The semester is passing quickly. Snow arrived yesterday at the start of Rumbull in Trumbull and, thankfully, disappeared soon thereafter. Fall break arrives very soon.
Whether you are going home for the break, or remaining here it’s clear that, for most of you, the break will be welcome. Exams have piled up. P-sets are due. Interviews for internships and for jobs and necessary preparations are taking place.
If you’ve dropped a course to help cope, know that you’re not alone. (Some of you have dropped more than one.) Several of you dropped out of our theatre trip just before it occurred on Saturday due to stresses – two related to work stresses; two related to job interview issues. Take a deep breath. Get sleep, exercise and support from friends. Don’t overschedule yourselves over break. Use some of that time to sleep, to reconnect with family if you’re going home or just to do something enjoyable if you’re staying put here at Yale (as I know many of you are).
Late night Trumbull door and fence climbing
A new, interesting activity in Trumbull this weekend was door and wall climbing from our main courtyard into the backyard of the house. This occurred at various times late Saturday night into early Sunday morning.
I was out on Saturday evening but my daughter and a visiting alumnus reported upon entering the small backyard late Saturday evening, that a tall blond woman was at the top of the high, locked, wooden door to the backyard with her legs dangling half-way over. Others were behind her at the door. That woman asked my daughter if she was a student, made an entertaining excuse for just happening to perched on top of the door, then retreated. Later, at 2:20 a.m. Sunday there was enough noise beneath my bedroom window to wake me. Several males had scaled the tall and spiky wrought iron fence and were in the backyard of the house. They quickly exited quickly leaving chairs in disarray when I opened my window to look out and inquire about their presence – a dog barking behind me.
There’s no damage (save to my own sleep and, to some extent, sense of safety and privacy). Yet this was intrusive. Perhaps most importantly drinking and climbing wrought iron fences with spikes is really not the best idea safety wise.
Some congratulations
The men’s heavyweight crew won the Men’s Championship Eights competition at the Head of the Charles Regatta on Sunday, beating out a field of 26 competitors. This is the first time this has happened in the history of the event and resulted in them bringing home two trophies. (The men’s lightweight eights placed fourth and women’s eights finished fifth in their respective events.)
Our football team defeated Maine 21-10, women’s volleyball picked up another two Ivy League wins. Women’s ice hockey dismantled Toronto Aeros 6-1.
Locally, Trumbull is doing wonderfully in intra-mural competitions despite our small size. Moo-rah! I’m happy. Our players of the week are Fiona Riebeling ’18 and Otis Baker ’19 for their dedication to the Trumbull soccer, tennis and football teams. Mila Rostain reports that we’re heading into this week with 263 points and could reach 290 by fall break. Nora Peyton emphasizes that IM volleyball takes place today. Come out if you can. IM competitions make for great work breaks. They don’t take long, they’re fun, you get some exercise and Trumbull gets the points.
Congratulations to all our Mellon Grant winners: Millicent Cripe, Quyen Do, Brooke Eastman, Genevieve Fowler, Austin Jaspers, Benjamin Lerude, Gabriel Roy Liguori, Lily Shoretz, Catherine Tarleton, Mahbuba Tusty, Vivek Vishwanath, Deborah Won and Cindy Zheng.
Thanks
Our TCC is wonderful. Thanks to all those who created, set up, hosted and cleaned up before, during and after Rumbull in Trumbull. Thanks also to Deb Bellmore who came out on a Saturday and was present and helping throughout. Thanks too to both Debra Rueb and Deb Bellmore who organized our Saturday trip to Goodspeed Opera House.
This week: A journalist and photographer speaking on Thursday, Oct. 22
This week is a short week given that fall break is approaching. We have one event in the college scheduled right now which is our Fellows Meeting on this Thursday in the house. The fellows will gather for dinner at 5:45 followed by a talk by Yale World Fellow Finbarr O’Reilly at 7 p.m. I include a partial description of Finbarr’s work from the World Fellows website below:
“Finbarr is an author and photographer who has spent the past 15 years living and working mostly in Africa and the Middle East. He began his journalism career as a writer in Canada and was based in West and Central Africa for Reuters between 2001 and 2012, covering conflict and social issues across the continent. He turned to photography in 2005 and in 2006 was awarded the World Press Photo of the Year. Finbarr has since won numerous top industry awards for his multimedia work and photography, which has been exhibited internationally. He has published long-term projects on Congo and Afghanistan and is among those profiled in Under Fire: Journalists in Combat, a documentary film about the psychological costs of covering war. The film won a 2013 Peabody Award and was shortlisted for a 2012 Academy Award. He was the Reuters senior photographer for Israel and the Palestinian Territories in 2014 and covered the July-August war from Gaza.”
Any Trumbull student who wishes to join in for the talk at 7 p.m. on Thursday may do so. Just enter from the door on Stone Court. We can accommodate up to four interested Trumbull seniors for dinner as well giving you a chance to connect with our fellows as well as meet the speaker. Please contact Debra Rueb or me if you are interested.
Notice to Trumbull artists
We’ve purchased some small canvases, some water colors, oil paints and acrylic paints for your use. If you’d like to use them just ask me. The materials are here for your use.
If any of our photographers, drawing or painting Trumbullians produce art that is emblematic of our college and you might be willing to let me reproduce to make note cards for use of those in the college, please let me know. The cards would be used for thank you notes for official Trumbull guests and also would be made available to our students.