Small victories this week
Posted October 25, 2014 by Samantha Quiñon
Making an Important Decision
I’m staying in the archives concentration after a little internal debate about whether or not to study something more general. I can’t do everything I may love, so I’ll do one thing I’m certain I love. I’m really passionate about people accessing and using archives, so I’ll find a way to do something with that. Having this decided brings me a little peace of mind, especially for selecting my Spring courses during registration next week.
Getting a Flu Shot
I got a free flu shot on a break between classes in the Main College Building near the Fens Café. I love how Simmons uses its students in nursing school to administer the vaccines. They get to practice their new skills, and everyone else gets to not be in agony this winter. It took literally three minutes from filling out a piece of paper to getting the vaccination in my left arm, which is still a little sore when I try to lift my backpack which weighs a ton. It’s like Hermione’s enchanted purse in the final Harry Potter book. I can pull anything out of my bag–laptop, books, water bottle, Advil, sweaters, rain gear–anything. Go ahead, you name it, and it’s in there.
Simmons School of Nursing and Health Sciences students Julia Goodwin and Lisa Nahill administer flu vaccines near Fens Café on 10/24/14.
Conquering the Nor’easter
There was a nor’easter from Wednesday to Friday. After growing up in Florida with tropical storms during the summer, this didn’t seem so bad. Also, many people who know I only recently moved here took pains to point out this nor’easter “wasn’t even a nor’easter” because it was “weak” and “wimpy”. Well, the weather was bad enough that my Wednesday night class was dismissed an hour early, and that night I arrived home soaked with my clothes drenched and sticking to me. I realized I didn’t have proper rain gear (moving from New Mexico and all). So, on Thursday I hopped over to REI (right around the corner from Simmons) and bought a pair of rain boots. They were worth every penny. I also dug out my sturdy raincoat from my Florida days. Before that, every time I opened my umbrella, the wind turned it inside out, and people on the sidewalk would look at me and shake their heads, as if to say, “Amateur!” Well, that is no more!
Using Beatley at Night
Beatley Library is Simmons’ Library. It has everything I need when I do research for classes, and my groups always book study rooms there when we have a project to do together. I’m usually there at least four or five times a week, but this week was different because I went at night. I had project for my reference class due on evaluating print resources in a library. Yes, print. So I’d have to use actual, physical books for this assignment, not articles I called out of a database.
For a busy student, like me, who sometimes has her days booked, it’s great that Beatley is open until midnight Sunday through Thursday. This past week I was there after 10 p.m. three nights in a row. I’ve noticed the atmosphere is different then. More people are seriously studying and meeting deadlines, and it’s almost like a quiet sense of motivation and studiousness hovers in the air. I liked our silent community dedication. I’ll definitely return soon for some late night work.
You can see the dark of nighttime through the windows opposite the Beatley entrance.
Mastering the T
Also, this week, I have stopped being motion-sick on the T (subway). Hooray! Additionally, I can now stand in a crowded T car and not fall over when it lurches forward and around bends. I think it’s like surfing; you need good core muscles. AND I can even listen to music now during my commute without taking my headphones off every three minutes to hear the “next stop announcement”. Before that, I would be too anxious that I somehow missed something and would find the car suddenly and immediately stopping at where I need to be.
Attending an Officers’ Meeting
I’m the communications officer for the Simmons ALA Student Chapter of the International Relations Round Table (SCIRRT). We had our first officer meeting this week and set goals and planned events for the year. I’m really excited about a lot of these things, like the guest speaker we booked for November who works at a library in Haiti. I can’t wait to write more about what the club does as things happen.