The Bowdoin Orient

After four years of getting to know all things Bowdoin, would you have made the same college decision?

For our final column, we asked eight graduating seniors this question, and all answered affirmatively without hesitation.  However, they have had starkly different experiences along the way.

Mai Kristofferson especially appreciates Bowdoin after comparing her college experience with those of her friends at other schools.

This week, we explore eating at Bowdoin. Several students share insights on how the dining hall can either serve as the crux of the Bowdoin experience or play a completely insignificant role.

Adam Berliner ’13 hails from New York City and grew up surrounded by international cuisine. Like many Bowdoin students, he was first drawn to the College because of its highly acclaimed food, but soon he shared other students’ complaints about the dining hall.

“The times weren’t good for me; I don’t like being forced to eat at 6:30 every night,” explained Berliner. “I also got sick of the institutional feel of the meals and hated waiting in lines for food.

The Buck Center for Health and Fitness has come to epitomize the Bowdoin experience to athletes and non-athletes alike. In this week’s installment, we explore the College’s gym culture through the eyes of six students.

Caitlin Greenwood ’15 has an aversion to the gym. She does yoga or runs outside, weather permitting.

“I don’t go to the gym,” said Greenwood. “They play terrible music. There are also a lot of clangs and unnatural noises. And there are too many people who are really serious and give off stressed out energy.” 

“One of the things that contributes to feelings of isolation or alienation at Bowdoin is a lack of open dialogue,” said Monica Das '14. “People should know that others on this campus feel similarly. I think that having a community is important to a lot of people’s sense of happiness, so having a place for discussion is important.”

Last week, Robert Ives ’69 was appointed Bowdoin’s new director of religious and spiritual life, which inspired us to think about the nature of spirituality at Bowdoin. When asked about the College’s religious culture, David Smick ’15 replied, “I think it’s personal, if noticeable at all. The only time I really saw that there was religious interest here was last year at Easter time; half the people I know, including myself, went home to celebrate.” A variety of students we spoke with echoed Smick’s observation. At a secular institution like Bowdoin, it is no surprise that religion is not outwardly prominent on campus. However, this does not imply that students do not contemplate their spirituality.

By the end of it, we realized that we are the future of the environmental movement. Six leaders in a log cabin are guiding the planet’s future. We’re pushing for a focus on green energy in politics and for colleges to start considering their carbon footprints.

A self-proclaimed moderate who is passionate about politics and crunching numbers, Allison Beeman ’13 is an intern—or as some affectionately call it, a “Kingtern”—for Governor Angus King’s senate campaign.

The November 6 holds the promise of change for Maine, and Jordan Lantz ’15 is working to make sure his elections hopes are realized. Along with three other Bowdoin students—Teresa Withee ’15, Jack Wostrel ’15 and Wrandi London ’15—Lantz is working with Mainers United for Marriage, a group campaigning in favor of Question 1, which would permit marriages between same sex couples. Bowdoin interns raise awareness about this important piece of legislation on campus. Lantz speaks with different student groups and organizations at the College, encouraging group members to volunteer with the campaign and reminding them to vote.

Molly Burke ’13 has become an expert in time management. This weekend, she is balancing reading for four classes, spending time with her friends, and working at the Michael Phelps Foundation Golf Classic in Atlantic City, N.J.

It is an honor to score an invite to the Aspen Ideas Festival, where participants like Katie Couric and retired U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal gather in the Colorado mountains for a week of debate on issues ranging from democracy to the societal roles of professional athletes.

Charlie Cubeta '13 describes his fall semester on the IHP Cities in the 21st Century Program in one word: unpredictable. After exploring Detroit, Michigan, Sao Paolo and Curitiba, Brazil, and Cape Town, South Africa, Cubeta recalled one encounter he had while in Hanoi, Vietnam, the final city on his globetrotting journey:

Most students studying in volatile foreign countries know to be vigilant when walking around at night, but juniors Alexandra Alvarez and Jessie Turner had to take more extreme precautions during their stay in Chile. As university students, they were caught in the midst of daily strikes and protests about the education system that occasionally turned violent. The protests began just as they were arriving, Alvarez in Santiago and Turner in the city of Valdivia.

For this week's column, we decided to ask students who studied abroad in the fall one question: What was your most unforgettable moment of the semester? Here are their responses:

When deciding where to study abroad, students often find themselves asking tricky questions, like, where can I spend a semester that would make traveling easy? Where can I find a vibrant nightlife and a welcoming culture without a language barrier? Last spring, 13 members of the class of '13 arrived at same answer: Copenhagen, Denmark.

For juniors Patrick Lavallee and Adam Rasgon, a semester in Amman, the capital city of Jordan, provided lessons in hookah smoking and international politics alike.

Imagine eating the same meal twice a day for four months straight.

In 2009, Kevin Salatino arrived at Bowdoin from Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). As the new director of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, he began transformning the place and has been hard at work since.

As an emotional look at two families keeping secrets, Masque & Gown's production of playwright Sam Shepard's "A Lie of the Mind" is thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining.

"Subjectified," a new documentary about sex, takes a topic that is usually talked about behind the scenes, and unapologetically pushes it to center stage.

Theater aficionados know "Closer" not as a song by Ne-Yo or a television series starring Kyra Sedgwick, nor even as the blockbuster featuring Julia Roberts, Jude Law Natalie Portman and Olive Owen.

Summers in Maine are known for their beauty, whether they are experienced hiking in the mountains, lying on the beach, or taking in the exhibits at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art. This summer, around 9,300 people flocked to the Museum to see seven new shows.

A relaxing end to her senior year was not in the cards for Brenna Nicely '10. The play "Hamletmachine," Nicely's final directorial project at Bowdoin, premieres tonight and will run through the weekend.

Marked by sticks of burnt wood, the drawings of bathhouses, and a piece of a palm tree that now grace the walls of the art museum, it is clear that the internationally-acclaimed artist Danny Jauregui has arrived.