Here I am, with less than one week remaining on campus. I leave in 6 days, and it’s hard to believe that summer is coming to an end. I’ve had such a productive and “relaxed-busy” few months. I’d like to share two gems that I came across this summer. They’ve both always been around, I just never took the time to look into them.

Harvard Summer School hosts trips throughout the summer that are part of a larger series called “Discover Boston.” One of my duties as a Proctor is to chaperone several of these outings. A few weeks ago, I attended the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) for the first time. Despite growing up in Massachusetts, right on the border of New Hampshire and only a half hour driving from Boston, the MFA was one museum I had never been to. I love going to exhibits and museums. I enjoy attempting to interpret others’ art, and the quiet galleries are incredibly relaxing. I’m also usually in awe of what some people can think of. The pieces that I love the most are typically the ones that make me think or look twice…or the paintings that you just can’t help but notice because of their sheer size.

Floor-to-ceiling painting! Cool!

From attending the MFA, I discovered that while the fine art is beautiful, I very much enjoy contemporary art more. The MFA has a small section specifically for contemporary art, which I just couldn’t get enough of. Any museum-goer will notice simple, cool, and clever lighted signage before entering one of the galleries (see picture below). I’d highly recommend anyone to check it out. In addition, Harvard has some fantastic museums–one of my favorites is the Museum of Natural History. I’ve been once with my parents and I couldn’t help but think what a fun place it would be to take a date! Kind of nerdy, but it might be fun, no? What about the Aquarium? I think I’d have fun at either…however, I can, indeed, see it going horribly wrong.

Lighted signage before entering the MFA’s Contemporary Art exhibit!

Earlier this week, my friend Beth and I got massages over at the Wellness Center. They have special student prices and the office is conveniently located in the Holyoke Center, which is right on campus. Beth has been training all summer (she’s on the Women’s Varsity Volleyball team) and I still exercise and go to the gym despite not being on the men’s team anymore. Therefore, we put a lot of physical stress on our bodies, on top of personal or mental stresses, which all contribute to even more knots or tightness in our muscles and joints. This is definitely a luxury and something we don’t do often. Actually, it was the first real massage for the both of us! However, we wanted to treat ourselves and thought we’d give it a shot. I don’t have anything to compare my massage to, but I did very much enjoy it and would definitely go back again. I think the Wellness Center is a great resource that’s underutilized by undergrads here. On the other hand, if getting a full body massage isn’t your thing, there’s also a program on campus called Stressbusters. Stressbusters is a program that trains students to give massages as volunteers on campus. They can either be booked to give massages at meetings or events, or they also hold spontaneous massage study breaks in different Houses (dorm buildings) and libraries. My favorite part about Stressbusters is that they come to Quincy House (the dorm building I live in) and give massages during Reading Period before exams start taking place.

I’m counting down the days–the final exam for my Tissue Engineering class is on Wednesday. I’m off to go study a bit, but I hope all of you are having a great first week to August. I also hope you all get a chance to catch the Olympics! There are some incredibly talented and gifted people in this world!

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