collegiate experiences

(after all, rowing is a college sort of sport, even though I took it up after graduation.)

Just wanted to mention, I got 8 (!) blisters from rowing Tuesday night. They’re no problem (better now) except for the one that ripped off during my row – unfortunately, with 3km still left to go. Owie. Once again I proved to myself that it is really not possible to row without touching the oars.

I’ve been busily engaged in an online discussion of Jane Austen from my university’s Writers’ House. This sort of thing is a great service to help alumni keep learning academic subjects (since not everyone knows about LJ and the literary discussions on Yahoogroups!) I confess, it’s kind of a pleasure for an engineering student with a degree twenty years old to be commended for her insights into Jane Austen by an English professor. Of course, due to the aforementioned online outlets I’ve probably had more chance than most to stay in practice.

Speaking of my university, I mentioned here a few weeks ago that I had decided to donate some money to various charities. I sent 25% of that to Penn, not so much out of conviction that they needed it, as out of a feeling that I owe them, in return for the scholarship that subsidized my own education. Today, the online alumni newsletter linked to an article that makes me very happy. In part it says,

The Penn trustees today approved the smallest percentage increase in tuition and fees in seven years.

Under the new financial-aid initiative, a student from a typical family with income less than $90,000 will no longer pay tuition. A student from a typical family with income less than $40,000 will not be expected to pay tuition, room or board.

The program, reviewed today at a meeting of the Penn trustees’ executive committee, eliminates loans for financially eligible undergraduates, enabling students from a broad range of economic backgrounds to graduate debt-free.

I wrote a thank-you note.