Year: 2015
Hometown and What You Love About It: Wyomissing, PA. I’m 2 minutes away from rolling hills and fields of farmland; and in the other direction, 2 minutes away from the city life of Reading. It’s a little cliche, but it really feels like my picket fence town is smack in the middle of everything – big city, Philly culture + the rural Amish life + the diverse mix of people who migrate to Reading.
Area of Study and Why You Chose It: Environmental Science. I’ve always been preoccupied with the idea of justice, even before my first superhero cartoons. One of the greatest injustices of our time, I think, is the way people have learned to treat the only world we all have (and are supposed to share). I may not be able to save the world, but I can for sure try to help make sure we don’t take what we have for granted.
Favorite Movies: Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, Groundhog Day, The Cat Returns, Jodhaa Akbar, Like Water for Chocolate
Favorite TV Shows: I don’t watch TV very regularly, but I really like Battlestar Galactica, Fullmetal Alchemist, and – recently – Supernatural.
Favorite Books: I read a lot of poetry volumes and anthologies. I like light nonfiction, too. Especially Gavin Pretor-Pinney’s The Cloudspotter’s Guide. And I really like a lot of webcomic series’ like Daisy Owl and Romantically Apocalyptic.
Favorite Foods: The simple stuff – soup, bread, berries, milk. But I’ll never turn down an opportunity to try new (vegetarian) food.
Favorite Musicians/Bands: Off the top of my head – Local Natives, Rhye, Frank Ocean, and Bonobo.
What is your favorite spot on campus and why? The intersection at the bottom of chapel hill is one of my favorite spots to be when I’m actually standing there. You can see all of the dorm houses, the chapel’s tower, and the way that our campus is really just tucked into the natural landscape here. I think the panorama view looks best during late night and early morning time.
Childhood Dream Job: Masseuse. I was always walking on my mom’s back and helping her with her aches and pains as a kid. Anatomy, muscle tension, pressure, pain – it always came intuitively to me. I loved the idea that I would be helping people with my own hands (literally!). Actually, I still really want to get professionally trained.
Current Dream Job: Professional cloud-watcher. Jeez, I only wish that there was a job where I could travel the world and get paid to find the best cloud-watching spots, take pictures, and map the skies.
Why did you choose Chatham?
Chatham’s pillars of environmental awareness, global understanding, and women’s leadership were 3 things that I was already dedicated to, that I had a great respect for, and that I didn’t know much about, respectively. What better college than one where I could learn both what I wanted, what I believed in, and more? Also, seeing the campus for the first time during the last flush of autumn color definitely sealed the deal for me.
I know a heck of a lot more about what empowerment is – and I feel it everyday. I can’t imagine going anywhere else where maybe I wouldn’t have been so encouraged to empower myself (as a person and a woman). This is a quality that I knew of but didn’t really appreciate before I came to Chatham.