Lauren Mondroski

Freelance Writer and Researcher

United States

I'm a lifelong learner. Former editor of The Grail at Reed College.

Portfolio
Olde News
01/25/2021
An Interview with Archivist Tracy Drake

When I was a first-year, I dreaded the day when I would have to make the all-important decision of choosing my major. That all changed, however, when I walked into Special Collections and Archives for the first time. The ancient books, the fascinating artifacts from Olde Reede, and of course, the archives employees who couldn’t do more to help me find what I needed — all of these things and more convinced me that I needed to study history during my time at Reed. Now it’s my last semester, and...

The Grail at Reed College
10/30/2020
Dying to Get Outside? A Grave History of Hiking and Cemeteries

The same went for their graveyards-a city cemetery was likely completely full of graves stacked upon each other, or teeming with the sights and smells of corpses dug up by graverobbers. Citizens weren't content with this nightmare anymore; in addition to not wanting to vibe around dead bodies, people wanted to grieve in peace.

New York Genealogical & Biographical Society
Gretna Green Wedding Destinations for New York

Have you ever run into a brick wall while seeking a marriage record? If so, it's possible the couple married far away from home and the record was generated in a completely unexpected jurisdiction.

The Grail at Reed College
02/14/2020
This Must Be The Place

Valentine's Day is often about gestures, gifts, and words exchanged that situate romance in the spotlight. Love, though, is obviously much more than that. It's more experiential, imbued into aromas, the songs we hear, and significantly, the places we exist in together. I often think about the love s

The Grail at Reed College
10/02/2020
Spoiler Alert: There Is No Coming of Age

Released on August 25, 2020, Haley Blais' Below the Salt is an album I wish I had during my first year of college. Coincidentally, that's when I first started listening to Blais, a Vancouver-based singer-songwriter and vlogger whose wacky sense of humor and DIY bedroom-pop bangers resonated with m

The Grail at Reed College
04/27/2018
The Complete History of Renn Fayre Part V: 2008-2018

Parts I-IV of "The Complete History of Renn Fayre" by Brian Click and Alejandro Chavez were published in the Grail in the spring of 2016. The series recounts Renn Fayre's fifty-one year history, from its humble beginnings as an actual Renaissance Faire to the infamous property damage disaster of R

The Grail at Reed College
09/14/2018
First Years's First Weeks

The second to last week of August 2018 saw blazing red skies as the setting sun's rays fought through thick clouds of wildfire smoke. First-years starting this year at Reed will likely remember these smoldering hot days for the rest of their lives as Orientation Week 2018.