all about alison

t h e p r e s e n t . my life presently is pretty much defined by being a swarthmore student. i started here in the fall of 1996. i lived in the most remote dorm, not even on campus. it was a good place to be, that year. we firstyears living there were close, since we were so far from everything (and everyone) else. the absolute, by far, most important part of freshman year was meeting david. the other people that i'm close to now almost all lived with me 4 years ago as well. freshman year also solidified my desire to be a biology major. david and i, freshman year. corey and i, sophomore year. sophomore year was relatively nondescript. somewhat unhappy. i was living in the basement of the same dorm i lived in freshman year. yet, none of my friends lived in the dorm still. it was all rather depressing. i had a lot of lonely times that year. sophomore year was, however, the year i discovered photography. which is something rather important in my life now. i really loved it. being able to be in the darkroom until 2 in the morning was something i just needed sometimes that year. i also met some really important people that year, like neil and david. so, while that year is not a year a reflect on fondly, some good did come of it. junior year and the general space around it was amazing. i spent the summer before on catalina island, working as the outdoor cooking instructor at catalina island camps. what an amazing opportunity! i was swimming in the pacific, kayacking, skin diving, camping on the beach, and playing with kids, pretty much daily for 9 weeks. catalina was also where i met shawn, who is so important to me. the day i left catalina i flew to alaska, to take a month-long field course with university of alaska, fairbanks. alaska is so incredible. we got to travel from circle all the way down to seward, at the tip of the kenai peninsula. i hope to return there soon, to see more of that beautiful area. 4 days after coming back from alaska, i went to vancouver island, where i studied for a semester at the school for field studies center for coastal studies, in bamfield. it's so hard to put down that experience into a few sentences. just know it was amazing. probably the best thing i could've done with my life at that time. i've never had an eduation that it so applicable as what i learned in those few months was. i loved everything about it. i was genuinely happy, content, with where i was and who i was and what i was doing. i'd never really felt like that before. so, spring semester i returned to swat. that was the semester of the legendary roadtrip. it was a happy semester for me. reuniting with friends i hadn't seen for at least 8 months was such a heartwarming experience. i think we all appreciated each other a bit more than usual during that time. shawn and i, boating by catalina island quality time in bamfield at young's seafood in maine in boston this year, what's occurred of it already, has been unlike any other year i've had at swarthmore. i mean, of course, no year is the same, but there are things fundamentally different about this year. i think it has a lot to do with this being the last year. i'm having a tough time dealing with that. i'm looking forward to whatever the future holds, but at the same time i'm extremely cautious about actually going forward. i'm worried about losing some of these incredibly important people in my life. besides this general sense of worry though, this semester has been wonderfully social and fun. the 4 apostles (david, neil, emily, and myself) have come together, revelling in thursday night debauchery, 90210, altered states, and each other. october break was amazing: david and i took a roadtrip up to maine, to acadia national park, to camp for a bit, and then spent some time in boston. the "3 drunk sopranos in the backrow" reputation has been bestowed (upon sarah, emily, and i), which is fun, though not entirely deserved. i'm happy to say that, even in my last year here, i've met new friends. and they're all wonderful. i really do love these people who fill my life here. i should realize that, if they're this important to me, no matter our individual roads take us, they will all eventually intersect again. back to the main page main myself musings friends photo vegetarianism music links

my life presently is pretty much defined by being a swarthmore student. i started here in the fall of 1996. i lived in the most remote dorm, not even on campus. it was a good place to be, that year. we firstyears living there were close, since we were so far from everything (and everyone) else. the absolute, by far, most important part of freshman year was meeting david. the other people that i'm close to now almost all lived with me 4 years ago as well. freshman year also solidified my desire to be a biology major.	david and i, freshman year.
corey and i, sophomore year.	sophomore year was relatively nondescript. somewhat unhappy. i was living in the basement of the same dorm i lived in freshman year. yet, none of my friends lived in the dorm still. it was all rather depressing. i had a lot of lonely times that year. sophomore year was, however, the year i discovered photography. which is something rather important in my life now. i really loved it. being able to be in the darkroom until 2 in the morning was something i just needed sometimes that year. i also met some really important people that year, like neil and david. so, while that year is not a year a reflect on fondly, some good did come of it.
junior year and the general space around it was amazing. i spent the summer before on catalina island, working as the outdoor cooking instructor at catalina island camps. what an amazing opportunity! i was swimming in the pacific, kayacking, skin diving, camping on the beach, and playing with kids, pretty much daily for 9 weeks. catalina was also where i met shawn, who is so important to me. the day i left catalina i flew to alaska, to take a month-long field course with university of alaska, fairbanks. alaska is so incredible. we got to travel from circle all the way down to seward, at the tip of the kenai peninsula. i hope to return there soon, to see more of that beautiful area. 4 days after coming back from alaska, i went to vancouver island, where i studied for a semester at the school for field studies center for coastal studies, in bamfield. it's so hard to put down that experience into a few sentences. just know it was amazing. probably the best thing i could've done with my life at that time. i've never had an eduation that it so applicable as what i learned in those few months was. i loved everything about it. i was genuinely happy, content, with where i was and who i was and what i was doing. i'd never really felt like that before. so, spring semester i returned to swat. that was the semester of the legendary roadtrip. it was a happy semester for me. reuniting with friends i hadn't seen for at least 8 months was such a heartwarming experience. i think we all appreciated each other a bit more than usual during that time.	shawn and i, boating by catalina island quality time in bamfield
at young's seafood in maine in boston	this year, what's occurred of it already, has been unlike any other year i've had at swarthmore. i mean, of course, no year is the same, but there are things fundamentally different about this year. i think it has a lot to do with this being the last year. i'm having a tough time dealing with that. i'm looking forward to whatever the future holds, but at the same time i'm extremely cautious about actually going forward. i'm worried about losing some of these incredibly important people in my life. besides this general sense of worry though, this semester has been wonderfully social and fun. the 4 apostles (david, neil, emily, and myself) have come together, revelling in thursday night debauchery, 90210, altered states, and each other. october break was amazing: david and i took a roadtrip up to maine, to acadia national park, to camp for a bit, and then spent some time in boston. the "3 drunk sopranos in the backrow" reputation has been bestowed (upon sarah, emily, and i), which is fun, though not entirely deserved. i'm happy to say that, even in my last year here, i've met new friends. and they're all wonderful. i really do love these people who fill my life here. i should realize that, if they're this important to me, no matter our individual roads take us, they will all eventually intersect again.