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Why, you might ask? I've compiled some reasons. 1) Penrose Library. I adore going to the library. It is a gorgeous building – four stories, the entire front is windows, there is a reading room with soft lighting lamps and a fireplace, and there are AMAZING leather couches on the second floor. Apparently, the library has also won lots of awards in library journals, according to my mom, the director of the Boulder Public Library. I find this impressive for a couple of reasons. One, the fact that I have 24-hour access (literally) to a nationally recognized library is pretty amazing. Two, there are actually library journals, and three, that my mother is dedicated enough to her job that she would read such assuredly fascinating volumes. Plus, at Whitman going to the "libes" is part of the social scene. There are jokes about people who dress up and put on makeup to go to the library. You get to sit with your friends and study for awhile…talk about what you're working on, talk about things you aren't working on…take study breaks to wander around and see who else is there… frankly, the people with truly critical amounts of work to complete generally steer clear of the library. 2) Breakfast at Prentiss. One of the most exciting things about being a junior now is that I am allowed to live off campus, and therefore don't have to eat at food service. But I will NEVER stop going to breakfast. Breakfast means unlimited quantities of canteloupe, pineappl, and honeydew EVERY MORNING. There are muffins. There are apples and oranges and bananas. There are smoothies. And oatmeal, unless it's Wednesday. There are eggs cooked to order. There are pancakes. There is a waffle maker. There is also a unique social set that comes to breakfast…some students find it more important to sleep through. You get the athletes, because they aren't about to skip a meal. You get the outdoorsy morning folk who probably already watched the sunrise in the wheat fields. And then you get the poor bedraggled souls who haven't actually gone to sleep since the night before. I love muffins. Breakfast is amazing. 3) The intellectual stimulation. Something that is pretty amazing about Whitman is that so many people here are so smart. I consider it quite a blessing to be able to attend class with people that I can learn so much from in a discussion. People who have Fulbright fellowships to spend the year following graduation building a micro-loan corporation in Mexico, or people who are more well informed about current affairs than I could ever even hope to be, who actually read The Economist cover to cover every week. And my professors, econometrics with Storchmann, a crazy German wine economist who invited me and a few of my classmates to work with him on a working paper next semester; or Crouter, my advisor who is encouraging me to write an honors thesis despite the amount of time I have spent copying notes in her office due to my shocking amount of missed classes. I love feeling absolutely enthralled by what I am learning about, doing research in the compact shelving, finding obscure information, taking responsibility for making myself an expert. Dork of the first degree, but to me it is amazing to think that my responsibility as a student is to learn as much as I can about topics that I get to choose. Not a bad life. 4) My peers. They are so wonderful. This school draws a certain type…the outdoorsy, active hippie type, interested in environment and social change and sustainable living. There is apparently a kid who doesn't wear shoes year round. When the sun comes out, everyone is out playing Frisbee on Ankeny field. I got to eat homemade bread in the library last night, a re-gifted morsel, mostly due to the fact that James felt it unnecessary to add either sugar or salt to his creation. We have potlucks where everyone ends up bringing squash or stir-fries, or we all get together and have a massive tamale making party, where there are color-coded varieties of fillings, including both vegetarian AND vegan. The dining hall serves chocolate vegan cake. The outdoor program has outings every weekend. A school of 1400 has FORTY people on the cycling team. And that's without recruiting. |
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5) I live in Walla Walla. You can shop at Andy's, which is a Seventh Day Adventist bulk store where apples are three pounds for a dollar. Broccoli is 69 cents a pound. And people talk about what a funny name Walla Walla is, but they have no idea about the surrounding area. Surrounding thriving metropolises include Milton-Freewater, Dixie, and Touchet (pronounced Too-she) – we even have Starbucks! Today on my bike ride, I rode through Waitsburg, which has a passably normal name, but also has the hysterical sign upon entry: "Waitsburg: It's one of a kind!" Roads I rode on today: Lower Hogseye, Biscuit Ridge, Frog Hollow. There are also apparently a lot of creeks, as today I also passed Blue Creek, Mill Creek, Lower Dry Creek, Spring Creek, and my personal favorite, Mud Creek. It is also near fantastic cultural centers, apparently, such as Pendleton. When I told a man on my plane Sunday to Portland that I was flying there, he said, "That must be so exciting!" I was positive that he must have been kidding. There is nothing in my mind that is interesting about Pendleton. I was wrong. In response to my less than enthusiastic response to this comment, he said, "But there's the Pendleton roundup!" Clearly I have been missing out. I should have argued for Walla Walla…we have the annual Walla Walla Sausage Festival. So yes, spending a week in California training was nothing short of amazing. And it is a bit of a letdown to have spent every spare moment since my return trying desperately to catch up in all of my classes. But I just have to remind myself how lucky I am to have landed in this divine double life. I can ride all afternoon in the now luscious green wheat fields, buy a three-dollar burrito from the Taco Truck and hunker down to study the international economic integration of Vietnam. Cyclist or student? Without hesitation – both! |
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You'll get an inside look into other aspects of racing such as travelling, preparing for a big event like a national or world championship, and juggling life's many challenges like work, school, and family. Make your selection from the articles below: 
I had to make a slightly unfortunate transition this week. I got to spend the last week living the high life at Bev's old hacienda with Rachel, Helen, and Bernard. It was my pro cyclist vacation. Sunday, alas, I had to return to college student reality. It's always hard to return to normalcy, but I've been trying to remind myself how wonderful it is here. Because the fact of the matter is that even though school can be a lot of work at times…I absolutely love being a Whitman student.