Class of 2013: Freshman Blog

I thought about writing this entry a week ago.  However, I just didn’t know how to put what I was feeling into words.  A part of me was coming to the realization that home would never be home again after you’ve left it for a significant amount of time.  Home becomes some interim place between where you were and where you will go next.  It’s as if you try to relive all your old ways, memories, patterns like it’s a movie you’ve seen a million times.  But once you come back, it plays in black and white, and no matter how familiar all the lines are, something feels distant.  Last week, I couldn’t care less if I didn’t come back for years.

A lot changed from last summer to this.    This summer I said good-bye to a lot of friendships, many as old as elementary school.  To be honest, I couldn’t tell you what went wrong.  The thing is when move away, you hope it’s the memories of the times you spent together that will keep you close.  However, the experiences you have when you are apart inevitably cause you to change, and some friendships just can’t bare that weight.  A year ago, I thought those friendships would last forever, and, now, they have come to an end.

In the few days before I left, it finally hit me, I was home all along this summer.  Suddenly, I was met the same feelings I possessed before moving to Hopkins one year ago; a stomach full of fear, sadness, and anxiety.  Saying goodbyes are always hard.  Last year, I knew that I would be home in a matter of months, but this time that certainty isn’t present.  I bought a one-way, without the slightest notion of when I would come back.

Upon my arrival to the Chicago Midway airport, I discover that the seating at the gate for my flight to Baltimore was full, so I wandered to find a gate with some open seats.  I found an open chair, and thinking nothing of it sat down and relieved my back of the excruciating pain my carry-ons were producing.  Then I glanced up, and the sign above the gate read Minneapolis, Departs 11:50 AM.  Then I thought if I had a blank ticket to go anywhere in the world, where would I go?  There I was in the Midway airport, almost exactly mid-way between Minneapolis and Baltimore.  Would I turn back and return to a place where the faces, places, and feelings are familiar?  Or would I carry on to a place that I love, but at the same times elicits all these feelings of fear, giddiness, and anxiety?

But then I thought, I felt the exact same way last year.  There were moments in the early part of my freshmen year that I would have given anything to go home.  Of course there are moments of apprehension, and loneliness, anxiety, and nausea.  Things always get better.  So I finished my lunch at the Minneapolis gate, then wandered back to the gate to Baltimore, knowing that I couldn’t give up Hopkins, no matter how much I would miss Minnesota.

After to returning to Hopkins, I was filled with excitement, butterflies, and an unexpected and unwarranted surge of energy.  It felt good to be back.  But after my first night in my room, I woke up startled early in the morning.  Something was missing.  I glanced to the foot of my bed, to realize that my twenty-pound, oaf, and blob of cat, Pantaloons, was missing.  There are always things and people you have to leave behind, and that’s the hardest part.  But you have to learn to find the things that make this new place home.

Unfortunately this blog post will not be as lengthy as my posts normally are. As you may or may not know Orientation Week officially started yesterday (August 22nd) and as a result I am currently working full-time for Orientation. What does full-time mean? Well I was out of my dorm at 7:45AM this morning and I wasn’t back until 9:45PM. It’s certainly been a hectic day since I was running around for almost the entire day aside from the 30 minutes of peace I had for lunch. But there was a bright side to all of this: I’ve been driving around campus in a golf cart for almost the entire day. It’s much more fun than you could ever imagine, and I’m excited that I get to do it for almost another 1.5 weeks.

The main focus of this post will be Orientation from a Freshman’s perspective vs. planning Orientation from an administrative perspective. The best part about now being in charge of Orientation is that I can look at my experiences from the program last year and know exactly what I would like to change. It’s much easier for me than for some of the other staff members who are upperclassmen, and that’s what I believe played a major role in the quality of this year’s program.

Coming in for Orientation as a Freshman is an experience that is both difficult and exciting. It’s difficult since you won’t know anyone (until you meet your roommates, or if you know a few people from your school/area) but its also exciting because part of the Orientation experience is meeting new people through these Orientation events. I remember going to all these events and wondering if the people that I’m sitting next to or near would become some of my greatest friends at Hopkins and interestingly enough they were NOT. I can’t event tell you how I met my best friends at Hopkins, most of them were through some of my other friends because the Orientation events weren’t as social last year, and that’s one of the main things that we sought to change.

Planning Orientation was a lot more fun than I could have imagined, but it was also a LOT of work. Over the summer I basically worked whenever I was awake excluding the times I was allowed to go home. But that’s the beauty of the Orientation program – it’s student run. Without all of these rising sophomores running the program, wouldn’t have the the Hopkins Passport Program, the entire Orientation website, the outstanding Move-In planner thats been created and will be responsible for Move-In going so smoothly, etc. (I could go on for days).

The main goal for the Orientation program this year (according to my boss, the Student Director of Orientation) was to show them that the program can be student run and still continue to improve each year. I think we’ve definitely exceeded that goal, and I hope that all of the incoming freshmen will agree with me after they experience Orientation for themselves. Finally, I’d like to conclude by thanking my readers since this is the final post that I will make on the class of 2013 blog. I hope you’ve enjoyed my ramblings and I hope that you’ll continue to follow whatever I may do with Hopkins Interactive next year.

The President's Tent which will be used for Convocation, and the Blue Jay Ball! Photo credits go to Admissions_Daniel! This tent is RIDICULOUS. I don't remember it being this nice last year, the Class of 2014 is gonna love this.

In case you were wondering, the title of this blog has been borrowed from a catchy Hairspray ballad. I’m currently sitting on the balcony of my room at the Colonnade, sipping a One World cappuccino, and trying to think of clever ways to entertain you, my dear reader, with this blog. You could say that I’m channeling my inner F. Scott Fitzgerald. My dad and I just landed in Baltimore from Dallas and as much as I am attempting to conceal my less-than-24-hours-before-move-in zeal, I am utterly and completely failing. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I’ll be running around reeking havoc in Baltimore city. Look out, Charles Commons: here comes Becca K. with her 537 suitcases, 915 UPS boxes, one jam-packed rental car, and one exasperated father. Just kidding about that last one, Dad. Not only will I be adjusting to an apartment-style living arrangement as of tomorrow, but I will also be reuniting with most of my friends that I haven’t seen in what feels like forever! On top of all of that, I am preparing to be a Peer Ambassador (or Orientation Advisor) for a group of incoming freshman this coming week. Shout out to Joe N., who has been in Baltimore all summer working tirelessly to make Orientation a success…we are so thrilled to have all of you on campus soon, Class of ’14! Basically, there is a lot going on around the Hop and I can’t wait until it’s bustling with people tomorrow. There are no words to describe my excitement levels right now!!!!

Becca's suitcases invade hotel room

As much as I have enjoyed being back in Dallas for the summer, I was definitely ready to come back here—it almost felt like home driving in from the airport today! My summer has been so different from what my life was like as a Hopkins freshman. There are of course the obvious differences: no classes, no longer living in Baltimore, and lucky for me, no late night runs to Uni Mini to get a 1,500 calorie sub. Oops. But even weirder was being surrounded by different people, having family around most of the time, spending time with high school friends (who have all had very different college experiences), having more downtime, the whole concept of being bored…etc. etc. I also had a retail job this summer and worked most days during the week, which gave me a little taste (however small) of the real world. It felt weird driving to work each morning alone instead of walking to class with friends, as I was accustomed to last year. In Dallas, I worked with people who were quite older than me, and consequently, my friendships with them were different. I did have a retail job in high school, but it was only once a week (just on Saturdays), and most of my friends would come in and visit every weekend since it was near our houses, which made it feel a little more like school. School, I’ve decided, is what I’m most passionate about right now—specifically, Hopkins! While working this summer did provide me with some useful real-world experience, I’m so thrilled to be back on campus and to be preparing to start a whole new year—new classes, new dorm, new people on campus…new outlook on life!

I’ll be keeping y’all updated on how move-in and Orientation Week goes. We’re headed out to dinner now…until next time…thanks for reading! -BK

Hey guys! It’s Greco.

wow this summer has gone by so fast, and I can’t believe it’s almost time to go back to school! Yea, it’s pretty sad. But to be honest, I’m mostly excited to go back! Don’t get me wrong — my summer in Korea was pretty baller. We took two family trips to some awesome places in Korea, including this village that UN recently designated as UNESCO World Heritage. Too bad my camera was out of battery when I visited there… There were so many things to photograph.. story of my life.

Oh, and I was meaning to work out over the summer. Well, I did go to the gym nearby once, work-out too much, and ended up being unable to move my entire body well for over a week, and decided working out is not my thing. There. I quit.

Other than that, I pretty much didn’t really do anything except meeting up with some old friends from here and there. The textbook I brought to Korea thinking that I might do some reading is now sitting far down my desk (my desk here is pretty big) covered in dust.

I guess the reason why I’m so excited to go back is because right now, I’m not being productive at all. Time sort of… stopped. But at the same time, when I actually think about it, it’s not like when I’m at Hopkins I feel like time is ticking. There’s no adventure in my life. no anything.. I’m going off tangent so I’ll end this here.. maybe I’ll talk about it in my later entry if there will be one.

So yea, it’s time for me to wrap up my summer, and by summer I mean everything after my freshman year until now. Let’s check out my summer blogs:

Summer Cribs! – Bradford

So I wrote this after I moved into my new apartment for the summer. I was really proud of myself for finally finishing unpacking everything, only to be packed again after two months. I also made a cribs video with my new iPhone 4. Check it out.

July 15, 2010

This was my attempt on microblogging. I think it’s a failure, but now I know it doesn’t work for me. Especially on that day, I got sick from the Chinese food that I made with a friend, and ended up writing things that I didn’t mean and get in trouble (it’s erased now. phew.) I prefer Day in the Life videos.

Korea. Yay.

I wrote this when I got here in Korea. I was born in Korea, and the majority of my life was spent there, so naturally thought Korea was in my hands. But it wasn’t. Korea is changing so fast that everytime I visit, I need some time to catch up and readjust.

Summer Wrap-Up

This is the entry you are reading right now.

So yea. My summer is all nice and wrapped-up now. yay.

I’m looking at my fall schedule right now and I don’t know how I’m going to survive. I’m taking 18 credits on top of research that I will be continuing, and this includes one 400-level seminar course. last semester, I ended up dropping a class, but this time, I can’t really do that because most of them are requirements for my major. We’ll see how it goes.. well at least I will. I’ll also be having a bigger responsibility in my a cappella group as a publicity officer, and this year, we’re actually preparing for ICCA, which is an a cappella competition for college students. So my life would become more like the people in Glee. yay. But I feel like if I survive this semester, I will be able to survive anything and anyone.

But truly I’m excited to see my friends and meet new interesting people. I’m really anxious to meet new SAAB members and Vocal Chords newbies! I think meeting new people and making new connections is one of the best things about college.

Anyways, if you are pre-frosh, I’ll see you at Hopkins! and if you are still a prospective student, see you in one of our open houses! I’ll keep you all updated. Bye now.

I promised myself I would start this entry before the first of August.  Sadly, it’s 2:30 am on the first of August.  Oh well, my intentions were honest.  Why awake at 2:30 am?  Well, my lovely job in retail has these exciting events called floorsets.  It’s one of those retail jargons that you don’t really understand until you work it.  Basically, all of the stuff in the store gets moved around, and new stuff gets put out, etc, etc.  Really it just means a lot of folding for me.  They usually occur after the store closes, which usually means from 9pm to some odd hour in the morning.  The last floorset ran until 6 am for two consecutive nights, which was followed by an Organic Chemistry exam the next morning at 8 am.  You can’t really say you’ve pulled a double all-nighter until you’ve spent it sweating in a non-air-conditioned clothing store doing heavy lifting and running around for nine hours.  Studying did not really happen.  Oh well.

Speaking of chemistry, my final is this Thursday morning.  A part of me really doesn’t want to study.  I have an A in the class, and since I am transferring the credit the grade actually doesn’t follow.  So, in reality, I could pretty much fail or not even take the final, still pass and get the credit.  It is as if nature has offered me a test to decided if I really am a self-slaughtering masochist.  I feel like I would be more upset if I kept my A, and it didn’t follow versus if I got a B or C and it didn’t follow.  However, I am also really considering taking Organic 2 at Hopkins second semester, even though I am not premed, and it is not required by my major.  I am really enjoying the class, and I think I am actually pretty good at it.  It’s so crazy how nature made all of these god-awful crazy rules for how things are going to work.  So much to remember!  But it is completely and utterly ingenious, and more importantly kind of beautiful.  I guess I am lucky to have a pretty good memory, sometimes I wonder if it is semi-photographic.  Is there a test I can take for this?  Either way, I am not going to give my memory all the credit because I did read that textbook, all 600 pages of it.  Other than that, I haven’t put tons of effort into it.  It’s summer after all!  In fact, I haven’t cracked my book open since the last exam!!!  I am dreading it so much, since it seems I have wasted so much sleep to wake up every morning for class.  As much as I enjoy it, I will be happy when it is over.

Organic has really has me considering if I have chosen the right major.  I do love ChemBE.  The faculty is great, and there is a lot of opportunity within the department.  However, ChemBE seems less about chemistry and more about applications and production of different chemicals.  When I compare a class like Process Analysis to Organic, Organic takes the cake hands down.  Currently, we are learning about NMR, IR, and Mass Spectroscopy (which I don’t believe is covered in Hopkins’ Organic), and I love it.  I know there even exists a whole course is Spectroscopy, and I really want to take it. It’s subjects like Quantum Chemistry and Organic Lab have me really considering changing my major to Chemistry.  I think coming into Hopkins I thought ChemBE would be more chemistry based than it actually is.  The only pure chemistry courses that are required are general chemistry, O-Chem 1, Physical Chemistry (the one semester version taught in the engineering department), and a chemistry elective.  It just goes to show sometimes you know what you want when you step foot on campus, but so much can change in only a semester.

In the end, I think the engineering degree may open more doors and lead to more job opportunities.  I hate saying that because I hate students who choose engineering for the money or the prospects of a shoe-in job.  I also must admit that I don’t want people to think I dropped ChemBE because I couldn’t handle the heat.  I know I shouldn’t care what other people think, but I want people to know if it’s hot in the kitchen I’ll go as far as to put my hand on the stovetop.  I also know that my mom would prefer if I stayed an engineering major.  I’ve worked so hard within my major, from my involvement with the Chemical Engineering Car Team, to my involvement with the mentorship program and AICHE, where I was elected as sophomore representative.  In the end I have to stop thinking about what others think and want and really try to discover what I want.  I wish a magic genie could just appear and tell me what the right choice is, but I know that will never happen.

A funny thing happened a couple weeks ago.  I was browsing through my bookshelf looking for something interesting to read, when I ran across some old textbooks I brought home after my grandma died, which included a Schaum’s Outline of Differential Equations.  As I was browsing through the archaic study guide, a small folded piece of paper fell out.  On the back was some scratch work from a problem (most likely from the book.)  When I opened the paper, I ran across a page from a lab report titled Lindlar’s Catalyst, which included detailed instructions on how to synthesize this special catalyst that is used to hydrogenate alkynes to alkenes with cis-isomerism.  At the top of page was the date December 16, 1966.  The lavender-blue ink indicated that the page was printed from a mimeograph, a hand-cranked printer that dated before the late 1960’s.  It was like finding a hidden treasure, a piece of Watkins history.  The careful scripted math on the back was signature of my dad, and the date indicated that the page dated back to his time spent at Caltech.

My dad is a pure genius, and I am extremely critically of other’s intellect.  He is on my list of the most intelligent human beings I have ever met, which is very short.  As a high school student, he handcrafted a particle accelerator in the height of the atomic age including an ultra-high vacuum created from refrigerator heat pumps.  He even built a hovercraft.  In college he was first a chemistry major, then he switched to physics.  However, his senior year he dropped out to pursue an invention, which we now know as modern microwave popcorn, with his brother, under the brand name Act II.  Now he is a small business owner, who makes outdoor lighting fixtures.  It wasn’t until a phone conversation that occurred last semester that I learned that he might have truly regretted leaving the university scene.  As a gifted machinist and physicist, he said the times he spent in the physics labs where some of the best in his life.  Looking back now, he wishes that he had continued to study physics, even at the graduate level, and someday have his own lab.

He used to tell me I would never be as smart as him, which is probably true.  But it’s moments like after one of my organic midterms when I can show him a paper with a big red 95 on the front, that I can see him smile with a gap between his two front teeth large enough to drive a bus through.  These moments makes it all worth it, even if the grade doesn’t follow.  Maybe it’s true, and I will never be as smart as him, nor can I understand what kinds of crazy ideas pass through his mind when he stares into space with his gap-toothed smile.  Then again, maybe I am inching closer to something.  Maybe I was put here on this earth to finish something he never could.  It’s seems illogical and maybe a bit superstitious, but that paper may have fallen out for a reason.  Who knows why I felt such a sentimental connection to a piece of 44-year old paper, but all I do know is that my biggest fear is realize at 64-years old, that I have made a lifelong mistake.

So for now I am going to stay and engineer.  It’s so hard to make a decision after only two semesters; however, if I need to change it should be something I should anticipate sooner rather than later.

I’m sure most of the followers of this blog are high school students. I’m sure they’re pretty driven high school students, who are extremely focused on academics. That’s only natural – they’re looking at a school known for academic excellence, and they want to make sure that their transcripts reflect the fact that they’re striving for academic excellence too. Don’t get me wrong – doing well in school and grades can be important. But at the same time, those same focuses can easily overwhelm students.

Over the past year, I’ve seen a lot of students affected by this. Practically all of here at Hopkins are very academically focused, and as incoming freshmen, we were used to aiming for (and getting) top grades. So we came here, and we kept trying for those grades, and some of us got way too caught up in that struggle. I admit, I’m definitely not perfect. I’d like to say that I’ve always been focused on learning for the sake of learning and on enjoying life. While I’ve certainly never taken grades to the extremes, I know that I have gotten caught up in the grade rat race.

But this year, something changed. I’m not sure what it was. Maybe it was first semester covered grades, and knowing that I could focus on learning, and not just cramming for tests. Maybe it was knowing that I was surrounded by hundreds of other equally (or moreso-ly) intelligent people. Maybe it was subconsciously realizing that in 10 years, I won’t care about any of these grades. Maybe it was realizing that the memories I’ll have of college should be more than grades and late nights in the library. Memories aren’t made of letters and test scores. They’re made of experiences. They’re made of laughter and tears. They’re made of struggles and triumphs. They’re made of spontaneity and planning. They’re made of late night walks around the campus. They’re made of mud fights on the freshman quad. They’re made of 4 am conversations with friends. They’re made of explorations to Hampden and Fell’s Point. They’re made of pillow fights. They’re made of late nights watching movies and stuffing your face. They’re made of first experiences. They’re what we want to remember.

This probably all sounds very cliche. It probably is very cliche, but more importantly, it’s also very true.

I was wandering in AMR II today, and I saw this quote: “Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone.”  Moving beyond the beach and into the college arena, the footprints are the grades. They’re something tangible, something physical we can fixate on when measuring our time spent in college. But ten, twenty, thirty years from now, we won’t remember the grade on the first micro midterm. We won’t remember our score on the orgo final. We won’t remember the strange way anthro participation grades were calculated. But we’ll have memories of experiences and friends. And making the memories is what really matters.

Dear Friends,

Still hope your summer is treating you well.  I apologize, but I do promise that this post ends with a point; it’s not just me going off on tangents.

Yesterday morning, I opened my e-mail when I got to work. Scanning my messages, I immediately noticed that between 2-4am I had a crazy number of messages from my parents. That was odd, I thought, since one or two messages throughout the night is much more typical. Confused, I opened the newest of the messages, from my mom, and learned that my dog, Ralph, had died during (my) night. I won’t elaborate on what happened immediately thereafter.

Ralph had been with my family since I was four years old. I am an only child, so, though it may sound odd to some, he was in some senses more of a brother than pet to me. I never had a brother to get into trouble with, but I did have Ralph, my always-dependable partner in mischief. Better yet, he was always game for anything, especially if there was the promise of a few Beggin’ Strips involved.

I’ll admit that I thought the dog-pesky kid sort of bond was uniquely American. Maybe it’s the (perhaps corrupted) vision of the American Dream I’ve painted in my mind: white picket fence, a barbeque, lemonade, and a large, green lawn in front on which a kid plays with his dog. But that’s not entirely true.

I don’t always do bad news very well, and, yes, the second I could leave work, well, I did. I went down to a lounge in Parliament where everyone hangs after work.  There, I had a few conversations with some people I didn’t really know too well – some regulars I’d seen around the place before, what have you, but also my roommate’s boss, Sam.

Sam’s Scottish, and he was curious as to why I (apparently) looked like hell and wasn’t in the best mood. I told him why, and, somewhat to my surprise, he was able to relate: he had a similar go-around maybe two years ago, and during then, he told me, he felt the same.

Sam and I weren’t alone at the table; my roommate’s colleague, Jessica, was also there. She grew up in Spain, though, as she told me afterward, she’d lived across Europe as her family travelled for work. When she was growing up, her dog, Sadie, had travelled from country to country with her and her family, just as Ralph had travelled from state to state with my family and me as we moved. Needless to say, it was nice to be able to relate. But moreover, upon reflexion, I noticed that, in this regard, there’s a bit of universality on this matter: regardless of culture and country, there are always more commonalities than one would expect. Thankfully, this is one of them.

Another is something that I’ll admit I didn’t expect too entirely much in a building void of doctors (but certainly not lawyers). I’d been inside for far too long, and after Sam, Jessica, and I had reached a bit of a slow point in our conversation, I headed outside for a few minutes to get some air. There, I saw a friend of mine, Liam, who is also working here. He was with his boss, who is from Northern Scotland. I didn’t know his boss, so I introduced myself, said that I was from the United States and said that I was here for the summer before I return to university. He, typically trying to maintain the small talk without reverting to the weather, asked where I’d went to school. Of course, I replied Hopkins.

At first, I thought his ears somehow misconstrued ‘Hopkins’ for ‘Harvard’ or ‘Oxford’ based on his reaction. I was really rather confused at first, because, again I’ll admit, I didn’t know Hopkins had that sort of international esteem. But it apparently does. The next day (today), I gave him my resume as he asked. Before I told him of my university, he wouldn’t have read it. But after I told him, he asked for it.

Now where does universality come in here? Pretty simple, actually. I don’t like to name-drop that sort of stuff, because I, well, think it’s sort of silly. But here it actually made a difference. In the United States, Hopkins calls a good reaction, but I had no idea that it would in the UK. What I’m getting at here is that Hopkins does have a reputation that gets you something that a lot of other places don’t. Moreover and interesting to note, I was in a bar full of Oxbridge alumni. What I’m not getting at, however, is that you should pick a school solely because of its reputation: I was lucky enough to have been admitted to a school that is respected and that fits my academic and social wants, needs, goals. A lot of my friends were wooed by third-rate state schools because of cost, and those schools do indeed have their place, but they’re aren’t for everyone, and if one has an opportunity to attend a school that’s right for him/her and is positively reputed, well, that’s something more to consider. It does have benefits that you wouldn’t expect or imagine.

Oh, and I even made it clear that I am primarily studying history, not something related to pre-med.

–Daniel

This is a photo of Ralph taken about a month ago.

Hey, everyone –

I hope that everyone is having a fantastic summer.

In my previous posts, I’ve written about a lot of stuff: security on campus, what I happened to do one weekend, etc.  I’ve taken a look at what I’ve written in the past – when I wrote my first post in September, when I wrote about going home, spring break, blah blah – and in reading and recollecting, I don’t think that I’ve hit one single, main topic throughout the past year.  This is a pity, since there certainly is one: I’m lucky to be at Hopkins, and the more I realize this, the more I appreciate it – the faculty, my fellow students, the facilities, the University in general and what it can provide.  I apologize, but it may take me a few paragraphs to show my point.

I will be candid: there were days when I wasn’t happy at all at Hopkins. Most of them were in the fall.  Maybe it was schoolwork, maybe it was a problem with a friend, maybe it was just a headache, but I certainly had those days when I was just totally put-off when I saw a Hopkins shirt or something like that.  And, yes, there were one or two days that I had quite a think about leaving.  For a bit, I feared that I was unique, that everyone else I knew in high school was getting along brilliantly and with a smile on their faces.  But that wasn’t true.  My friends and I, we all have had trouble transitioning, and it’s just a matter of time before you find your niche, get comfortable, and really begin to enjoy yourself – socially and academically (a balance of both is CRUCIAL, I think).  I had a bit of trouble finding this at Hopkins, but when I did, I became as enchanted with the place as I was when I stepped on campus as a newly-admitted Class of 2013er in April 2009 – and I was pretty stoked then, by the way.

This summer, as I’ve said, I’m spending my time in London.  Being 4,500 miles away from home and 4,000 miles from my ‘new’ home was a bit difficult at first.  This was weird; I didn’t really too bad of a problem adjusting to life away from home when I came to Hopkins, so it was odd being ‘homesick’ over the summer.  I’m not certain why I was/am, to be honest.  Though I was by no means a loner, I didn’t associate too often with my classmates in high school, and because of this, I don’t have as many ‘bros’ from high school as a lot of my peers (that is literally the first time I’ve used that word, by the way).  But I still didn’t have a longing for Arkansas in September like I do now for Baltimore.

Anyone who knows me knows that I can be a bit stoic at times, and I’ll admit that I am, but when I left Hopkins for London (I had to fly direct from there, no stop at home, to make my program on time), I was legitimately sad to leave.  I was moving out of my room on my last two days in Baltimore, but even while that was going on, I was trying to see all of my friends at least twice before I left.  Luckily, I saw most of them at least thrice.  Not to sound too sappy, but there have been times in London already when I’ll run my credit out on my phone during an impromptu call to the US to talk to friends.  I like it; my credit card hates it; the guy who sells me a top-up downstairs certainly loves it.

I didn’t know what to expect in terms of the social scene when I came to Hopkins.  In a not so brilliant move, I started to research Hopkins’ social scene when I deposited on CollegeConfidential.  That site offered a viewpoint that scared the beejebus out of me: I thought I was going to a place where everyone lived in the library, drank two glasses of milk with their meals, took their vitamins and made their bed in the mornings, and thought a discussion on Thoreau was racy enough for a Friday night.  Thank God, that ‘all-knowing’ site was wrong.  At Hopkins, I have met people that I truly care about, think about, and want to see.  They’re amazing.  I’ll conceit that there are some perpetual library-dwellers (and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s not my scene at all, truth be told), but when you look your head around the corner, Hopkins is a place where you can have a LOT of fun. That’s why I love it: there are people whom I want to be with, in a city where one can see some cool sites and have some massive nights, in an environment that still fosters some fantastic ed-u-ma-kation.

This morning, I went to work.  Outside my window, Big Ben is about 50 meters away.  I have a blast-proof window to see it through.  For my job, I have to go down to the floor of the House of Commons on occasion. I handled an original Act of Parliament given Royal Ascent by King Henry VIII. I’m now working for an MP, and I’m now also volunteering at David Milliband’s Labour leadership campaign.   I’m writing this in the library of the London School of Economics, where I’m a student this summer.  I’m also 19, and I’m also from rural Arkansas.  Besides the whole age and place thing, none of that would have happened without me going to Hopkins.  I truly do owe this summer to that University.  It has a name recognition that gets my CV looked at, yes, but, more importantly, what I’ve learned there – and who I’ve met there, how I’ve learned to interact with people of many nationalities, too – has allowed me to not be an idiot walking around here.  And, in simple terms, I’m lucky to have had the experiences I’ve had at Hopkins, because they’re already working in my favor, and I’m even luckier to have met the fantastic people that I’ve met at Hopkins.  Not to be repetitive, but my total experience at Hopkins just makes me feel fortunate, lucky to be there, and for that, I’m grateful – grateful that I can go there, that I do go there, and that I did decide to go there.  It’s my new home.

Ever had a pot of boiling water spill all over your upper body.  I haven’t, but I bet it would feel similar to the excruciating pain my upper body is suffering from right now.  I’m talking about sunburn.  I really should accept my German, Swedish, and English heritage and understand that it comes with the warning label of SPF 75+ required.  Nonetheless, every summer there are a few weeks where I suffer from skin that feels like it’s on fire.

Other than that summer has been progressing swimmingly.  I took back my old job in the mall, even though I hate retail with a burning passion.  I have organic chemistry four days a week in the morning, which leaves me with a lot of free time, which is rarely spent studying.

It’s a little weird to think that I am back at the university where I spent three semesters prior to attending to Hopkins.  It’s a bit like that move Sliding Doors, with Gwyneth Paltrow.  In the movie Gwyenth’s character is in a subway and the movie’s plot focus around what would happen if she made it through the subway door at this certain moment in time.  The movie follows two paths in her life, the one where she made it through the door and the one where she didn’t.  Not a great movie, but an interesting story line.  Now that I am spending time back this university in Minnesota, the same one that my mom and dad and two sisters attended, it’s a bit funny to think that this would be my life if I chose not to apply to Hopkins.  Not many people get to live out the what-ifs in their lives.  While, I am enjoying my time at this university, I am also longing to head back east.  I miss everything about it.  I miss my friends, and the kitschy neighborhoods of Baltimore, and I even miss MSE.  Even the types of trees that grow in Maryland are different.  It’s so funny to think at moments you would give anything to go home, but then once you get there you realized what you just left was your home.

Moving 1,500 miles to Baltimore for the first time was terrifying.  Granted, I am not an international student or anything, but still the distance was great.  I left behind all of my friends and a life at another university.  There were moments right before moving to Hopkins where I was seriously reconsidering my choice.  After three semesters at a school in Minnesota, I would say that I was happy there.  I didn’t know if I would like Hopkins, after all I had never been there.  But in the end, I made the move, and at moments I would have given anything to go home, but I am happy I stayed.

Now that I am back at that same university in Minnesota, I can really reflect on what my life would have been if I stayed.  I can tell now that I have definitely made the right choice.  So if the door would have slid closed or open, I would have chose whichever one led me east.  So while I am enjoying my time, I am also eagerly awaiting my flight back to Baltimore.  I have even started packing.

So, everyone, I hope you all are having an amazing summer.  I’m still in London, and work is really starting to pick up — both a great thing and a ‘eh’ thing, since I both love my internship and to sleep.  But c’est la vie.  I’m having a great time here, and everyone in my flat and program are amazing.  This weekend, we went to see Fedde le Grand at the Ministry of Sound, and it was amazing — totally worth the day after (of course, we were just sluggish because we were at a rave from like 11 – 6am, that’s all).  I’m working about 3.5-4 days a week, split two ways between Parliament and David Miliband’s Labour leadership campaign; both have been great thus far.

In this post,I’d like to recap my blog posts from this last year.  For me, it’s been interesting to look at some of them again – makes me think of how I was feeling when I wrote them, what I’ve been up to these past few months, etc.  For me, pretty cool.  I don’t keep a diary or anything, so this is about as close as I’m going to get J.

First Post: And Then It Began

Boy, I wasn’t kidding.  My first post as a Hopkins student, and, man, I’ve come a long way.  This was me when I was really, really, really new at Hopkins!

Social Scene Stuff

Okay, not quite as new-to-college me as the first, of course, but this was when I was just discovering that Hopkins really did have a social life (I lowered my hopes after reading some good ol’ fashioned fibs on things like collegeconfidential) and when I was just starting to get in the groove of this whole college thing.

[update: all libraries are created equal, I feel, so I’ve relocated to Trafalgar Square at midnight, watching people drunkenly attempt inline skating.  I’m consequently laughing.  A lot.]

A Matter of Campus Security…

This came after the first open house I attended.  There were a lot of parents asking about security, so I thought I’d give this topic a go.  This is the result of that idea.

Mah Schedule…

This beez my first semester’s schedule.  It’s a lot of fun to see what I thought of it then and how I remember it now.  Sooo different.  I actually still talk to one of my professors; she’s awesome.

Reflections on Going Home

First time going home.  This was my attempt to share what I was feeling at the time.  It’s the first of my less topic-oriented posts and was more just me talking.  That said, the preceding posts weren’t me trying to write a research essay J.

Hmph

School was owning me at this point, and it was me trying to struggle with being me while having more work to do than I’d ever had.  Of course, it was written right before finals.

Au revoir, fall semester!

So the previous post was during finals, so, as this one’s name implies, this is afterwards.  I was soooo ready for the semester to be over, to just have a break to chillax, and it felt good J.

And the deadlines cometh…

I wrote this en route to Italy over winter break.  I was bored at the time – it was a long flight – and it was just before the January 1 application deadline, so this is me trying to offer advice on the essays.  They were by far my least favorite part of the college admissions process – wait, those AND standardized tests.  Together, they may have been the bane of my existence.

Looking Back on ‘09

My final post of 2009, this was me reflecting on the past year, what’d changed, and what I sort of thought would come.  It was interesting to write.  I was in Italy with my parents on vacation, and we’d been talking a lot about my first semester, so this was interesting to write.

Me and the History Major…

I came to Hopkins wanting to pursue International Studies, and now I’m a history major.  Why?  Well, that’s what this post is about J

Intersession

Lots of mail.  Lots of fun.  Lots of film to watch for class.  That was my first intersession at Hopkins, and it’s what I cover in this post.

New stuff (great name, I know)

A recap of what’d been going on between intersession and then, this post also covers – wait for it – SNOWWEEK, also known as SMOWOMG, SNOWMAGEDDON.  You get the point. Oh, and no biggie, but the Winter Olympics had been going on.  They’re sort of my World Cup.

My Semester Thus Far: An Update

Starting to think about housing.  Midterms approaching.  Fun being had.  This is the story behind this post, which is more an update about what’d been going on at Hopkins for me.

A Not-so-brief description of my classes…

You know when you’re trying to procrastinate so you will do anything to avoid real work?  Well, I do, and it’s the story behind this post: I had a lot to do, so naturally, I decided to offer more information about my class schedule than anyone may ever need to know.  Oh, and when I was writing this, Muse played Bmore.  MUSE MUSE MUSE MUSE.

MAH CRIB

This highlights – EVEN WITH VIDEO (since we’re fancy like that)– why Wolman is ‘da bomb,’ and you even get to see a pic of my obese cat, Stanley.  Oh, and some pics of Little Rock, too haha.

SaveMoneyChella

In essence, this is me describing my time at the Coachella Music Festival, by far the best time of my life EVER.

End of the Semester!

Wooooo.  Riding a mechanical bull.  Studying.  Cooperative feasts cooked in friends’ apartments.  That was the end of my second semester at Hopkins, and it’s what you can hear about should you read this post.

Scotland

Earlier this summer, I had a political study visit to Scotland.  We ran around the Scottish Parliament and, later, sung Lady Gaga in a pub in front of a live band.  AWESOME all around.  Check it to find out more.

Well, that’s all I got for now.  Since I’ve sort of gone through my entire year, I thought it appropriate to post my class’ flag in this post, since it’s what I did in my first post.

Have fun,

Daniel