Wow...

The last time I posted here, we had just graduated from high school. Now we are almost halfway done with our junior year of college. Freaky...

So, is it time to sum up the past three years in one entry? OK, here goes... I love Wash U. I love pretty much everything about it except the workload, which really drives me crazy sometimes. I'm studying abroad next semester at University of Sussex in England (in Brighton, about an hour away from London via train), and I'm excited to have a lighter workload and have a month-long "Easter break" to travel around Europe!

At Wash U I'm on the Executive Board for Dance Marathon, which raises money for local children's hospitals. Our event was on October 25th and we raised over $131,000 this year. More important than the money, though, has been the experience of working all year on a cause that I care about with wonderful people who have become like a second family for me. I'm so happy to have found my niche here. My favorite class this semester is probably Acting 1. The best class I've taken here is Advanced Musical Theatre last semester. I was the only underclassman out of ten people, and it was such an amazing experience to work with and learn from a bunch of theatre majors, who also happened to be absolutely wonderful people. I miss being in shows and I'm thinking about auditioning again next year, either for the Performing Arts Department or student-run shows (there's one student group that does a show in the fall and another that does one in the spring).

Last summer I interned at the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, DC, for ten weeks. I was in Gala Events, meaning that I helped plan their fundraising dinners. My team made coming to work a lot of fun, and I was amazed to learn about the scope of HRC's work. I also fell in love with DC and would not hesitate to go back. There is so much to do, a lot of it is free, but at the same time DC feels a lot calmer than somewhere like NYC. I lived on campus at George Washington University and had three fantastic roommates (we lived in an apartment), and I also hung out with the other HRC interns (there were about 25 of us) and people from Wash U who are from the DC/Maryland area. The highlight of my summer was seeing Idina Menzel in concert and getting to go to the meet and greet after the show! She was so sweet in person, and her talent just blows me away.

I only have about three weeks of classes left (counting Thanksgiving week, which is only two days of classes), so I'm trying to stay on top of my work and soak in the experiences here as much as I can before I leave for a whole semester. I think I have to be in England on January 8th or 9th, and I'll be there until the end of June. I wish I could take some of the people here with me!

All right, your turns! :o)

Love,

Olivia