Mass Effect

Posted October 24, 2017 by Giuliana Gilbert-Igelsrud

Last fall, I moved out of California for the first time in my life. I’d visited Boston once, years before. I had vague memories of quaint brick architecture. But travel ≠ transplantation. When I said I was from California, people warned me about snow. But I’ve been to Minnesota. My culture shock came from other sources.

1. Fall. On the west coast, fall means everything dies and it gets colder. It’s a short transition between summer and not-summer. But here, fall is an event. People go “apple-picking” and “leaf-peeping,” everyone dresses up, cider is consumed. Oh, and IT’S INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL.

2. Darkness. In my hometown, we get 300 sunny days a year. Did you know the sun can set at 4:15? Did you know it can be overcast for a week straight? I didn’t.

3. Sense of distance. Here, I can visit four states in two hours. A trip to Maine can be shorter than a BART ride to SFO.

4. Regionalisms. I’ve mentioned “apple-picking” and “leaf-peeping”; other terms that tripped me up include “turnpike,” “bodega,” and, yes, “wicked”.

5. Drivers. Californians are not good drivers, but least they don’t perform dangerous maneuvers while honking and yelling at pedestrians.

Among the strangeness, the Simmons SLIS community was a rock for me. Commiserating with other fishes-out-of-water has been a lifesaver, and I’ve learned a lot from locals. I wanted to go to Simmons to experience something different, and it was absolutely the right decision.

A little about me:

I’m in the MS program, focusing on children’s/youth services.
I attend the Boston campus and have taken courses online while at home in California.
I started in Fall semester of 2016.
I intend to graduate in December of 2018.

See my bio for more info about me!