Posts tagged alana

How is the queer community at Bennington? Where would I look/who could I talk to for more information? — Asked by Anonymous

Just like most communities at Bennington, the queer community is apparent in various ways. We have a group called queer @ Bennington which can be a great resource. Bennington, like most any college, is a space for you to come in with a mainly-blank slate to really explore yourself as a person, questioner, and thinker. I think Bennington establishes a safer space for queer identified or questioning youth to do just that.

If you are looking to see if you will fit in here, no worries… you will find like-minded people and be a part of various communities. As a queer individual myself, I am personally not very involved in the queer @ Bennington group; however, I still feel a part of the queer community on campus. There are various ways to be involved as a queer person on campus. I took a bunch of people to the gender and queer conference at Hampshire this term and that was a wonderful way to spend part of my weekend! If you have any other questions or just want to chat about this more, please feel free to contact me at alanac@bennington.edu

I know I can only speak for myself, but I have felt very accepted here. I have enjoyed meaningful conversations with friends, events through SWAG (Sexual Wellness Awareness Group) that have opened my eyes to other conversations, and finding general acceptance of various identities on campus.
-Alana ‘15 

Heat!  Ceramics!  Outdoor kilns! Final projects!

I am in a project-based ceramics class called Grand Vessel in which we are looking at what vessels have shown us throughout history and how we define a vessel today. Myself and my friend Nina are firing our pieces in a once fired soda-ash kiln this week. On Monday we bricked the wall to our “Salty Dog”. Yesterday we started our firing and have continued to control the slow climb of temperature, turning it up every two hours or so. I went to bed at 1:30 am last night when it was at 847 degrees Fahrenheit and now it is almost 2000 degrees. We will be adding the soda-ash solution to the kiln tonight once it is at cone 10!!! Can’t wait to see what comes of this kiln. It is always a surprise taking down that door. I will post a “results” post once things cool down.


-Alana ‘15

Spring called to take us out of the office on a nice meandering walk through campus while the flowers started blooming…

-Alana, Glennis, and Julia ‘15

It’s easy to see who does all the work around here.  - Alana and Jessieh

It’s easy to see who does all the work around here. 

- Alana and Jessieh

I'm not sure if any of y'all will be able to answer this question, but: I know Bennington is liberal (as in lots of Democrats), but how truly radically left is it? Are there any communist / anarchist groups on campus? Sorry to sound like a goof, but I'm gonna miss my Occupy friends from back home! — Asked by Anonymous

As someone who has roomed with an anarchist while having a fully radical left neighbor who would live at Occupy in a perfect world, I would say yes. I may have a skewed perception of this, but I think you can find your place here and I know you could deferentially spark some interesting conversations about your viewpoints. I think it may be best put by Emily, a recent Bennington Graduate:

image


-Alana
 

Maple Sugaring by way of some amazing folks in the Bennington Sustainable Food Project! Check out their blog here

Jungle-Themed War Paint coffee hour!

First house potluck in Woolley!

This term is off to a busy, but good start…

-Alana ‘15

Do merit scholarships affect how much financial aid you receive? — Asked by Anonymous

Rest assured, financial aid is based on FAFSA and isn’t affected by any merit scholarships!

-Alana 

Hi, I'm an IB student at an international school and was wondering what Bennington's dance program is like. How much experience is needed? Also, is there an advantage getting into Bennington being an IB student? Thanks! :) — Asked by Anonymous

Bennington accepts IB credit; however, since Bennington does not have general education requirements you will not be exempt from any classes. As far as admissions we look at each student’s application in entirety so it does not place you in an advantage or disadvantaged place in admissions. 

As far as dance goes at Bennington, there is a strong emphasis on creating and making work. Please take a look at this page to read a bit more about the dance program. It took me a while to adjust to the dance program here, but I love how I am finding my own vocabulary and voice now. If you have further questions about the dance program or just want to chat with a fellow dancer, I would love to talk about my current classes and projects and hear about your interests:

alanac@bennington.edu

Let’s talk movement!
-Alana 

Hey Everyone! I am currently in the midst of administrative work and event planning for my FWT in Atlanta, Georgia. I am working with a Tribal Fusion dance company. Feel free to check out more here!

Weather you are busy in the office or busy filling out applications, I hope everyone is doing well. I just wanted to share my friend’s video about her first term at Bennington. We met because she was on the Canoe Pre-Orientation trip I led this Fall, but we continued our friendship beyond that. 

I am so happy she captured the funny moments of what I like to call “Behind the Scenes” of Bennington. When we are not knee deep in projects and reading, we also like to goof off and have fun. I saw a lot of my first term in her video as well. Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

With love from the south,

Alana 

Fire sirens start the madness of the tradition called Midnight Breakfast. With donuts passed down the long awaited line up to commons, the faculty band playing in the big room, dancing throughout the chairs and on the tables, and your teachers / staff / Liz Coleman (current president of Bennington) serving you breakfast at midnight on a randomly chosen night during finals - I don’t know of any other way for a school to give you a true “pat on the back” during the hectic sleepless nights of finals week(s). 

Well, I am back to my work and hopefully going to bed soon, but I took my camera into the dinning hall tonight for a reason. I just could not wait to share this with you all tonight! While you may be stressed with deadlines or awaiting decisions, we are also knees deep in our final projects and papers. We understand your stress and crazy busy days.
Breathe and get some rest,
-Alana

 

Here are some snapshots we took of Andrew McIntyre, our AMAZING pure math teacher. He was using a yoga ball to draw out concepts of spherical geometry, proving to us that latitudinal lines are not parallel straight lines and that some triangles have internal angles that add up to more than 180 degrees! HOW EXCITING :D We though so…
The math nerds,
Alana and Glennis

Here is one way to write a proof that I was working on in my Intro to Pure Math class today. My teacher Andrew treats his students as if they are mathematicians by guiding you to figure problems out intuitively rather than just simply plugging numbers into a formula. If you want to know anything more about any other aspects of math at Bennington or how it can fit into your other studies, I am a proud math nerd that would love to talk to you!-Alana ‘15 

Here is one way to write a proof that I was working on in my Intro to Pure Math class today. My teacher Andrew treats his students as if they are mathematicians by guiding you to figure problems out intuitively rather than just simply plugging numbers into a formula. If you want to know anything more about any other aspects of math at Bennington or how it can fit into your other studies, I am a proud math nerd that would love to talk to you!
-Alana ‘15 

A compilation of some of the performances I have done with the Hip Hop Dance Club at Bennington. Let me know if you want to see some other full length videos and I can send them your way!
-Alana ‘15

A picture of our dinning hall’s FUN FOOD night on Halloween! From a fog machine to cobwebs to caution tap near our compost, our dinning hall was decked out for the occasion and topped of with screenings of movies such as Carie. The food and treats consist of hand-spun cotton candy, donuts, fried dough, and of course candy! Check out Michaela’s post about more events of Halloween at Bennington.-Alana ‘15 

A picture of our dinning hall’s FUN FOOD night on Halloween! From a fog machine to cobwebs to caution tap near our compost, our dinning hall was decked out for the occasion and topped of with screenings of movies such as Carie. The food and treats consist of hand-spun cotton candy, donuts, fried dough, and of course candy! Check out Michaela’s post about more events of Halloween at Bennington.
-Alana ‘15 

this is a beautiful place and you are beautiful people. that is all. from: an enchanted transfer applicant.... — Asked by Anonymous

Why thank you.  We think we’re pretty beautiful too.