It is a
weird thing being in Kalamazoo over the summer.
I caught the tail end of graduation, and after all the names had been
called, and all the diplomas had been received, and after everyone had embraced
and congratulated their respective senior, the crowds trickled away. There’s still the noise of the blowers and
all the administrators are here, but without the hustle and bustle of students,
our campus feels…not empty, but just incomplete. What you are left with is peanut butter
without the jelly, thunder without the lightning, Bert and no Ernie. I miss the other half a little.
This summer
I will have two very specific tasks here in Kalamazoo: 1. Complete my SIP! (or
Senior Individualized Project, basically an undergraduate thesis, which I will
talk more in-depth about later) And 2. Work in the admissions office giving
tours and assisting in any capacity possible.
I am excited about what summer has in store for me. Although I don’t get to go home to good ‘ole
Washington State, my parents and sister are both making appearances in the
Midwest. And I am literally, genuinely,
and contagiously stoked about both my job and my SIP. Here’s why:
My SIP
combines all of my interests (and studies) into one intricate little
package. I am a theatre major with a
double minor in French and Anthropology/Sociology. With my focus in acting and performance
studies, I wanted to do a performance SIP.
But I also was so pumped after my study abroad experience in France that
I thought incorporating the language into it somehow would be awesome too. Soooo, theatre in French? But it needed to have a larger sociological
focus. Somehow this concept of “Translation”
was brought to my attention; maybe through the many communication struggles we
faced abroad or maybe through the translated texts we read in my Theories of
Culture and Societies course at “K”. Whatever
it was, the questions of why is translation necessary? How much of the original meaning can a
translation truly guard? And what makes
a “good” translation? really struck a chord with me. While in France, I took a Moliere class that
exploded my perspective on just how different an original text and the
translation can be. I decided, for my
SIP, to use this course as a springboard into a larger project, one in which I
performed a series of Moliere monologues in the original French and then a
variety of the English translations. I
would then talk about the differences that each translation made; how much of
the meaning, original intention, and style the translator was able to keep and
how much was purged. Bingo. I am in the preliminary research stage right
now, but I feel very much on the right path.
Second order
of business: working in the admissions office.
I love giving tours and speaking to prospective students. I get to use all sorts of my theatre
communication skills and I take joy from finding the perfect way to deliver the
same information but tailored to the group’s needs and interests. It fuels me to be able to speak
intelligently, passionately, and honestly about this college and I feel
privileged to be a part of a huge decision in the students’ lives. Also, my supervisor rocks and I am learning
all sorts of invaluable office skills and etiquette: i.e. phones, paperwork,
odd jobs around the office etc. I feel
like this job is preparing me for whatever it is I might want to go on to do
right out of college, whether it be an admission counselor (which would be
really neat), or maybe teaching English in France, or maybe even to go and be an
actress, who knows. I’ll figure it out
next year J
Cheers! ~Megan
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