Live in the Sunshine, Swim the Sea, Drink the Wild Air

Well readers, it has been a while: prepare yourselves for a super long post. The spring semester and the first half of summer were pretty intense- it was probably the busiest period of my life thus far. I feel like it was really transformative too- going through so many different activities at such a rapid speed helped me learn to manage my time better, as well as tackle academic or social problems with more efficiency.

As is my tradition, I have selected a quote to start things off:

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety.
Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in. Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.
This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson (also penned title quote)

Some of the wisest and clearest advice I've found throughout my life can be attributed to the Transcendentalists, such as Thoreau, Emerson, Muir, and Whitman. I often read their works when I need to "recenter myself". I chose this quote because not "fretting over the yesterdays" is something that I've been striving for recently. I've adopted an attitude of flexibility, which has opened many doors for me- doing things exactly right is no longer my goal, I aspire to do things for a reason. Cutting down on perfectionism has done wonders for me- I feel more relaxed, I'm less nervous about what I say and write, and I can produce work that is more meaningful to myself. The ability to "move on" and not get fixated on things was a major driving force that kept me going throughout the past few months. 

My assorted jottings to encapsulate February through August as best I can are sorted by activity:

Start of Semester 2

Academics

Cartwheels by Eric Robertson

• Second semester was a lot busier academically than first, simply because I had four classes rather than two. My free time was in the morning, which was nice because I could get some work done before I went out. In early afternoon I'd bike to class (I'm chronically early to things, so would usually have to wait a bit for lectures to start). Around 4 my classes finished, and I would either go home, study, run errands, or participate in a club activity.

• I went to the The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art by myself in February- it was supposed to be a class field trip, but I went early because I planned to go kayaking on the set date. The painting that struck me most (which I ended up writing a paper on) was a work by Scottish artist, Eric Robertson, called "Cartwheels". It was a really interesting blend of abstraction and figuration.

• Sustainable Development this semester featured a lot of group work- luckily I was in a group with a couple friends. During the first half of the semester, we had to plan a seminar presentation- the topic we chose was economic, educational, and governmental practices in ecovillages.

• We also went on a field trip in SD… to the golf course in St. Andrews. It was really interesting seeing the grounds, it's a huge part of town that few people really visit unless they golf. Unfortunately, they kind of failed to show us the sustainable practices at the course- they focused more on the history and every so often would interject with things like, "Oh yes, and we are making a shift to hybrid vehicles" (came across as a second thought).

• Philosophy was tough but intriguing as usual.

Design Team

• In Design Team, we continued to run our weekly movie nights and photoshop classes. We also did a couple of workshops, including a T-Shirt workshop for "Refreshers".

Canoe Club

Koi Cake for Canoe Club Bakesale

• I let go a bit of canoe in second semester, not because I disliked it, but because I felt I needed to spend some more time with my other activities. The main event I did in early spring was the SSS Wild Water Race, which I ended up just taking photos for- I was worried about my shoulder and I was feeling ill when I got there. I also went to the Canoe Club Ceilidh, which was fun as always, and helped out at our bakesale.

• I ran for Gear Officer, and got the position for next year (you can see my fellow committee members here: Canoe Committee Page)

Ents and Mermaids

Ivanov Tech Position

• I got to be the technical officer for the Mermaids show "Ivanov", so was in charge of setting up and running lighting and sound for the production. It was the first time I'd worked in the Barron Theater since the first week of Freshman year, so I had my friend Fraser reacquaint me with it before I started. I worked mainly with the director and producer, trying to make technical reality out of what they envisioned from the script. Overall it was a great experience (though frustrating and nerve-wracking at times), I'd love to do something similar again.

PhotoSoc

Snow Angel

• I was lucky enough to have my photo of Bridget in Tahoe shown at PhotoSoc's "How was Your Break" exhibition. I really enjoyed seeing all the other contestants photos and meeting people interested in photography at St. Andrews.

• I also went to a PhotoSoc movie night, which was nice. We watched "The Bang Bang Club", about combat photographers during the apartheid in South Africa.

Life About Town

• For my birthday, I planned a somewhat elaborate treasure hunt around the town (I wanted to have a celebration- 20 is a pretty significant year!). I made a sheet of clues which led to various magnetic tokens around town. I split my friends in two teams, and I drifted between the two, sometimes offering extra hints. We met up at The VIC for dinner, and I let the team with the most tokens choose a little prize first (then the losing team got second choice). Overall I think it was one of my favorite birthday celebrations!

Birthday celebration at the VIC

• I did a couple fun little photoshoots. In January I took my Brownie 2A camera around town, and developed the film in my bathroom using a tutorial I found on this site: www.chromogenic.net/develop/ In March I decided randomly to go shoot the stars one evening, and had a few nice results.

Spring Break

Mississippi Trip

• For Spring Break we took a road trip from New Orleans all the way to Boston. You can view our blog here: http://www.sixteendayssixteenstates.tumblr.com/ 

16 Days, 16 States + Canada

Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Iowa, Illinois, Alabama, Michigan, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Missouri, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Arkansas

Continuing Semester 2

Academics

Collage Report Images

• I'd have to say my favorite class was "Art, Culture and Politics, from 1900 to Now". I was really scared I would hate it, because I generally dislike modern and contemporary art. Instead, it gave me an appreciation for those blank white canvases or funky installations- I still prefer older works, but I am more open to new pieces now. My least favorite class was "Rationality and Action". I was so confused, and each lecture drove me into further befuddlement rather than clearing things up (philosophy… ahem). Strangely enough, that was the class I got the highest grade in!

• In SD we did Poster Presentations- my graphic design skills came in handy! It was a continuation of the seminar presentation on ecovillages, so was with that same group.

• I wrote an essay on interwar collage and photomontage for Art History- it was one of my favorite essays of the year to research. I especially enjoyed finding out more on Hannah Höch, Max Ernst, and László Moholy-Nagy.

Design Team

• After Spring break, I had my interview for Design Team Convenor. I was super nervous, and did quite poorly. However, I got the position, and am thrilled to be in charge of running the team next year. It will be a lot of responsibility, but it will be a lot of fun! We also held our AGM, so there is a new committee.

Outgoing Design Team Committee

• We held a series of artistic workshops led by Sarune, a member of our committee. One that I particularly liked was a matchbox workshop, where we painted, marked, cut, glued, etc. matchboxes into little creative art pieces.

• We also continued to hold design movie nights, which were largely unsuccessful due to peoples' busy schedules.

• Our final event of the year was an exhibition featuring the work of Design Team designers, as well as some pieces from ArtSoc. It was a nice little gathering- there was wine and music, so things were pretty relaxed.

Canoe Club

• One of my first jobs as a new gear officer (we begin at the end of the semester) was to start fixing up the boat shed. My fellow gear officer and I decided to start with making new racks for the buoyancy aids and doing some general cleanup. The past officers showed us how to repair boats, "welding" together cracks in the plastic with a heat gun. I'm looking forward to more tinkering next year!

Kinnessburn Clean Up

• We did a beach clean up, as well as a clean of the Kinnessburn stream. Among our more interesting finds were 3 umbrellas, half a bicycle, a wringer roller, a friend's wallet, and road signs.

• I attended the Aqua Ball again- it was an exciting night out with other watersports clubs!

• I did the May Dip with Canoe Club, like I did last year. We stayed up all night, then went out to East Sands in the morning to run into the water. Unfortunately, even though the previous days had been beautiful, the day of the dip was dreadful. There were big waves, and it was pretty windy. The police also had giant floodlights for safety, which I didn't remember from before. That made things a little awkward for stripping down and going into the water. Anyways, it was fun, but definitely not the same experience as Freshman year.

• Our final Canoe event of the year was a bonfire, which I was excited to attend since I missed it last year. It was fun seeing the paper plate awards for the year's accomplishments and failures.

Canoe Club End-of-Year Picture

Ents

• I was lucky enough to attend a sound training session by a professional from the industry. I felt like it really clarified and helped linked some concepts which I did not understand (I still have a long way to go!). I was a bit embarrassed because my alarm did not go off, I was late, and had a very bad hair day, but I ended up having an excellent time with my ents crew friends and learned a lot.

Sleepy Nat at Sound Training (pic credit Ryo)

• I went to the end of year meal, which was a nice way to conclude the year and say goodbye to people before summer vacation.

PhotoSoc

• PhotoSoc ran a darkroom workshop, led by my friend CJ. I had been looking forward to it for months because I missed the previous workshop in winter. It ended up being a lot of what I had learned from the website tutorial, but it was really helpful because I learned why certain steps are done, rather than just how.

KnitSoc

• KnitSoc had its AGM, and I ran for publicity officer again. Which reminds me, I really need to get on those Freshers Fayre flyers!

• I also had a Eurovision night with a few friends from KnitSoc. I'd never head of the Eurovision song contest before, but it is very big in Europe, and has been running since 1956. Honestly, it was a bit too tacky for my taste, but I think it is kind of supposed to be that way. It was fun finally seeing what people were talking about.

Life at Home

• I did a design project from afar for the Rocky Horror Show- my high school theater teacher Mr. Holme's retirement show. I wish I could have attended, it was an alumni cast, and sounded very amusing!

A graphic I made for picnic invite- features musical characters

Life About Town

• I went out with a film camera for a second time- this time my Imperial Reflex camera. I tried to capture a juxtaposition of the ancient and new, and was very excited that my pictures of motorcyclists near the Pends Arch came out.

• I went to my first "soaking". A soaking is another odd St. Andrews tradition in which you pour water (and sometimes glitter) over a final year student who has just finished their last exam. It was an exciting way to say farewell to my friend Alison from Design Team- I felt a little guilty since it was so cold out though!

• I had a nice little get together with my friends Lavin and Ryo. We were supposed to teach Lavin how to ride a bike, but ironically on my way over my tire got a flat. It was pretty embarrassing! Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun, and I hope we'll get a chance to do something similar over the next year.

• My bike in general started to fall apart towards the final weeks in St. Andrews. I had to replace the tube on the wheel that got a flat, the leather on my handlebars came off (still need to resew), the chain got very rusty (hooray for WD40- which, yes, I know is not good for bikes but it works!), and I had to change the break pads. The outer part of my helmet also fell off and the spring came out of the inside of my bike lock- I just bought replacements for next year.

Travel

• I finally got a chance to go out and visit the Rock and Spindle formations along the Fife coastline. They were incredible! Way cooler than I thought they would be. To get there, you walk along a relaxing and scenic path, with excellent views of St. Andrews. The area surrounding the formations was almost otherworldly- it had a very alien feel to it!

Journey to the Rock and Spindle

Summer

Travel in Scotland

Canoe Trip

We started near Aviemore and ended in Spey Bay

• At the end of the year I went on a 4 day canoeing trip on the River Spey from the Cairngorms to the ocean. I'd never paddled a canoe before- only kayaks- and I really enjoyed it! It was a very relaxing river, there were not many rapids. We were lucky to have some sunshine as well. We wild-camped alongside the river each night- we were surrounded by nature 24 hours a day (it was quite frightening to step in a Tesco Superstore on our way home!). Overall it was a great experience, I have many cheerful memories from the trip.


Here's a little movie I made with clips from the trip- song choice is not quite as cheerful as it should be, but I wanted to show the "power of the landscape"- will probably recut with a different tune.

Northern Isles Trip

• After my canoe trip I went on my much anticipated journey to the Northern Isles. Unfortunately I got a little mixed up and missed my first ferry, so I had to cut out the first few days of the trip, and did not get to visit Fair Isle (I MUST go someday). However, things went very smoothly after that. I headed out to Lerwick (capital of Shetland) on May 31st via overnight ferry. The ferry was awesome- I'd always wanted to see what it was like to sleep on a boat. Coincidentally, I shared my cabin with a very nice girl from St. Andrews.

• The next morning I set out on foot to explore Lerwick. I decided to take a boat tour with Seabirds and Seals (which I highly recommend) out to the cliffs of Noss Nature Reserve where gannets and other seabirds live. On the way I had spectacular views of the harsh and dramatic landscape (that type of landscape was the main reason for my visit to the north- second reason: knitting!). Being at the cliffs was one of the most breathtaking experiences of my life- thousands of birds had nests on the rocky outcrop, some dove to get fish, some preened their feathers, some flew overhead. There were also seals and clever skuas that followed the boat. In the afternoon I went to the local museum, which was sensational (newly redone). I also went on a stroll through Lerwick's main street, making sure to go down interesting closes along the way. In the evening I went to Clickimin Broch, an iron age drystone structure.

• The next day I met up with James, a guide from Island Trails. Nobody else signed up for the tour, but he was nice enough to take me around the island by myself. We started out going through what was once a crofting township, then went to Sumburgh Head. Sumburgh Head is the southern tip of mainland Shetland, which has a beautiful lighthouse and is a wonderful place to spot seabirds such as puffins. There were quite a few intense birdwatchers there (or "twitchers"- the not so nice term), some had cameras with the most heavy duty long lenses I'd ever seen, so I felt a little pathetic with my dinky little kit lens! We managed to spot some puffins, which were actually a lot smaller than I would have thought- they had a lot of personality to make up for their size though! Going to and from Sumburgh Head we drove right through the landing strip of Sumburgh Airport- it is set up in the same way as a train crossing!

Next we visited the house of Doreen Brown, a friend of James who is a knitwear designer. She was the person who made the sweaters for the Shetland ponies in the commercial to promote "Natural Scotland" in 2013. I loved seeing her workshop, with all her Fair Isle samplers and her knitting machine. She also showed me how to use a traditional knitting belt, which I had never heard of before.



After that, we went to the Old Scatness archeological site, which had various types of roundhouses used over time for different purposes. Nearby we saw the house of Betty Mouat, whose mishap adventures you can read about here: Betty Mouat story.

Next we went to the Dunrossness Croft House Museum, which was simply beautiful. If I were ever brave enough to abandon all my modern accoutrements, I would take up residence in a house like that!

Then we drove to get a view of St. Ninian's Isle, an island which is connected to the mainland by a tombolo, or bridge of sand. Treasure was discovered on the island in 1958.

Lastly we visited Scalloway castle, and looked around for a few minutes before it closed. In the evening I took a ferry to Orkney, and got to my hostel around midnight.

• I spent my first day in Orkney exploring Kirkwall- St. Magnus Cathedral, the Bishop's Palace, and a couple smaller museums. I also took a short bus ride over to the town of Stromness. Stromness had a much sleepier feel than Kirkwall, almost like it had been lost in time- going there felt like entering a dream.

• On my second day I took a tour with John of Tour Orkney. It was a one-on-one tour again, so I got to personalize some of the places we went. We started out at Maeshowe, a neolithic chambered tomb. Though a little morbid, this was one of the most amazing spots on my trip- here are a few fascinating facts about it:

• Each year at winter solstice, a beam of light filters through the tomb's entrance and hits the back wall
• The tomb contains one of the largest collections of secular Viking runes- graffiti written when they used it for a shelter. One of my favorites is, "These runes were carved by the man most skilled in runes in the western ocean"- here's a link to some others.
• The rocks used to build the tomb are up to 30 tons in weight!
• The entrance passage is 36ft long, but only about 3ft tall, so we all had to duck to get inside

Next we went to the Standing Stones of Stenness, and the Ring of Brodgar, stone circles which are likely older than Stonehenge. There was a certain unidentifiable power standing within the circles- perhaps from the fact they had stood the test of time and "seen" so much, rather than something supernatural. Power also lies in the fact that nobody knows how the stones got there. In Easter Island, it is often theorized that they used trees as rollers to move the Moai. However, trees were a scarce resource in Orkney. John told me about a plausible theory, which is still practiced in some parts of the world today- laying out beds of seaweed, throwing on water, and pulling the stones along the slippery surface.

Lastly, we went to Skara Brae, a neolithic settlement (sometimes called the "Scottish Pompeii" for its excellent state of preservation). We also visited the nearby Skaill House, home of the people who discovered the site. We ate lunch at the visitor center, and had a fun time people watching-"classifying" various types of tourists. I spent my afternoon going to places I missed in Kirkwall, then caught the overnight ferry back to Aberdeen. I was astounded over summer to find that the August edition of National Geographic highlighted all the places I visited in Orkney- I would really recommend reading it if you want further detail!

Boston

• The day after coming back to St. Andrews, I flew to Boston, to attend my summer program at Harvard. I was very nervous, but the trip to the Isles made me a bit calmer, and it also helped that my parents met me in Boston to help me get settled (on their way to Bermuda for their 25th anniversary).

The Career Discovery program was excellent- I won't get into too much detail, but I will write out the basic structure of the course. It was centered around three projects, the first a week long, the second two weeks, and the third three weeks. We were split into studio groups of about 12 students- the landscape program had about 40 students total, and the whole program had around 200. Our first lectures were at 9 in the morning, then we'd have a small break, another lecture, lunch, then studio work all afternoon and evening- often not leaving till the building closed at midnight.

I found that I really loved landscape architecture, here's a little list of things I like about it:

My final project presentation board

• Design discipline- creativity for a cause
• Focused on the outdoors and nature
• Focused on people and how they interact with the environment
• An emphasis on sustainability, which you can take as far as you want to
• Designing for "the greater good"
• Using a number of mediums- from physical miniatures to computer software
• Can relate back to history or focus on the future
• The things you create you can be proud of, and will often look better (rather than worse) as they age
• Solving or reducing problems and doing research
• Interacting with people of all different disciplines, and not sticking to one discipline yourself

I really enjoyed meeting new friends with similar interests, and from so many different backgrounds. Overall, the program was very beneficial for determining my next step after St. Andrews.

LA3- my studio group (holding our instructor, Hope)

• I also explored all around the city of Boston (especially the neighborhood of Cambridge)- you can see my photos below:

Home

• I hadn't been home since December, and coming back in July marked the longest time I'd ever been away from Santa Barbara. I arrived right in the middle of our annual Cousin Camp, so got to see my extended family. It was refreshing to come home to perfect weather- not too hot (Boston), not too cold (Scotland). I am always overjoyed to see the Southern California landscape again- the Pacific, the Santa Ynez Mountains, the Channel Islands, the dry Mediterranean foliage.

• I've been working on various projects around home- some personal, others for clubs and outside things. Craft-wise I've been working a bit on my dollhouse, doing some small woodwork, trying a bit of spinning, and finishing my knitting project. I've been working on designing logos for a couple of societies, and redesigning the Design Team website and our backyard lawn.

• I'm starting to get into the grad school application process, which is really a pain. I haven't fully decided on the schools yet, but I know that I will need to be writing essays, taking the GRE, making a resume and portfolio under specific requirements, filling out forms, and getting letters of recommendation. This is going to be so fun... not.

• I had fun when my sister's fashion instructor invited us to do a photoshoot for a documentary during Fiesta. We were dressed in old Spanish style, though I think Bridget and I were supposed to be Irish immigrants or something (it wasn't very clear).

• My family and I went up north to go to the annual car show, visit some colleges, and visit my relatives. I really enjoyed spending time with everyone, as well as attending the various events.

• We just had our family garage sale, full of all the things around our house we wanted to get rid of. It actually went quite well- we had many customers and it was pretty fun!

• Today I picked up my new laptop at the Apple store! The cost made me cringe, but I know it will be worth it- I spend so much of my life in front of the screen, the more efficient it is the better. I'm hoping the speed will allow me new freedoms in my design work- I'm currently constrained by the length of time it takes to render things.

Photos from Summer in California:

So that just about brings you up to the present moment- next week I leave to go back to St. Andrews. I can't make any promises, but I'll try to be more consistent next year with my posts!

classes crafting design team ents exploring family history holidays kayaking societies theater travel walking