Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The views and opinions expressed in the following programmer those
of the speaker and don't necessarily represent those of the station, gets, staff, management,
or ownership.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Good morning, you'll find me out with Pete and the
Poet Cold. I'm Peter and I'm the Poet Gold, and
we're on the air with this very special show. We
have Sidney Covell, who some of our listeners are a
week two and we also have Alexa Gwinn and Jude Landisman,
both students from Vassar College. And before we get to
Jude and Alexa and Sydney, we're going to go right
(00:32):
to the Poet Cold for her weekly poem prayer incantation. Gold,
please let it roll.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Thank you so much. Peter, Well, there are a lot
of individuals in the room today, so I'm going to
do the soloist. Never be afraid to stand alone, because
the truth of the matter is alone does not exist.
We live in a constant state of symbiosis. The tallest
tree in the forest emerges in contrast to the smaller trees.
But if there were no other trees around, would we
not use the sky instead to measure the trees majestic height?
(01:01):
Taking note how its tip appears to touch the blue
and the sun strong and fiery from a distance, the
moon placid and cool. Are they not related but different too?
And though during the night the moon is the master
of ceremony, the strength of its moonlight is contingent on
the intensity of light bending back from the Sun, and
their celestial bond is revealed through the tides, ebbs, and flow.
(01:24):
Our lives hang in the balance between what is and
what is not. There are no soloists, just cerebral disconnections
generating solitude. For like the tallest tree in the forest,
we have a moment in time, not apart from but
a part of a collective with roots creating pathways to
communicate a message I hope reaches where you are saying
you are not alone.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And go. Before we get to the show, I want
to take a that was an extra good one. Yeah,
there's no such thing as alone. Is an important message,
and I also like the up with the moon is
the master of ceremonies of the night. That's parenthetical. Now
let's go on to show.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
But we are here today with a really great guest,
and I'm going to turn the show actually over to
our assistant from vasser A Sydney Covell and let her
take the lead here today.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Sidney, Hi, Okay, So I just brought a few of
my friends into the studio because I wanted them to
share their personal lives experience of how much they love
Vassar and how their experience has shaped who they are
as a human. So my first question for both of
you is why you chose Vassar.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
Well, that's a pretty big question with a long, convoluted answer,
but I'll try and make it short and snappy. So
a primary reason of why I chose Vassar was actually athletics.
So I got recruited to play field hockey here. But
something happened during my recruiting process where the Department of
(02:55):
Athletics said that I actually wasn't guaranteed to because they
thought that my transcript wasn't academically rigorous enough. So I
went through this whole process of applying to a bunch
of other schools before I decided that I actually wanted
to apply to Vassar even though I wasn't guaranteed a spot,
(03:16):
And so that process really involved a lot of talking
to teammates and current students. There was a kid I
went to high school with who went to Vassar, and
I really really idolized him, and he told me a
lot about his experience at Vassar. And I think the
main things that I took away were students at Vassar
are more than one thing. They are athletes, but they're
(03:36):
also musicians, and they're also really into the outdoors, and
they also write poetry. And I think that was something
that was really intriguing to me and really important to
me as a student. And then I think the other
main reason that I heard and can confirm is true
is that Vassar is not competitive. It's collaborative. And I
(03:58):
think that's one of my most favorite things about the school.
And so yeah, that's why I chose it.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Where you where are you from? Geographically? Where are you
coming from?
Speaker 5 (04:09):
Northern California the Bay Area?
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Do you want to go ahead, Jude?
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Yeah. So I'm very spiritual and Buddhist shout out Buddhist
sanga at Vassar, And I had no idea what Vassar
was as an institution or a school before I visited.
I was doing good. I'm from la and I was
doing an East Coast tour of liberal arts schools. With
my family, and my dad had the idea to visit Vassar,
(04:37):
and my heart was kind of set on Baits or
Bowden or even barred for a little bit.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
The Bees.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
And I visited Vassar and I felt this really intense
but kind of beautiful energy about the campus, and my
tour guy was also really great, which I think definitely
had a part to play. Chose Vassar ultimately, but also
similar to Alexa, students that Vassar are very eclectic, and
(05:18):
it reminded me a lot of home. And I have
a lot of problems where I'm from, but one of
the main things I love about where I'm from is
that people who are from la are not again, They're
not one thing, and it made vasser feel like a
really special place but also really familiar.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Yeah, I think to one of the reasons I asked
both of you guys to come is because I think
you have a really beautiful perspective on life at Vassar,
and you know, you are two people that truly make
the place magical, and you engage in so many activities
on campus. I mean, ask you about them, but truly,
(06:01):
you guys have so many different passions on campus and
utilize the resources and the time so well. And I
think it is something that is really commendable, and a
lot of students at other universities at Vassar like it's
hard to kind of engage in so many activities, especially
with schoolwork, but you guys manage it really well. So
little segue, you wanna tell us about some activities, Lexie,
(06:24):
do you want to start with your amazing, fantastic, beautiful band.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
Saxophone saying, all right, I guess I'll start with my beautiful, amazing,
magical band. Yes, I'm in a student band on campus.
We're called thirty Minutes Late. We play blues, funk, jazz music.
So that's definitely been an amazing experience. I'm also obviously
(06:57):
a varsity athlete on campus, and for three of my
four years at Vassar I've been on the Ultimate frisbee team.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
The you also did play rugby for one years, that's
not forgot.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
I played rugby for one week before I got a concussion.
I'm on the executive board of the Vassar Outing Club,
which is Vassar's outdoors club. We lead trips that are obviously,
you know, hikes and camping trips. But also things on campus.
I lead a lot of yoga classes and we know,
(07:30):
we do tie die sessions, small things like that. I'm
also a part of Vassar Food Community, which is an
amazing club that I love, which is a club where
every Sunday we get together and the group that has
signed up for that week will cook a meal. A
lot of the ingredients come from Vassar's very own farm,
(07:52):
and then we'll cook it, eat it, and clean up together.
And That's a really really lovely club that I'm a
part of. And I slightly off campus, but I also
volunteer for clinic around the corner on Hooker Avenue called
Poughkeepsie Medical Group, where I do some volunteer medical assistant work.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Genuinely one of the most active people I've ever met.
I mean, like, I have things I do, but it
just is not even close to that list. Yeah, Jude,
do you want to go ahead?
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Actually, like many similarities. Well, for one, I'm part of
Buddhist Sanga, which is a Buddhist.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Oh okay, if you're just tuning in, you're listening to
finding Out with Pete and the poet Gold, and I'm
the poet Gold. Then We're here with Cindy Covell, our
assistant from vasser and her guests today are Alexa Gwynn
and Jude Landisman And sorry to interrupt you like that,
but go right ahead.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
So yeah, I'm a part of Buddhist Song, which is
we lead weekly morning and night meetings where we do meditations,
even visit uh some monastery around the Poughkeepsie and Hudson
Valley area, watch movies. We also clap a lot of
other origan which is awesome. I am also on the
executive board of Vassar's Fight Club, which is which is
(09:16):
it's just the boxing club main mostly non contact, although
we're trying to get there to be like tournaments where.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
Yeah, what does non contact look like in boxing?
Speaker 1 (09:28):
It's just training. Just yeah, like I hold up mats
and I wear a giant like foam bodies so people
get sell me.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Fun, let's see.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
I'm also on the executive board of Vassa Outing Club.
I'm the gear room manager, which means that I handle
me and along with my other friend Ava handle what
goes out for trips. Who gets what. We have a
little sign up sheet where you're trying to make one
where you can sign out a sheet instead of texting
us individually, which get tedious. Oh, I'm also an ultimate Frisbee. Yes,
(10:06):
I'm on the Nuns, which is the mixed team. There's
the Monks, which is the open team but it's mostly men,
and then the Nuns, which is all women's team. And
I'm on the Mix so also the largest and the
best team. Whoa whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
I have to disagree. The boxing Nuns probably one of
the most iconic I've been by both.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Of you, and you're joying.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Might be choosing the knocks, but no offense I've done taken.
Speaker 6 (10:39):
Yeah, you know, I'm astonished by how much activities you
both do, how many activities, But I'm really curious about
what you study.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
And when you get time to study. But Alec, you
want to give us a sense of what your major
is and what your interests are in school?
Speaker 5 (11:00):
Yeah, definitely. So, I'm a neuroscience major and I'm also
a Hispanic Studies minor, so i do a minor in Spanish.
Basically I love neuroscience at Vassar. I didn't come in
knowing that I wanted to be a neuroscience major, but
I took the introductory course my sophomore fall and I
absolutely fell in love with it. I also work in
(11:24):
a research lab on campus with Professor Bergstrom. He studies
memory in the brain. We do a lot of work
with generalization and PTSD and anxiety. We work with mice,
and so that's super interesting to do. As for when
I get to study, Honestly, I think in field hockey
(11:46):
season it's almost easier to study because you have a
very set schedule as to when your blocks are and
if you don't get it done well, things go south
pretty fast. So yeah, I'm really quite interested in the
memory side of neuroscience. And also over the summers I
(12:07):
do research at a different university studying different types of
brain cancer, and so that that side of neuroscience I'm
also quite interested in.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
It's Stanford just in case, What about you, Jude, what's
your major?
Speaker 1 (12:22):
I'm a philosophy major, and a lot of I get
a lot of like why why that major? Because there's
not much you can do with a philosophy degree. But
I'm interested in it's called decolonial philosophy. Mainly, it's a
combination of like feminist theory, Hispanic studies, African American studies.
(12:43):
It involves a lot of It's less about abstract ideas
like like the function of the human soul or stuff
like that. It's more about on the ground, on the
ground theory, which is something I really like. It's also
I do a combination of that and functionalism, which is
philosophy of the mind similar to memory. It's it's a
(13:07):
how's a lot of cognitive science elements in it, and
something I do. It's also an extracurricular is I'm a
psychology research assistant and we talk a lot about functionalism
and our ability to interact with others based off of
like our own self perceptions and consciousness. But yes, I
doing is hard.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
Yeah, I definitely to relate to that. I especially in
final season. I really appreciate you guys coming out. I
know it's been a really hard final season as a junior,
I'm now experiencing just how hard it is. I feel
like freshman year and sophomore year, especially as a humanities major,
I was just kind of sitting on the grass. I
(13:50):
always envy that always, and now I find myself just
in the library, you know. But yeah, I want to
know for Lexi and and do you. I know we're
still juniors, but what as a senior, what are you
going to miss the most?
Speaker 5 (14:11):
Well, that's a sad question.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
I'm sorry, but I am curious.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
Miss the most. I've actually been thinking a lot about
senior year because I think a lot has changed this year.
And it also happened to me in my senior year
of high school, where I think everyone around you, all
the clicks that formed freshman year, where everyone felt scared
and didn't want to be alone, completely dissolve and you
(14:37):
find yourself becoming friends with people that you never thought
you would be or would have the chance to be
friends with. And a lot of my social groups but
also activity groups are overlapping, and I think that's one
thing that I'm really going to miss the most is
the community that I think I've built here and the
(14:59):
people that I surround my self with every day that
I learned so much from. I think when I go home,
it's really not going to be the same, or if
I move to a different place. That's something that's really
special about Vassar Are. I think the people that go
here and yeah, I mean the the eclectic people as
(15:23):
Jude said, it's it's a special it's a special type here,
and I think that kind of community you definitely don't
get anywhere else.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I pick up from your conversation now and earlier in
the conversation that community was really important to the both
of you. And I don't know whether or not if
if Vasser was holding the community or did you reach
out into the community. So let me just do one
quick thing before you answer and address that question, the
(15:56):
statement if you're just putting in you're listening to finding
out with Pete and the poet gold I'm Peter Lennar
and I'm the poet Golden. We're here once again with
Sydney Covell, our assistants from Vassar as well as Alexa
Gwynn and Jude Landisman. So do you want to, you know,
address that statement about whether or not if it was
a symbiotic relationship, you know, with with Vassa creating the community,
(16:18):
or was it the community that you found fostered and created,
you know, and took some effort into doing that for yourself.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Yeah, that's a I'm a philosophy mator. So are you
go on and on about that? I can give you
multiple different answers. One I I think both. I think
that Vassard definitely attracts a certain person. I think it's
(16:49):
also a bubble. It's very much so. The Vassar bubble
is definitely real. As much as I love the school itself,
we don't do a lot with the community, the Bickipsi
community or the Hudson Valley community, and it's something I
really am wanting to change. So it's a bit more complicated.
(17:11):
It's more of a complicated answer because people definitely change
in college. Of course, people change all the time. But
I've noticed, especially at Vassar, people grap would you say,
people gravitate towards certain kind of person like individually, like
(17:33):
it depends where you're from, who you're friends with before,
how you raise But there are a lot of different
people here, I mean at Vassar, where you'll either really
get along with them or you won't. And because it's
so small, again the Vasser bubble, it's hard to avoid
people like that. And it isn't the same that there's
(17:53):
not a lot of conflict I would say a Vasser
but as like like you know, baby adults that we're
still learning how to live and exist in the world.
We make a lot of mistakes, and so I think
Vassar both facilitates the ability to make mistakes, not the
facilitates a space where you can make mistakes safely, but
(18:16):
it also does crack down a little bit, especially like
the student population and the student body are definitely more
radical or strongheaded than i'd say the faculty are in
some ways.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
Do you think that Vassar has prepared you for life
after college? Like, do you think that because I mean
I I definitely feel that kind of bubble around the campus.
I mean, I've talked about with Poe Golden Peter the
literal wall around the entire campus. I don't know if
you've ever not actually noticed, but the entire campus does
(18:51):
have a wall around it to some degree. No matter
where you are, there's a wall. And that physical wall
means more than it it's actual physical presence. It is
a metaphorical presence. It is keeping students in as well
as keeping people out, and so that that kind of
comparison not necessarily making me feel ready to live in
(19:17):
the city, you know, I mean New York City compared
to Poughkeepsie. It's a different it's a different energy, different vibe.
So I'm wondering, do you guys feel ready to enter
the real world after Vassar? Wow?
Speaker 5 (19:30):
I mean in some ways, I definitely think Vassar has
prepared me, you know, academically, I think just the nature
of the institution being private and small, there's gonna be
a lot of handholding that goes on, and I think
that happens in every school. Yeah, and that's something that
(19:51):
I think I've learned other ways. I went abroad. I
lived in Madrid this past spring, and that really really
helped me gain some independence, I think out of necessity,
and I think that's kind of the fun of leaving college.
I don't think any college is really a reflection of
(20:12):
the real world, and it's just going to come from
from experience living in it, failing and getting back up.
But yeah, there's definitely.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Let me interrupt you on it. For everybody, wherever you
are in the world is real. There's not a real
world in the college world. There's salutation and it's But
you know, what I would say is that you know,
in the beginning of the show, both of you was
so articulate and full of energy and good stuff about
(20:47):
various things. You did in terms of building your own abilities,
talents and making friends. But education is ultimately about being
in the world, okay, and that world is certainly wider
and Vassards wider than any college, and you know, you
(21:08):
can get sort of into the faster activities because it's
not attractive. But also the college has an Office of
Community Engaged Learning, in which students get credit for doing
internships in the community, from social services to political stuff
to business stuff. And it's really a great program. I
(21:31):
was the director of that program for twenty years. But
that's not why it's great. It's great. It's great because
it puts students in the world, in the wider world
that the way you're putting them. And so with every
great part of vastly describing internally, there's a shadow. The
(21:52):
shadow is that maybe we're a little more isolated than
we have to be and to break out with graduation,
or just another way to put it is vasity stuff.
The internal stuff at VASA gives you such such appetite
for the world, and they'll be you know, in another
fifty or sixty years of your life in which you
(22:12):
can enjoy those appetites. That was an editorial, but.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Very true though. Do you want to add to that.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Jude, Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. I think Vassar does have
a lot of room again what I said before, a
lot of room make mistakes and learn. I think it
prepares you a lot in that way. And I think
no matter what major you are, no matter what you study,
or what frank group you are in, or what sport
(22:41):
you play, you're always going to be encouraged and pushed
to learn more and break out of those boundaries and
those little circles that you create through these extracurricular activities.
And I think in that way, Vasser definitely prepares you
for the prepares you. And also it's kind of holding
something back, not in a negative way, of giving you
(23:01):
a hint of what the real world is actually like.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
You know, you said something earlier referred to you to
the college students sort of like baby adults. I'm just
going to give you a little gem that as you
evolve more into adulthood, you will find that we are
children in bigger bodies. Yeah you know, you know, so
don't lose that sort of like baby adult in you.
(23:27):
The explorer, the creator, the philosopher, you know, the neuroscience
person that wants to come up with solutions for cures
for cancer and things of that nature. You know, always
have that ingenuity and creativity. Lockdown and don't lose that
as you grow. And I think that that's something that
any sort of college institution initially tries to place, you know,
(23:51):
in us while we're in that environment, not to lose that.
But life be life, and so sometimes we lose it.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
So as a closing remark, I want you to to
give me one word. I know this is a hard question,
but one word that you would explain or describe your
vast experience as thus far.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
One word.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
One word? Oh, I can go first, Yes, please me.
It's complex.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
M let me say that's that's a word. But that's
not really an answer.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
I mean no, but for me, that's that was my experience.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Yeah, yeah, no, I'm sure if I'm saying complex, it
might be multi fascted.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
You have thirty second thirty seconds more left.
Speaker 5 (24:46):
One word. I mean, the word that came to my
brain was ecstatic, but I don't know.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Yeah, energy, okay, uh, I'd say I would say so,
I'd say intricate, intricate.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
And one of the things we you also want to
point out is this show was run by Sidney Colvell,
who is a vast students was doing community work with
us in the studio. Here a Sydney is VASA breaking
out and we really appreciate having Sidney do it.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
And thank you so much for our listeners for listening
to finding out with Pete and Poe would Gold, Alexa Jude,
it's been great having you here.
Speaker 5 (25:27):
Thank you so much for having us.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Thank you
The views and opinions expressed in the following programmer those
of the speaker and don't necessarily represent those of the station, gets, staff, management,
or ownership.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Good morning, you'll find me out with Pete and the
Poet Cold. I'm Peter and I'm the Poet Gold, and
we're on the air with this very special show. We
have Sidney Covell, who some of our listeners are a
week two and we also have Alexa Gwinn and Jude Landisman,
both students from Vassar College. And before we get to
Jude and Alexa and Sydney, we're going to go right
(00:32):
to the Poet Cold for her weekly poem prayer incantation. Gold,
please let it roll.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Thank you so much. Peter, Well, there are a lot
of individuals in the room today, so I'm going to
do the soloist. Never be afraid to stand alone, because
the truth of the matter is alone does not exist.
We live in a constant state of symbiosis. The tallest
tree in the forest emerges in contrast to the smaller trees.
But if there were no other trees around, would we
not use the sky instead to measure the trees majestic height?
(01:01):
Taking note how its tip appears to touch the blue
and the sun strong and fiery from a distance, the
moon placid and cool. Are they not related but different too?
And though during the night the moon is the master
of ceremony, the strength of its moonlight is contingent on
the intensity of light bending back from the Sun, and
their celestial bond is revealed through the tides, ebbs, and flow.
(01:24):
Our lives hang in the balance between what is and
what is not. There are no soloists, just cerebral disconnections
generating solitude. For like the tallest tree in the forest,
we have a moment in time, not apart from but
a part of a collective with roots creating pathways to
communicate a message I hope reaches where you are saying
you are not alone.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And go. Before we get to the show, I want
to take a that was an extra good one. Yeah,
there's no such thing as alone. Is an important message,
and I also like the up with the moon is
the master of ceremonies of the night. That's parenthetical. Now
let's go on to show.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
But we are here today with a really great guest,
and I'm going to turn the show actually over to
our assistant from vasser A Sydney Covell and let her
take the lead here today.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Sidney, Hi, Okay, So I just brought a few of
my friends into the studio because I wanted them to
share their personal lives experience of how much they love
Vassar and how their experience has shaped who they are
as a human. So my first question for both of
you is why you chose Vassar.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
Well, that's a pretty big question with a long, convoluted answer,
but I'll try and make it short and snappy. So
a primary reason of why I chose Vassar was actually athletics.
So I got recruited to play field hockey here. But
something happened during my recruiting process where the Department of
(02:55):
Athletics said that I actually wasn't guaranteed to because they
thought that my transcript wasn't academically rigorous enough. So I
went through this whole process of applying to a bunch
of other schools before I decided that I actually wanted
to apply to Vassar even though I wasn't guaranteed a spot,
(03:16):
And so that process really involved a lot of talking
to teammates and current students. There was a kid I
went to high school with who went to Vassar, and
I really really idolized him, and he told me a
lot about his experience at Vassar. And I think the
main things that I took away were students at Vassar
are more than one thing. They are athletes, but they're
(03:36):
also musicians, and they're also really into the outdoors, and
they also write poetry. And I think that was something
that was really intriguing to me and really important to
me as a student. And then I think the other
main reason that I heard and can confirm is true
is that Vassar is not competitive. It's collaborative. And I
(03:58):
think that's one of my most favorite things about the school.
And so yeah, that's why I chose it.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Where you where are you from? Geographically? Where are you
coming from?
Speaker 5 (04:09):
Northern California the Bay Area?
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Do you want to go ahead, Jude?
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Yeah. So I'm very spiritual and Buddhist shout out Buddhist
sanga at Vassar, And I had no idea what Vassar
was as an institution or a school before I visited.
I was doing good. I'm from la and I was
doing an East Coast tour of liberal arts schools. With
my family, and my dad had the idea to visit Vassar,
(04:37):
and my heart was kind of set on Baits or
Bowden or even barred for a little bit.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
The Bees.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
And I visited Vassar and I felt this really intense
but kind of beautiful energy about the campus, and my
tour guy was also really great, which I think definitely
had a part to play. Chose Vassar ultimately, but also
similar to Alexa, students that Vassar are very eclectic, and
(05:18):
it reminded me a lot of home. And I have
a lot of problems where I'm from, but one of
the main things I love about where I'm from is
that people who are from la are not again, They're
not one thing, and it made vasser feel like a
really special place but also really familiar.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Yeah, I think to one of the reasons I asked
both of you guys to come is because I think
you have a really beautiful perspective on life at Vassar,
and you know, you are two people that truly make
the place magical, and you engage in so many activities
on campus. I mean, ask you about them, but truly,
(06:01):
you guys have so many different passions on campus and
utilize the resources and the time so well. And I
think it is something that is really commendable, and a
lot of students at other universities at Vassar like it's
hard to kind of engage in so many activities, especially
with schoolwork, but you guys manage it really well. So
little segue, you wanna tell us about some activities, Lexie,
(06:24):
do you want to start with your amazing, fantastic, beautiful band.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
Saxophone saying, all right, I guess I'll start with my beautiful, amazing,
magical band. Yes, I'm in a student band on campus.
We're called thirty Minutes Late. We play blues, funk, jazz music.
So that's definitely been an amazing experience. I'm also obviously
(06:57):
a varsity athlete on campus, and for three of my
four years at Vassar I've been on the Ultimate frisbee team.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
The you also did play rugby for one years, that's
not forgot.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
I played rugby for one week before I got a concussion.
I'm on the executive board of the Vassar Outing Club,
which is Vassar's outdoors club. We lead trips that are obviously,
you know, hikes and camping trips. But also things on campus.
I lead a lot of yoga classes and we know,
(07:30):
we do tie die sessions, small things like that. I'm
also a part of Vassar Food Community, which is an
amazing club that I love, which is a club where
every Sunday we get together and the group that has
signed up for that week will cook a meal. A
lot of the ingredients come from Vassar's very own farm,
(07:52):
and then we'll cook it, eat it, and clean up together.
And That's a really really lovely club that I'm a
part of. And I slightly off campus, but I also
volunteer for clinic around the corner on Hooker Avenue called
Poughkeepsie Medical Group, where I do some volunteer medical assistant work.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Genuinely one of the most active people I've ever met.
I mean, like, I have things I do, but it
just is not even close to that list. Yeah, Jude,
do you want to go ahead?
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Actually, like many similarities. Well, for one, I'm part of
Buddhist Sanga, which is a Buddhist.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Oh okay, if you're just tuning in, you're listening to
finding Out with Pete and the poet Gold, and I'm
the poet Gold. Then We're here with Cindy Covell, our
assistant from vasser and her guests today are Alexa Gwynn
and Jude Landisman And sorry to interrupt you like that,
but go right ahead.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
So yeah, I'm a part of Buddhist Song, which is
we lead weekly morning and night meetings where we do meditations,
even visit uh some monastery around the Poughkeepsie and Hudson
Valley area, watch movies. We also clap a lot of
other origan which is awesome. I am also on the
executive board of Vassar's Fight Club, which is which is
(09:16):
it's just the boxing club main mostly non contact, although
we're trying to get there to be like tournaments where.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
Yeah, what does non contact look like in boxing?
Speaker 1 (09:28):
It's just training. Just yeah, like I hold up mats
and I wear a giant like foam bodies so people
get sell me.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Fun, let's see.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
I'm also on the executive board of Vassa Outing Club.
I'm the gear room manager, which means that I handle
me and along with my other friend Ava handle what
goes out for trips. Who gets what. We have a
little sign up sheet where you're trying to make one
where you can sign out a sheet instead of texting
us individually, which get tedious. Oh, I'm also an ultimate Frisbee. Yes,
(10:06):
I'm on the Nuns, which is the mixed team. There's
the Monks, which is the open team but it's mostly men,
and then the Nuns, which is all women's team. And
I'm on the Mix so also the largest and the
best team. Whoa whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
I have to disagree. The boxing Nuns probably one of
the most iconic I've been by both.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Of you, and you're joying.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Might be choosing the knocks, but no offense I've done taken.
Speaker 6 (10:39):
Yeah, you know, I'm astonished by how much activities you
both do, how many activities, But I'm really curious about
what you study.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
And when you get time to study. But Alec, you
want to give us a sense of what your major
is and what your interests are in school?
Speaker 5 (11:00):
Yeah, definitely. So, I'm a neuroscience major and I'm also
a Hispanic Studies minor, so i do a minor in Spanish.
Basically I love neuroscience at Vassar. I didn't come in
knowing that I wanted to be a neuroscience major, but
I took the introductory course my sophomore fall and I
absolutely fell in love with it. I also work in
(11:24):
a research lab on campus with Professor Bergstrom. He studies
memory in the brain. We do a lot of work
with generalization and PTSD and anxiety. We work with mice,
and so that's super interesting to do. As for when
I get to study, Honestly, I think in field hockey
(11:46):
season it's almost easier to study because you have a
very set schedule as to when your blocks are and
if you don't get it done well, things go south
pretty fast. So yeah, I'm really quite interested in the
memory side of neuroscience. And also over the summers I
(12:07):
do research at a different university studying different types of
brain cancer, and so that that side of neuroscience I'm
also quite interested in.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
It's Stanford just in case, What about you, Jude, what's
your major?
Speaker 1 (12:22):
I'm a philosophy major, and a lot of I get
a lot of like why why that major? Because there's
not much you can do with a philosophy degree. But
I'm interested in it's called decolonial philosophy. Mainly, it's a
combination of like feminist theory, Hispanic studies, African American studies.
(12:43):
It involves a lot of It's less about abstract ideas
like like the function of the human soul or stuff
like that. It's more about on the ground, on the
ground theory, which is something I really like. It's also
I do a combination of that and functionalism, which is
philosophy of the mind similar to memory. It's it's a
(13:07):
how's a lot of cognitive science elements in it, and
something I do. It's also an extracurricular is I'm a
psychology research assistant and we talk a lot about functionalism
and our ability to interact with others based off of
like our own self perceptions and consciousness. But yes, I
doing is hard.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
Yeah, I definitely to relate to that. I especially in
final season. I really appreciate you guys coming out. I
know it's been a really hard final season as a junior,
I'm now experiencing just how hard it is. I feel
like freshman year and sophomore year, especially as a humanities major,
I was just kind of sitting on the grass. I
(13:50):
always envy that always, and now I find myself just
in the library, you know. But yeah, I want to
know for Lexi and and do you. I know we're
still juniors, but what as a senior, what are you
going to miss the most?
Speaker 5 (14:11):
Well, that's a sad question.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
I'm sorry, but I am curious.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
Miss the most. I've actually been thinking a lot about
senior year because I think a lot has changed this year.
And it also happened to me in my senior year
of high school, where I think everyone around you, all
the clicks that formed freshman year, where everyone felt scared
and didn't want to be alone, completely dissolve and you
(14:37):
find yourself becoming friends with people that you never thought
you would be or would have the chance to be
friends with. And a lot of my social groups but
also activity groups are overlapping, and I think that's one
thing that I'm really going to miss the most is
the community that I think I've built here and the
(14:59):
people that I surround my self with every day that
I learned so much from. I think when I go home,
it's really not going to be the same, or if
I move to a different place. That's something that's really
special about Vassar Are. I think the people that go
here and yeah, I mean the the eclectic people as
(15:23):
Jude said, it's it's a special it's a special type here,
and I think that kind of community you definitely don't
get anywhere else.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I pick up from your conversation now and earlier in
the conversation that community was really important to the both
of you. And I don't know whether or not if
if Vasser was holding the community or did you reach
out into the community. So let me just do one
quick thing before you answer and address that question, the
(15:56):
statement if you're just putting in you're listening to finding
out with Pete and the poet gold I'm Peter Lennar
and I'm the poet Golden. We're here once again with
Sydney Covell, our assistants from Vassar as well as Alexa
Gwynn and Jude Landisman. So do you want to, you know,
address that statement about whether or not if it was
a symbiotic relationship, you know, with with Vassa creating the community,
(16:18):
or was it the community that you found fostered and created,
you know, and took some effort into doing that for yourself.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Yeah, that's a I'm a philosophy mator. So are you
go on and on about that? I can give you
multiple different answers. One I I think both. I think
that Vassard definitely attracts a certain person. I think it's
(16:49):
also a bubble. It's very much so. The Vassar bubble
is definitely real. As much as I love the school itself,
we don't do a lot with the community, the Bickipsi
community or the Hudson Valley community, and it's something I
really am wanting to change. So it's a bit more complicated.
(17:11):
It's more of a complicated answer because people definitely change
in college. Of course, people change all the time. But
I've noticed, especially at Vassar, people grap would you say,
people gravitate towards certain kind of person like individually, like
(17:33):
it depends where you're from, who you're friends with before,
how you raise But there are a lot of different
people here, I mean at Vassar, where you'll either really
get along with them or you won't. And because it's
so small, again the Vasser bubble, it's hard to avoid
people like that. And it isn't the same that there's
(17:53):
not a lot of conflict I would say a Vasser
but as like like you know, baby adults that we're
still learning how to live and exist in the world.
We make a lot of mistakes, and so I think
Vassar both facilitates the ability to make mistakes, not the
facilitates a space where you can make mistakes safely, but
(18:16):
it also does crack down a little bit, especially like
the student population and the student body are definitely more
radical or strongheaded than i'd say the faculty are in
some ways.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
Do you think that Vassar has prepared you for life
after college? Like, do you think that because I mean
I I definitely feel that kind of bubble around the campus.
I mean, I've talked about with Poe Golden Peter the
literal wall around the entire campus. I don't know if
you've ever not actually noticed, but the entire campus does
(18:51):
have a wall around it to some degree. No matter
where you are, there's a wall. And that physical wall
means more than it it's actual physical presence. It is
a metaphorical presence. It is keeping students in as well
as keeping people out, and so that that kind of
comparison not necessarily making me feel ready to live in
(19:17):
the city, you know, I mean New York City compared
to Poughkeepsie. It's a different it's a different energy, different vibe.
So I'm wondering, do you guys feel ready to enter
the real world after Vassar? Wow?
Speaker 5 (19:30):
I mean in some ways, I definitely think Vassar has
prepared me, you know, academically, I think just the nature
of the institution being private and small, there's gonna be
a lot of handholding that goes on, and I think
that happens in every school. Yeah, and that's something that
(19:51):
I think I've learned other ways. I went abroad. I
lived in Madrid this past spring, and that really really
helped me gain some independence, I think out of necessity,
and I think that's kind of the fun of leaving college.
I don't think any college is really a reflection of
(20:12):
the real world, and it's just going to come from
from experience living in it, failing and getting back up.
But yeah, there's definitely.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Let me interrupt you on it. For everybody, wherever you
are in the world is real. There's not a real
world in the college world. There's salutation and it's But
you know, what I would say is that you know,
in the beginning of the show, both of you was
so articulate and full of energy and good stuff about
(20:47):
various things. You did in terms of building your own abilities,
talents and making friends. But education is ultimately about being
in the world, okay, and that world is certainly wider
and Vassards wider than any college, and you know, you
(21:08):
can get sort of into the faster activities because it's
not attractive. But also the college has an Office of
Community Engaged Learning, in which students get credit for doing
internships in the community, from social services to political stuff
to business stuff. And it's really a great program. I
(21:31):
was the director of that program for twenty years. But
that's not why it's great. It's great. It's great because
it puts students in the world, in the wider world
that the way you're putting them. And so with every
great part of vastly describing internally, there's a shadow. The
(21:52):
shadow is that maybe we're a little more isolated than
we have to be and to break out with graduation,
or just another way to put it is vasity stuff.
The internal stuff at VASA gives you such such appetite
for the world, and they'll be you know, in another
fifty or sixty years of your life in which you
(22:12):
can enjoy those appetites. That was an editorial, but.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Very true though. Do you want to add to that.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Jude, Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. I think Vassar does have
a lot of room again what I said before, a
lot of room make mistakes and learn. I think it
prepares you a lot in that way. And I think
no matter what major you are, no matter what you study,
or what frank group you are in, or what sport
(22:41):
you play, you're always going to be encouraged and pushed
to learn more and break out of those boundaries and
those little circles that you create through these extracurricular activities.
And I think in that way, Vasser definitely prepares you
for the prepares you. And also it's kind of holding
something back, not in a negative way, of giving you
(23:01):
a hint of what the real world is actually like.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
You know, you said something earlier referred to you to
the college students sort of like baby adults. I'm just
going to give you a little gem that as you
evolve more into adulthood, you will find that we are
children in bigger bodies. Yeah you know, you know, so
don't lose that sort of like baby adult in you.
(23:27):
The explorer, the creator, the philosopher, you know, the neuroscience
person that wants to come up with solutions for cures
for cancer and things of that nature. You know, always
have that ingenuity and creativity. Lockdown and don't lose that
as you grow. And I think that that's something that
any sort of college institution initially tries to place, you know,
(23:51):
in us while we're in that environment, not to lose that.
But life be life, and so sometimes we lose it.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
So as a closing remark, I want you to to
give me one word. I know this is a hard question,
but one word that you would explain or describe your
vast experience as thus far.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
One word.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
One word? Oh, I can go first, Yes, please me.
It's complex.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
M let me say that's that's a word. But that's
not really an answer.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
I mean no, but for me, that's that was my experience.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Yeah, yeah, no, I'm sure if I'm saying complex, it
might be multi fascted.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
You have thirty second thirty seconds more left.
Speaker 5 (24:46):
One word. I mean, the word that came to my
brain was ecstatic, but I don't know.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Yeah, energy, okay, uh, I'd say I would say so,
I'd say intricate, intricate.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
And one of the things we you also want to
point out is this show was run by Sidney Colvell,
who is a vast students was doing community work with
us in the studio. Here a Sydney is VASA breaking
out and we really appreciate having Sidney do it.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
And thank you so much for our listeners for listening
to finding out with Pete and Poe would Gold, Alexa Jude,
it's been great having you here.
Speaker 5 (25:27):
Thank you so much for having us.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Thank you
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