Meaningful Events on Campus

If you are lucky enough to visit campus this week, you will be witnessing one of the great Barnard traditions.  Spirit Day has evolved into Spirit Week since I graduated: the result of hard-working and ambitious students who recognized that one day just wasn’t quite enough.  I had the great pleasure of serving on the McIntosh Activities Council (McAC) during my time at Barnard, and worked closely with members of the student government to plan Spirit Day, as well as several other school-wide events, throughout my senior year.  
 

Maya Zinkow (the current McAC president) 

and me with Millie, Spirit Day 2012

During my first three years at Barnard, these celebration days were always highlights of my year.  Barnard is a very academically focused school, and these events brought people out of the library and computer labs during the day to relax and visit with their classmates.  When the opportunity arose for me to take over the management of these events my senior year, I was thrilled to be able to give back to my college community.  

Best part of the early set-up shift?   

Picking up the balloons!

I remember walking up Broadway towards campus on my final Spirit Day, carrying (or being carried) by seven dozen multi-colored balloons and thinking back to my first Spirit Day three years previous.  It was the end of what had been a year of difficult transitions: moving to a new city, adjusting to college, making new friends.  I spent a good majority of that year being unsure of where and how I fit in to my new community.  However, as I sat surrounded by my fellow students, eating barbeque and making ice-cream sundaes, I realized how many people I knew, how many people cared about me, and how welcome I was in my new world.  I hung up balloons with renewed vigor on my final Spirit Day, thinking about all the first-years who would be having the same epiphany that day, and feeling grateful that I had the opportunity to contribute to their realization. 

My roommates and heroes Rebecca Moore, Shilpa Guha, and 

Clare Korir at our last Midnight Breakfast

It is rainy today in Washington, DC and I am sending thoughts of sun to Barnard’s campus.  Barnard is such a special place, and I love that there is now a week to remind us how appreciated each student is by her peers, the administration and the community.

Melanie

My Home Away from Home

Name: Margeaux Miller

Class: 2016 (Sophomore)

Hometown: Yuma, Arizona

Major: Biochemistry

Clubs/Organizations: Barnard Dance Department, Orchesis


I first learned about Barnard when I was looking for schools that would allow me to continue studying ballet seriously, but would also challenge me academically. Since I started at Barnard last year, the dance department and community have become another home for me, far away from my home in the Southwest. I’ve been able to take dance classes with fantastic teachers and also see discounted performances around New York City through programs at Barnard. I love that there are all different levels of instruction and that students have a variety of different interests in dance. A number of my friends, who aren’t trained dancers, have also had great experiences within the dance department, whether that be an African dance class or a beginning ballet class.  

One of Barnard's multiple ballet studios.

Outside the dance department, I love the enthusiasm that Barnard students share about this community. I’m so grateful for Barnard's school spirit, which stems from things other than sports, like Big Sub and Midnight Breakfast. This sense of community is something I was seeking in my college experience and has been very different from my high school. I’ve even seen firsthand how this excitement and love for Barnard extends to alumnae. Last summer, I happened to sit on an airplane next to a Barnard alumna. We didn’t have all that much in common beyond our association with Barnard, but she was so excited to share her Barnard experiences with me, and I was more than excited to hear and learn from her.   

I was ecstatic when I found out I had gotten into Barnard, and I think a little part of me knew at that moment that I had already made my decision about where I wanted to go to college. Barnard was a place that was entirely new and exciting for me, which was exactly what I wanted. My first day on campus was invigorating, and also a little overwhelming. But I thought about the day I found out I got into Barnard, and remembered how I felt then. I felt so accomplished knowing that someone else thought that I belonged here. The friendships I’ve made and the ways that I’ve grown, through the classes I’ve taken and experiences I’ve had here, assure me that I made the right choice in choosing Barnard.   

Some friends and me on the roof of the Diana Center for a Constellation event last spring