Notes from Senior Editors

Addie Maxwell
Opinion Editor

I’ve always thought its funny how I’m the opinion section editor. I always say I have no opinions on anything, except apparently drinking, because I’ve written about it several times. In high school I was voted Most Laid Back, I’m an uninformed optimist, so why the heck did they give me this gig?

Q baby with Q Barbie (Photo: The Quindecim)

What I quickly realized was that I didn’t have to write about the government or go on angry rants about the environment to run this section.  While these sorts of things are important and have found a place in my section, opinions can also be about our own, everyday lives.  During my tenure, this is the tone the opinion section has taken.  One of my favorite pieces I wrote was in those first issues.  I wrote about turning twenty-one, an experience all college students share.

I’d like to think that what I choose to write about connects with where the collective “us” is in our lives, that someone finishes my article, nods their head, and says “yeah man, that connects with me.”  I’ve been fortunate enough to, on a few occasions, have those people reach out to me.  The number of times I could probably count on one hand, but in a community that apparently “doesn’t read The Q,” it feels big.

As an editor, I’ve helped facilitate this experience for others.  My writers have had their articles shared in classes, and they’ve received emails from administrators wanting their help editing policies.  I am proud that my section has given students the voice they need and deserve.

As an athlete, this is the kind of work I want to be a part of.  This is why I sit in the office, writing what’s in my soul at four in the morning (it always feels far more profound at that hour).  Because, this matters to the people around me.  If I was writing a paper for class I would go to bed, but when the rush of the team effort, of your words in print, of the possibility of connecting with someone you don’t even know is out there, how can you not write?  It is immediate gratification at its most intellectual, and I hope I’ll be doing it for a long while.

New Opportunities for Study Abroad Reflection

Kaitlin Higgins
Global Editor

At Goucher, it can seem as though students come and go from study abroad just as they do from their classes in Van Meter, Hoffberger, or Froelicher. But while everyone at Goucher shares the experience of studying abroad, no two people have the same experience overseas, nor do they have the same experience upon returning to Goucher after their intensive course, semester, or year abroad. And those who study abroad multiple times do not necessarily have the same experiences there or upon return from each trip.

Back From Abroad: Bangalore, India: Encounters with education and poverty in the Ejipura Slum

Ryan Derham
Contributor

As we walked down the street into the slum, people stared, little children whispered amongst themselves, and then waved to us and grabbed our hands. Turning at the temple and going up the stairs to the library, I was still skeptical. Having no experience teaching a class full of children, I was expected to, through broken English, lead class. When we asked what to teach, they said any subject we wanted, implying we were the most educated here.

Ryan Derham ’14 (Left) spent the fall semester studying at Christ College in Bangalore, India, where she volunteered as a teacher in the Ekipura Slum. (Photo Courtesy: Ryan Derham)

Goucher is First Choice for Australian Students

Christopher Riley
Photo and Multi-Media Editor

Goucher is made up of many different types of people: jocks, geeks, hipsters, to name a few.

Kahlia Johnson Poses in the inner harbor in the snow. Photo: Kahlia Johnson

One particular type of student that is overlooked is the international student. Goucher has hosted many different people from around the world, from countries near and far such as England, South Korea, China, and Australia. This semester Goucher is hosting two students from Down Under. Sophomore Kahlia Johnson is studying for her Bachelors of Science in psychology and junior Samantha Jones is studying for her Bachelors of Business, majoring in marketing and public relations.

Goucher Eats: Welcome to the Good Life

Kathryn Walker
Staff Writer

One week ago, I found myself tramping through the dim morning half-light to pick up my family from the airport.  My body couldn’t figure out if it wanted to sleep or wake-up: my eyes were half shut with fatigue while my legs churned beneath me, powering me down the road to the train station all the way to the airport where I found myself standing and waiting with my 20 pound backpack for my family to come out of customs.  Fortunately, I had bought five pain au chocolate the morning before for the incoming stampede of Walkers.  My rational: they needed to start off their trip correctly.  And so armed with croissants from a Meilleur Ouvrier de France, or the French equivalent of an Oscar for culinaires,  I stood there in the Charles de Gaulle airport ready to welcome them to the Good Life of Eating in Paris.