Finals are "Just Around the Corner" (Elementary School Video on Puberty Reference is Intended...I think only my sister gets this)

 As my unnecessarily long title suggests, finals are almost upon me, so I'm going to be a lazy loser and do a "my week by numbers" post again. And maybe next week too, because that day is actually finals. But maybe I'll make a video instead? WHO KNOWS!?! Tune in next week to find out! 

1. This last Saturday was the debate council's annual Secret Santa/dress up as a 90s musician/star/artist/what-have-you. The gift I gave was a "Maine Winter Survival Kit" to a Freshman because I hardly knew him and that's all I could think of. I wrote an especially interesting letter with the  gift, and I will post it here right...now:

Dear Ben Cuba,

I have decided to give you the greatest gift known to man: The gift of life. And before you get too nervous, no, I am not handing over a child to you. Instead, I have created a survival kit for your first winter at Bates College in Maine. The kit I have bestowed upon you contains hand-picked items essential to your survival during the cold months ahead. Below are the contents and how to utilize them.

1 Pink Fleece Blanket- Before you get all upset about the fact that the fleece is pink, realize that there is a PURPOSE to the color of this blanket. GOD DAMN IT MAN, THIS IS WAR. Everyone is struggling for their own survival during these blustery days of hell, and they will do anything to survive, including lie, steal and even kill. THE COLOR IS FOR YOUR PROTECTION. Men will be less inclined to steal your blanket (which is the key to staying warm and thus surviving) because pink is often associated with femininity. But do you know what pink is also associated with? A LIVING, BREATHING BODY.  Many men wish to own a BLUE blanket to assert their masculinity. Well guess what other items are blue? COLD DEAD BODIES.  Pink blanket, pink body. Blue blanket, blue body. You’ll thank me later. If you survive.

2 Books on Stitching Patterns and Knitting Sweaters- To keep yourself from getting too bored during the tedious winter months, I have found two books which can both entertain you and help you endure the freezing wind and snow which take every opportunity to beat down on you. These books will teach you how to create stylish sweaters to keep yourself warm, but will also help you hone your skills in needlework. You can use these skills to either camouflage yourself and your survival gear or to show off your skills with a variety of needle types. Your foes will cower in fear when they see your agility with knitting needles. Also, I find leafing through pattern books quite soothing and there are actually some very nice designs in these books.

1 Tin of Cookies- These are not for idle consumption, young man. By now you will have realized that wintertime at Bates is no joke. You can trust no one, nor depend on them. That is why I have given you these rations. Sometimes it is not safe to travel into the world outside your dorm room because of a winter storm or a massive school riot (loots, riots and battles occur every 3-6 days on campus), and thus you cannot reach Commons to consume nutrients. That is why I have bequeathed upon you this tin of cookies (it is important to store your goods in a cold, dry structure of metal so as to have its content last longer with a lower chance of being crushed by mobs and stampedings). Do not share these cookies with anyone. You know what they say… “If you give a mouse a cookie, he will discover you are sympathetic and weak, which will result in his exploitation of your kindness or a full fledge attack to acquire the rest of your goods”.  Even if I stumble through your door begging for food because I’m starving, do not give out your rations. It is a ruse, I have an ample supply of food in my bunker and a trap installed for any scoundrel stupid enough to try and steal from me.  This is your only warning against me; it is a part of the gift.

2 Ribbons of Cloth- This is my greatest gift to you. These ribbons can be utilized in many ways, including restraining foes (and lovers if you like. Some people are into that, I hear…), setting traps, tying traveling packs together, or a variety of other applications

I hope you have read through this list very carefully, for now you must burn it. You cannot let others know what supplies you have; otherwise they will try and commandeer your provisions.

Constant Vigilance!

Nicole Danser

Also, here is me dressed up as Britney Spears in her music video "Hit Me Baby" because I had all of the items for the costume and refused to be innovative. Let us make a comparison!

This one is, of course, me.

Disregard the utter mess that is my room. Also note that I have,
as Nelson pointed out, managed to take
all the sex appeal/sexiness out of the costume.

2. I have been using my camera pretty often considering I have not had much time to do anything other than work and school, but I hope to use it more often. I have placed the picture I have taken from the debate party throughout this post. A jolly good time was had.

3. I have finished  my rough and final draft of my poems for my "Reading and Writing Poetry" class and I am very excited that I managed to write six poems when I was forced to write them in accordance to prompts.

4. This weekend from Friday night to Sunday afternoon I will be partaking in a British Parliamentary debate tournament at Brandeis instead of studying for my classes and writing a paper that will be due soon after. I have a reason for this, though. I will be eligible to travel to either Dublin or some place in Austria for a BP debate tournament if I go to this Brandeis tournament. I mean, it's not LIKELY I'll be able to go, because I'm still quite horrible at BP, but it means I have a SLIGHT chance of going. Also, my paper is due on Wednesday and all of my finals are on Friday, so I have plenty of time to study and write my paper. Right? RIGHT?


 5. Today in my Environmental class we were having a debate and I accidentally fell into the trap of talking like a debater for 20 seconds and got super embarrassed and flustered but managed to calm myself and prove how I am RIGHT and everyone else is WRONG and that's how you win, right? Our side of the debate totally dominated the other even though no one volunteered to debate our side except for me (I love a good challenge?)

6. Scattered around this post are some pictures of out debate party.

7. I need to get back to work pretty soon, I didn't realize this post would take that long, and I don't actually have much else to say.


8. No wait! Yesterday I was walking from work (9 am to 12 am) to my Chinese class and I was severely bummed that I hadn't managed to run into Commons to get a quick meal before my block of classes. But then, as luck would have it, I came into my Chinese class and my professor had cooked about 7 different types of Chinese dishes (of which 5 were vegetarian. Score!) So for class all we did was converse a bit in Chinese (mostly English, oops) and ate Chinese food until we were finished. Then we left class early. It was excellent. I'm going to miss Chinese.

9. I want to figure out how to continue taking Chinese classes even though I don't have time for them any more.

10. I went to this meeting about Fulbright scholarships and it's basically a scholarship where most countries around the world will pay for you (or most of it) to live in their country for a year to do research of your choosing or teach English to students of that country. Only graduating Seniors and older are currently available to do this

 scholarship, but I was told it's good to get a head start. I plan on deciding where I want to travel to, whether I want to research or teach English, and then start working on my application soon after meeting with one of the advisers on the subject. I want to apply for this scholarship as well as apply for grad schools my Junior/Senior year so that if I don't get one, hopefully I get the other. Also, you can continue to apply for the scholarship until you go to grad school, in which case the program have DIFFERENT scholarships for you (you being grad school students/graduates). I'm very excited about this because it gives me hope of traveling abroad since I can't study abroad at college due to my double major.

11. I've started/finished working on my new resume and some cover-letters for the internships I'll be applying to for this summer. As an ES major, I have to have spent 200 hours as an intern for some Environmental-based organization. My parents say that I can apply to any job around the country (MAYBE EVEN THE WORLD) and if I get in, we'll figure out how housing and living away from home will work out. The one I'm applying to soon is in San Francisco, and I think it'd be really cool to spend the Summer there. But I'd also be down for a lot of other places.

12. Aren't I so independent?


13. No, I am completely the opposite because I fully depend on my parents for funding. Also they tend to schedule all of my doctors/dentist/etc. appointments, so I'm pretty much still a baby.



Alright, that's it, I think. It snowed a bit but now it's all gone again. Back to work, my dears. Those 12 sources for my paper on the plight of the indigenous people won't find themselves.


Have a nice week,

Nicole