Some of my family on Swarthmore's big chair

I was fortunate to have many members of my family travel to Swarthmore for graduation. Student Romane Paul, molecular biologist Bonnie Bassler, Quaker activist and organizer John Braxton, Morehouse College President Robert Franklin, and actor Stephen Lang delivered meaningful, thought-provoking, humorous, and reflective speeches. You can watch the whole ceremony here.

Since the Engineering majors are awarded separate BS degrees, we have a history of pulling pranks as our names are read. We wanted to ease President Chopp into this tradition; we had her illuminate light bulbs on our caps by flipping a switch as she handed us our diplomas:

Our Engineering graduation prank: lightbulbs on our caps

Sparklers in Wharton Courtyard

After four years, our last hurrah at Swarthmore came in the form of Senior Week.  Highlights included a night of bowling at Northbowl, our last bonfire in the Crum Woods, trips to Tom Jones, fireworks, Star Wars viewings, and tours of the college belltower:

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On the way to Chester

I recently had the honor of driving the Engineering Department’s 1986 Suburban Scottsdale. I first encountered this vehicle, a veritable institution of the Department first acquired as a chase car for a solar car race, in my freshman year trips to Chester to tutor with the Engineering Department. Until being instructed to drive to a water quality sampling site the other day, I never thought I would have the honor of driving this esteemed vehicle. (Esteemed meaning that the brakes are questionable, there’s no power locks or windows, and the lining on the back ceiling is falling down so as to obstruct the view out the rear-view mirror).

My Small Liberal Arts College Unexpected and Possibly Too Close for Comfort Vehicle and Professor Accessibility Index (SLACUPTCCVPAI) is now currently:

• Number of Faculty/Administrators I’ve been driven by: 8
• Number of Faculty/Administrators’ houses I’ve dined at: 3
• Number of Faculty/Administrators’ vehicles I’ve driven: 1

Fountains at the Bellagio

I had a great time in Las Vegas for the 2008 International Writing Centers Association and National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing joint conference.  A fellow Writing Associate and I presented a poster of some research we have done on diversity in Swarthmore’s Writing Center.  We went to a great workshop on anti-racist work in the writing center and heard a great keynote address by Nancy Grimm, a scholar whose work we drew on.  I also got to meet and hang out with some writing consultants from the Harvey Mudd Writing Center.  It was quite fun, and Halloween on the strip was grotesquely intriguing.  Of course, the TSA had to do their part in dampening the fun.  Apparently, the Las Vegas snow globe that one of my travelmates bought for her niece was too much of a threat to homeland security to pass through the security checkpoint.

My first destination was the monorail station, of course

Lights and confusion

Our band of engineers was fascinated by the spiral escalators

Pirate seductresses singing "let's go all the way"

Las Vegas from the air

Later this evening, I will be flying to Las Vegas for a joint conference of the International Writing Centers Association and the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing.  Tomorrow afternoon, a fellow WA and I will be presenting a poster detailing some of our work here at Swarthmore.  Updates to follow…