Well, I survived my first semester of
college. It wasn't too hard! Here are some of the highlights and
things I've been up to, in no particular order:
- I wrote a research paper about women
in the sagas and how they are portrayed as powerful, a character type
that ought to exist more today. I didn't think I was the sort to read
into gender roles, but apparently I am. I am still struck by the
images of Gudrun, Brynhild, Gunnhilda, and Aslaug – powerful,
revengeful women, yet still sympathetic characters (not antagonists
like the Wicked Witch of the West or Maleficent) and heroines in
their own right. And it really did leave me wondering why I always
pretended to be male characters when I was little and played pretend.
Knights, heroes, captains... with the exception of Eowyn (and I would
have rather pretended to be Legolas or Aragorn when it came right
down to it), I was at a loss for strong female role models in popular
fiction. It certainly didn't bother me at the time, and no one ever
told me “Put down that sword, that's not a girl's toy!” But now I
find it food for thought nonetheless.
This is yet another reason the Hunger
Games series is so fantastic. A strong, emotionally stable warrior
heroine helps her sweet but weak and dependent (boy)friend Peeta
survive. (Hilarious and accurate article on this here.)
-I tried out for the UW women's
ultimate team, Bella Donna, and joined them! It's been a lot of fun
and I've learned a lot. It's also been pretty intense and hard to
manage with also doing fencing. Fortunately, I've managed to keep my
body in pretty good working repair and have had only minor issues
with the arches of my feet and my back playing up like usual. It's
always a trade-off between being in shape and wearing down one's
body, though I'd rather get more than enough exercise than not
enough.
-Fencing has gone well too. Since I
have no experience with fencing and it's not as competitive, it's
almost more of a social outlet. (Fortunately for me, since I
definitely couldn't handle two sports like frisbee.) A lot of my
favorite people are in fencing as well as this kid I'm dating
oh wait I guess I should say “my boyfriend” now. He said I should
write a blog post about him (egotistical, I know) but I don't know
how I can do that without sounding all gushy and stupid. Oh well. Let
it just be known that I am happy. Perhaps later when I'm more
comfortable with writing about my personal life I'll tell you all
about him.
-All of my priorities and things I
thought were important to me changed. I thought I was going to
college to figure out what subject fascinates me and to delve deep
into whatever that is, but my favorite memories from the past
semester are all very much social. I even have become less
introverted and need more time with people. Favorite moments include
3 am talk with friends, getting to know people at the beginning of
the semester, blanket forts in the basement, parties (which I hated
last year, remember?), goofing off at fencing, dressing up for
Halloween, sledding on Observatory Hill, and filming a group project
with some very silly friends. I have time to figure out what I want
to do, so this year is for shits and giggles and snowball fights.
It's been a time very much of figuring out who I am now that I'm not
living at home or in someone else's home in France, now that I have
the confidence to be me and the freedom to do what I feel like doing
and all the opportunity that comes with living on a very dynamic,
exciting social campus. And apparently that person is a happy,
somewhat impulsive, very active young woman by the name of Ikwe.
It's very strange to think about the
year 2013 as a whole. I felt like life started over when I got to
college, and I forget that I left France only 6 months ago. Studying
abroad is a chapter of your life that gets to be very separate from
everything else, almost like a whole different life. Coming to
Madison, I had already been away from home for a year and yet I had
just shut the door behind me on my experience in France, never
intending to look back. Essentially, I came with nothing, knowing no
one, having very few ties left to anything. And leaving Madison to
come back to California, as I waited for the bus to take me to the
airport, I realized that I have everything I could possibly want
here. A lot can change in a semester. It's true that the years pass
faster and faster as we get older, but to a certain extent this is
counterbalanced by how much change there is in life at this age. In
high school we don't see the years go by because they're all more or
less the same, but 2012 and 2013 both had so much change that a new
year seems like a new world.
I'm so pleased with where I am now that
I'm having a problem I have never had before: I don't want anything
to change and for once I'm not champing at the bit waiting for the
year to pass. I didn't even want to make a decision about housing for
next year because I just wanted to live with the exact same people in
Cole again. This unprecedented contentment with the present, of
course, doesn't mean I'm not excited for 2014: 2014 will have Israel,
an awesome second semester, hopefully working at French camp and
other summer shenanigans, and the first semester of sophomore year
living on the Scandinavian Studies floor. I hope it will be even more
awesome than the past semester has been. Cheers to the New Year! May
the year ahead of you hold adventure, learning, laughter along with
the occasional cathartic cry, serendipity and spontaneity, a healthy
sense of romance, late night heart-to-hearts, good books, and good
friends.