Hi friends, welcome back to the blog! I recently realized that so far, this semester has included a lot of new, unexpected experiences. And what better place to reflect on (and yap about) these experiences than a personal blog dedicated to talking about my life here at Amherst College?! As a side note, the photo I used for the cover photo of this post is nothing out of the ordinary; the town of Amherst is just really beautiful. But anyway! Without further ado, here are some of the out-of-the-ordinary adventures I’ve had over the past three-ish weeks.
Last Thursday, Amherst College had a snow day!! Naturally, instead of making the smart decision to stay inside or cozy up by a fire or catch up on some homework, my friends and I decided to go sledding. Memorial Hill is pretty much an ideal sledding location; there’s a path that cuts across the hill to sled down, and the hill leads to the baseball field so you don’t have to worry about accidentally sledding into a building. The hill itself is also steep enough to get a decent amount of speed. Lucky for me, my friend’s roommate knew someone with an actual sled, but I also saw a ton of people sledding on flattened cardboard boxes. There were also a few skiers and snowboarders, which was very entertaining to witness. In the picture to the left, my friend and I are preparing to make our descent. Miraculously, we managed to not completely wipe out, and only ended up being covered in a (fairly) moderate amount of snow. It was really cute to see everyone outside and enjoying the snow, and overall, it was an unforgettable day.
This semester, I’ve had the chance to take a class in the Five College Consortium for the first time! For anyone who may not know, one of the lovely things about being a student at Amherst College is that you are also able to take classes at any of the other four schools in our consortium: UMass Amherst (the flagship campus of the Massachusetts state school), Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and Hampshire College. So, this semester, I am taking Intro to Latino/a Literature at UMass. But Emiliana, you may be wondering, what does a photo of a mysterious green drink have to do with taking a class at UMass? Well, let me tell you. There are a lot of things I’ve been really enjoying about taking a class at UMass so far: My class is really interesting, my classmates have all been extremely kind, and it’s just cool to take a class on a completely different (and much larger) campus. However, an aspect of this experience thus far that I hadn’t expected—but really love!—is the absurd number of cafes on UMass’s campus. During my mission to find a new study spot every time I’m on campus, I discovered this coffee shop that sells “wildflower honey matcha boba”. Yes, I am aware that the name is quite the mouthful, but the drink was so so yummy! Class at UMass has been a great new experience so far, and I look forward to taking full advantage of all that the campus has to offer (including/especially its cafes).
And finally, another out of the ordinary experience for me this semester was the Super Bowl. For the record, this was definitely not my first time watching, and I am well aware that it happens every year. However, it was my first time watching it in my friend’s suite, and since it was such a lovely experience, I felt like I had to include it. While college life can often seem like such a distinct change from life at home, the common room of this suite is so homey and cozy. Watching the Super Bowl on the couch with my friends while eating Domino’s and laughing at the Christmas tree still up in the room felt like such a home away from home, and was absolutely one of my favorite Super Bowl memories I’ve ever had.
Well, I hope you all enjoyed my little recap of some recent out of the ordinary adventures. As always, if you have any questions about Amherst College, I’d love to hear from you all! My email is eknauer27@amherst.edu. Okay, bye for now!