Over the weekend, students at Olin College enjoyed Soirée. Conceived of and orchestrated by Maya it was a formal gathering to celebrate the approaching end of the scholastic year featuring food prepared by students, art created by students, and music created by students. Based on Maya’s description of the event, it will likely go down as the premier social event of the year and I would not be surprised if it will become a tradition going forward. From the food to the art to the decorations and live music it was an elegant affair. Although it was a massive undertaking, Maya put her skills as a project manager to work, enlisting broad student participation and effectively delegating work when necessary. As is the Olin way, many students volunteered to help and when last-minute problems surfaced, the team found ways to overcome the challenges.

Making the celebration even more special for Maya, she was joined by her childhood friends Sarinnagh and Fiona.

This season, I am playing soccer for the Boston Villa Football Club instead of Concord United. The team was formed last year and the players represent all the countries whose flags are shown above. Since I am half Ecuadorian, I should petition for the addition of another one. I enjoy the diversity of my teammates but with it comes a distinct lack of unified leadership. Management of the squad is more of a committee affair and is as fractious as one might imagine. Even so, the team has many talented players and we secured another win this morning beating Hopkinton by a score of 3-1. In stark contrast to my performance last week, I played like shit. I had two opportunities to score and squandered them both. I had a nice diving header but it was not strong enough to beat the keeper. I made several poor passes resulting in interceptions. To add injury to insult, I rolled my ankle and strained my patellar tendon. I will likely miss a game or two while recovering and can only hope my next appearance on the pitch is less stinky.