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            At the beginning of the semester, I came into this class not knowing what to expect. I had an idea that it might be different from the other Emily Balch Seminars because the subject itself was set so far apart from the others, but until the first day of classes I had no idea just how different it would be.

            The activity we did on the first day of class, where we looked around the classroom to understand the space we would be spending our time together, can be used to perfectly explain my experience in the class up to this point. We spent the day looking at all the different aspects of the room in detail and placing them in context with everything else we found. The building itself has been around long enough that it has many layers of history that can be seen though observation. People noticed the designs on the fireplace, the shutters on the windows, parts of the walls that did not match up with the rest of the room, and plaques under the windows with names engraved of people that donated to the school. When we sat down and discussed everything that we noticed the class as a whole was better able to understand the space we were in and how every little piece added up to make it what it was.

Philadelphia is a massive city, and one of our tasks this semester is to familiarize ourselves with the unique metropolis that is Philly.  More than that really, we are supposed to become intimately and individually involved in some aspect of the city during each and every sojourn.  The largest hindrance to personal exploration, as I have experienced it, is not unfamiliarity, boredom, or even complete disinterest, because these themselves can reveal something about our experiences in the city.  Rather the size of the group is the greatest obstacle.  The larger a group is, the more self-contained it becomes, directing its focus inwards and glossing over the scenes of the city around us as mere tourists rather than explorers.  Obviously this happened when we first journeyed into Philly with the entire group of twenty-eight people, and it was admittedly necessary for the safety and peace of mind of people unfamiliar with the area.  However, this concept applies readily to the classroom as well: Twenty-eight people having a discussion rarely results in any meaningful conclusions if only because no individual has the time to go into detail about their ideas and experiences.  Furthermore, discussions between the two sections often seem pointless since we take part in very different lectures and discussions in our separate classes.  Even though both Anne and Mark try to coordinate their discussions, they have different expectations of their students and different aspects of any given topic that they focus on.  This has relatively lit

Jessica Bernal

ESEM-Play in The City

Learning to Write for No One

When I crawl out of bed in the morning and start getting dressed to start a new day, it always takes me a while to step out and walk among society. One step in can cause a whole stir of thoughts, ideas, and judgments based on what I think I am. I put into a lot of thought about what the jeans and oversized shirt may say about me on that particular Monday morning. What I wear on a particular day represents who I am that day, how I wish to present myself for people to form their own ideas and perspectives… at least I used to think that way.

I came into this course with the mentality of writing and presenting myself for others to reach a consensus of approval. I surveyed around for the all agreeing and pleasing nods when really it had nothing to do with how smart I tried to appeal in my writing or present my thoughts in class. By taking this course, Play in The City, I’ve come to grasp and embrace my thoughts and express them through writing for no one in particular but myself, for my enjoyment in my choice of critical play in my own voice.

  In the city of our course, I am having a journey that is leading me and helping me to start my brand new college life. I feel my growth throughout these six weeks. I joined this city when I was a genuine "freshman" who had not got used to this whole different life in a new country. But now I'm thrilled to become a part of it. In this unique course, we learn to play and think. We learn to view things critically.

  In the first day of class, we were told by our professor to walk around our classroom and observe the surroundings. My first reaction was that there would be nothing much to see. I thought it was just a regular classroom that lacked of creation. However, in my exploration around the classroom, I found nameplates that dated back to hundreds of years ago on the windowsill. I was bewildered by the use of the long metal bar below the blackboard. I was amazed by the old ancient window shades that were opened by my classmates... Sitting down, I was surprised at the variety of details in this simple room during our exchange of observations. By using lenses and magnifying tiny things, we tried to make sense of them. And we are still trying in every single class and in every trip to the city of Philadelphia.

  We were asked to define ourselves and create an avatar on our website after class. I realized this is necessary for building a city of our own. Every city player needs to have a personality. Although this process was hard at first, but it at least set a starting point for us to continue in the future.

Exploring cities has always been something I love to do. What better way to combine this passion with a college credit than take a class that essentially has you exploring a city week after week? Better yet, a city I know almost nothing about: Philadelphia. Though it has not even been two months, the city has quickly become a part of who I am: a part full of Shake Shack, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, an attractive man playing a guitar, a not so attractive man attempting to hit on me, and so much more. 

I feel very lucky to attend a school near a city. I actually almost applied Early Decision to a school in Maine, aka the Middle of Nowhere. I would have suffered and gotten antsy without a city for me to play in. Though Philadelphia is not as great a city as New York (sorry, but not sorry), I still have a great time exploring. I appreciate the fact that the class is so open and that I have the opportunity to choose where I want to go and how I want to experience it.

My first experience in the city was with the whole group, which I liked, since I was unfamiliar with the city. Even with the smaller groups, I was comfortable. I feel as if it was the most structured trip of the three I’ve been on for the class, and we still had a lot of free time. Perhaps the fact that we were in a big group together and had times we had to be places made it seem more organized. Even though I only did some shopping and had Shake Shack, I felt as if that was a good start for an official first trip into the city of Philadelphia.

The most recent, and perhaps most helpful, piece of advice that I got for writing essays was to write around things I don’t know how to say. I was told to just keep talking, describing what it is that I’m thinking of, and eventually I’ll either come up with the correct phrase or realize that my roundabout explanation is better than what I had been visualizing before. Thinking back, this is very similar to what I’ve been doing in my city visits. I wander around, never quite sure where exactly I’m going, or how to get where I want to get, but always reaching my destination in the end. Sometimes I’ve even come across things that I didn’t know existed but are now my favorite things in the city, like the Masonic Temple and the Board Game Art Park.

Being able to wander freely around Philadelphia is my favorite part of this course. Before, in cities, I’ve always been on a mission to see something, or had to follow a tour guide. I now know that that’s not a good way to see a city-- I mean, sure, you’ll see all the famous landmarks, but you won’t experience the real sights and sounds. You won’t get the insight into what it’s actually like to live in that city. I can see myself living in Philadelphia, something I’ve never really felt before, in any city I’ve been to. I feel alive and part of the world, which I’m sure is because I’ve gotten to wander around and see and do whatever strikes my interest.

When choosing my top three choices for my ESEM this summer, I remember being stuck between “Arguing with Songs” and “Play in the City” yet I am so grateful that I was placed in this class.  I expected Play in the City to be much more theatre based but I have found that interpretations and observations are much more the backbone.  Like most college classes, students are asked to contribute their perspectives and different points of view.  We dig up our past experiences, childhood memories, thoughts and notes we’ve shared on trips, and what we’ve seen in and on our way to Philadelphia. 

            When we first began, we visited our destinations in groups, yet as the class unfolded we began to break into groups to self organize our trip and visit.  I think this worked to our advantage as it gave us the ability to individually experience something different and become more independent.  I especially enjoyed the assignment a couple of weeks back where we were given the opportunity to personally choose and present a specific place to visit.  This research aided our exploration of the city and hearing each person present their research made me aware of how much the city of Philadelphia has to offer.  It also allowed me to reach to students I hadn’t previously spoken to.

    The sunshine sneaks into this old room through wooden shutters, spilling on the chairs, the wooden floors, the old cabinet；and the clean blackboard, the sophisticated computer and the new projector. The students are wandering around the room, seeking for the clues to dig out the secret of this place. It is only a classroom, I thought. I felt confused and embarrassed when silently walking around this small and “normal” area. “There are scars on the pillars on each side of the fireplace. Only on each side, maybe because people moved the furniture before and grinded the pillars. The heating and the air conditioner are on at the same time. I don’t know why. It’s strange.” It was the first sentence I said in this class. It was interesting to find something I never would notice or expected and guess the reasons for it. I started to involve. And now, this course just takes me deeper and deeper; I even don’t know what I will find or think in next minutes. This course helps me to understand the city, but makes me more unfamiliar with myself- I thought I am a well-planned person; everything is under control and in my expectation. However, I was wrong, I keep digging out the potential and having new ideas in the trips. I was amazed that I even enjoyed getting out of the comfort zone and get to know a “different” me.  

    This class keeps changing me and challenging my habit. 

Scrolling through the Emily Balch seminars was a daunting task: Having to narrow my preferences down to three was overwhelmingly difficult. Each one sparked my interest with a catchy title and a syllabus of interesting material. In the end, I chose the “Play in the City” seminar, mostly because of the professor.

Theater had shaped my high school (and middle school) experience, and although I wasn’t too interested in a theater major, staying involved and working with people who shared my passion seemed like a great idea. I chose “Play in the City” for many reasons, including Mark Lord.

Mark Lord proved to be the stereotypical theater professor, having us walk around the classroom on the first day, observing all we could. We, the students, examined the classroom, seeing as much as possible, and hoping to not say a “wrong” answer. This second day of classes was pretty uncomfortable in Taylor F, awkward silences ran amuck, and Mark’s command that we live with the discomforts and “give each other time to think” was pretty outside of our comfort zones. However, the class soon bonded and developed an ebb and flow of conversation, which includes many different voices bringing up important and diverse points on whatever we may be discussing.

When I saw this topic ‘play in the city’ for the first time, actually I thought it was ironic. The word ‘play’ seemed to be irrelevant, even opposite to a course topic. The definition of ‘play’, in my mind, is just activity which people choose to get happiness and easiness. In the readings we read in this class, almost every writer has her own definition of ‘play’, and because of this, the topic becomes deeper and complicated to study. I receive those definitions although sometimes I did not accept them, and because the help of our trips to Philly, I can try to understand them. The course is like an un-known city, such as Philly, having various aspects to explore and surprising me often.