Class of 2013: Freshman Blog

I cannot believe that spring break is less than two weeks away.  Truthfully, it seems like yesterday walked into the first day of spring semester classes, yet the opposite is apparently true.  However much time had elapsed, though, it has certainly been a busy, busy time for me, and in this blog I would like to provide a short brief of what has been keeping me uber busy.

For me, as I mentioned above, the semester thus far has been a busy one indeed.  I spent the beginning of it working on applications for either summer employment or study, and when those were out of the way, I began working on grant proposals to help fund the programs to which I applied.  If you have not yet applied for an internship in government and intend to, you will soon find that a majority do not pay – at all.  Frankly, that sort of sucks – hence the grants proposals

One of the grants to which I applied is actually funded by the Second Decade Society of the Alumni Association here at Hopkins.  I think the willingness of Hopkins alumni to financially support the endeavors of the University’s undergraduates testifies to the dedication of Hopkins alumni.  When I applied to Hopkins, I did not know of such programs, and I must admit it is rather comforting to potentially have the costs associated with one’s unpaid work experience underwritten by a University-affiliated group.  Just something to consider.

Thankfully, I was accepted to work in the House of Commons in London while doing a little bit of independent research and coursework at the London School of Economics via the Hansard Scholars Programme.  I will be living in London for most of the summer, working and studying for eleven weeks of it.  I hope, after my program’s completion, to travel a bit through Europe, but we will see how that goes.  Needless to say, I was absolutely thrilled about my acceptance, and I have already completed most of the necessary visa paperwork, if that gives you an indication of sorts (note: this is an awesome excuse to delay real homework, but more on that later).

Charles Commons -- This is where I want to live next year!

The spring semester of freshman year, I am finding, is a busy time indeed.  Most notably, registration for sophomore housing opens soon, and I will know where I am living next year within the month.  Unlike freshman year, when an overwhelming majority of roommates are randomly assigned (well, there is a short questionnaire to be taken that gets a few of the basics out of the way: ambient noise preference, sleep schedule, etc.), we choose the people with whom we will live next year.   Actually, I will be suitemates with Greco (the other blogger on here) next year.

Academically, this semester is far different than last.  For instance, I am taking fewer credit hours at present (12), but my classes are much more involved.  I plan to discuss my current coursework in greater detail in another blog post at a later day, but I am in two history seminars this semester.  Both of these seminars require an average of 200 pages of reading per week.  Needless to say, I am reading quite a lot, but I enjoy the subject matter at least.  The thing about these seminars I most enjoy, however, is that they are capped at fifteen students each and that both are taught by a full professor, which I really do appreciate.  Funnily enough, I had to read a published article last semester for another class by one of my current professors, Dr. Morgan.

Before I totally bore you with this update, I’ll try to stop while I’m ahead.  Thanks for reading!

Until next time,

Daniel