A New Family

Four days in a different state, a new dad and two new siblings, and a plethora of missed exams-welcome to the chaos that is my life. What was a normal week and weekend for most people, was a life changing moment: my mom got married! With all of these topics and more, let's dive into this weekly update!

The Wedding Weekend

I find myself falling into a rhythm with my weekly reports this year: a brief summary of the blog, a little about my life, an update on ISM, and some sort of knowledge-driven paragraph at the end. So, I thought I'd talk about myself, because there's a lot to cover! Last Thursday, my siblings and I got on a flight to Cleveland, for my mom's wedding weekend. Landing in the nighttime, we had a family dinner at a restaurant right off a beautiful river. It was awesome to learn about the history and economic exploitation of such a small body of water while also attempting to play song bingo, but being seated too far away from the speaker to play well. Also, my brother and I were super excited to see a Rocket Fizz by our hotel-the one in our town went out of business a few year back. The next day, our whole group went to my Mom and step dad's house to give my family that hadn't gotten to visit, a tour of their place. Later in the day, we set up the church with all the decor my mom premade. If there's one thing to know about my mom, it's that she was born to be an event decorator. The church was already gorgeous, but her use of pink and navy blue with gold accents painted the scene is beautiful hues. After the set-up, we held a rehearsal dinner with tons of people, in one of the most uniquely decorated restaurants I've ever seen.

Although we got home late, all the girls were up before the sun rose at 6 am. We drove from the hotel to my mom's house to get ready for the wedding. Wearing matching cream colored pajamas and pink slippers we got ready as the sun rose and hair dressers that my mom contracted came over to do our hair. I chose an updo considering my off-the-shoulder dress, and for my makeup, I chose pink eyeshadow to match my pink floral dress. The photographer's arrived and took a plethora of photos of us getting ready, and us once we were finished getting ready. With a ceremony at 3, we quickly made it to the reception (my favorite part). As an avid bar and bat mitzvah attendant, I'm a menace on the dance floor, and will somehow get everyone moving to a line dance. ending off with a brunch, I said goodbye to my family and friends and went back home.

So much happened that I couldn't even describe, but the happiness in my mom and all the people I met this weekend gave me enough confidence to know this was meant to be. Many things are changing, but I'm excited to see where these new roads will take us.

ISM

Although I only missed one class, there was still a ton of things to complete in ISM, this weekly report being one of them. I completed my 2nd research assessment today after my teacher had graciously extended the deadline to Monday for all ISM students.

It seems that the Labor day weekend and off-campus activities had thrown students off schedule and behind on assignments. However, I've spent today fully catching myself up in the curriculum! If there's one thing I've learned about ISM it's that if you're not ahead of schedule, you're behind. And, as an ISM II student I have an increased responsibility to set an example for others by submitting excellent assignments on time (which I've done flawlessly thus far ;)).

Returning back to the research assessment, I analyzed five different articles in an annotated bibliography. I decided this year to follow a theme rather than choosing wildly different topics, which helped focus my research, but did also have a lot of overlapping knowledge. Overall the assessment taught me a lot about marketing consulting, a career I'm interested in pursuing.

Also due today was our professional dress video. As a self-acclaimed style icon I had a ton of fun putting together a few business outfits. I was strapped for time because I had work, and therefore the assignment wasn't exactly as glamorous as I had envisioned, but ISM has shown me the value of action over an obsession with a false reality of perfection. Life cannot be all or nothing, sometimes your best isn't perfect, and I'm learning to be ok with that.

Looking to the future, we have another annotated bibliography due along with the final draft of our resumes (more on peer-reviewing next week)!

Lifting the Brides Veil, Why Do We Do It?

Have you ever wondered why the groom lifts the brides veil in a wedding? I thought this would be an amazing chat for this week because of its Jewish roots. Although many different cultures have adopted this tradition, each for their own reason, this practice dates back to the story of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah of the Torah.

The story of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah is a prominent narrative from the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. Jacob falls in love with Rachel, the younger daughter of Laban, and agrees to work for Laban for seven years in exchange for his youngests hand in marriage. However, unwilling to give up Rachel, Laban tricks Jacob into marrying Leah, by covering her face during the ceremony. At the time, such tradition of lifting the veil did not exist, and Jacob had no idea he was marrying Rachel instead of Leah. After he found out, Jacob agreed to work another seven years to marry Rachel as well.

When the time had finally come and he was to marry Leah, he made sure to lift her veil before vowing himself to her. This custom evolved over time, becoming a widespread tradition in many cultures. Today, it often represents the groom's anticipation and excitement to see his bride's face, or simply an expected moment in the ceremony. Either way, I love learning about weddings as the entire custom is built off traditions. And, looking to different cultures to see how they affect our lives, is an amazing way to see how connected we are as humans.

Ending off with some deep thoughts, I'm excited to see where my learning will take me next.

Until next week,

- Samantha Stein