Class of 2013: Freshman Blog

Hey, everyone!

It’s Greco, and yesterday, I made a cribs video of the apartment that I’m staying over the summer! It’s at the bottom of this entry, if you just wanna skip to the video. It’s one of Hopkins upperclassmen dorms, Bradford. It’s located right across the street from Barns and Noble, and my room is on the Saint Paul St. side. Since there’s a gigantic Charles Commons right across the street, I thought my apartment would never get sunlight, but it actually does which is nice. However, my room is still pretty dark, so I turn my light on the entire day.

This is a pretty big update from AMR I, the freshman dorm I lived in last year (you can check out my AMR cribs blog entry here). Now I have my own living room, bathroom, and a kitchen. But most importantly, I get my own A/C. Now I don’t have to turn on 50 fans all at the same time like I did when I was in AMR. That was painful.

I’m currently living here alone. It’s actually a two-bedroom apartment, but the person who lived in the other room terminated her contract and left before I moved in.

When you choose your dorm for sophomore year and later, you can choose 11 month housing which lets you stay in your house all year long except August. I’m doing this for my Charles Commons apartment next year. It gets very frustrating when the housing office kicks you out the day after the final period. For example, if the final period ends on Friday, you have until Saturday to pack all your stuff and get the heck out. The only option is to pack your belongings during your final period (which is pretty ridiculous and stressful) or pull almost an all-nighter the night before the dorm closes. Also, my parents live in all the way back in Korea, and like for thanks giving break, which is only 5 days, I can’t go visit my parents so I basically have nowhere to go. That’s why I chose 11 month contract for next year. If it turns out you are not going to stay over the summer, you can always sublet it to someone.

Currently, my friend is subletting this apartment to me, and I pay her around $690 per month which isn’t bad (but not good either but whatever). I personally think it’s way better than living in Wolman (the official summer dorm you get through the housing office) because you pay more for less stuff.

One thing I don’t like about this place is that the hospital is right behind the building, and I always hear a siren like every hour, sometimes even in the middle of the night. I guess I just have to get used to it since my apartment for next year is only across the street and I live in Baltimore…

Living alone is quite awesome. It’s usually very quiet, so I don’t have to go to the library to study. In fact, I only went to the library three times this month to study Organic chemistry. And this was for group study. And I get my own air conditioning here in my room, so I really don’t feel the need to go to the library to study. Also, sometimes I like to play loud music, and now I don’t have to worry about disturbing a roommate or anything. I’m wondering, though, if my neighbor can hear it… I don’t know how thick the walls are. I don’t hear anything from the other side of the wall, but I don’t know if it’s just because the neighbor’s a really quiet, non-confrontational person…

I do not know if FFC is open during the summer, but I honestly don’t care since it’s so far away from my apartment now that I’m not gonna go there anyway. I usually cook noodles and stuff, or go out (there are a lot of places to eat here and I recently found a little Korean place about two blocks away from here!). For grocery shopping, I go to Eddie’s Market just down the street or get a Zipcar and go to Walmart if I need to buy a lot of things. But I recently realized Giant is better if you are going to buy just food and stuff especially if it’s right beside Walmart. Hmart, which is an asian version of Giant, is right next to them too, so it’s worth renting a car and driving down there.

Anyways, check out my Cribs video below and have a look around my apartment!

Hey guys, welcome to my Hopkins CRIBS entry! For those of you who may not know how CRIBS works, basically all throughout this entry I’m going to describe the dorm room that I currently live in which is room T01 (Suite A) in McCoy Hall. McCoy Hall is just like Wolman Hall, except typically it’s for upperclassmen (although each year the entire terrace level is freshmen). McCoy is great because it’s right across the street from Wolman and right on St. Paul Street so if you ever feel like wandering down to Chipotle or Subway you don’t have to go far.

Unlike AMR I, II, A, and B (and similar to Wolman) McCoy is a suite/apartment style dorm. This means that each room has 2-3 suites (either two doubles, or two singles and a double) and all of those suites share their own bathroom and kitchenette. So if you absolutely love to cook and you don’t know if you’ll be able to deal with college food unless you can cook for yourself sometimes McCoy/Wolman would be the right housing option for you! Each room comes with its own mini-fridge (mine isn’t where it should be because we all agreed that my suitemates could take it since my roommate and I have our own).

I have plenty of room under my bed even after I added both of the stacks of drawers.

I must admit the things that Wolman/McCoy offers that the AMRs don’t have really appealed to me, I couldn’t picture myself living in a room where I didn’t have the ability to cook if I wanted to/my own private bathroom. It makes things easier because everything is right here in my room and I don’t have to wander down the hall or to another floor on my building to do stuff.  The thing about terrace level that I LOVE is that the laundry room is right down the hall from me and everyone enters McCoy on the terrace level, so I don’t have to walk up any stairs to get to my room, its easily accessible. The only downside to all of the amenities McCoy offers is that you have to clean the kitchenette and bathroom on your own, which can get annoying if you have a roommate who uses the kitchenette a lot but doesn’t ever clean up (which is what mine does, and trust me its annoying).

For the most part my roommate and I left the overall organization of the room as it was when we first moved in. My bed was half-lofted (meaning I could fit three stacked drawers under it if I wanted) which was great because I decided to keep two sets of two stacked drawers and put my Xbox and other stuff on top of them. I also have a lot of room under my bed to store whatever I want/need to. The wardrobe next to my bed was positioned perfectly so we decided to put a TV on top of it so you can watch TV from basically anywhere in the room.

My desk area where I basically keep everything that matters.

Aside from that there’s not too much special about my room. My desk is where I keep absolutely everything (if it’s not there its in one of the plastic containers under my bed). One thing I strongly recommend to any incoming freshmen is that you get the fridge/freezer/microwave combo that KingFridge offers, you get it for a really good price (I think like 75$/semester and you’ll use it much more than you anticipated). If you do this make sure you get a Brita pitcher too, it saves you sooo much money on bottled water. I actually visited my friend in NYC this weekend and between the two of us we went through about 15 bottles of water. I’ll leave you guys this week with my CRIBS video which I had to film myself since the time I had the camera was when most of my friends were in class. Not to worry though because I’m living in McCoy again next year so I’ll make sure you guys have an amazing video then. Enjoy!

These past two weeks have been utterly insane.  The following pictures represent what happens when an over-stressed student moves out of her room and into the library.  I literally spent a total of about 12 hours in my room last week, including the time I spent asleep.  With so little time, I was capable of making a whole lot of messes.  I guess these cribs blogs are supposed to represent how clean we Hopkins-folk are.  Well I am living proof that not all Hopkins students are type A.  I consider myself less of a letter type, unless there was a 27^th letter after z.

It doesn't even have a place for my computer...

As I mentioned in my video, I live in an un-forced triple, meaning I chose to live with 2 other people.  I feel sorry for my roommates, since I am a complete slob, but I honestly do try to clean up a bit.  My desk looks much better now than when I took those photos… I guess it’s a learning experience for them.  I bring a bit of diversity into the room.

I am pretty excited to get out of Building A and move on up to Homewood next year.  Not that I don’t like my dorm, because it is quite sufficient.  Rather, Homewood has ovens.  Yes, an oven!!  The things that get to 500 degrees.  Do you know what that is good for?  Burning yourself.  Maybe I can get a matching burn scar on my right hand to match my left… Aspirations at their finest.  Seriously though, the mini-fridge, microwave combo is not very conducive to cooking.  Our microwave doesn’t even have enough power to pop microwaveable popcorn, which is complete sacrilege considering that is my family’s invention.  Now I am digressing…

Overall, as advice to future freshmen, if you are looking for more space, more quiet, and a bathroom you don’t need to share with tons of other people, Building A is probably a good choice for you.  I am quite happy with my stay here, mostly because my roommates don’t annoy me.  The annoying is my job.  Also, my window has a view of the walkway by the rec center, which is ideal for people watching.  I just stare and stare, and nobody ever looks back.

Also as a last side note to future freshmen, when you fill out the housing survey be sure to accurately estimate your bedtime.  Your roommates will be very upset if you want to keep the light on until 3 am every night, and you will be exiled to either the hallway or library.

Lastly, the glow in the dark galaxy will be moving to the new quad in Homewood.  Who can resist sleeping under the stars every night?

In my last blog post, I talked about my decision to live in the AMRs, but this week’s post is all about my room!

As I mentioned last week, I live in AMR 1 Wilson House and I absolutely love it.  In contrast to Wolman Hall and Buildings A and B, the AMRs, or Alumni Memorial Residences are a traditional dorm style living in which there are communal bathrooms on each hall.  The AMRs are broken into “houses,” which are made up of about 25 kids that share an RA.  At the beginning of the year, the RAs plan a lot of house bonding activities and some friendly competitions between houses, which help to create a pretty closely-knit group.  Wilson house has grown very close, and a lot of us are actually living on the same hall in Charles Commons next year!

my bed and posters

Anyway, I’m in a single on the first floor of Wilson House.  Getting a single was completely luck of the draw – before you enter your freshman year, you can state your preference for a double or single on the housing questionnaire as well as your preference for building, and it just so happened that I got my first choice for both!  Even though I’m sure having a roommate would have been a fun experience, my friends are constantly in my room anyway, so sometimes it actually feels like I live in a quadruple.

Each room in the AMRs comes with a chest of three drawers, a desk (with light), and a wardrobe with two drawers underneath.  I also brought from home two decent sized plastic drawers where I keep a lot of sweatshirts and sweatpants and bulkier clothes.  These drawers plus the three drawers that came with the room both fit under my half-lofted bed, which has created a lot of extra space in the room.

the cork board wall

I also highly recommend renting a Microfridge for your room.  Even though the rooms in the AMRs don’t have kitchenetters, there is a kitchen in the building that students can use, so it’s good to keep some basic ingredients in the refrigerator if you like to cook.  Next to the Microfridge I have a big rainbow light that I brought from home.  Even though the room has good ceiling lighting, I like having the extra light and would suggest bringing at least a bedside lamp.

the wardrobe

A couple other key things I’m really glad I brought from home are milk crates (great for storing shoes and extra towels), a fan because the AMRs don’t have air conditioning, lots of clothes hangers, a printer, and a small bookshelf so that my textbooks and notebooks aren’t overflowing everywhere.

Here’s a better look at my room:

Hi, everyone. It’s Greco.

Today I’m going to show you my room. I live in AMR I, Royce House. Each AMRbuilding is divided into different houses (although in the end, they are all connected) and this is where your RAs are assigned. Royce is the farthest left of the AMR building. My room is kind of divided into two parts by the closets in the middle that separates my side from my roommate’s.

My room is probably the smallest double ever, and I’m going to be honest. I’m not really enjoying my time in AMR. I mean, of course I’m thankful of all the amazing people I met and befriended in my house, but with AMR not being my first choice dorm, I’m not really happy with it. But living in AMR, especially my tiny double, I am learning how to use the space efficiently and make the most space out of this tiny room.

First, I fully lofted my bed to make space under the bed. I only had my bed half lofted for the first semester of my freshman year and as the time went by, I just could not find any space to fit all my clothes and stuff. So in the beginning of this semester, I lofted my bed so I could fit in my bookshelf, printer, and luggage bags under it.

I have tons of clothes and the dressers I get are not big enough to fit everything. So I bought stackable drawers and stacked them vertically beside my desk. I like having colors in my room so it is a pretty good addition. I store towels, socks, underwear, and some cleaning stuff in there.

I also have a hanger that is hooked on top of the door. As you can see in the photo, I just hang some hoodies and jeans. I have some stuff over my closet as well. I put my shower caddy and laundry utensils..

And my desk! Very messy, yes. That’s why I usually don’t study on my desk. I often just go to the library. I have a laptop stand that raises my MacBook Pro so I don’t get bad posture from using my laptop for too long.  I have awesome speakers on the sides. I love love love them.

My roommate bought a mini refrigerator that stores a decent amount of food. We didn’t rent microfridge (microwave + fridge) from the school since it’s a bit too expensive for us. Plus, we don’t really store that much of food in our fridge. And we can always use our neighbor’s microwave.

Ok that’s about it guys. My room is not that interesting and I can’t really think of  other things to talk about in my room. So… um you don’t gotta go home, but you gotta get the hell outta here (am I saying this right? O_o)

Hey, everyone!

So sorry for being a bit late on this post.  It’s been a hectic few days for me, but I’m back for the attack!  Wherever you choose to attend college/university, midterms will be stressful, and Hopkins is absolutely no exception in this case (though I will make a shameless plug and say that our history program is exceptional *cough cough).

Little Rock's 'River Market' sign -- visit and you'll see it

Apparently at Hopkins Interactive, there comes a time when I’m supposed to show off my awesome room and stuff.  And I’m told that time is now (we’re never told to write on a particular topic save this one, by the way), so here goes nothing:

I live in Wolman 2 East.  What’s that mean?  Well, it means I live on the second floor of the East wing of Wolman Hall.  Why do you care?  Because it’s awesome, or at least I think so.  As the only blogger who lives in this building, I’d better make this post count, eh?

Earnie Biggs piano bar, where my friend, David, plays. Note my car (silver limo) in front...

WHY I LOVE WOLMAN AND WOULD NOT WANT TO LIVE ANYWHERE ELSE THIS YEAR:

I wasn’t kidding when I said Wolman is the South Kensington or the Beverley Hills of Hopkins Freshman housing.  I love living there, and here are a few reasons why:

1) ELEVATORS!!!!!!!! Though I live on the second floor, I do really, really like that I have elevators in my building, since laundry facilities are in the basement.  For some reason, Wolman and McCoy are the only freshman housing options that have this feature (if you live in the AMRs or in Buildings A/B, you’re going to get some lower body strength, or so I’m told).  We have two elevators per wing of the building, which is conjoined on the first and basement floors.  Other than that, to get from one hall to another, you’ve got to cross through the second floor (when, say, for example, you’re going from 2 East to 6 West).

Wolman Elevators: Among the best aspects of living here

2) SUITE STYLE LIVING!!!!!!! I’m totally not making this list in order, I’ve decided, since my favorite feature of Wolman housing is that it’s a suite-style arrangement.  This is the same as Buildings A/B and McCoy (which, I’ll admit, is Wolman v.2.0, but you should bring that up with Joe; he lives there).  Every suite is home to four students.  Most suites have two doubles, though some do have two singles and a double.  I’m in the majority, having two doubles.  My roomie, Akif, is from Dubai, and my suitemates are from Maryland and New York.

3) SEMI-PRIVATE BATHROOMS!!!!!!! For the four of us, there is one shared bathroom, which is a pretty good deal, I think.  You won’t get that in the AMRs, but you’ll find it in Buildings A/B and in McCoy.  It’s nice because this arrangement affords greater privacy and potentially a smaller chance of having to wait to shower (yes, however, my suitemates/roomie have taken showers at REALLY inconvenient times…like when I’m trying to race to get ready for class).  Next year, it gets better, with one bathroom being shared by two people.  The bathroom, as you can see, is pretty typical: sink, toilet, shower, and some storage underneath the sink.  Really, there’s nothing exciting to report here, so I’ll move on.

4) KITCHEN!!!!!!! Let’s not be coy about this: I am a broke college student.  You will be, too, I’m sorry to share.  It’s not that my parents don’t love me and won’t send me money, and it’s not that my boss in Admissions doesn’t pay me.  It’s just that I spend money where I probably shouldn’t (hey, who wants to go to a concert in DC…now?).  Also, I live for coffee talks, so I’m giving most of my money to Carma’s or to Starbucks or to Café Q.  Anyway, I can’t always afford the convenience of going to Subway or Chipolte when I’m hungry at odd times.  Luckily, we have kitchenettes in Wolman, so residents can cook meals when needed.  For example, last Thursday night, it was a little after 12, and I had an inexplicable desire for breakfast.  Since you can’t find breakfast at midnight around here, I was able to make bacon, eggs, and toast in my kitchen – WIN.  Our kitchenettes have a stove and sink, and I bought a toaster oven for the other stuff.  It works out.  ONE COMPLAINT:  The smoke alarms in Wolman are a little crazy.  Without burning anything, I managed to set a smoke alarm off twice, winning the favor of my neighbors and suitemates.  But I still got my breakfast.

With that, I’m going to let my video speak for myself.  On Spring Break, I was in Little Rock, visiting my family.  Since it’s highly likely you’ve never seen Little Rock save a news piece on either Bill Clinton or Mike Huckabee, I thought I’d throw in a few pictures to share, so enjoy!  Oh, and I threw in two pics of my cats, Stanley and Oliver…

My adorably obese cat, Stanley

Another of my pets, Oliver -- often mistaken for dust bunny

________________________________________

AND FINALLY, a video of MY CRIB:

Until next time,

Daniel

Hey y’all. I swear I’m not demonic with my “66″ room number. Although, I guess you can decide for yourselves.

This year, I’m living in AMR II, a freshman dorm. I don’t want to sound preach-y, but I have really loved my time in room 166, and I believe that all freshmen should live in the AMRs (definitely not feasible!). Before coming to school, I was concerned about the lack of air-conditioning and lots of inconsequential details, but with a fan, the AMRs are definitely do-able.  And so much fun!

The sizes of AMR rooms vary, but mine is about 166 square feet. It is equipped with an armoire, additional set of drawers, a desk, a bed, desk chair, mirror, and towel rack. My roommate and I didn’t really move the furniture around, but I have seen some crazy-creative configurations. Also, lofting your bed can provide some serious storage space (let’s be serious, room for more shoes).

So, please, come take a look into my room. And don’t worry, I didn’t bother to clean up.

Ultimately, the purpose of freshman year is NOT to spend time in your dorm room. You should be out exploring Baltimore, trying new clubs & activities, stalking Michael Phelps, trying out the rock wall in the gym, giggling in the library instead of doing work, etc. So try not to stress too much about silly things like the amount of floor space & the amount of natural light. You will adapt, and believe me, usig the communal bathrooms of the AMRs WILL make you a stronger & better person.

Also, another great thing about dorm living is the RAs. But, really, don’t laugh. If you come to Hopkins not knowing anyone like me, it’s great to have an upper-classman be required to talk to you and make you feel comfortable. I’ve felt like my RA this year (Austin, as expressed through the board) has been really great about being available and approachable. RAs are required to host about three events per month, and they can be a great resource for asking embarrassing questions (like how to do laundry, haha).

Also, my other tip to incoming freshmen is : UNDERPACK. I promise, you will have access to all of the shopping you need at the Towson Mall (easily reachable by CollegeTown shuttle).  It is much easier to plan out your decorating scheme once you see the actual space you have to work with and you get a feel for your roommate’s aesthetic (or lack of).

Ultimately, just come in with an open mind. And check out my CRIBS post below. It will be the most entertaining thing you have ever seen in your entire life, I promise. I’m going for a million hits on Youtube, think it will happen? Eat my cyber dust Miley Cyrus and your tween minions.  And a special thanks to my roommate Jenny who kept me in check for the duration of this video.

Smooches!

Tyler

This year I’m living in AMR I in Sylvester House. AMR I has 6 houses (Royce, Sylvester, Vincent, Willard, Wilson, and Wood), all of which you can get to via the second and third floor. AMR I is the oldest dorm, and may be the most confusing – several people have compared getting around my dorm to getting around Hogwarts! We’ve got a number of common facilities (a common room, a multi purpose room, a kitchen, and a laundry room), and we have access to everything in the other freshman dorms. There’s a lot of security – there’s a security guard at the turnstiles to get in the courtyard 24/7, card access to enter the building, and locks on every door. AMR I is hall style living – we don’t have our own bathrooms, but we also aren’t responsible for cleaning them! The hall-style living is great as a freshman – you meet many more people, and it’s generally a social atmosphere!

Here’s a picture tour of my room, and the video is at the end!

Welcome to Sylvester 309!

Sylvester 309!

Note: these pictures were taken at the beginning of the year -- that’s why they don’t entirely match the video!

I’m currently living in a double, with my wonderful roommate Izzy. We’re on the third floor, which means we don’t actually have a full ceiling -- my room is right off the corner of the building, and we have the strangest ceiling I’ve seen in a dorm at Hopkins.

One of the beams - this one starts about 3 feet off the ground.

That also means we only have one window -- here’s the view!

The view from 309

In the AMRs, everyone is provided with a bed (which can be lofted), a chest of drawers, a desk, a desk chair, and a moveable closet/armoire with two drawers on the bottom.

This is my half-lofted bed, with lots of storage underneath!

Dresser and Desk

Each desk has a light in the shelf thing on top, but my roommate and I both chose to get an extra desk lamp for $10 at Staples. Small lamps are a great investment -- the ceiling light isn’t amazing, and it’s helpful to just have a small light on when one roommate is sleeping.

My roommate and I also chose to rent a microfridge -- that’s the only way you’re legally allowed to have a microwave, refrigerator, and freezer in the AMRs.

Microfridge filled with food!

Here’s the video tour! Due to my seeming inability to operate the video camera, there’s not a video tour of the decorated door and the awesome lantern lights, but the rest is covered -- enjoy!

An Overview of the AMRs:

Greetings from Royce 305! I live in a double room in the Alumni Memorial Residences (AMRs), specifically, AMR I. Little known fact: AMR I was the first dorm at the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus. I’ve loved living here because of its central location—it looks out onto the freshman quad, and it is near many my classes, the freshman dining hall (Fresh Food Café), and AMR II, where a lot of my other friends live. The AMRs are divided into houses, each with their own Resident Advisors (RAs). All houses in AMR I share laundry facilities, vending machines, a multi-purpose room, a kitchen, and television room available for reserve.

The AMRs are set up as traditional residential halls (versus suite-style living, in which rooms are adjoined with a common bathroom, for instance). There are double and single rooms available, with community style bathrooms divided by sex for each floor. I live in a two-person room on the third floor with my roommate Kimber. Have I mentioned yet that she is awesome?

The KimBecca Crib:

Our room in Royce House is unique and a little bit larger than normal because it is a corner room on the third floor. We share a bathroom with the adjacent Sylvester House. Although I’ll be the first to admit that I was a little apprehensive at the beginning of the year about the community-style bathroom situation, I’ve since grown accustomed to it and realized it’s really not bad at all. Unlike some of the suite-style bathrooms, they are cleaned daily by maintenance staff. The AMR I bathrooms consist of three showers and three bathroom stalls, which is plenty for the amount of people sharing the bathroom.

Inside our room, we have a micro-fridge (available for rent at the beginning of the year—I would highly recommend this). Our rooms came equipped with these very convenient corkboard walls, so you don’t have to deal with messy tape or sticky tack. As you can see, we’ve taken advantage of these and tried to add some personal flair to our interior décor with posters, photographs from home, etc. etc.

rentable micro-fridge unit

corkboard walls make for easy decorating

Both Kimber and I decided to purchase lamps, which have proved to be quite useful in our rooms. The rooms come with a study light on each desk, but an additional nightstand lamp is useful for late night reading. For me, I found purchasing a few extra storage devices would help me stay organized—I have a lot of shoes, so the shoe rack keeps all my shoes organized and keeps the pairs from getting separated! A handy-dandy miscellaneous set of drawers holds food, a hair dryer, towels, and other random items. I’ve accumulated a lot of scarves from the winter, and I found that they serve a sort of decorative and organizational purpose at the footboard of my bed.

Kimber decked out her wardrobe door with psychedelic pictures she took while scuba diving…cool, right? Mine is a little bit disastrous right now, so I’ll spare you the details.

To get the full tour of my room, check out my Hopkins CRIBS video! –BK