Excel at Amherst College B 2011

I can’t believe we’re almost at the final night of the second session already! If you’re in the area please feel free to come on by and check out our wonderful students’ final projects ranging from business to music, acting to photography and so much more! If you’re not in the area, make sure to check out the twitter feed as we’ll be tweeting all night long with pictures and live updates as the night progresses.
Attached is a schedule of events and a campus map. Check out as much as you can!

Final Night Schedule

Campus Map

The thing I’ve enjoyed most about the Amherst Excel program is not necessarily a single thing or an event that was organized. It really was the experience of the whole program. Not only did I love my classes, and truly believe I’ve grown to be a better photographer and writer through the course, but the teachers here are amazing. They talk to you like adults, and because of the intimacy of your involvement with them (living with them and such) you get to know them as friends more than teachers. I believe creating friendships with adults is one of the most important lessons to be learned as a high schooler. But almost more so than the teachers, meeting the different students was a thrill. There are so many different kinds of people from all different places, and hearing about the different cultures or behaviors or even just laughing about Bostonian accents has been an enlightening experience.

This weekend we all went on different tours of Boston on Saturday. I decided to go and visit Brown University and Harvard University. At Brown we got a tour from our fabulous architecture teacher Rob who told us about the marvelous time he had while he was there. Later that day we got a tour of Harvard that was very intense but also fabulous and finally we were let loose in Quincy Market where we met up with the rest of the group to go shopping. On Sunday we had the option of doing various activities at Amherst which included a Decemberists concert, going to the movies, a nature trail and a lot of other awesome choices but those of us that don’t live near New York had the option of going to visit N.Y.U., the Met and of course going shopping in SoHo. Today we are back on campus and in classes which are great. We’ve all bonded so much during the past two weeks that there is a bitter sweet atmosphere because nobody wants to leave anytime soon. We’re all enjoying ourselves immensely and are having a wonderful time!
- Gabi

We’ve been quite busy here at Amherst College with a lot going on this week and even more exciting stuff happening this weekend!

Tuesday afternoon a bunch of the students took a trip to Northampton, a slightly larger town near Amherst. That night the activities list was full with photograms, bananagrams (we like our grams here), a bowling lesson from our resident pro, Yoga, and the first successful rehearsal/choreography of the second session flash mob!

Wednesday afternoon, instead of the typical sports clinics, there was a heated game of USA vs. the World with students and staff showing off their mad “football” skills and cheering on their respective countries. The World took it in the end 7-4 but there was no shortage of revelry on both sides as they left the pitch, congratulating each other and already thinking ahead to the student-staff soccer game next week (stay tuned!) Wednesday night, after an informal college night with staff representatives, there was a good old fashioned pub trivia night and a low key movie night led by the film studies class.

Thursday brought some more trips to local colleges and to Northampton, as well as a community service event that some students were able to participate in. 6 students went down to a local women’s shelter and put on a bbq for the residents and staff members, as well as had face painting and jewelry making for the kids which was a huge hit. As we were leaving the students whipped out the slip and slide, which was probably for the best considering our students might have hogged the line.

Thursday night saw no shortage of activities as students went off to Jacob’s Pillow for a performance by Big Dance Theater, a concert by Typhoon, a critically acclaimed band that broke out at SxSW, a minor league baseball game, and a trip the driving range. What a night!

This weekend we will be descending on Boston, MA on Saturday and New York City on Sunday. Don’t forget to check out the twitter for real time updates of what’s going on as well as pictures of what’s happening around excel.

This past Monday night, the students displayed their musical and performative sides at the most recent coffee house, a cabaret of sorts. Acts ranged from songs accompanied by the guitar, the keyboard and the good old fashioned uke. Throw in some karaoke and some gymnastics and you’ve got yourself a showcase. Check out the pictures!

They say that if Europe and the United States mated, their offspring would look a lot like Montreal, the glorious French Canadian cosmopolis a group of Excel students had the opportunity to visit this past weekend. There, our activities included a hike up Mont Royal, Montreal’s signature geographic formation, a surprisingly arduous bike tour, a visit to a highly celebrated exhibit of designer Jean-Paul Gauthier’s best work at the Fine Arts Museum, dinner around the city’s cobblestoned Vieux Port, and finally a Saturday night trip to the Jacques Cartier bridge, closed to traffic and converted into a gigantic grandstand from which tens of thousands watched Canada’s glittery contribution to the International Fireworks Competition, hosted annually in Montreal.

The bike ride was quite strenuous, as Montreal is a lot more hilly than one might have expected. We ventured from the old port, throughout the old city, to the plateu, the latin quarter, portuguese quarter, the village, around mount royale, and side by the St. Lawrence. Halfway, we stopped and ate some of Montreal’s finest traditional cuisine, that being cheese curds, goat cheese, and fresh strawberries from the farmer’s market. When it was all said and done, it felt like we had done the tour de france, and had sufficiently conquered Montreal.

On the way back to Amherst on Sunday we stopped off in Burlington, Vermont, where, offered the option between a trip to a nearby beach along the shores of Lake Champlain and shopping downtown, every single student elected to shop downtown. We could only conclude that they had been inspired by all those fashionable French Canadians!

This past weekend everyone packed their bags for an excursion to either Montreal, the White Mountains, or Cape Cod (affectionately nicknamed “The Cod”), and judging by the number of shout-outs at community meeting last night to their new “families”, I’d say they were a huge success!

It was a well received retreat on Friday as temperatures soared up into the high 90s and even above 100.  Students loaded up air-conditioned buses to head off to the Cod to enjoy everything the Massachusetts peninsula has to offer.  The first stop was Hyannisport, MA for a nice picnic by the water and some ocean breezes.  Although the plan was for a relaxing lunch, we were soon startled by a distressed mother we heard calling out the name of her lost 3-year-old who had wandered off.  Without a call to action the students dropped their lunches, split up into search parties and combed the beach and roads, relaying messages to one another with vital information, and within minutes the girl was found.  We were so proud of the students and they received a truly heartfelt thank you from the mother and family of the girl, who had wandered down the road completely out of site.

With the excitement behind us we checked into our hotel and had some well deserved pool time before heading off to dinner.  Students were seen venturing into the unknown territory of lobster-land, a staple of Cape Codian cuisine, and received the ceremonial bib of excellence, as well as a little lobster juice splatter and eternally smelly fingers.  After dinner it was off to mini-golf and ice cream, two more staples of life on the Cod, and though we had a few balls in the rough, everyone finished with a score they could be proud of.

Saturday we split up into two groups, one going off to a thrilling trip of whale watching, or as the locals call them, ocean elephants.  They were successful in seaing a number of these ocean elephants, as well as a few calfs, but as they observed their big eyes staring back at them, the real question of the trip was undoubtedly “who was watching whom??”  The other group took on the uncharted marshes of Eastham and discovered that after a half hour of pesky bugs and tiring kayaking, it was all worth it to see a group of seals popping their heads out of the water to observe peculiar plastic animals with odd uniform fins.  Indeed, who was watching whom??? After a relaxing afternoon it was off to Provincetown for dinner and some eclectic shopping.

The next day, despite sub par weather, we braved the beach and waters of the Cod.  It became quickly apparent that these were not the balmy waters of the Mediterranean, but the students enjoyed themselves nonetheless, partaking in beach volleyball, whiffleball, and huddling around an ipod to hear the latest jams.  Back on the bus we all agreed the weekend was a success and as we bid farewell to the Cod, we vowed not to forget our Cape Cod Crew as we returned to Amherst for another week of classes and activities.

Classes went off with a bang Tuesday morning as students divided up to study everything from Drawing and Painting to Psychology, Architecture to Business and Econ and so much more.  After lunch it’s off to the second round of classes from Fashion to History of War, Film Studies to Music.  After classes some students went off to sports clinics, while others partook of the fine shopping at Target, and others still blinged out their door signs.  After our first community meeting in the quad it was off to the SECOND mind-blowing social experience of the session: competitive bowling!

For those international students who didn’t know what bowling was, we told them it was like curling but more action packed and they were immediately hooked.  After a brief explanation from our resident bowling expert, Adam-perfect-game-Cogbill, the students were off to their own devices, hitting strikes and spares and other such jargon.  It was an all around success and the students loved it! With enough time to cool off after a long hot day, students could be spotted lounging quad and quading in the lounge.