Life After Connecticut College

April has turned out to be a very interesting month in the life of me. A brief overview of the events so far: decided I was going to start looking for a new place, was told that my grant money has run out and I cannot stay at my current job for long, started to consider moving to New York City, took the MCAT, decided life after college stinks. Now, details...

As mentioned, I was interested in finding a new apartment in Boston. My current roommate and I get along alright but I want to live with someone that I can hang out with once in a while (without the TV). She loves TV and watches it all night and sometimes all weekend. Not only does this waste a tremendous amount of electricity (which creates a whole in my wallet and is not good for Mother Earth), but it is not something I can really participate in. Watching TV is a rare occurrence for me and I like it that way. I also don't think we have very much in common. I would like a roommate that I can talk to, go out with, and maybe even have dinner together. As I was contemplating this and trying to figure out how to break the news to her, my supervisor informs me that I have about a month left at my job sine there is no money left to keep me employed. This created a lot of stress in my life because now I had to find a new job, figure out my living situation, and not worry too much about it so that I could study for the MCAT. Jesus Christ.

Although at first I was highly irritated, I later realized "being let go" from my job was a good thing. Prior to this, Casey (from CC) had expressed interest in moving to NYC with me, which I didn't want to do because I didn't want to find a new job. Well, now I HAVE TO find a new job so NYC has become a possibility. This also facilitated discussing with my roommate that I was no longer going to be able to live with her. Furthermore, I was not thrilled about my job. Now, I play the waiting game. I wait until I'm told when my last day will be, I apply to jobs both in Boston and NYC and wait to hear back, and I wait to get my MCAT scores.

Oh yes, MCAT. For those of you who have no idea what the MCAT is, it is an exam for those interested in applying to medical school. I took a Kaplan course last year at Conn and took the test that April. However, as it was my last semester of college, I was quite busy doing things other than studying and preparing for the exam. My score is a reflection of this. Thus, I decided to take the test again. This time around I did a great deal more of studying for a much longer period of time. In fact, I kind of dropped off the face of the earth for a while. When Saturday April 19th rolled around, I took a deep breath, put on my "Smarty Pants" t-shirt, and did the best I could. I had a bit of difficulty finishing the first two sections so I had to guess for some questions. Nevertheless, the MCAT is now over and I can go on with life... for now. I just hope it's the last time I have to take the dreaded exam.

All these events have led me to a realization concerning life after college: it is a time of high variability. Before, we went to school and life was very consistent. We knew in middle school we'd be going to high school; in high school we knew we'd be going college, and after college the only thing we know for sure is that life is uncertain. We move often, we change careers, we go back to school, we go with the flow. Ah, life as a recent grad.

In other news, the weather has been beautiful - a delightful surprise. Rainy days are down with sunny days increasing. The sun is up earlier and goes down later. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, summer is well on its way. Get pumped.

Posted by Marissa Velarde at 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Psychology, endurance, and a life relocation. Men's Health certainly keeps a girl on her toes....

The May issue is out, with Lost’s Matthew Fox on our cover. I have a feeling a few Conn bloggers will be more inclined to pick up this issue because of him, right Chris and Nate? His “interview” involved renting out a car racetrack so he and a Men’s Health editor could see Fox’s moves on the track. I would’ve happily traveled to the west coast for the story, but I’m not quite ready for the celebrity features, apparently.

I did write a few sidebars for the issue, including one in the personal account of Adam Duritz (Counting Crows singer), “The Lonely Disease.” I was thrilled to get that assignment because I really enjoy the Counting Crows. I had wondered why they fell off the map for so long, except for the Shrek song and Joni Mitchell remake. Duritz’s article appears partly to promote their new double disc, which hits stores sometime soon, and to promote mental health. Duritz suffers from a dissociative disorder. Thank you, Conn College for the well-rounded education you granted me. When I got this assignment, I already knew the basics behind the disorder because of the two psych classes I took (introductory and abnormal). It’s the class of disorders that multiple personality fits under, though Duritz doesn’t suffer from that one—despite the fact that a double disk by a multiple personality would be a very clever idea. My sidebar involved distinguishing idiosyncrasies from legit psychological problems. Worried that you’re crazy? Pick up the issue and go to page 90.

The second sidebar was for the running piece “Yes, You Were Born to Run.” I wrote up a list of adaptations humans have that make them far better runners than other primates. The theory is that we evolved into great distance runners so we could chase down and kill animals. The adaptations range from the way we perspire to the structure of our bones and muscles. Now, whenever I go for a run I think about how my nuchal ligament allows me to run without my head bobbing all over the place.

In other news, I was asked to complete my internship in the New York office. It feels great to be back in my beloved city. Never has the subway felt so novel. I had to move at the drop of a hat. It was a great experience to commute for a little while. I can happily leave it behind, however. Between the one speed ticket I got and the ever-growing carbon footprint I was making, it just feels right to be back in Manhattan. That being said, anybody want a used car?

Posted by Sophie Fitzgerald at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Okay, I know I just posted on Tuesday, and I hate to have two consecutive Chris's posts up on the main page, but there will be riots in the streets if the general public doesn't have access to my every thought, word, and action (when my autobiography Curled Domination: My Hopes, My Heroes, My Hair, My Story was released back in '02, dozens of people were left in critical condition after throngs of eager readers bum-rushed every bookstore from coast to coast, although most of the injuries sustained were actually just paper cuts).

Today is, without a doubt, the absolute nicest day in New London for at least the last 7 months. Coming back from lunch (Mitch and I went to the Dutch and then strolled over to Michael's for ice cream because we are now officially dating), it was very difficult to not kick off my work shoes and frolic with the students out on the green, but alas duty calls so I came back to the office (plus that old football injury from high school makes frolicking a pretty painful proposition). Fortunately, I had a very productive morning, so I'm not facing a mountain of work to do before the weekend like I often am on Friday afternoons. It is, however, a little bit hard to focus when I know that it's such a beautiful day outside. To counteract this phenomenon, I've changed the desktop picture on my computer a shot of a drizzly, gray afternoon at the New Jersey shore (in case you don't know, my distaste for the Garden State is matched only my desire to see it snap off the coastline and sink into the Atlantic never to return).

Tonight the Herzmeister and I are headed out to Providence, RI (state motto: Only 0.9% the Land Mass of California, but Infinitely More Opportunities to Bump Into a Farrelly Brother) to check out a Rustic Overtones show. As a bonus, it'll also give us a chance to eat dinner at Chipotle; what could possibly be better!?! If at one point tonight we get accosted by a half dozen ticklish Brazilian bikini models I'll know I'm either dreaming or am the subject of some prolonged secret experiment to see how much pure joy an individual can experience before his head explodes (it would be worth it).

I was actually just in Providence last night to staff one of the annual happy hours that Conn throws for its graduates of the last decade (abbreviated "GOLD" because we're so classy). Since I'm the liaison for the Classes of 1998-2007, these parties are pretty much just for all of the alumni that I work with. The events occur simultaneously at cities all across the country, but this was the first year that the College has had one in Providence. I actually hadn't been in that town for at least five years, and it was a lot nicer than I had remembered (last time I was there I had to purchase a $1.50 token to relieve myself in what was surely one of the most soiled McDonald's bathrooms in the world). The event was a lot of fun, so hopefully Providence will be in the running again for next year's GOLD parties (decidedly not in the running: New Jack City).

Earlier this afternoon I had a phone call with English Professor and Connecticut College Author in Residence Blanche Boyd (shout-out to her adorable puppy Skittles). Blanche is renting out several apartments here in New London, and Mitch and I are on the prowl for places to move into once our lease is up on June 1. I'm looking forward to checking out the place out on Tuesday because it sounds like a pretty boss pad from her description, plus it would be nice to be paying rent to another Conn employee. I just hope that she doesn't criticize me for reading an average of about 1.3 books per year (what can I say, that Judy Blume has pretty dense prose).

T-60 minutes until the weekend! Okay gang, I'm gonna sign off, but enjoy the weather and keep it funky fresh!

Posted by Chris Reilly at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm finally back in my regular work groove after a dizzying couple of weeks (I mean that literally; I've been moonlighting as a merry-go-round quality tester for a few local amusement parks who are making sure their rides are up to code before they open for the season). The 5th Annual Connecticut College Film Festival took place all last week, which occupied a significant portion of my time. It was worth it, however, because there were some really great films that alumni had worked on, the most notable of which was, in my opinion, No End in Sight, produced by Jessie Vogelson '96. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary at this year's awards, and I can definitely see why: it was an informative, well-made, and moving account of the first few years of the war in Iraq. I highly recommend it regardless of how you feel about the war. The best part was that Jessie came to campus to share her experience working on the film and to take questions from the audience; some people even stayed for more than an hour after the film was over! Also on hand was my good buddy and classmate Keith "SteadyCam" Anthony-Brown '07, who was there to talk about the various film projects that he's been working on since graduation (he also filled in to host the CC Film Trivia Challenge for original emcee and Conn grad Forest Whitaker '83, who became unavailable at the last minute because he had to fly out to LA to promote his new movie Street Kings). All in all, it was a great week of films!

Last Tuesday I attended a talk by Matt Simmons, whose wife and daughter both attended Conn. The topic was peak oil, a theory that the world's oil resources have already passed their prime levels of output and are now dangerously close to nonexistent. He presented some pretty alarming information about what repercussions we will have to face once our fossil fuels run out, but fortunately he offered some realistic courses of action that we can all take to help ease ourselves through the transition into a life where oil is no longer available (his suggestions were much more practical than my idea to power all the world's vehicles with oil harvested from the faces of teenagers with bad skin). You should definitely Google him if you're interested in learning more about this issue (if you're interested in non-threatening, one-dimensional pop songs, Google Welcome to Florida).

This past weekend, I went down to New York to hang out with some Conn people and get out of New London for a little while (ever since Pfizer's methane research facility exploded a few weeks back, the entire city has had an uncomfortably pungent funk in the air). The best part of the weekend was that I got to eat at Chipotle twice! Due to scheduling conflicts, I made both trips alone, which was a little uncomfortable. The first time I went, I felt awkward sitting by myself and stuffing my face with a burrito that was literally the size of my face, so the second time around I ordered my burrito to go and ate in Grand Central while waiting for my train home to arrive. Bad idea! I should have known that chomping down on a titanic tube of tortilla stuffed to the breaking point with juicy barbacoa and every vegetable known to Quetzalcoatl without having a table and napkins between my mouth and my lap was a recipe for stained trousers (another recipe for stained trousers: 6 glasses of lemonade and a tickle fight). Fortunately, I very narrowly avoided disaster, but I did have to throw out the last 15% or so of my 'rito in order to seek out a much-needed sink. Dios mio!

Everything else I've been up to would sound pretty boring to anybody out there who's not a college development officer, and since only Jaime Pepper and my mom read my blog, I'll wrap this post up. There are plenty of sure-to-be-hilarious events on the horizon, though, so check back soon!

Posted by Chris Reilly at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Jenny commented on my first post "The Beat Goes On". Read "The Beat Goes On", then read her comments and then read this post.

Hi Jenny. There is a Brazilian population here in Hartford, CT, where I live and work, and consequently there is an older and vibrate Portuguese population as well. These populations both exist in Danbury, CT. and are drawn to each other because of the language they share in common. I mentioned the Portuguese specifically because, as you mentioned, they have a longer history as immigrants in the U.S. and still decided to support the human rights of their Brazilian friends and neighbors.

Yes. It is immoral for business owners to take advantage of an economic situation were they are always able to boot legal workers in exchange for illegal immigrants who are often willing to work under harsher conditions for less money. Clearly this is a practice that needs to end. Understand though, that it is not the undocumented immigrant that is to blame, but the business owner that is immoral enough to make and let any employees work in inhuman situations and disregard basic human rights.

My support of oppressed and disenfranchised peoples is based on the belief that the denial of human rights to one is a denial of human rights to all. My support of one group is not a denial of the needs of another group, but a manifestation of my belief that what is beneficial to the “least of these” is beneficial to all.

It is important to find where disenfranchised peoples’ stories connect and overlap in order to make true progress on important issues. Therefore, better treatment for women in the work place and an end to sexist imagery and language is also beneficial to our LGBTQ brothers and sisters. It follows that, improving the working conditions and compensation of Americans in low wage jobs also improves the working condition of newly legalized American immigrants and undocumented immigrants, who many American companies continued to hirer.

The rally in Danbury was in support of families that had been divided by ICE raids conducted on there homes. Danbury’s small police force works to stop the unfair treatment of workers (undocumented and documented). They also have the capacity to find illegal immigrants in the community, which they certainly should be doing. The fear was that this new partnership, between the city police and the federal ICE agents, was going to end any level of trust between undocumented peoples and the local police force.

Undocumented workers whose human rights were being violated, or who are in life threatening domestic disputes, or who feel they were being discriminated against would not longer be able to go to the local police for support.

These are human rights issues that are universal and do not just extend to legal citizens, but to all people within our boarders whether they have a green card, no card, or a drivers’ license. The Human Right agenda also extends far beyond our borders and calls us to act on the continent of Africa. You are right to say we need to stand up for the human rights of documented American citizens, but my experiences in Mexico and Spain and on my street in Hartford, CT. call me to go even further and work toward adherence to basic human rights anywhere I am in the world. Thanks for your comments.

P.S. I do roll on dubs, swim in a pool of money every morning, and only wear clothing made of polar bear skin.

Posted by Ross Jordan at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well it’s all coming down to the wire in April. I have an exhibition of my art work this month (check below for dates, times and where), a fund raiser I’ve been working on since December, and both my current jobs end after April, which means I need to find a new job and a new place to live. A lot on the plate. But this past weekend I checked off one of those portions.

Saturday night was one of the “Rising Stars” biggest nights. Real Art Ways, the gallery I work for, just threw a Pary, aptly called the Real pARTy. 300 hundred artists from all over the country donated artwork and everyone of our patrons got to select one of the pieces to take home. Original art work, open bar and duet trapeze acrobats with a bullwhip. Does it get any better that that? OF COURSE NOT!

I spent the night hanging out with the awesome interns I work with and sipping on Diddy’s especially smooth CiRoc premium spirits (vodka, yes I’m that cultured). I chatted it up with several of the artists who donated to the event. I spent a lot of time communicating with all the artists over the phone and internet for many months and it was nice to put names with faces.

The highlight of the event was the Canvas Grab, when all our patrons get to choose their piece to take home. Some of the works are worth thousands of dollars...some others not so much. But there was no way to know because all the works were signed on the back. So you could end up with a Yoko Ono or you could get a Ross Jordan. It’s really a toss up.

My boss read out colors that corresponded to groups of 30 in our crowd of nearly three hundred people. It was chaos and pandemonium every time a color was called out. People would be rushing across the 50 foot gallery floor over to where I was. They fought and yelled, trying to be first in line. My job was to some how control and organize a line out of drunken, well-dressed-elite madness. If you know me, I happen to be gentle, short and non-confrontational. But something got in to me and I was not taking crap from anyone. The following are some examples of my new authoritative side:

Patron - “I was at the front of the line!”
Me - “No sir, I was at the front of the line, I did not see you there. Go to the back..”

Patron - “I lost my color. Can you let me through to get the art.”
Me - “Sorry ma’am, only people with a color can select a piece” hands go up and eyes were rolled.

Patron - “Why didn’t you let that nice women select a piece,” Grabbing my arm and pulling at me.
Me - “I’ve had to turn away several people who did not have colors ma’am. I’m very sorry, but those are the rules.”

Patron - “My color is next!”
Me - “I still need you to step back sir.”
Patron - “But she’s going to call my color next!”
Me - “Sir. Go to the back.”

I did not know people were so serious about art. I was impressed and scared at the same time. I also did not know that I could get yelled at and groped by tipsy older women in the same night.

My art show is at Broad Street Gallery on Trinity College’s Campus here in Hartford, CT on April 25th, from 4:30 - 7:00 pm. The address to MapQuest is 1283 Broad Street Hartford, CT. 06106. There will be refreshments, wines and art, all are welcome.

Posted by Ross Jordan at 2:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's that time of the year... when I constantly repeat to myself, "April showers bring May flowers". For me, April is such a bittersweet month. There is the excitement for spring, which slowly and unexpectedly makes abrupt appearances, and then there's the melancholy that goes along with the more common dark, gray, rainy weather. In the past, though, I usually didn't mind the rain. This year I do. There are two reasons for my newfound dislike. One of the reasons is that I walk two miles to work and another two home in comparison to the previous four years when the most walking I did on a regular basis was from my dorm room to the AC. Now, whenever it rains I have to decide whether I'd rather get wet (because umbrellas are useless since the rain has a tendency to come from many directions) or take public transportation with all the people that normally walk but are avoiding the rain in addition to the regular riders. Tough call. However, the main reason I dislike this weather is because it makes me miss Dublin. Although this summer the country of Ireland had a record of 63 days of consecutive rain, all of which I was present for, I never seemed to mind. The rainy Dublin weather was not like the dreary, wet New England weather, where it rains all day creating massive puddles that car drivers like to go through at full speed and wet pedestrians. In Dublin, the 63 days of consecutive rain did not mean gray, cloudy skies for 63 days. Some of those days it was just a little sprinkle and the sun would come out, other days I was entirely unaware that it had rained at all. Best of all were the rainbows. Nevertheless, this weather makes me long for the days I ate plenty dairy products and drank great beer.

Still, I look on the bright side. I know that soon the days of sunlight will be longer, flowers will be blooming, and the weather will be warmer. In my excitement for the spring, I decided to join a kickball league. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, there is such a thing. In fact, there is the World Adult Kickball Association (WAKA) which has leagues across the country in different cities and each league has many teams. I have joined a team on the Boston league called Chicks Like It Tickled. It's acronym is ingenious and the mascot is Elmo. I only recently learned about the existence of a kickball league and so got started a bit late on finding a team to join. Luckily, I found this team on Craigslist because they needed one last girl to make it complete. I don't know anyone on the team but I'm excited to make new friends. I had my first chance on meeting fellow kickball players yesterday. There was a kickball pub crawl for all the leagues in the area - Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and South Boston. I met our team captain and a couple of other rookies but I mostly met people on the Cambridge league who took me up immediately when they learned I knew no one. If the pub crawl is any indicator of what is awaiting me this spring as a kickballer, I am going to have a ton of fun. Practice begins April 27th. Look for more stories on kickball soon after.

On a totally different note, I want to mention a patient that was enrolled in one my studies at BIDMC. I normally don't blog about my job because I work with patients and it's hospital policy to keep patients' information private. However, I'm not going to tell you anything personal about my patient, who we will call DB. First of all, the woman is 94 years old and incredible. When she was in the hospital, her awesomeness was not entirely evident (since she was sick) but her quirkiness was very apparent. She would say the funniest things and I always enjoyed visiting her. As part of the study, I was required to pay her a visit at her house after she'd been discharged from the hospital. When I arrived, I was shocked to see her. It was 10am and DB had just taken a cake out of the oven and had her hair all done up and was wearing make up and nice clothes. This little presentation wasn't even for us since she had entirely forgotten that we were coming. I watched DB bustle about her apartment and all I could think was, "I want to be her when I'm 94 years old." Seriously, I have never seen a more active and well-appearing person in their 90s.

Anyway, Happy April! I hope you had the chance to play a prank on someone and no one played a prank on you on April Fool's Day. And if you didn't get to do so, here is a link that you should send to someone: http://rickrolling.com
:)

Posted by Marissa Velarde at 8:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Spring has sprung at Connecticut College! It's still a little chilly out, but the sun is def getting it's shine on like whoa (I'm too lazy to un-street that sentence). People around here are in a festive mood, as evidenced by the success of our big Senior Soiree this past Friday. Though I seldom get nervous or anxious (it's hard to do so after you've been accidentally naked on national television as many times as I have), I was a little worried that no one would show up to the event. Fortunately, about 300 seniors were there! The purpose of the evening was primarily to get more gifts for the Senior Giving program, with a secondary goal of helping the seniors build class unity; I'm happy to report that both were accomplished! We passed the 50% participation mark, and everybody had a great time (the last fundraiser I planned that was this successful was the 2nd Annual Rock the Smocks Festival back in '03, which was a two-day concert to help raise money to support and promote fingerpainting throughout North America)....

....On Saturday night, Mitch and I were headed downtown when we bumped into our downstairs neighbor Brian (no semi-funny nickname available because I don't know his last name). We invited him to come out drinking with us, which he was happy to do. Since he's roughly our age and new to the area, Mitch and I had been meaning to hang out with him for a while, so it was nice to finally make the transition from neighbor to friend (I was never able to quite make that jump when I lived next to Fred Savage out in LA; perhaps we were just too much alike to be close friends...). The three of us had a great chat, so I'm sure there will be future hang-out sessions, the details of which I shall be sure to blog (I could already hear the public clamoring for it).

On Sunday, I teamed up with Mitch and two of the assistant coaches here at Conn, Sue "So Far, Sue Good" Cohen and Ellissa "No, Not Like the Vodka" Popoff, for a little Ms. Pac-Man tournament over at Oasis (they're very progressive when it comes to gender). Though I achieved the highest score of all the players, Ellissa took home the gold medal because it was a round robin and she had gone 3-0 (hey, at least I did better than Mitch).

This week has definitely been one of the most hectic in recent memory, though I've finally managed to carve out a little time to pause and reflect (just trying to get back in touch with my inner baby white tiger). Between planning a film festival for next week, working on lacrosse alumni reception, rehearsing to play the music for the upcoming Senior Dance Concert, planning three reunions, and still trying to raise money from ten alumni classes as well as the senior class, I'm juggling a lot of projects! Hopefully things will quiet down a little bit in a couple weeks.

On that note, I had better get back to work. Toodles!

Posted by Chris Reilly at 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)