Consider the following:
Thursday evening I spent two hours with two friends laughing and learning from the incredible Bill Nye. That’s right, the Bill Nye.
I learned about sundials, mars-dials, model planes, deep-space exploration, bubbles in Antarctic ice, building bridges out of carbon, solar panels, the expansiveness of the Universe, how to get rich, and how to CHANGE THE WORLD.
Bill was friendly, crazy smart, totally understandable, and so funny! And I got to spend two hours listening to him talk and make jokes. He even took lots of questions afterward and snapped a picture of all of us on his phone as we gave him a well-deserved standing ovation.
Spending an evening with Bill Nye is something I’ll never forget, and it’s just another reminder of the incredible opportunities available to us here at the College.
Tickets for the event were $3 and sold out within hours on campus. To me that really speaks to our students’ investment in learning and laughing together.
That afternoon I had just turned in a full draft of my thesis (a tale for another post) and was quite exhausted by a long week. Sitting with my friend in the audience, however, the tiredness was replaced by hilarity and camaraderie as we learned that the atmosphere of the Earth is as thin as a coat of varnish and there are “7 million people running around the world burning things.”
And that was just Thursday night.
Friday morning my Sociology of Religion course had a guest lecturer, Arnd Wächter, who runs a non-profit focusing on cross-cultural exchange programs and was on campus for a screening of his documentary, “Crossing Borders.” He shared his personal history as well the inspiration for his work, before leading our discussion of Muslim stereotypes in American society. I enjoyed our classroom discussion so much, I spent my Friday afternoon at his film event. Joined by two of my friends/class-mates, I got to watch the full documentary, which was amazing, and then participate in multiple post-film discussions. First, right after the film, the audience had a chance to ask questions of Arnd and the assembled panelists. The second discussion was even better because it took place at the film reception and included a free Mediterranean buffet. Munching on delicious treats, I spent over an hour talking to other students about the film, our own cross-cultural experiences, and other fun college stories. It was an unexpected but so enjoyable way to spend my Friday afternoon.
Oh yah, and last night I went to a free screening of No Strings Attached.
So consider this, for the past few days I have had amazing, educational, and fun events to attend here at William and Mary where I could learn and laugh with my friends.
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