Hamilton College Admission Journals: Daniel O'Kelly

Slow Food

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:36:19 GMT

Once a year, the Slow Food Organization coordinates an event in which farmers from the surrounding area come to showcase their food. This year was a little different -- the members of Hamilton’s Slow Food Organization cooked all the dishes themselves with local ingredients. My god was it delicious! There was chicken, chickpea salad, bean salad, egg quiche, and straight-up carbohydrate rich bread. But, apparently, I was not the only one to receive the memo. Perhaps a 100 or more people showed up. Whether they were there because of the free food or to quell their slow food hunger is unbeknownst to me. In the end, does it really matter?

In some respects, all the meals we eat at Hamilton are relatively slow. From what I know, Bon Appétit, Hamilton’s catering provider, uses a lot of local produce. In the fall, the apples from a nearby orchard are single-handedly the best apples I’ve even consumed. The bananas sometimes appear genetically modified but heck they’re edible nonetheless. Moreover, meals here are slow because we eat them slowly. Lunch and dinner are two points in the day when students can relax amidst their hectic schedules to catch up with friends and ramble on about any social issues they’re facing. Students usually end up sitting from 30 to 45 minutes eating in the dining halls. So, in conclusion, although life at Hamilton may be fast — the schedules, the intramural games, the semester — it settles down over a plate of slow food.

Sharing Shampoo

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 23:17:26 GMT

I am currently sitting in on a debate about the use of shampoo and conditioner amongst the co-op men. My roommate Chris is a connoisseur of fancy conditioners. He keeps on buying a certain type but it mysteriously keeps on disappearing….hmmm mysterious.

Pat, my neighbor, and I finally fessed up and admitted that we have been using the conditioner. It feels good to get that off my chest. Subsequently, the three of us have been engaging in the pros and cons of using hair products that have a feminine smell.

For one thing, our hair smells clean, but a bit musty according to Dana, the single woman present. Others would say it smells like flowers. Regardless, one would not associate rugged adventures and deep, green forests with our hair.

However, Chris claims that women love smelling hair that smells like their own. I remain dubious as to the validity of his statement. We’ll see how it pans out tonight.

In short: this is the most random post I have ever written. Oh well, life at Hamilton is full of unexpected surprises.

P.S. Given that the deadline to accept or decline Hamilton is fast approaching, please do not hesitate to email me at dokelly@hamilton.edu if you have any last-minute questions. Cheers folks!

My Sunday

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:51:10 GMT

I was going to recount Accepted Students day but alas, my fellow bloggers beat me to it. So instead, I have decided to describe my day. It may be boring to the common folk but Hamilton isn’t all about social events and late night diner...we actually do work here.

I awoke at 8:20 and went downstairs only to find a fresh batch of coconut granola. I then ventured over to the library with a buddy and plopped myself down at a big window desk. Not many students were up yet so the silence complemented the vastness of the library. People started to trickle in after a while but surprisingly there were very few stories told about the previous night’s festivities. I left the library 2:45 hours later once my stomach started crying out for nourishment.

Commons Dining Hall was its typical Sunday morning self: students were lingering around and talking amongst themselves in hopes that somehow, the longer they stayed there the more homework would vanish from the backpacks. If only that were true…

I set off for Kirner Johnson and found a table (a rarity at 1:30 on a Sunday) with the friend with whom I participated in the pitch competition. Our homework session was intermixed with jokes and study bursts. Some people work better when humor’s involved and I think it’s safe to say that a fair number of students here feel that way. At 3:45, I headed over to Opus for some group meeting time to prepare for a class presentation. Bring it on!

Thank god for intramural soccer. In the middle of the game it started raining and I felt all the stress of working wash away. Our victory was fantastic but o so bittersweet.

Now, I am writing this post from an Independent Music Fund (IMF) concert featuring John Vanderslice. His voice sounds like that of the Decembrist’s lead singer but John has got the personality of someone from the Bay Area. Check out the picture on my home page.

The radical side of politics

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:37:04 GMT

Political debates are not my forté. I haven’t had any experience in the White House, the Senate, or the House. Nonetheless, I was thrust into a debate on Wednesday night against five other people. Thankfully, we were not debating about the future of the country. If it were up to me, gummy bears would be in its own category on the food chain.

The debate was part of my Government 112 course entitled Comparative Politics and marked the end of a semester-long simulation. The simulation involved a fictional country called West Europa that was on the brink of Parliamentary elections. Group of five students created a political party with a party secretary, a press secretary, and a party leader. I volunteered to be the party leader despite my inexperience speaking publicly. I saw this project as a learning experience and perhaps a chance to discover a hidden interest.

Naturally, I was quite nervous as my professor introduced the party leaders. I represented the radical separatist party, a position that doesn’t quite accurately reflect my personality as my blog posts imply. When it was my turn, I lurched out in front of the podium to speak to the audience – I’m not sure what came over me. The radical side continued to manifest itself: I made aggressive gestures, used inflammatory language and attacked my opponents. It’s not something I plan on continuing but regardless, it was tons of fun while it lasted.

This 100-level government class is offered every semester from what I know. If you’re interested in political campaigns, this class would be a good start and a good way to apply that interest.

Silent Disco

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:04:08 GMT

Almost every party on campus is open to the entire school. Silent Disco is perhaps the most memorable of them all. The party itself is synonymous with the name but i’ll give you the Silent Disco 101:

1) Download a pre-set playlist onto your ipod.
2) Wear old shoes and pants that you won’t mind getting dirty.
3) Head over to Minor Field preferably with a group of friends.
4) Start the playlist at 11 pm sharp.
5) Be prepared to find hundreds of students dancing with their earphones and not to publicly-played music.

I only talk about Silent Disco now because it was last night. And let me tell you, it was a fantastic bundle of fun: the music was bumpin’, the atmosphere was exciting, and the rain was pouring. Essentially, it was the stereotypical college party: lots of bodies and lots of movement. I’ve stressed this before but here at Hamilton we don’t let the elements stop us from having fun.

In addendum to the party itself, there was a student cover band in one of the suites beforehand. The band played classic Blink-182, Sum-41, and Green Day songs that served as excellent precursors to the all-campus party.

Following Silent Disco, a little bird on the street recounted a party that happened in the diner. Apparently, as people kept on putting money into the jukebox everyone in the diner started dancing on tables and benches. It must have been quite the sight let me tell ya’…