Student Profile
Anonymous
- Class: Senior
- Major: History
- Gender: F
- High School: Harvey S. Firestone
- Transfer Student: N
Big Picture
Bryn Mawr is sort of a funky place. It is tiny, and everyone knows everyone's business. Most people are shy and smart. There is a lot of school pride, but it's manifested in unusual ways: for instance, athletics at Bryn Mawr are pretty ignored, but if you attend an acapella concert or a meeting of the Student Government Association, school pride abounds. Bryn Mawr has several big traditions, Lantern Night, Parade Night, Hell Week and May Day, which are intended to boost school pride and camaraderie, and to hearken back to our founding sisters. It's a cool place; very liberal, lots of opportunities to create and find yourself. You never have to fit into just one niche here, because niches don't really exist here. Every time you go looking for a stereotype, you find another contradiction, another exception to the rule. You can be anyone here; you can be yourself.
Academic Life
All of my professors know my name. And I don't always like it. They know when you aren't in class, because most classes have fewer than 15 people in them (excluding the hard math and science lectures which average 30-50). People here are constantly studying. It permeates everything. If not actively engaged in a book, the women here are meeting with professors to discuss class and life, talking and debating with girlfriends about the latest trends in astrophysics, economic determinism, and Jurgen Habermas, or reading Proust on the treadmill in the gym. We are a bunch of smart, smart broads. Bryn Mawr is one big think tank.
Student Body
LGBTQ kind of rules Bryn Mawr, probably becuase there is so much acceptance on campus. But really, everyone is free to be whomever or whatever she chooses. All religions, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, socioeconomic backgrounds, and nationalities are represented. It is a beautiful tapestry of color and experience. Students wear what they want to class. My freshman year, I always woke up and put on makeup and did my hair; I'm a senior now (and I have a boyfriend who lives off campus) so I generally just roll into class in sweats. 4 Tables: 1.) 5 South Asian girls, three white girls, a Korean girl and a girl from Ethiopia. Topic of discussion: David Beckham. Eating: 3 omnivores, 1 vegan, the rest vegetarian. Wearing: jeans and Bryn Mawr hoodies. 2.) The rugby team. A lovely mix of women, 75% LGBTQ All omnivores. Topic of discussion: last night's episode of the L Word. Wearing: rugby spikes and mud. 3.) 5 scared looking boys from Haverford. 4.) Three research librarians, discussing the new archaeology exhibit in Carpenter Library.
The Best Things
I have met the best friends I will ever have here.
The Worst Things
The stereotypes really suck.
