Senior Year makes me busy...

To all my faithful readers, forgive my lack of consistency, something like a jello mold gone wrong, but this semester so far has been a great bunch of ups and downs.

Getting back from October break saw lots of thesis work, and I mean, a lot of thesis work. Whenever I get books in, I just get really excited and work away, until I realize that I have other things due. Then there's the fact that I have to look for jobs, which is going alright-ish. I've gotten in touch with a few people and sent my CV out, but it's better than doing nothing. Hopefully I'll get some leads in the next few weeks so I can have a decent amount of security as to what I'm doing next year. It's also so my mum won't beat me for saying I haven't done anything to look for jobs.

Probably the most stressful part of the semester has been a drama that unfolded in the last week and a half. Our coach sent out an email to the team saying that we would be meeting with the Athletics Directors to discuss the future of the rowing programme. Discuss usually implies that there is a conversation going on. It turns out that the was not a discussion at all, but the AD's were telling us that our varsity status was being revoked and we would be, over the course of the next two years, be transitioned to club status. They claimed this was done for financial reasons, which is legitimate, but they refused to provide hard evidence in terms of spending, budgeting and any other figures in comparison to other teams. It was also a tad ridiculous that we were the only team that was cut, without any other teams taking sacrifices across the board. No rowers, current or alum, were involved in the decision, and nobody was notified in What annoyed me even more is the fact that the Miscellany News, our school newspaper, was notified of the exact situation before the team was.

Immediately after the team meeting with the Athletics Directors and Dean of Planning, Rachel Kitzinger, we mobilized. We contacted alums about the situation and the word spread like wildfire. Current rowers began talking to their friends, facebook statuses were all concerned with how much we love rowing as a sport, and especially rowing for Vassar. Rowing is one of a few sports that is location-specific: you can't row in Death Valley. If you happen to be on the plains of South Dakota (no offense to anyone from South Dakota), you can't very well row on a shallow stream. The best part of Vassar being in the "scenic Hudson valley" is that we have the Hudson. It's a mighty stretch of river that's made me learn to respect it many times over. It's one of the things that makes Vassar special, the fact that we have a river to row on and that we have such beauty around us that many other schools do not.

So, in a form of protest, as well as raising funds and awareness, we are holding a 5-day ergathon. This was a big departure from our 24-hour ergathon, and I think the 5-day ergathon is a lot more fun. We started on Wednesday at noon, and we finish tomorrow at noon. Our goal is for each rower to raise $200 per rower to a team total of $10,000. As of Saturday we had about $3500, and we rowed about 620 miles, roughly the distance from Poughkeepsie to Chicago. Personally, I've rowed roughly 62,000 metres, and I'm trying to meet a personal goal of 100,000 metres. Sounds like a lot, but it adds up pretty quickly. So, that's where I'm off to in a little bit. I can rack up another 21km today and 21km tomorrow, leaving me tired, albeit golden.

The semester's gone suprisingly quickly. It always manages to catch me by surprise how fast time flies around here. The week goes by so slowly, but the months just fly by. I don't want to think about what's going to happen after winter break, since I'm happy with things just the way they are. As much I'm excited to be a senior and in my last few months of school at Vassar, I really just want to stay asleep on our dangerously comfortable living room futon. I feel like I need to leave this conundrum alone for a few months, probably until May, when I actually do have to start getting myself together. The prospect is just so daunting that I can't get it out of my mind. Maybe some good erging will help.