I don’t need to mention that I have been stressed. I have been doing a lot of work, but I won’t pretend that I haven’t been spending some time procrastinating; that is to be completely expected. But this is crunch time and I’m working through weekends and being grumpy as a result of that. I need to relax, I need some spontaneous, fun activities and this is why this blog has been written. As students, and as student leaders, we frequently talk about the stress culture at Bryn Mawr, we play about “misery poker” where we trade stories about our hardest classes and  the longest time spent without sleep. But as students we also need reminders that it’s alright – that it’s GOOD – to spend time off campus with friends, having a good time, and maybe watching a movie.

ALTERNATIVE TITLE FOR THIS ARTICLE: Various Reasons Why Blowing Off Work & Seeing a Movie with Friends Is a Good Idea.

This is the shortest and snappiest I could get it to be, which is why it is not this post’s real title.

thanks bart.

Last night, my friends and I went to see the new Melissa McCarthy movie The Boss. It was a slightly ridiculous movie with lots of antics and gaffes and laughs. I had an excellent time. My friend NM and I were also drawn into the popcorn combo that provided us with two large drinks and a large popcorn and we were almost completely destroyed by it.

the amount of popcorn we “had” to eat was overwhelming

The popcorn was part of the problem. The drinks that made me leave to use the restroom twice were another issue.

I’m not saying The Boss was a perfect movie. Like I said, if you’re looking for an extensive and well-developed plot, it won’t be here. If you’re looking for a fun movie you can watch while chomping on a ridiculous amount of popcorn and laughing too loud, you’ll be in for a good time. This movie has a great amount of female roles, most certainly passes the Bechdel test, and made me choke on said popcorn (twice!) while watching it. So basically, I was laughing so hard I almost died. How is that for a compliment?

As convenient as it is to have the Bryn Mawr Film Institute so close to the school, most of the movies there are incredibly niche and indie. I’ve seen some great movies there (like a couple of weeks ago, Hello, My Name is Doris). But I am still grateful for the movie theatre in Wayne that provides the mainstream movies that the BMFI doesn’t provide, which is where I went to see The Boss.

And speaking of…

This movie viewing was a few weeks back now, but I saw this movie during a midweek lull. We had been working in a cafe in town almost all day, and so we ended our Bryn Mawr town venture (yeah, it’s a venture when you leave the dining halls) and decided to go to the Bryn Mawr Film Institute for a movie. And I’m glad to say that it was really good choice. Thanks to KV’s parents who recommended that we see it 😂. It’s a movie about growing up, and growing older, and it talks about mental illness and sisterhood and I don’t know, I’ve glad I got to see it with two great people. I think the experience of seeing these movies with people make them half the fun. The things we laugh at, the different jokes we catch, seeing your friend sneak in mango and sticky rice (???) into the theatre and try to eat it in the dark. Such good times.

A movie so good I saw it twice, once while on spring break in New Orleans and another time here at the Wayne cinema. I tried not to oversell it when I saw it the second time, but she liked it so it was all good. Also, my friend and I totally cried when we first saw it, just as fair warning. An animated movie that’s funny and thought-provoking and works for adults and for kids. How great is that? Also, the cast of Zootopia is incredible and Idris Elba is in it and Shakira is a singing Gazelle, so what are we all waiting for?

this is a bunny stampede, all eager to see Zootopia

This blog isn’t supposed to be a review of the movies I’ve seen, because I’m doing a bad job of reviewing it, and I don’t like reviewing things and please see the trailers and/or check the Rotten Tomatoes ratings? But I mostly wanted to write about the therapeutic act of realizing that you have work to do, and that you will get to them, but by setting a goal. I saw a movie last night, so I am currently working in a library today. I finished a reading response earlier, so now I am allowed to write this article. Reward yourself. But please don’t choke on your popcorn.

* – The title of this article is also a title of an article I’ve had to read for several of my film classes. It’s by Hugo Munsterberg and basically means that this title is an inside joke for me and the other film people. This is for YOU, you cheeky bunch!

This week has been a struggle. I’m sorry, I know that’s a very defeatist attitude to start a blog post, but it’s what I’ve been feeling and if you follow my twitter here you’ll see that I have been slowly losing my mind. (Ayyyy, check out that trans-social media marketing there.)

It’s April, and there isn’t really a lot to be excited about since, this morning, I walked all the way down from my room in the third floor, reached the ground floor and then went up and wore my heavier winter jacket. It’s 2 degrees Celsius. I wouldn’t mind the April showers at this point! At least then it’ll be nice and muggy-warm instead of wind that makes you feel like you’re about to fly off to a faraway land that leads to the magical land of Oz. It’s very windy and I don’t like it is what I am basically trying to point out here.

But there have been other things that have been marking the end of my time here. My last East vs. West party, the last Major Recognized party in Bryn Mawr College. I remember my freshman year the theme was Superheroes vs. …. something? Supervillians? I can’t remember. All I know is that I wore a Superman shirt, and I danced with friends on a ledge behind the DJ table on East. Good times, good memories, good shirt that I borrowed from Alizeh.

It is April, and it’s the last month before my theses are due, before this mountain of stress and anxiety is slightly deflated, and I feel a curious mix of nostalgia and sadness and weird superiority. I want to sit in the library, where I now live, gather all the children around me, and start every conversation by staring off into the distance and then saying: “You should cherish your time here, because [insert poignant advice].” I have no real poignant advice to give, that’s why that’s added there as a placeholder.

I don’t feel wiser. Not really. I feel more tired. But I can’t deny that I have grown and changed and progressed so much through my time here at Bryn Mawr. I’ve met so many people who have influenced me and changed me for the better. For good or worse and everything in between, it has all been a good experience. Before this week, I haven’t really felt like a senior. I mean, I definitely knew it was my last year, and that I was writing and thesis, and that I Was Leaving, but I thought that there had to be more feelings coming with it.

Lo and behold, during the Anthropology Spring Tea, I stood up in front of a group of my fellow seniors, with professors and students of all different class years in front of me, and explained what my thesis was about, as I have seen three generations of seniors do before me in various disciplines. That was a Feeling. It forced me to but my research into words, made me consider why I was an Anthropology major, what I wanted to do with it after I graduated and really, one of the more important questions: why was this research important to me in the first place?

And I got to eat lots of cheese and cupcakes, just as an added bonus.

Later that day, I attended the Senior Dinner with Bryn Mawr’s President Kim Cassidy at her house. Again, that’s something that I have seen my senior friends preparing to attend for several years, and it felt really great to attend and feel how cyclical this all was, that I am doing it this year, and the junior class will be doing it the year after me, and Bryn Mawr will continue with the senior class standing in their rooms deciding what to wear 30 minutes before they attend. Or maybe that’s just me. I attended with my friends, and we got to eat great food, and mingle with KCass and feel like Adults having a Night Out. And then we walked back to campus, a perhaps 10 minute walk to my dorm, and dress in sweatpants and head to the library and I felt a little changed, I won’t lie. I had attended Anthropology Senior Conference earlier that day, was going to meet with my English thesis advisor the next day, and had a plan and an organized way to look at my thesis. It was a good adult day, where I could tell I was almost crossing over to the real world, and I saw that I fit in, and I wasn’t as scared.

I guess this blog post comes as one of the first in a series of goodbyes I’m going to have to make throughout the end of this year, to friends, professors, people who have helped me, maybe more than they know.

Aw shucks, now I’m getting sappy on the Internet.