Sunny day…

Barnard in the sunshine

Columbia’s campus

Today was beautiful! 72 degrees, sunny, and just plain gorgeous! My motto of the day “spring has sprung” and this day happens every year since my first year at Barnard. I’m personally used to being in the sunshine a lot and although I love playing in the snow and think it’s pretty too, just walking outside and feeling warm…it’s really nice. Worth a few photos at least!

The day inspired the title of this blog and the title reminded me of Sesame Street. I know my friend Julie Malyn already blogged about her experience interning at Sesame Workshop, but I couldn’t help but write a little about my own time at Sesame Workshop. Julie and I interned during the same summer (2007), but we did totally different things. I was an Editorial Intern at Sesame Street Magazine, a monthly publication for 2-6 year olds. I had a really hands-on experience and think a large part of me being hired had to do with my Barnard education, which totally preceded me. When I sat down for my interview with the magazine’s Senior Editor, the first thing she said – “Wow Barnard, what an impressive place to be!” I had the opportunity to write for the magazine, contribute creatively, and sit in on all kinds of meetings where I saw different aspects of the publishing process. At first I was kind of overwhelmed to have Barnard’s reputation precede me…but turns out, the reputation matches the preparation that I get as a Barnard student. Oh! And I got free housing and a stipend from the Office of Career Development’s Alum-sponsored Internship Grants. It was the reason I was able to stay here for the summer to intern at Sesame and also take a summer class at Hunter College. I love me some summer in the city!

Speaking of spring, I went to the Senior Thesis Spring Dance Show to see my friend and suitemate Emily perform. She is a Dance Major (and also in the Elementary Ed program with me) and wrote a one semester thesis in the fall while she was student teaching in a 4th grade classroom. This semester, besides finishing her Psychology major, Emily is taking a bunch of dance classes and rehearsed for her Senior Thesis performance. She and all of the Dance Major seniors prepared either solos, duets, or group pieces that they either choreographed or learned from a faculty member. One of Emily’s dance professor choreographed her solo, based on John Singer Sargent’s painting, Madame X. The painting is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and part of her rehearsal process was not just learning about its history, which anyone anywhere can read. She actually took the quick trip crosstown to 5th Avenue and saw it herself. She loved it and told me that the painting’s story together with the experience of seeing it in person really inspired her performance. And I could see it on stage. She looked as beautiful as the weather today

Seeing Emily perform on a Barnard stage for the last time really made me think about our friendship. Emily and I were next-door neighbors on the 5th floor of Brooks our first year and here we are today, still just a door away from each other in a Sulzberger Tower suite. Together we danced with Orchesis Dance Group, the CU/BC student-produced and choreographed show that happens once a semester, and I’ve watched her perform nearly every semester in dance department shows. Another one of our current suitemates, Faria, was also our neighbor on our first-year hallway. The 3 of us have pretty much stuck together since we met during the New Student Orientation Program (NSOP) in the fall of 2004. The Barnard Residential Life Office (ResLife) does a stellar job of setting up matching roommates and they also think about a hallway as a whole. We have to fill out questionnaires about our living preferences with questions such as: would you like to be friends with your roommate(s) or peacefully coexist?; when you study or sleep, do you like to listen to tv or music or do you prefer total silence?; how neat/messy are you? how quiet/social would you like the room to be? Emily, Faria, and I are a pretty great example of how well this process works and the proof is in our current living situation and our friendships. We’ve been through the ups and downs of picking a major, studying for finals until way past bedtime, and making decisions about which classes to take during the upcoming semester. Besides all of that jazz, we’ve been each others’ go-to people for advice on internships, relationships, and everything in between. My Barnard experience has been made possible by their support and colored by their personalities. I met a lot of people during my first-year at Barnard and although I still consider all of them friends or at least acquaintances, these girls are my core. As we think about the future, there are a few uncertainties. Okay – a whole bunch! Comes with the territory of job applications and apartment hunting. The one thing we know is that we have each other. Thanks ResLife, you’ve given me friends for life!

I posted photos of us through the years…

Faria, Emily, and me with first-year hallmates

Emily, Faria, and me at a friend’s apartment in Brooklyn

Emily and me, midtown at the Rockefeller tree

Faria and me waiting to catch a bus over the summer.