Ring Composition

Posted on June 2, 2011 by mdance

It occurs to me as I title this post and set off at 60 grammatical and rhetorical miles per hour that some may not be quite as familiar with or as fond of ring composition as I am. So, allow me to attempt to provide a definition. Simply and by the definition that I have always understood, ring composition takes places when the end of a text/poem/novel/epic/etc. mirrors/revisits/recalls/etc. the beginning. (Mary Douglas in her Thinking in Circles writes that “The minimum criterion for a ring composition is for the ending to join up with the beginning,” so I am not alone here.) Ring composition can also be a bit more complex and chiastic in nature, following an A-B-A pattern or an A-B-B-A pattern. Layman’s terms, right? The beginning of the book talks about dogs, the middle about cats, and the end about dogs. Or, dog-cat-cat-dog. In classical works, it is so incredibly more complex and cool and intentional than that (so much more so that the classics gods may smite me for my explanation), but it’s a general idea, and we’re going to go with it.

As a high school Latin student, ring composition was my favorite rhetorical device to spot. For several reasons. The first is that it was a bit more approachable than others like zeugma, synecdoche, or antiphrasis. Ring composition or antiphrasis? Ring composition, thanks. The second is that it was, admittedly, a bit easier to fudge when faced with dreaded interpretation-based short answer or essay questions (“Of course the themes/characters/ places/something join(s) up with the beginning, can’t you tell?”). The third is that I like happy endings. And while many of the ancients weren’t big on happy endings, they could at least pull out the ring composition and tie it all up in a little symmetrical package.

So as I’ve been thinking about this blog post — how to start it, how to finish it, what to say — I’ve been searching for ring composition everywhere. Which leads me, I suppose, to explain why I have been searching for this symmetry and to make the announcement to you, lovely L&L, that I’m leaving Sweet Briar.

After three years as an admissions counselor and three and a half years as a student, I will finish out my last day tomorrow and be Washington, DC-bound. My new job will be with the General Services Administration and, hopefully, will allow me to use my hard-earned Sweet Briar government major. ;) While it was a tough and bittersweet decision to make, I know it is ultimately best and am excited about my next steps.

And I wanted to write a blog post about the ring composition in my Sweet Briar experience…the symmetry with which it all ends, as I prepare to move to a new chapter.

But I haven’t been able to find ring composition anywhere.

I started with the simple. The setting has changed and will change. I came to Sweet Briar from Richmond, but I am now headed to somewhere new and different. The characters have changed and will continue to change, too. While my family has and will more or less stay the same, the other characters have changed significantly, some by going, others by coming, many of those having made a great impact. And miscellaneous factors as small as the weather and the time of year are also different. When I arrived on campus for the first time, it was a snowy January day. I’ll leave on what looks to be a very hot and humid June day.

But, it is not only in the small and less important pieces of the puzzle that I have failed to find symmetry. I have also failed to find it in me — my plans, my state of mind, myself. I am completely and utterly changed from when I arrived at Sweet Briar, and it occurs to me that if I could find that compelling and obvious ring composition, perhaps Sweet Briar would not have done its job.

I didn’t come to be the same person with the same circumstances and the same story as when I arrived. I came for a life-changing experience, and I certainly got one.

As far as my plans are concerned, I arrived at Sweet Briar bound and determined to be a lawyer. And while I obviously still love and have a passion for government, law was never going to be the right fit for me. Sweet Briar showed me that and showed me what exactly I could and should do through my advisors, professors, peers, and my changing and developing interests, and it was a welcome change of heart.

But the most important shift has been in my state of mind and myself. It also showed me how and why one should seek to strike a balance among school, work, family, friends, and fun. While challenging me academically day-in and day-out, it taught me that there is more to life than school (a complete and welcome “180″ from my mindset upon arrival).

What is more, when I think of my coming to Sweet Briar, I have a distinct mental image of being thrown a life preserver. Of not knowing where I was going or how I was going to get there after school number one didn’t pan out, until I was welcomed and pulled up by this place.

I think it is safe to say that I now know exactly where I am going, with whom I am going, and how I am going to get there.

I am confident in my academic and professional abilities because of this place, and I have learned more than I could imagine. If I departed just the same person as when I arrived, no, Sweet Briar would not have done its job.

So for once, I will welcome this lack of symmetry and know that I am forever grateful for all that Sweet Briar has done for me — for the opportunity to have a place here, to study and grow here, to work with the future of the institution and some of the most incredible high school students I have ever encountered, and to be forever changed because of this place.

_______________________________________________

…So what next?

For me: Friday is my last day, I hang out in Richmond for two weeks while pretending to be a college student on summer vacation (amazing), and then head to DC to my new apartment. My new job starts on July 18, and our wedding is November 19. Oh boy!

For you: For those of you checking out this awesome place and considering applying or those of you who will be attending this fall, your go-to girl for the summer will be Admissions Counselor Catherine Gumpman. You can give her a call at 800.381.6142 or email her at cgumpman@sbc.edu. She’d love to hear from you!

And just in case you thought you might go through withdrawal from missing both me and my blog, I’m taking a whack at my very own (non-Sweet Briar) blog: http://spicedwineandsilver.tumblr.com/. First (real) post to come at the beginning of next week, I think. Lots of accomplish first!

Lovely L&L, whether you are future students, current students, or fellow SBC community members, you will be missed more than you know. Thanks for everything, thanks for reading, and thanks for the well wishes.

xoxo

Posted in Et al., Starts with a "C" and Ends with an "Ommunity", Yay Pop Culture | 1 Comment

“Parents, DO Let Your Daughters Grow Up to Be Liberal Arts Majors”

Posted on May 24, 2011 by mdance

A new and very interesting article from forbes.com…read away, L&L!

 

Posted in Et al., Holla (SBC Pride) | Leave a comment

Oh, and P.S.

Posted on May 16, 2011 by mdance

This article about commencement is absolutely worth reading.

Go! Read! You’ll be glad you did. ;)

Posted in Et al., Holla (SBC Pride), Starts with a "C" and Ends with an "Ommunity" | Leave a comment

Some Other Beginning’s End

Posted on May 16, 2011 by mdance

As many of you may know, our seniors graduated this Saturday. The celebration of their graduation means a wonderfully exciting time for the students, their families, and the campus community, but, nevertheless, graduation weekend is always bittersweet.

When perusing blogs this morning, I came across a quote that Sarah Jones used from the 1920 Briar Patch (our yearbook) that remains perfectly applicable :

‎You will find that when you leave college, college does not leave you. Everything that you do or see is consciously or unconsciously compared with Sweet Briar College or those things or people at SBC. SBC becomes the standard of value. The places you see are all more or less beautiful and new friends are compared with college friends.

We know that our graduates, their paths, and their values are forever changed because of their time in this place. They will be wildly successful in all that they do, but they will be missed as much as they will miss this place.

(2011-ers pose on the graduation stage during a rainy senior week event)

 

 

Posted in Starts with a "C" and Ends with an "Ommunity", Yay Pop Culture | Leave a comment

Let’s Play Pretend…

Posted on May 13, 2011 by mdance

When you make the high school to college transition, you will find a number of differences: less class time, more study time, more independence, just to name a few. A difference that I feel often gets overlooked is the way that class selections works, especially at SBC.

First, once you arrive on campus, you will sit down with an advisor during orientation, who will help you plan out your time at SBC based on your goals (or your desire to discover your goals!), starting with the courses you will take in your very first semester. Second, you have a great deal of freedom in choosing your classes. Yes, you’ll have major and minor requirements to fulfill, as well as general education requirements, but you will find that many courses fulfill more than one requirement. Likewise, each requirement within our general education program may be fulfilled by a number of different choices, so it won’t be as if you are ever forced to take a class. As an example, students can fulfill Sweet Briar’s quantitative reasoning requirement with a traditional math course (e.g. Calculus II) or with something a little less math-y (e.g. economics, statistics, etc.). Similarly, students can fulfill a requirement that asks them to learn about non-European cultures with something like a history course, a language course, an anthropology course, or even a dance history course. Again, lots of options!

Another big difference? The amount of courses from which you can choose in general and, well, their interesting-ness. High school often requires that you take courses like English 9, English 10, World History 11, World History 12, etc…in other words, you take the courses based on your grade level with a small amount of wiggle room.

In college, and at SBC especially, you will have a lot from which to choose. I spent just a few minutes poking around the list of courses for our fall semester, and came up with about 30 I would love, love, love to take if I were to start this whole song and dance from the beginning. As you take 4-6 courses per semester, you can gather from the 30 that there are many, many interesting courses, and these are based only on my interests. To give you a bit of an idea…

  1. People and Cultures of Africa (anthropology)
  2. Art History II (art history, I took Art History I and LOVED it)
  3. Early Renaissance Art in Italy (art history)
  4. Genetics (biology)
  5. Corporate Leadership (business)
  6. Negotiation (business)
  7. Modern Dance (dance)
  8. Micro and/or Macroeconomics (econ)
  9. Banned Books (English)
  10. Modern American Authors (English)
  11. Framing Shakespeare (English)
  12. Death and Sex in the 19th Century Novel (English)
  13. Spanish II (Spanish)
  14. US Supreme Court (government; okay, so I already took this but would totally take it again!)
  15. Intoxication and Addition in America (history)
  16. History of the European Union (government; okay, took this one, too…still, I’d take it again!)
  17. Memory and Mortality (honors)
  18. Crafting People: Eugenics in America (honors)
  19. French Heroes and their Myths (honors)
  20. Sacraments and Civil Unions (honors)
  21. Holistic Nutrition/Exercise (physical education)
  22. Relaxation and Stretching (physical education; yes, please!)
  23. Hiking the SBC Trails (physical education)
  24. Spinning (physical education)
  25. Astronomy (physics)
  26. Riding
  27. Sociology of Food (sociology)
  28. Social Organization: Work/Family/Education (sociology)

Jealous yet? I totally am, I can tell you that! ;) For a full listing of courses, check out our college catalog. It’s a great way to get excited about a place and decide what you might want to take one of these days!

Posted in Holla (SBC Pride), Once upon a Time... | Leave a comment

Grit.

Posted on May 11, 2011 by mdance

As admissions counselors, we are often asked what unites Sweet Briar students and prospective students — what one thing do our students share. It’s a tough question, even for a school of only 700. Our students are diverse with respect to their interests, passions, backgrounds, ideologies, etc. That said, it’s never been one of the questions I found toughest to answer.

My answer has always been that our students are passionate about something, whether that be their majors, their career ambitions, figuring out how to do it all, or something completely different. And while this is totally and completely true, I now have a new way of phrasing it and a little something to add to my answer thanks to a recent article.

Grit.

April’s Women’s Health magazine includes an article that explains the importance of “grit” and what exactly it is. Because the article explains it so well, allow me to excerpt:

Twenty-nine-year-old Micha Burden wasn’t the fastest swimmer when she was in college. She didn’t have the most powerful—or graceful—strokes either. But she had always dreamed of becoming a professional swimmer. So when she was two years out of school (and out of shape) and heard about a grueling ocean marathon called open water swimming, she not only wanted to compete at the highest level, she wanted to win.
“I showed up for my workouts and got my butt kicked every day,” she says. But she didn’t give up, despite the fact that even Kenneth Baum, the sports performance consultant she had hired, pointed out how difficult it would be for her to reach her ambitious goal. “Her times were so slow; she was far off the national mark,” admits Baum, author of The Mental Edge, who nonetheless stuck by his client. “At one point I was thinking, You’re kidding—this isn’t going to happen. And then she blew everybody’s mind.”

And everyone out of the water. In October 2007, Burden managed to beat 24 superior athletes to win the U. S. Open Water World Championship Trials in Fort Myers, Florida. How’d she pull it off? Baum chalks it up to grit.

Researchers today are homing in on this previously neglected mental trait and uncovering its colossal influence on success. Turns out, grit explains why your college roommate is a business wunderkind, and how Molly-down-the-street became a black belt in tae kwon do after popping out four kids. It’s not that they have more brains, athletic prowess, or talent than you do. They just may have a better-developed ability to gut it out—that is, to set a far-reaching goal and drive relentlessly toward it.

This term does a pretty phenomenal job of boiling down the passion, the drive, and the goal-mindedness of Sweet Briar women, and of explaining us all at once. It explains why students push themselves while at SBC, whether that means double majoring, majoring and minoring in two very different subject matters, playing sports, becoming involved, leading on campus, taking a credit overload, and/or studying abroad, and for all students, planning, planning, and more planning for the future.

We’ve told you that our Career Services Office helps students by providing resume workshops for students as early as their first year, by providing alumnae contacts for internships and job opportunities, and by helping our students to achieve their phenomenal post-grad placement rate (97% in a job or grad school just six months after graduation). What goes without saying but should be said is that our students take advantage of this, and without their grit, these resources would be completely underutilized. How many college first-years attend workshops on resume-building, interview protocol, and networking? Sweet Briar first-years (and sophomores and juniors and seniors) certainly do. And how many college students are willing to contact tens of alumnae and professional resources to seek out the best internship and job opportunities? Ours certainly are. And how many are willing and wanting to complete independent research and countless internships for those grad school and job applications? Our students certainly are here at SBC.

So, as I will now say when asked, whether a student has earned straight “A”s without batting and eye or has worked for every “B+” she has ever earned, whether she is a biology and music major from Massachusetts who plays field hockey or whether is she a creative writing and history major from Texas who sings, whether she knows exactly what she will do or is just setting out to choose a program of study, grit is what unites us. The desire to do, to achieve, and to gut it out to accomplish our goals.

(Article excerpted from Women’s Health and written by Gretchen Voss)
Posted in Holla (SBC Pride), Starts with a "C" and Ends with an "Ommunity", Yay Pop Culture | Leave a comment

New Video!

Posted on April 30, 2011 by mdance

Posted in Holla (SBC Pride), Starts with a "C" and Ends with an "Ommunity" | Leave a comment

5, 4, 3, 2…

Posted on April 28, 2011 by mdance

Good morning, L&L! I know it’s been a while, but as one of our professors said in response to Grace’s apology for a bit of an hiatus, “The first rule of blogging: Don’t apologize for not blogging.” So, despite the fact that I feel like I should apologize, I will refrain. (Praeteritio, anyone? Future classics majors? That’s what quality time with Cicero will get you. <3)

So what to blog about today? As you probably well know, the National Deposit Deadline (our own “D-Day”) is just around the corner. Because May 1 falls on a Sunday this year, decisions sent by mail must be postmarked by May 2. Your Sweet Briar decision should include the form that you received with your acceptance information that indicates your choice to attend SBC and your tuition deposit of $500 (ultimately credited toward your tuition).

If you wish to do this electronically, that is an excellent option as well! To submit your deposit online, click here, enter your birth date and name, choose payment option 9 from the drop-down menu (“Deposits and Reservation Fee”), and then enter the payment info.

To be completely honest, once you’ve made your decision, making it official is the simple part. The decision-making can be the challenging part, and we in Admissions certainly understand that.

So here’s the deal: If you are thinking, “I can’t afford this,” or “I don’t understand my financial package,” or “I need to talk with someone about my aid package,” call us or email us. We craft financial aid packages a bit differently than some institutions (we want to give you financial wiggle room for expenses like books, travel, etc.), so talking through the package can be hugely helpful. I actually just caught up with two students last night whose aid packages they received only recently. When we started chatting, they felt as if SBC wasn’t doable. When we finished chatting, they understood their aid packages to a much greater extent and saw that Sweet Briar was a great option for them academically and financially. Yay!

Next, if you’re thinking, “Ohmigosh, I can’t make a decision by May 1,” give me a call or send me an email, and we’ll talk through your dilemma. This is NOT the time to be a lone ship, sailing alone and trying to navigate waters for yourself. This is a time to use the resources that you have — what you’ve learned about institutions thus far and the people with whom you have worked — to get help when and where necessary. Again, please don’t hesitate to call or email us, especially if in the midst of a freak-out.

So how to get in touch with me? Call my office phone number (434.381.6720) or email me (mdance@sbc.edu). If you are wanting to get in touch on Friday afternoon or sometime during the weekend, send me an email (our voicemail is feisty because of the weather currently) because I will receive that on my phone as soon as you send it! If you need to talk to Financial Aid directly, call them at 800.381.6156 or email them at financialaid@sbc.edu as soon as possible. We are happy to help, and we just need you to tell us what we can do for you!

From the decisions we have already received, we know we are going to have an amazing class of 2015. We hope you’ll be joining it soon!

Posted in Holla (SBC Pride), The Nitty Gritty | Leave a comment

Just

Posted on April 13, 2011 by mdance

This post has been a long time coming (since right before my Oklahoma trip), and I’m finally going to take a whack at it. Let’s be honest, if I don’t get on it now, it will be May 3rd before we know it (the national deposit deadline or our very own “D-Day”). So, I will begin.

About a month or so ago, I was reading a blog post on “10 Simple Ways to Improve One’s Writing” (A nerd? Who, me?), and one of the suggestions was to remove the word “just” in all instances. The point was a good one: “Just” is rarely necessary or even purposeful in writing, and it is used very frequently by many (myself included when I write informally). To illustrate the author’s point: “I don’t have time to cook dinner, so I am just going to grab fast food” is no different than “I don’t have time to cook dinner, so I am going to grab fast food.” Likewise, “I can’t find the ‘Too Hot to Hold ‘Em’ nail polish, so I will just use the ‘Guy Meets Gal-veston’ color” is virtually no different than “I can’t find the ‘Too Hot to Hold ‘Em’ nail polish, so I will use the ‘Guy Meets Gal-veston’ color” (real OPI color names from the new Texas collection in honor of my current locale).

While I’m not here to argue for or preach against the use of “just,” the word and the discussion are incredibly relevant to my point.

“Just” is okay for fast food and nail polish. “Just” is entirely different when it comes to college.

My high school college counselor is one of my favorite people still, and when she and I last talked, we had a discussion that centered on this issue. In speaking of my high school and my peers, she mentioned one of her frustrations as a counselor. After decisions were mailed and students held their acceptances and financial aid packages, she was often faced with a conversation this went something like this, “Hi, Mrs. X! I just wanted to let you know that since I didn’t get into [insert super selective college or my number-one-choice], my parents said they would buy me a car if I just went to [insert state school].” Or, “Hey, Mrs. X! I know I got into [insert several schools here], but since they’re more expensive, I’m just going to go to [insert state or cheaper school here].”

Don’t get me wrong — I do not aim to insinuate that there are any flies on large and/or state institutions. But these conversations and statements often came from students who held acceptances to other colleges at which they would have been a great fit, while they were very obviously choosing an institution at which they were only a so-so fit.

This sentiment, however, is unfortunately prevalent. I was often asked in high school why I was so gung-ho on a small, private, liberal arts college when [insert one of two selective state schools here] would “do the same thing.” And while it’s a valid question, an institution at which a student is not a good fit is not going to “do the same thing” as a good-fit institution despite its cost/prestige/location/etc.

It’s a bit like the question I am receiving now: Why have my family spend money on a wedding, when it could go towards [a small portion of] a house? My reaction? Let me explain the many, many ways in which and reasons why I do not want a house right now. (Yard work, upkeep, the inability to call emergency maintenance if need be, we don’t need that much space, location, etc…I’ll be happy to continue if you’re curious.) I don’t want a house, I want a wedding. So while choosing house money may seem logical to others, it isn’t what I want, so it isn’t a good choice for me.

Choosing a college should be about choosing what is good — what is best — for you. Not what is easiest, what is necessarily cheapest, not what is most common, but what is best for you. Where you fit the best. Where you will get the most out of your education. Where you will flourish as a student and a person. Not just where you will survive and be fine for four years.

Choosing your college is an opportunity to choose your world for four years. Never again will you get to choose your surroundings, your community, your day-to-day activities, and what shapes your happiness to such an extent. So when you make your college decision, don’t let “just” precede where you’ve decided to go. Take that extra leap of faith that you can do it, you can go away from home, you can do something slightly less mainstream, you can do what is the best for you, and go to the place where you fit.

And save your “just”s for fast food and nail polish.

Posted in Starts with a "C" and Ends with an "Ommunity", The Nitty Gritty | Leave a comment

Awesome Article

Posted on April 7, 2011 by mdance

This fabulous article just popped up on our website and on my google alerts today. For those of you considering SBC and wanting to know what it can do for you…well, here’s just one of the possibilities:

“1987 Grad is Running Georgia’s Third-largest City”

 

Posted in Holla (SBC Pride), Starts with a "C" and Ends with an "Ommunity" | Leave a comment