The carved owls sitting on top of the bannisters were what caught my eye the first time I toured of Bryn Mawr…The owls, the grand piano in the common room, and the *stained glass doors of each dorm room. Now, in my third year at Bryn Mawr, I have a cozy room in that same dorm, Rockefeller.
For new students, what follows are a few packing suggestions. These objects always come with me to my dorm room at the Mawr!
Lantern Night 2017
I love Lantern Night because it combines two of the most important aspects of Bryn Mawr; our tightly knit community and our thirst for knowledge. During the ceremony, each first-year is given their own lantern symbolizing the light of knowledge being passed down.
The lantern is in the student’s class color; dark blue, green, light blue, or red. (My lantern is a lively green and sparkles when the candle inside is lit.) Our lanterns always come with us to college as they are one of our most precious symbols of our attachment to the Mawr. Currently, my lantern is nestled between the books on the mantel above my fireplace.
Sunday at 9 o’clock, runners from the sophomore class placed the glowing ruby lanterns with wrought-iron little owls as the design at the feet of each first-year. Soon after, with the stunning backdrop of the cloisters of College Hall, and the song of the Sophias in Greek “Friends of wisdom, let us gather…” led by the Night Owls, the first years held up their sparkling red lanterns. The cloisters were illuminated.
Lantern Night is a solemn tradition. It is beautiful because of the night sky, the black robes, the Greek songs, and of course, the light of our lanterns. At the closing, the first years picked up their lanterns and silently processed out of the cloisters. Just on the other side of College Hall, we could hear their excited screams and cheers.
I remember holding my lantern my first year, surrounded by the upperclassmen, friends, classmates, alums, warmed by the heat of the lantern and the knowledge I was a part of something so sacred and special in Bryn Mawr’s history. I know that my lantern, and what I have learned at Bryn Mawr, will travel with me for the rest of my life.
Happy Lantern Night Class of 2021!
Outside College Hall the freezing night air was alight with warm red owls and filled with the contagious excitement and joy of the first-years swinging their lanterns.
Quotes from Lantern Night:
“Seeing all the different-colored lanterns made me think of how all these girls have been through Lantern Night too. We’ve all been in the same place, and we’re all welcomed at Bryn Mawr.”
“I love my lantern!”
“My lantern went out…but I got a new one!”
“It was just so pretty to be in the cloisters with everyone there, that was so nice.”
Favorite part?
“The singing part!”
“Getting a free lantern!”
“Coming together, feeling you are part of a bigger sisterhood.”
For all the prospective students reading this, I am sure you have been wading through a sea of information during your college application process. I remember the choices, the forms, the interviews, but where to start and how to choose? Here are my reasons for choosing Bryn Mawr, and what I would have told my high-school senior-self!
Bryn Mawr is a small college with about 1,700 students. Because of our size, our classes are frequently small. One of my classes this year has six participants! However, even in my first year, class sizes ranged from ten to thirteen students. With smaller classes, we have more opportunities to delve deeper into the material. We ask questions, we debate, we share our opinions, and we get to know each other. Class discussions are essential at Bryn Mawr — I cannot remember a single Bryn Mawr class that did not involve discussion. Instead of silently taking notes while our professors lecture, we students are participating actively, by putting forth our ideas — what excites us about a subject, what puzzles us. Furthermore, our professors know us outside of class, they ask us how our hockey game went, or what we spent our Saturday doing, or how our other classes are going this semester. The small class sizes helps us build a greater camaraderie with our classmates and professors.
One of my favorite aspects of Bryn Mawr is its relationship to other colleges around the area. There is the Bryn Mawr & Haverford Bi-Co (Bi-College Consortium), the Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore Tri-Co, and the Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Swarthmore, and University of Pennsylvania Quaker Consortium. These ties between colleges allow Mawrters to take courses at other colleges, (and students from other colleges may come to Bryn Mawr for some courses). We have access to the plethora of courses at these nearby colleges in addition to our own course catalogue. I took two semesters of Chinese and a French course at Haverford. Before coming to Bryn Mawr, I was skeptical about how often students would take courses at different colleges. How realistic was it to actually take a course at Haverford? Very! The Bi-Co Blue Bus runs several times an hour and the trip to Haverford, just over ten minutes, makes it surprisingly easy. The dozens of students from both colleges who board the bus can attest to that fact. Therefore, we have the opportunity to choose from not one colleges’ course offerings, but two or three. Although I have yet to take classes at UPenn or Swarthmore, several of my friends who have done so and have loved it!
The traditions at Bryn Mawr were one of the primary reasons I chose Bryn Mawr. From Parade Night to Hell Week, to May Day, traditions are precious to us Mawrters because they are unique to our community. They unite us to decades of Mawrters who have participated in the same traditions. Lantern Night, when the incoming class receives their lanterns of knowledge in their class color is November 12th. Check back then for a new blog post documenting this year’s experience!
Going to a women’s college you feel camaraderie and unity with other women who have shared your experience. Just as there is a bond between Mawrters regardless of when we graduated or whether we are graduate students or undergraduates. (Quite similar is the companionship we share with other Seven Sisters Colleges; some of my closest friends are from Mount Holyoke and Wellesley.) You are among strong women who love to learn and are not afraid to voice their opinions. There is an energy, a curiosity for knowledge and a confidence that Bryn Mawr has instilled in us that will remain with us long after graduation.
Still deciding? Send me your questions and I will do my best to answer them!
Choosing a major is one of the most important steps of college but also a daunting process. Here are some tips that professors, deans, and friends have told me that have helped me through the process.