My Last Full Day at Brown

Lunch With our Class 

As I was sitting in class nervously bouncing my leg up and down I realized that there was nothing to be worried about. After all I was the expert on my action plan. The problem was that my entire class was doing an amazing job presenting. Everybody was polished and well prepared. They knew when to move around and when to make eye contact but probably the most intimidating thing of all was that they all showed such complete and utter confidence. Furthermore, Dean Almandrez and Tory sat in the back watching so intently to all of our presentations. They sat there just silently staring and I realized how much I cared about their opinions of me. I have spent less than two weeks with them yet I have so much respect for their opinions and such a desire to impress them.

Listening to Presentations 

I realized I needed to calm my nerves so that I didn’t make a complete fool of myself in front of a room full of amazing and capable people. I thought back to myself. I am the expert. I prepared for this. My action plan is my creation. I am the expert in the room about my community. I thought about waking up this morning getting out of bed and organizing all of my work to get ready for my presentation. I comforted myself with memories of going over my flashcards with Phoebe and Tyler during breakfast. I convinced myself that I was ready, prepared, and had the capabilities to be just as confident as my classmates.

As soon as I started speaking my anxiety disappeared. I was able to present my speech with no major errors so I could relax and finally enjoy all of the other presentations. Our class all went to lunch together since it was the last full day of class.

After lunch I relaxed with Cindy on a nice bench until class resumed. The rest of class just involved more presentations. Once class was over Dean Almandrez walked us to the Women’s Center on campus. The center was a very warm and inviting place. They had meeting spaces downstairs and then a really interesting library upstairs.Once we were done exploring the women’s center Cindy and I walked back to the dorms. I went on a run by the river then spent some time preparing for my speech. Cindy and I opened up some Tie-Dye but mine turned out kind of crazy. We hung out a little but before meeting up with Tyler and Phoebe for dinner. We had decided to go out to dinner since it was the last night and we wanted to celebrate.

We went to a place on Thayer Street. I got a Portobello mushroom sandwich that tasted so delicious. Once we left the restaurant we realized it was raining outside. We made our way up Thayer Street just to explore a little bit more. We went into a few shops but I didn’t get anything. We walked back to Perkins and I finished packing before our community meeting started.

At the community meeting we all gathered with our floors and discussed departure procedures. Although I am excited to be going to go tour colleges and go home it was a bittersweet moment. I will definitely miss the friends that I have made here.