Spring 2009 Schedule... Or Lack Thereof...

Nothing excites me quite as much as perusing through Vassar's Catalogue and picking a set of courses each semester. The beginning of a semester is just so filled with possibilities! I know, I know, I'm a nerd.

I usually spend weeks finalizing my schedule, and this spring term will be no different. The problem is, there are just too many choices. Although I'm nearly finished with the requirements for my history major, I find myself drawn to half-a-dozen different history courses: Renaissance Europe, History of American Foreign Relations, Emergence of the Modern Middle East... my list stretches for pages in a Microsoft Word document on my desktop. And that's just one department! I'm also thinking of classes in Political Science, Art History and Economics.

All told, there are about 25 classes that I want to take, but I can only take five courses per term. Oy! What's a boy to do?

"The Era of Responsibility"

What a bang to begin the semester. As soon as students returned from a quiet month of Winter Break, attention quickly turned to President-Elect Barack Obama. The Vassar campus was ecstatic over today's Presidential Inauguration. I met my friend in the morning for a light breakfast at the Retreat, then headed to the Villard Room (a large multi-purpose room in the College Center). Several Vassar departments sponsored a large inaugural party, complete with a huge screen blasting CNN, speakers and of course, lots of free pizza. Everyone was there. I saw history professors, Buildings and Grounds Employees, students, administrative assistants and Security officers.

Unfortunately, I should have gotten there earlier. By the time my friend and I got to the door, Villard was already standing room only. People were crouched down in window sills and huddled on the floor to get a seat. Thinking fast, we ran over to Jewett—one of Vassar's recently renovated dorms, which sports a large screen TV in their lobby. We quickly scampered onto the floor in front of the TV just in time to watch history unfold. Obama's words were stirring:

"Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often, the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans....

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

The whole room burst out clapping and cheering to chants of 'Yes We Can' and 'O-BA-MA'—it was such a unifying moment. I thought back to earlier in the year, when I met my friends in that same Jewett parlor to watch all three presidential debates between Obama and John McCain, and then watched the election results live from the Miscellany News office. How far we've come. The energized Vassar campus was the ideal place to experience this unique and historic presidential election, from beginning to end.

Is Obama the next FDR?

One of the wonderful aspects of Vassar is its location—and not just because it's only 1.5 hours away from New York City. The Hudson Valley, designated a National Heritage Area by Congress in 1966, is full of historic and cultural attractions.

One of my favorites in the the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, on the same grounds as the FDR Museum and the president's former home. The Roosevelt estate is only 20 minutes from Vassar, and well worth the trip. Students will love the immaculately kept gardens and the spacious picnic grounds; history buffs will love just about everything else. You can read my full review of the estate on The Miscellany News Guide to Poughkeepsie.

Recently, the Museum opened its exhibit entitled, "Action and Action Now: FDR’s First 100 Days." The exhibit is fantastic, and details the foundations of the New Deal. Many analogies have been made between the nation inherited by FDR in the throes of the Great Depression and the nation that Barack Obama is about to inherit, struggling with a global financial crisis. Though this exhibit in Hyde Park doesn't draw the comparison directly, it certainly poses the question implicitly: is our situation today so different from the one faced 80 years ago? This question has recently been posed by many scholars and political pundits.

The exhibit has been generating rave reviews, and rightfully so. Go check it out the FDR estate when you visit Vassar!

Huffington Post

I was so excited to have been offered the opportunity to write for the Huffington Post. The Post is one of the most widely viewed online newspapers in the country, and its blogs deal with political and cultural news of all sorts.

Check out my article, "Higher Education Will Struggle Through the Recession," here.

I wrote about the effects of the economic downturn on higher education. Like all businesses, institutions and individuals, colleges across the country are being hit by the recession. But with lots of discussion, creativity and ingenuity, I'm confident that Vassar—and maybe even a couple of its peer institutions—will make it through the crisis.

My Twenty-First!

Sunday was my 21st birthday! I know what you're thinking—Sunday is a pretty awful day to have a 21st birthday party. I had classes the next morning, and two papers due that week. Fortunately, my friends made it a day to remember... About two years ago when we were freshmen, my closest group of friends promised that they would take me out for my first legal drink, since I would be the first among us to turn 21. But in return, they made me promise to choose a special drink - something festive.

Sure enough, I ended up getting a delicious piña colada from UNOs Chicago Grill, a great restaurant within walking distance of Vassar. We got some festive appetizers and some more delicious drinks, and had a grand old time. It might have been more fun if my birthday had been on a Friday or Saturday night, but I'll take what I can get!

Final Exam Season

Remember how stressed I was about midterms? Multiply that by five. Vassar is a wonderful place, but the academic work is not for the faint of heart. I have more research papers than I can count due within the next few weeks. At the moment, it's about 6:30 in the morning and I'm getting all my books together to head over to the library, which opens at 8:30.

Today, my project is a research paper on an American businessman in Japan... I figure if I get there at 8:30, I could get a ton of writing and reading done, then leave the library in time to see my friends for dinner and hang out with them in the evening. Maybe even watch a movie? The last few weeks of a semester always bring a tornado of work. Let's hope I make it...

Thanksgiving Feast

After a difficult week of papers, I'm finally free for Thanksgiving Break! I'll be heading home tonight on the train to Manhattan. Sometimes it's really nice to live just an hour and a half away from Vassar—some of my friends have to suffer through hours on busses and planes to get their turkey. But I just hop onto the free College train shuttle, spend an hour on MetroNorth, and I'm happily in Grand Central in no time.

Usually, I like to spend my train rides staring out my window at the scenic Hudson River. This afternoon, though, I won't be quite so lucky; I have about 450 pages of reading to do before Monday :-( Not to mention the four research papers I have due in the next couple weeks. Ack! Finals period can be really stressful, since everyone's major assignments are all due at the same time. It tends to put a crimp in Thanksgiving.

On the bright side, though, I will soon be with my parents, eating my favorite stuffing and sipping some apple cider! At least I'll have a couple hours free from schoolwork...

Thanksgiving, thanks to Sarah Josepha Hale!

Last year around this time of November, I caught an interesting story in On Campus, one of Vassar's publications:

If it weren’t for Sarah Josepha Hale, the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, the popular women’s journal of the 19th century, Vassar would be “Vassar Female College” and Thanksgiving Day wouldn’t exist. The College was originally incorporated in 1861 as “Vassar Female College.” Very much a supporter of Matthew Vassar’s plan, Hale appealed to the founder to dispense with “Female,” a word she considered “inelegant” and “absurd.” After much correspondence between the two and numerous editorials in Godey’s, the trustees eventually agreed to the name change, the New York State Legislature amended the college’s charter, and the marble slab engraved with the word “Female” was removed from the front of Main.

Furthermore, Hale is responsible for devising Thanksgiving. Although the holiday had been practiced since the settlers in Plymouth, its scheduling was never regularized.

It wasn’t until Hale took up the cause that what we call Thanksgiving evolved. She wrote editorials and lobbied “that the LAST THURSDAY IN NOVEMBER shall be the DAY OF NATIONAL THANKSGIVING for the American people.” Finally, in 1863 (just two years before the first class of Vassar students would arrive on campus) President Lincoln succumbed to her pressure and proclaimed the last Thursday in November a national day of Thanksgiving. Finally, in 1941, Congress made Thanksgiving a legal holiday.