Hi everyone! My name is Gillian Lancaster (she/her) and I’m a freshman at Bryn Mawr. I’m thinking about majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in French. I love knitting (I’m currently making a sweater), photography, and any type of outdoor activity.
I’m from Columbia, Missouri which is a mid-sized college town that is home to the University of Missouri. Due to the university Columbia has a great arts scene. There’s an annual four-day film festival called True/False which showcases a wide variety of documentaries that the entire town gets involved in. We also have Roots n Blues Festival which is a music festival that features a mix of roots, country, rock, and bluegrass artists, and while this isn’t my music genre preference it’s always a fun event to attend. However, while the town has its perks it’s important to recognize the deep rooted racism and segregation that exists in Columbia today. Sharp End was a small district in Columbia that boasted many black-owned businesses, but was destroyed as a result of gentrification. It's a topic that is rarely discussed in our history and has seemed to be forgotten and ignored by many residents.