Margaret '14 - Spider Diaries - University of Richmond

Making Maffé

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 01:00:00 -0400

The French department at the University of Richmond has a curriculum which strives to expose students to French culture ("Francophone" influence) throughout the world. Therefore, as a French 221 student, I was required to do a group project on a French-speaking country other than France. My group chose Senegal, a small developing country in West Africa. My group divided the work into segments, and I became the designated "food specialist." Thus, my task was to research the agriculture, food rituals, recipes, and miscellaneous information about food's role in Senegalese culture. Basically, I hit the jackpot, because learning about food is never a chore for me.

Study the Studiers

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 01:00:00 -0400

Exam time is an interesting period for people watching. People are stressed, wearing their last pair of clean sweatpants, and trying to figure out how to warp time to have a few more hours before a final. When I’m in the library or in Gottwald preparing for finals and writing papers, I can’t help but glance at the people around me, and there are some fascinating quirks and habits that people have when they are “in the zone” of homework.

Light Load, Dark Load, Stress Load

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:11:06 -0400

When you first go off to college, you are thrilled to start doing “adult” things on your own. This includes feeding yourself, living alone or with a roommate, doing your own banking. Now that I’ve been in college for three years, I’m well accustomed to doing these things without having to consult my mom. For the most part, I love being independent and having the feeling that I’m a functional grown-up. However, there is one notable exception to my feeling of independence: I hate doing laundry.

Monument 10K: Round 2

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 01:00:00 -0400

This was my second year running the Monument 10K, and I had a wonderful time. The weather was beautiful,a perfect spring morning with blue skies and a light breeze. I ran the whole course, spent time with friends, and went to Cracker Barrel for a victory breakfast after the race. Fact: nothing tastes better after a race than a buttery, syrup-covered stack of pecan pancakes. Gotta love race day.

Spring Concert

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 01:00:00 -0400

Usually, when I play violin in the UR symphony I am focused and attentive, dedicated to coming in at the appropriate time and not missing cues from the conductor. However, recently I have been distracted, so much so that I miss entrances. The cause? We have a guest pianist named Charles Staples who is absolutely captivating to watch.

Un Week-end au Cinéma

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:00:00 -0400

Once a year, the City of Richmond embraces the Francophone world and hosts a French film festival. On Cary Street, French flags temporarily replace the stars and stripes. Restaurants run specials featuring French cuisine, and even the cupcake shoppes have French cupcakes with little icing mustaches and berets. In the last year, I have fallen in love with all things French, and my goal after graduating from the University of Richmond is to pursue graduate studies in Quebec. Therefore, I was super excited about going to the film festival. In addition, if you pursue French studies at the University of Richmond, it is required to attend the festival and complete assignments for class, so I had another incentive to attend.

Spring Break in the Mountains

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 01:00:00 -0400

For Spring Break this year, many of my friends went to Florida, Cancun, or the Caribbean. Others went shopping in New York, skiing in New England, or even on a religious pilgrimage trip to Europe. Last year, I had a spring break like that, going to Florida to soak up the sun, enjoy Disney World, and stay up obscenely late at the hotel. However, this year I had neither the funds nor desire to have an activity-packed week in an exotic location.

Small is Beautiful

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 01:00:00 -0400

As the economist E. F. Schumacher would say, "small is beautiful." After going to UR for almost three years, I am inclined to agree. There are certainly drawbacks. If you go on an awkward date with someone, you are going to run into them again. Filling a stadium is difficult. People often don't immediately recognize the name of your school; it doesn't have the immediate national recognition that the University of Virginia or Harvard or Berkeley have. And, most vexingly, most stores outside of the Richmond metro area don't sell University of Richmond tee shirts. However, these are minor setbacks that are dwarfed by the amazing advantages of our small size.

Volunteering at William Byrd Community House

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 01:00:00 -0500

Those who have read my blog previously know that I love cooking, gardening, and learning about food. I think about food all the time;its one of the greatest joys in life. Recently, I've started volunteering at the William Byrd Community House (WBCH) in downtown Richmond. The building is an old brick edifice which was originally built as a settlement house, and has since changed hands and names multiple times. As soon as I walked in the door on the first visit, I fell in love with the place. It is a cozy, intimate old building, the kind where the chipping paint and worn floors do not detract from its image, but rather make one intuitively feel like the building is being well-used and that good work is happening. WBCH serves the surrounding neighborhood in numerous ways. It has after school programs and classes for children, social services counseling for those in need, cooking classes, food pantry aide, and a free library.

Being a Bookworm on the Go

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 10:57:03 -0500

In college, it can be difficult to find time to read. And when I say "time to read", I'm not referring to the paper you have to review for biology class or the existentialist novel required for English. I'm referring to pleasure reading, curling up in an armchair and delving into Harry Potter, Bill Bryson, P.D. James, or something else on the lighter side. For people who love books, myself included, this can be frustrating. You spend so much of the day reading and writing, but it seems like you never have time to read a story for fun. Even if you do have spare time, you guiltily ask yourself, "Should I be getting ahead on work? Isn't there something else I should be doing?" Luckily, I have found a partial solution to this problem, a way to enjoy pleasure reading without sacrificing a bunch of time. In college, I have discovered the wonderful world of audiobooks.