We Know What We Did This Summer (and You Should Too)

With the start of another exciting academic year, The Quad staff has taken the time to reflect on their adventures of the past four months. Our writers have done everything from painting furniture to reporting on Whitey Bulger’s trial. Some have traveled as far as Hong Kong, while others stayed around BU’s campus for this sweltering season.

Patricia Bruce, CAS/COM, Photo Editor/Fashion.

“I got paid to play with children, danced, met new wonderful people, hiked, swam in the ocean; everything was beautiful.”

Adrian Burke, COM, Television.

“I spent my summer assistant-directing a production at a children’s theater in White Plains, NY. It was incredibly rewarding and a huge learning experience. The rest of my summer was spent getting addicted to Twitter and watching pretty much every Joss Whedon show ever. I’m looking forward to a very productive year!”

Evan Caughey, COM, Graphic Designer/Web Administrator.

“I spent most of the summer on the road with my brother in the Pacific Northwest on an RV, promoting and working as a creative and operations manager for a startup company called Voke Tab, Inc. We launched the company (which makes all natural energy tabs, that are like a cup of coffee in a tablet) in August and spent most of our time developing the product and visiting shops.”

Ruth Chan, COM, Film.

“My Summer—A summary in Numbers:
Number of hours spent on the plane to go home to Hong Kong: 16.
Number of days spent in Taiwan: 3.
Amount of money won in a casino in Macau: $4.
Number of hours spent procrastinating at magazine internship: Approximately 20.
Amount of time spent on BU-related work: 0.
Number of friends reunited with: 30, give or take.
Number of calories gained: Too scared to put down.
Happiness level: 10/10 (obviously!)”

Jon Christianson, CAS/COM, Television.

“What I did this summer besides pioneering the Orienting to BU column? Boxes. My mother and I recently moved and the entire summer was filled with boxes EVERYWHERE. I even broke a nail in the middle of unpacking those forsaken things. We also got a beautiful french bulldog and named her Millie. She’s cuter than any LOLcat you’ve ever seen on the Internet. Trust me on this one.”

Kelly Dickinson, CAS/COM, Editor-in-Chief.

“My summer was somewhat thrown-together-at-the-last-minute. I moved home to Rhode Island and commuted to an internship at the Boston Phoenix, but moved back up here in the beginning of July. I spent the remainder of the season cooking my own food, paying my own rent, and playing grown-up. It was a fun experiment, but I somewhat enjoy returning to the alternate universe of week-long pizza binges and culturally acceptable insomnia that is college life.”

Tara Jayakar, CAS, Campus Editor/Music.

“This summer I painted furniture. I painted walls, nails, some clay and one lampshade. I saw old friends, found new ones, slept a ton, and fell in love twice. I had one perfect kiss. I also had a job at Threadless and wrote nothing for The Quad (sorry, guys.)”

Joel Kahn, COM, Publisher.

“I spent this summer in New York, interning for a production company. I got to read lots of screenplays and live in a tiny apartment with my sister. In said apartment, I learned the virtues of this ‘DVR’ thing all the kids are talking about, and spent hours upon hours watching Good Eats from it. I also spent some quality time with friends in and around the city (including some notable former Quad staff members). Oh, and I came out.”

Allan Lasser, CAS, Graphic Designer/Web Administrator.

“This summer was a big ol’ bag o’ laughs. I went to the Jersey Shore and ‘the Batitmore’ a few times, LA once, and I went to the beach there. I watched a lot of Twin Peaks. I also ate a frozen banana for the first time and lemme tell ya it wasn’t anything like it was made out to be—blech.”

Nee-Sa Lossing, COM, Campus/Music.

“This summer I ate too much food, locked my keys in my car once, tallied up an impressive electric bill on air conditioning, purchased my first pair of life-changing shoes, saw two of my favorite pop icons, rode on every ride at Disneyland, got obsessed with Kreayshawn and interned at a couple places while I wasn’t doing all that other stuff. ”

Brittney McNamara, COM, Copy Editor/Music.

“This summer I got buddy-buddy with Boston’s big guy: Whitey Bulger.  Really, I reported from the courtroom about his arrest and the twists and turns of his trial, but close enough, right?  Mainly, I was anxiously awaiting the return of The Quad!”

Briana Seftel, CGS, Campus.

“This summer I traveled to London to study abroad and then came home and did nothing. They say home is where the heart is…well, not really.”

Kelseanna Smith, CAS, Advertising Coordinator.

“I only had 11 days of summer this year and because of that I knew I had to do my short time, very big. I took a road trip to the Grand Canyon and meditated on the edge of a cliff at sunrise. I found solace in myself and a greater appreciation for life on that trip. It made my prior two months of summer classes and full-time work completely worth it.”

Estefania Souza, COM, Food.

“A cocktail of class assignments and small-town newspaper stories was the perfect appetizer for the month-at-home entree; ten days at the beach as dessert satisfied my sweet tooth. Now I’m back on a school diet, but not before one last splurge while moving into my new apartment.”

Amalie Steidley, CAS, Head Copy Editor.

“Fed a giraffe. Went white water rafting. Learned to tango.”

Kristin Toussaint, COM, Music.

“I actually spent a lot of this summer looking up at the sky, which isn’t really something worth doing in light-pollution laden Boston. From the purely natural and breathtaking scene of sitting on a beach in Mexico where I could even see the outlines of the Milky Way, to the staged but still spectacular scenario at Bonnaroo where I was sitting in a field with thousands of other people watching Primus’ set and hang-gliders flew by dropping nickel-sized blinking LED lights that slowly fell to the ground, seriously. Each one has an entire back story of summer fun, but they were nice little moments I can’t replicate here. ”

Chris Walker, COM, Campus.

“This summer I tried to stay true to the essence of summer—I kept my days relaxed and with friends watching movies and cheering the Sox. The best part may have been spending a June Sunday playing soccer. Hands down. ”

Annie White, CAS, Co-Publisher/Politics.

“This summer, I did my duty as a college student and worked full time for no money at a non-profit in Washington, DC. Despite leaving me totally and completely broke, it was a fantastic experience. Also, I now know more about road design and street lights than I ever thought necessary. Just another rung on the ladder in my quest for the world’s most useless knowledge.”