Classic Bev

As I relax in my friend’s overly spacious dorm room across campus, here are the antics referenced earlier, as promised:

So every year for I don’t even know how long, Eta Sigma Phi (the Classics honorary) has gone Latin caroling to the homes of professors and administrators. It is my favorite event of the year (besides Classics Day) and it always involves a lot of dessert, which automatically makes it better. This year was no different; about 10-15 of us (Classics majors, Psychology majors, English majors, majors galore!) went to six different houses singing such favorites as “Adeste Fideles” and “Rudolphe Naso Rubro” (a crowd favorite). We also got funding from the College to have a banquet dinner beforehand, so we made spaghetti, breadsticks, salad (okay, we didn’t make the salad so much as open bags…), and had a hearty meal before we braved the cold.

This event is incredibly near and dear to my heart. My first year, I went caroling and ended up meeting students who are now some of my closest friends. There’s something about singing in Latin in the freezing cold huddled around each other and then consuming homemade cookies that makes a group bond. Caroling for me is so inclusive and friendly, it’s something I truly enjoy, as do all of the other students that participate. The event is open to all students, so please feel free to join us next year! I’ll be there in spirit…

With exams over, it’s nice to take a few days to relax. I’ll head home for the holidays late next week and then come back to Wooster about a week earlier than most other students. What’ll be nice, besides getting the chance to work on IS without having to worry about classes, is that many of my senior friends will be coming back early for the same reason. It’s always good to have people to visit during my library sessions. My “IS fairies” are at it again as well—two incredibly sweet girls from my department who leave cute notes and gifts on our carrels. Having a “celebrity word find” book has been more helpful than they know when I need to take a break (or procrastinate)…

So the last week of class seemed to fly by and all of a sudden, here I am with one exam left, wondering ‘where did all the time go?!’. I’ve had a crazy couple of weeks, starting with a huge service project we did for World AIDS Day. A group of Peanuts (my social club) and I went over to the Quad and helped set up and light luminarias in the shape of a huge red ribbon for AIDS awareness. Now, if I can impart some advice about Ohio in early December–just because it’s not snowing does not mean you don’t need gloves. I’m pretty sure my fingers are going to fall off any day now. I actually had a really great time, though, except we kept accidentally lighting bags on fire. Luckily, one of the football players was armed with a fire extinguisher (and at times, his shoe), so nothing got too out of control.

I finished up IS for this semester, which I could not be more relieved about. I’ve completed my intro, lit review (which has been a sore spot for me; just ask my advisor after she read my SIXTH draft, haha), and my first two chapters. Over break is going to be my BIG hermeneutic analysis for both Cicero’s Pro Caelio and Clinton’s four public addresses. It’s going to be really intensive, but I’m actually really excited about it. That’s what is funny about IS, ask any senior—we get stressed every now and again, but we all love our topics–my friends light up when they talk about theirs. We wouldn’t have come up with them if we didn’t. I love getting the opportunity to talk about mine, and I find that I get asked about it a lot, so it’s good practice for me and it helps me figure out where I’m going with it.

I’m off to lunch with the professors in the department, which reminds me that I need to tell everyone about my department and our crazy activities! Soon…