fact that Katherine Hepburn came here. From the sources that I have read, Hepburn really didn't like Bryn Mawr. It seems that it was similar to the way that it started out: a school for rich girls.

That really stuck out to me when reading about our school that even though we had a lesbian, super liberal, female president, money was such an important aspect to the school. And apparently she spent it lavishly.

I feel like I can still see a little bit of the rich beginnings that started this school. Certainly, it is not in to the degree that it was, but I have noticed that most of the women that come here have grown up in an upper-middle class environment (me included) and many have gone to private school.

It's just interesting to see the differences and similarities from our school's beginning to the present.