Connecticut College seniors Annabelle Allen, Rose Montera, and Summer Wrobel are unlike many people I have encountered here at Conn. All three of them have a strong, unwavering sense of self, and their connection to one another overrides all superficialities. With them, I sensed a genuine friendship. The care they had for one another, and the warm energy that all three of them exude, make being in their presence a special experience.
Annabelle has a radiating presence with a smile that lights up the whole room. Rose describes Annabelle as completely liberated, “living such a free and genuine life, with the ability to just let go.” Summer notes that Annabelle’s attentiveness and appreciation to the little, or often unnoticed things in life, has really rubbed off on her and inspired her to see the beautiful in the ordinary. As Summer goes on to explain, Annabelle can interpret “something as simple as eating a good sandwich or sitting down to drink a cup of coffee” to be a special, breathtaking experience.
Rose’s presence is reassuring, grounding, powerful, authentic, and refreshing. Annabelle claims that she is “addicted to Rose,” as Rose is “so funny, personable, well-spoken, sweet, and loyal that her energy is just addictive.” Summer claims that she is “blown away by Rose’s ability to tackle everything with grace and calmness, and her ability to be such a giving person.” Summer goes on to say that Rose is the most “crafty, artistic person I know as she has the patience to make things like book marks, and she is also one of the most entrepreneurial people I know, deciding to run the Humphrey’s Instagram page and create thrifty camel (Conn’s clothing swap Instagram page).
Summer’s presence is peaceful, euphoric and overall very kind-hearted. Annabelle and Rose describe her as “one of the most beautiful humans both inside and out, she is thoughtful, genuine, sweet, kind, offers herself openly and gives you full attention when you speak.” She is also described as “brilliant,” a “go-getter,” “hard-working,” “driven” and “nothing but inspiring to live with.”
All three of them have many similar interests ranging from movies to music to reading and writing to arts and crafts to dancing (especially mini dance breaks in their home). They all have a deep passion for seltzer, and most importantly a love for the art of storytelling.
Rose and Summer met during orientation freshman year. After Rose met Annabelle sophomore year, she felt like the three would be deeply compatible as roommates and proposed the idea of living together in the 360 apartments. Because 360 apartments were common interest housing, after much deliberation, the trio came up with storytelling to infuse all of their interests. The creation of 360 storytelling draws reference from The Moth but was also deeply inspired by many of the other clubs and student organizations at Conn, in particular TEDx, The Women’s Empowerment Initiative, and open mic nights at Coffee Grounds. With 360 storytelling, Annabelle, Rose and Summer strove to create a platform similar to TEDx and the WEI but that held events more frequently (instead of annually), and use their home as an intimate safe space for the common good of the Connecticut College community.
However, although these clubs and organizations at Conn inspired many aspects of 360 storytelling, what ultimately led the trio to make this club was common interest housing. If it weren’t for common interest housing, 360 storytelling would have never been conceived and created. The trio claims that in a sense “common interest housing forced us to do it, we are big advocates of common interest housing, because it pushed us to pursue the creation of this club to the fullest.”
The club is run in a very collaborative sense among the three, as they come up with themes together, create the posters together, share the Instagram and emails, and all have a desire to make 360 storytelling the best it can be. But, Annabelle emphasizes that “we really just provide the space, and everyone else is the event.”
The adviser of 360 storytelling is none other than Professor Blanche Boyd. Nonetheless, Summer and Rose accredit Blanche Boyd as not only their adviser, but their life inspiration. Rose states that in Blanche Boyd’s narrative nonfiction class she “really learned how you perform a story.” Summer also highly regards Blanche Boyd’s narrative nonfiction class and is currently doing a senior thesis with Boyd. Summer asserts that in narrative nonfiction she “learned how to write about her own story without being embarrassed, and how you can really make a piece of art out of writing.”
Aside from 360 Storytelling, Annabelle, Summer and Rose are all extremely involved in a variety of other clubs and organizations at Conn and hold many other leadership positions. They all have leadership positions in the TEDx club, with Summer and Rose serving as co-presidents and Annabelle leading set design. Summer became involved in TEDx because of her “love for ted talks and curiosity to see what goes behind the planning TEDx events.” Rose recalls watching a ted talk called “the danger of a single story” repeatedly in different classes, and liking this singular ted talk so much that she decided to go the TEDx conference her freshman year at Conn. She remembers going to the conference and finding that “listening to all the talks by the different presenters was such a wonderful and relaxing experience that genuinely made her Saturday.” Like Summer, Annabelle decided to get involved with set design after taking an interest in behind the scenes work and appreciating the art of designing a set from raw materials.
Summer, Rose, and Annabelle’s involvement and leadership positions in these clubs seem to be a result of being able to recognize the things that make them happiest and the things they feel are most important, regardless of what anyone else thinks. Summer recalls during her four years at Conn she learned to stop seeking the validation of others to do things that she wanted to do for herself, and to not care about what others might think of what she was doing. As Annabelle puts it, we are “metamorphosing and changing every-day,” and her morals have developed, along with many of her interests changing since freshman year. Rose remembers the first half of her college career being consumed with meeting people and going out– living the “social butterfly” life– but during her upperclassmen years at Conn, she has learned to embrace her more introverted side. She has fostered her newfound sense of vulnerability, which was really brought out during her time living with Annabelle and Summer.
Like most, Annabelle, Summer and Rose have faced a number of challenges that they have had to maneuver and overcome during their college years. For Summer, finding the confidence to go after what she wanted and believing in herself was a challenging process. “I had to learn that it’s okay to fail a lot, failure and rejection can be terrifying but the most beautiful things can come out of rejection.” She goes on to state that “going after what you believe in is so important, because you can always find a way to do what you want to do.” Annabelle’s biggest challenge during her years at Conn was deciding not to continue playing a varsity sport, which had been one of her biggest passions for most of her life. She notes how it “was extremely difficult to say goodbye” to this sport, but at the end of the day she had to just do her, even if this meant having the challenge of rediscovering her sense of self. For Rose, figuring out what she wanted to do with her life has been a consistent challenge throughout her years in college. “Having to declare your major sophomore year and every adult starting to ask you what you want to do with your life is the start of this pressure,” states Rose. She goes on to say that “I have always had hobbies and things that I love, and have felt I could be happy in many professions.” She has ultimately learned how to feel secure in all the advantages and privileges she has obtained from school and just do the most with what she has been given.
As for what they plan to do after college, it is apparent that just as these three women have brought so much to Conn, they will surely bring so much to the even greater world. Summer plans to live in Jordan, at least for a year after she graduates. As an English major and Arabic minor she hopes to improve her Arabic while living in Jordan, and ultimately get an MFA and make a career out of creative writing. Annabelle will graduate with a degree in Sociology, and plans to spend some time traveling on a budget, and possibly living in Spain for some time, to improve her Spanish, working as an au pair, or in a movie theater. She also hopes to become a writer, but in the time being she plans to read more and practice her writing. Rose will graduate with a degree in Art-History and Museum Studies and has cultivated a four-step plan to fame. “First I am going to be a dog-walker, then a babysitter, a waitress, and lastly a star,” claims Rose. She is very fond of the idea of moving to Rome after graduation and thinks she may be well suited for physical labor conservation work, where she would work digging up and preserving important cultural heritage findings. She is also considering the idea of being an English teacher and fantasizes about being a writer for SNL.
With the end of college being only a few months away, Annabelle, Summer and Rose have had the opportunity to really consider how drastically different their lives will be at the end of this semester. Annabelle is sincerely looking forward to “seeing more, traveling more, doing more,” but also acknowledges that it is a time of “total uncertainty” which she finds either “stressful or exciting,” but she’s just taking it a day at a time. Summer is also looking forward to all the unexpected that lies ahead and is appreciating the fact that it’s the first time in a while where she doesn’t really know where she will be or what she’ll being doing next fall, next year, etc. Rose is living in an in between state of stress and excitement, as she is not looking forward to things not being so convenient when she graduates. She states “currently my friends are in my house and on campus, the mail room is right there, and the world is simple and small.” Making to time to catch up with her friends that may be all over the globe, and having to do grown up things like taxes can all be very stressful thoughts, but she is ready to “play grown up for real” and do whatever she pleases with her own completely unique life.
With this semester being Annabelle, Summer and Rose’s last, they are planning a 360 storytelling event every month, making the most of their time here. The next event will be held on Feb 15 with the theme of “Heartburn,” and students can apply to speak by emailing 360stories1@gmail.com or DM’ing them on Instagram @360_story_telling.
Although their time is concluding here at Conn, they are open to the discussion of having 360 storytelling remain active at Conn, with the possibility of it growing into a club. “We are happy to pass along the Instagram to passionate students who would grow 360 storytelling into a club, while remaining its intimacy,” states Summer. Rose, Summer and Annabelle also hope to take 360 storytelling into the “real world” as it is such a portable activity since organizer only needs a stool and some lights to get things going. Annabelle states that “storytelling can really fill a void.” Especially during this era consumed by technology, storytelling provides humans a way to connect to one another using one of the most ancient forms of communicating.
It certainly is not a stretch to say that Annabelle, Summer, and Rose are not only model students, but model human beings. They are perfect representations of how to live your own life to the fullest and most sincere capacity. Connecticut College is privileged to have these three women as students and future alumni, as they will unquestionably bring so much to the world. As Annabelle claims, sometimes all you need in life is to sit back, take a breath and listen,” because you never know whose story you’ll hear next. •
