It’s All Coming To An End

So today was my last full day here at Emma. I cannot truly express how grateful I am to have met so many amazing and made so many memories. It was yet happy day, today. It didn’t truly hit me that I was leaving until it was announced in morning reports. I walked around the school and talked to my friends today and just remebered my first time getting here, which believe it or not, wasn’t that long ago. After study hall the freshman through Emma and I a going away party in which we danced, received cards, gave speechs, and ate food. Everyone here has been so welcoming and friendly and I am so happy that I got to spend some time here. It’s really hard to believe that I’ve been here for two weeks. Thank you to everyone who has made this whole experience possible for me and I hope to keep in contact with everyone who I’ve made a connection with. I guess this is goodbye!

– Layah

Quote of the day
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” – Dr. Suess

Tea with K3L

Since today was Wednesday, that means that I got to sleep in today and that school ended early. I went to classes like and had fun like any other day. After school I went straight to my dorm to watch videos and do homework. I had a lot of homework tonight so I got started on it ASAP. I was in my dorm alone for a while because my roommate was at her internship. I waited for her to get home before going to dinner. At dinner she told me about her friends from home and her friends at her internship. After we ate dinner, we went to our room for study hall and then we went to tea. Tea is a time for a hall to bond over food and an activity. We went upstairs to freshman hall and we did an arts and crafts activity, which was fun. I’m sad that tomorrow is my last full day here at Emma. I wish that I could stay longer but I also miss my parents and friends a lot. Tomorrow I’m going to have a final goodbye to everyone and try not to get too emotional.

– Layah

Martin Luther King Day

As all of you may know, today was Martin Luther King Day. I although I still had school, we did not have to attend any classes because of the holiday. Instead of going to classes we celebrated today by going to see the new movie about Dr. King, Selma. The movie was phenomenal! There were many times when I almost cried because of how the scenes reminded me of current events going on in the U.S. right now (ie: Ferguson). After the movie, we gathered onto the buses and made our way back to the school. When we arrived at school we had lunch and then we split into discussion groups. The two groups that I was in talked about privilege, poverty, white privilege, and racial stereotypes. I was especially excited for this portion of the day because I love partaking in open dialogue about serious topics. I think that it is very interesting to hear everyone else’s thoughts and opinions on the subject and how it directly or indirectly affects them. We finished off the day by watching Dr. King’s I have a dream speech. The day was eye opening, inspirational, and overall amazing. I’m so lucky to have been given the opportunity to participate during this day. I had a great time and I’m hoping to have a great day again tomorrow. Until then!

– Layah

The Couch Potato Competition

DISCLAIMER: This blog post will be very short because of lack of interesting things that happened today.

I did nothing today and I had the best time. I woke up late today and had breakfast with my roommate. We both agreed that we wanted to have a lazy day. I watched my favorite movie today, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, downloaded music, did homework, and took a nap. Tomorrow we have a day of service because of Martin Luther King Day and I’m excited for it. We are going to the movie theater to see Selma and then we are going to break into groups to have discussions around racism. I really enjoy having discussions surrounding problematic issues such as sexism, racism, homophobia, trans phobia, ect. Tomorrow’s dialogue should be fun! Until tomorrow night!!

– Layah

Quote of the day

I’m not a very good sleeper. But you know what? I’m willing to put in a few extra hours every day to get better. That’s just the kind of hard worker I am.

– Jarod Kintz, Whenever You’re Gone, I’m Here For You

Mall Bonding

I had a pretty eventful day today! The day started out as normally, with my roommate and i getting breakfast and getting ready. At 12:00pm we took a shuttle to the mall and stayed there for four hours. We shoppped a little bit but we mostly looked around. Emma and I had a lot of fun together and I’m glad that we were able to hang out. Other than that, I didn’t do much of anything today. I went back to my dorm and did a little bit of laundry and I felt accomplished because I actually know how to work the washing machine now. I had a pretty relaxing day. I’m ready to see what happens tomorrow!

– Layah

The great disco party

Today was like any other school day. The day went by really fast and I had a lot of fun. After school I waited for my roommate to get home then we did our laundry together and went upstairs to hang out with the other freshman. Once everyone hung out together we got dinner then went to our room. I talked to my very good friend, Ellie for about an hour and a half on Skype and I even introduced her to my roommate. Emma and Ellie discussed the tv show Friends and Ellie asked Emma questions about Ohio. When Ellie had to go, my friend Abby texted Emma and I and invited us to go visit her and Bhaji upstairs. While we were upstairs we went around to other people’s dorm and asked them if they wanted to hang out with us. Lucky people did and my friend Liz joined us. Once we were done walking around we went back to Bhaji’s room to listen to music. Bhaji really likes Lana Del Rey, so we listened to a lot of her music and Bhaji even showed us the disco ball in her room. We had a great time doing interpretive dances, singing, and talking. After our mini party Emma and I said goodnight and walked downstairs to check in and get ready for bed. Even though I had fun today, there were some very slow moments. Tomorrow I am going to the mall with Emma and Emma Willard is hosting an event. I’m very excited for both of these things and I should have a lot of fun!

– Layah

The things I’ve noticed

Disclaimer: I feel that it would only be necessary to talk about the differences of Emma Willard compared to my home school, GFS.

Hi everyone! I’ve been loving my time at Emma Willard so far and I wish that I could stay longer. I’ve met so many people and have made great friends and memories. Although I love it here, there have been a few things that I’ve noticed that are different from my home school, GFS. A few things that have stuck out to me have been, of course being at an all girls school and living as a boarder. Being at an all girls school is and isn’t very from being at a co-ed school. I feel as though all of the girls are a lot closer and can truly be themselves, without having to worry about acting different for boys or impressing a male presence. The girls are more open talking about things that, as a girl you wouldn’t feel comfortable talking about at a co-ed school. I really am enjoying the all girls aspect of Emma Willard. Being a boarder here is also a very different experience for me. I’ve personally never been away from home so it was a little bit hard for me at first. After last Friday night the homesick feeling wore off and I started to feel a lot better. I still do miss my parents and my friends from home but it’s not enough to make my trip a miserable experience. I manage to talk to my parents at least once every day as well as communicate with my friends. Being a boarder here is a lot of fun and it’s easier to make friends because you live so close to everyone. You really connect with people faster because you see them at least once a day. I personally love being a boarder, I have a lot of freedom and the house parents are very nice (I’ll leave an explanation about what a house parent is at the bottom of this post). In the beginning of my trip I felt really out of my comfort zone. I had to make new friends and I was surrounded by unfamiliar faces. Lucky, everyone here is so welcoming and accepting so I made friends within two days of being here. Even my roommate and I, who I didn’t know at all have become very close. I am so pleased with everything here and I’m so grateful that I was given the opportunity to be apart of this program. I have made memories that will stick with me for a life time and I could not be happier. Until tomorrow!

Xx- Layah

Vocab

House Parent: A woman who works at Emma Willard and is a parental figure in each of the girls’ on her halls lives. This woman checks in on the girls during study hours and makes sure that the girls are having a good time here at school. All of the house parents are wonderful!

Productive Tuesday

I have to be honest and say that today was a very productive day. I had a free right after lunch so I got to hangout in my room for about an hour and a half to two hours, which was nice. During my free I did homework and watch videos. After my free I only had one more class left, which was english. In english class we read a poem called On the Subway by Sharon Olds and had a very interesting discussion about racial stereotypes. I really enjoyed hearing everyone’s opinions in class along with analyzing the deeper meaning of the poem. After school, I went straight to the library to get homework done and print somethings out. An hour or so passed and then I went back to my room to go to dinner with my roommate. Then the night proceeded as it usually does, I took a shower and got ready for study hall. During study hall, since I didn’t have anymore homework I listened to Tyler Oakley’s podcast while looking for a new computer as well as computer stickers. Again, I had another uneventful day due to a school night but that is okay because I got a lot of things done today. I am very excited for tomorrow because I get to sleep late tomorrow and I am going on a trip with the theatre program to Empac theatre, so that should be a lot of fun!

– Layah

A Snowy Monday at Emma Willard

Apparently last night it snowed, so I woke up to see the whole campus covered in snow. I went to bed a little later than usual yesterday so I decided that it would only be right to wake up later. That turned out to be a bad idea because I ended up getting to breakfast really late and having to eat by myself. Other than having to eat by myself, my day was pretty average. I went to all of my classes and even had an hour long free, which was nice. During my free I got to go back to my dorm and listen to music while getting some homework done. I also went to the library to print something out and during my trip there I was able to take beautiful pictures of the campus while it was snowing. After school I did all of my homework and got to go to the school shop to get some emma willard gear. I bought a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt that has the school logo on it and I was so excited about buying these things that I put the sweatpants on immediately. Once I was done all of my homework and I ate dinner I went back upstairs to my room to take a shower and get ready for study hall. Now it is 9:22pm and I had nothing to do but watch creative wedding dances on YouTube, and to be completely honest I’m having a great time doing that! Like I said earlier, nothing too excited happened today but it was still a good day. I’m ready to see what happens tomorrow!!

– Layah

Layah VS The Washing Machine

Today was like any normal Sunday, relaxing and very calm. I began today with a late start, waking up at 9:30am then immediately getting ready to face the day. Because I knew that today was going to be very relaxing, I decided to spend the day in sweatpants, a very comfortable shirt, and Uggs. After I got ready and ate my delicious breakfast, waffles with whipped cream and bacon I went to one of the lounges in the freshman hall with my friends. While we were there we watched dance mom’s clips, cat videos, and beauty videos. Once everyone dispersed to get ready for the day ahead of them, a couple of girls and I went to the lunch room to get lunch and then back to my dorm to talk and do homework. I had a very interesting conversation today with a girl named Claire about feminism and women’s rights. Claire even showed me a video about Emma Watson speaking about her campaign He is She. Emma Watson spoke about how without men understanding what feminism is and standing up to promote feminism then it will take women at the very least 50 years to obtain equality in a social and political standpoint. I thought that Claire’s views on Emma Watson’s speech were insightful and she made very good points. Once the two girls, Claire and Grace left our room, Emma and I went on a trip to CVS. At CVS we bought snacks and things we needed for our dorm. Even though we were just going to CVS, I had a lot of fun with Emma and I think that she is a funny person to talk to. Once our adventure to CVS came to an end I went to do something that I’ve never done before, laundry. When I am home my mom and stepdad will do my laundry if they are doing their own so it’s very rare that I’ll ever have to do it myself. To start off this “amazing” trip, I got lost and couldn’t find the laundry room. Because I’m stubborn and am trying to be independent I wondered around for a while before giving up and just asking a girl in the hallway.The girl was very nice and she gave me directions and even walked me half way. When I arrived I felt confident until I looked at all of the buttons on the machine and then I quickly realized that I had no idea what was going on. I took a quick picture of the washing machine’s buttons and sent it to my step-dad with a message attached saying that I needed help. I talked to my step-dad on the phone for a little bit while he guided me through the process. The good thing about the laundry room is that there is more than one washer and dryer so I was able to wash and dry multiple things at one time. After my little fiasco with the washing machine I went back to my room to write two poems for english class. Even though today was sort of uneventful, I still had a very good day. I’m excited to see what’s in store for tomorrow!

– Layah