Julianna Stratton ’26

April 17, 2024April 24, 2024

Flying Heavy

To say that this semester has been busy would be quite an understatement. My friends see me emerge from a practice room, Dinand, or my room in Ciampi approximately every two weeks, during which I reassure them that I am in fact alive, that it is not the ghost of my overworked self that’s sending memes into our group chat… and then I disappear again.

It would be easy to point to the breaks that I’ve taken amidst all of this — evenings spent relaxing with a tv show, an excursion into Boston with friends, the occasional dinner with my roommate — as the times when I’ve had fun, or really enjoyed being here at HC. What’s not so easy to immediately see or be grateful for is all the time in between the breaks; the time when my friends don’t see me except for in classes or when I’m spotted carrying my cello around campus (which is not exactly a subtle experience).

College is busy. Life is busy. Busier for me compared to many, perhaps, because of my double major, pre-vet and honors college requirements, extracurricular commitments, ensemble rehearsals, cello practice and job, but… we’re all more or less in the same boat. If this semester is teaching me anything, it’s that if you wait to take a break or enjoy the moment until there’s nothing to be stressed about and no work to do… you’ll be waiting for your casket.

One of my favorite quotes of all time, taught to me my Dad, of course, is from G.K. Chesterton: “Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly… Seriousness is not a virtue… It is easy to be heavy; hard to be light. Satan fell by the force of gravity.” In that spirit, (and as a reminder to myself to do this more often, so that I’m not a hypocrite for writing this), here are some times of ‘lightness’ amidst the heaviness of the semester:

a pretty sunset on my way to rehearsals!

the orchestra performed a full program of movie music, including clips from star wars!

taking a quick study break on the hoval!

getting to watch a movie for my spanish class!

an evening spent in the practice room… ending with a jury performance going well!

January 23, 2024January 23, 2024

San Fran Strategies: An Adventure

This past week I was given the opportunity to attend the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) strategies conference in San Francisco, California with two other Peer Wellness Coaches on campus. Since our work largely deals with peer education and student health and wellness, the conference was the perfect opportunity for us to network with other students and professionals in the field, learn more about current research developments surrounding student substance use and mental health and wellbeing, and to brainstorm with other peer educators about programming and program development. Of course, all that aside, anyone would be crazy to pass up an opportunity to visit California when back here on the hill it’s below freezing and snowing!

doing some networking with other student educators!

Not only did we learn a lot from all of the presentations and speakers that were present, but we also got to do a little sightseeing!

we arrived right at dusk and got to see the bridge with beautiful clear skies!

My favorite presentations of the conference were “Can’t We Like… Talk: Women’s Peer Support of Mental Health” and “Associations between Substance Use and mental Health: Prevention Opportunities and the Power of Peers.” The former of these presentations was the conclusion of a study examining how women negotiate mental health and boundaries with their peers from a feminist poststructural perspective, and the latter centered around recent studies about substance use on college campus, the legalization of marijuana and its effects on the student population, and ways to combat drinking cultures on campuses.

Heading back into the semester now with a jam-packed schedule of 5 classes, work, and my co-curricular involvements, it’s time to implement everything I learned into my own life (especially regarding stress relief, self-care, and wellbeing practices)! Of course, my fellow travelers and I will also have the opportunity to discuss and present what we learned to the various peer education groups on campus (including SWEET, COPE, RPEs, and SHAPE) and get to work creating positive change on campus!

I thoroughly enjoyed the conference and the food!

November 4, 2023November 5, 2023

Plans, Schemes and Daydreams

In a previous post, I detailed the reflective experience that was applying to the College Honors Program (CHP). Now, nearly three months after the process began, I am delighted to say that I was accepted into the program, and that my schedule now bears the added discipline of an honors seminar, colloquium nights, and, once I get to my senior year, thesis writing.

The happy news prompted, yet again, a moment of reflection (I am, after all, at a Jesuit school, and must live up to its principles in full). This time, what came to mind was how far I’ve come over the last few years and who has been there to see it – that is, who has been with me along the way.

My parents and my family, of course, are in the forefront. Beyond that, there are a few individuals to whom I owe overwhelming gratitude for putting up with my planning, ranting and scheming over all of these years. I’m happy to tell all of them now, whether in my life anymore or not, that I happily consider myself to have ‘made it.’

While of course there is still a long way to go before I could consider my goals accomplished, for anyone that has known me for a while, they know that I have long fantasized about ‘making it.’ More specifically, this included moving out, becoming independent, focusing on academic subjects I am excited about, taking on leadership and higher involvement in topics I am passionate about, and, most importantly, becoming the kind of well-accomplished person that I have aspired to be for so many years. For me, acceptance into the CHP marks a concrete measurement of just how far I have come from the days of planning and daydreaming about the person I would become.

I was the one person out of all my high school friends who left. Choosing to move out here to HC meant leaving behind the people with whom I had shared the majority of my previous life, including my hopes for the future here. Here to see it or not, the person I was even two years ago, and the people that surrounded me then would undoubtedly be proud of where I am now, and the person that I am becoming.

To those precious people: thank you for shaping me into the person that was ready and excited to bring me to where I am now. Thank you for listening to hour after hour of my ramblings about what the future would hold for me – it’s shaping up far better than I ever could have asked for.

June 11, 2023June 11, 2023

We Came, WARSAW, We Conquered

As promised, hello from Poland! I have spent the last two weeks with my classmates exploring Warsaw, Lublin, and Lodz, visiting the historical and cultural landmarks, attending class discussions, and of course, eating some very delicious food. I am taking a course entitled, “History, Memory, and the Holocaust,” in which we are examining the politics and factors that determine how and what we choose to remember and memorialize in history. As I write this, we are heading to the last city we’ll visit, Krakow.

Due to a heavy course load and pre-vet requirements, I won’t be able to study abroad for a semester or a year. The Maymester program has offered me the opportunity to still travel and learn – an incredible, life-changing opportunity that I will be forever grateful to have experienced. An introvert at heart, the trip has certainly demanded of me a newfound adventurous nature, but the results have been far better than I could have expected.

While we spend weekdays as a class, visiting relevant sites, memorials, museums, and taking tours of the city, the weekends are free for us to explore on our own and in smaller groups – and explore I have! I’ve spent my days wandering through the cities, visiting various churches (they are all GORGEOUS), and of course, being as much of a tourist as possible.

Someone out there said that pictures are worth a thousand words, so… I’ll let you all see for yourselves what I’ve been up to 🙂