Gah, this thing looks crummy on a Mac.

I feel really useless right now, beause this is my first Maroon-News issue as Managing Editor after two years as Commentary Editor. I came to the office right after class on Wednesday as usual, ready to get to work. Only there's no work to be done. Normally I would be copying articles from e-mail to Word, editing, planning page layouts, maybe putting the finishing touches on my commentary. But that's Sarah Compter's job now, and she isn't here. I have to wait for other people to start working on their sections before I have anything to do.

Last night I couldn't get to Blogger because Colgate's internet connection got screwed up. So I didn't get a chance to say that yesterday was a big day for New Zealand. Or at least, for my plans to go to New Zealand. I suddenly got half a dozen e-mails from people I had been trying to get in touch with about my Fulbright/Watson proposal. And they all seemed extremely friendly and helpful. Chris from the National Heritage Trust was very encouraging as far as the possibility of working there. I'm sure I'll have setbacks enough in the coming weeks to feel cynical about, though.

I've also decided I'm dropping any plans to apply for the Marshall, Mitchell, or Schupf fellowships. The deadlines are too soon, I've done too little preparation, and there's no conceivable way I would actually get one of them. And it's not that much of a disappointment to decide that. Spending a year in England or Ireland would have been a great experience, and the schools over there are known for having strong Geography programs. But I think the main reason I was considering applying was because people (particularly Judy Fischer, the fellowships advisor) kept telling me I was smart and a campus leader and therefore I was the kind of person these fellowships are looking for. I don't know where they get this idea, because it's certainly not true (but I'm sometimes fooled by being told it so often -- though that was more the case in high school). At least with the Watson and Fulbright I can sell myself on the strength of my research proposal, rather than having to pretend that I'm one of the top students and leaders in the country despite being fairly average by Colgate standards.