Hi- I had trouble uploading my avatar but here is the photo I would eventually like to use:

This is an eye that I drew this past summer, which I'd like to use both because I think eyes can be symbols of observation and envisionment. I also decided to use it because it was personal to me, as something that I had drawn myself. I also could not figure out how to get the picture to be right side up.....

In trying to choose my avatar, I started to think about what represents my interests and what I enjoy doing – and the first thing that came to mind was my love of traveling.  I googled “map” and this was one of the first images that came up.  So, the compass represents the traveler in me, but since uploading it I’ve also been thinking a lot about Johnny Cash’s song “Folsom Prison Blues.”  I feel a huge amount of empathy for that man stuck in Folsom Prison hearing the sound of the train everyday – I know that when I’ve been stuck in institutions (hospitals) the realization that traveling continues to happen on the outside is very demoralizing.  The compass is also interesting in that it is also a reminder that white/Western privilege seeps into all areas of our lives.  North is always on the top of a compass, and maps usually scale up the size of North America and Europe.  It also reminds me of the fact that travel in itself is a very privileged activity that most of the world doesn’t have access to.  I haven’t really reconciled this yet – the idea that I only have the ability to do something I love because of where I was born – but I’m glad this 360 is sparking the question.

It seems sadly appropriate (or maybe ironic?) that the class called "silence" is the one I have most trouble speaking up in. This problem isn't new for me -- I struggled in ESem and it looks like I'll be struggling for a while again. I know I'll hit my stride eventually. What helped me last time, though, was using Serendip as a form to (unselfishly!) share unspoken thoughts with the class. 

Today, during our discussion of poetry and whether or not a person's interpretation can be "wrong" or "right", I was reminded of my high school's entrance exam. There was a small section of analogy work (triangle is to shape as purple is to _____) and some mathematical ratio problems. But the bulk of the test was poetry analysis. We were given one poem and 50 minutes to annotate and write and analytical essay. As someone who is ambivalent towards poetry on the best days, needless to say I was worried. But I did my best, writing so quickly that most of my thoughts were illegible. I never thought much of that poem after taking the test. Until this class, that is. I wonder, now, what it was they saw in my analysis. Were they looking for something specific? Did they just like my style? Maybe all they wanted was a well-organized essay with all the parts in the same place. I'll never know of course. I have no real conclusions about my experience here, but would welcome yours.

And off to a completely separate thought! 

This is how I feel about the image that I chose to represent Bryn Mawr. It’s beautiful, yes. It’s descriptive, yes. But it still seems like it only grazes the surface of what the physical campus of Bryn Mawr is to me. By choosing this picture (which is, by the way, not mine- I got it off of tumblr.com and searching “Bryn Mawr”) I have chosen to foreground the part of the campus where I spent much of my freshman year. I lived in the dorm farthest from the rest of the campus, but the trade off was walking to class gave me the best view of campus. Though that was two years ago, the view that comes to mind when I think “Bryn Mawr” is still this one. It feels magical to me- I love the roses, the greenery, and the castle-like dorm in the background. The flowers are fore grounded because I always find anything in nature much more beautiful than structures built by humans (such as buildings.) The terra incognita of the image would be the gym (on the left-hand side) and tennis courts on the right. Since I am more interested in the plants on campus than the man-made structures it doesn’t matter very much to me that the gym and tennis courts are not in the picture.

Hi All,

A friend of mine shared the following video with me, and I think it's an interesting way to frame one of the issues facing the school system here in Philly, and it offers a potential solution.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ld2IxaCXSyA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I have chosen a place I love under one enormous weeping beech tree in Swarthmore, PA  to foreground.

The background photo is in the open air Forest Temple in the middle of the sacred Monkey Forest, Ubud, Bali, 1979.  There I was invited by the high priest, Pedanda Gde Manuaba to assist in the sanding of the ears of the sacred Rangda mask. (Its wood was of a particular tree in that forest.)