As I sit down to write my last article ever for the Mount Holyoke News, I cannot help but ponder how I want to leave this organization and this school. I most certainly wish to “go out with a bang.” Going out with a bang brings to mind fireworks and pyrotechnics—a display similar to that of the rock concerts and wrestling programs that pepper memories from my youth…and, okay, last July. I most certainly do not, however, wish to do as so many rock stars and wrestlers have done and “crash and burn.”

I don’t know about all of you, but when I see a man with a gun marching my way, I start thinking of how to make an inconspicuous and hasty exit. However, when I see a group of men with guns marching my way, I think to myself, “Gee, I really should not have been so supportive of health-care reform.”

I came to Mount Holyoke for a variety of reasons: the faculty and students I met on my visit, the beautiful campus, the variety of orgs—the usual. However, I also came for one reason that most of you probably do not share: I came to get the heck out of the South. After all, if there was one thing I could not tolerate, it was the South: the Confederate flag bumper stickers, the faux-cowboys, the fact that you actually have to search in some states to find any music on the radio besides gospel or country—you get the gist.

As a psychology major who has taken courses on culture and human development, I have spent my fair share of hours watching video footage of other cultural traditions and analyzing how their peculiarities—read, “weirdness”—impact the development of their youth. Of course, the people being videoed probably had questions about what was worth viewing; after all, [...]

Well, Wednesday night was that time of year again: the time of year when all the concerned citizens (and all the citizens who are not that concerned but do not get digital cable) gather ‘round the television to hear the president tell us what we would already know if we occasionally walked out the front [...]

“Arrests in Egyptian Ferry Collision” was the title of the first article that my friend read to me as I walked into her room. The next article was entitled, “Dozens missing after Egyptian ferry accident.” Before I could even react with the appropriate “Oh, that’s terrible!” she read me the title of another article: “Egypt official: No one missing in boat collision.

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon when I began to show symptoms. I was lounging on my bed, flipping through movies and lamenting to my company that I had been too busy that Thursday to properly observe Guy Fawkes Day. I was perplexed by my guest’s response: “But, Allison, I thought you were a liberal?” “Well…yeah,” I responded eloquently.

As a child, I had a mission: to get the autograph of every character at the Walt Disney parks. At Disneyland and Disney World, I would rush from Mickey, to Donald to Goofy, to Winnie the Pooh, to more princesses, heroes and villains than I could even count.

I do not like cheese. Any kind of cheese. I will only eat cheese that has been melted down into a liquid and mixed with so many peppers, onions and tomatoes that it no longer tastes like cheese. I have been told that this is un-American.

I also do not like beer.