Class of 2014: Freshman Blog

Thank you for visiting the Class of 2014 Freshman Blog! We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the freshman year adventures of nine members of the Class of 2014. You can still connect with them on their current student blogs here:

Allysa D. – Life Without Sound

Kate T. – The Breezeway

Lucie F. – The Lucie Show

Nick G. – Thoughts of Nick

Sydney R. – Talk Nerdy to Me

Tess T. – Jay Talking

Trisha L. – Welcome to Lalaland

You can also follow @JHU_Noah on Twitter.

Remember to check out the rest of Hopkins Interactive for more blogs, photos, videos, and more!

Last night was the first time I had ever woken up in Washington D.C. and not known why I was there. Wait, wait! It’s not what you think! Let me explain…

I spent all summer at Hopkins taking classes and working at a lab downtown at the School of Medicine. By the time August rolled around, I hadn’t really been home for about eight months, so as soon as I was done with my second set of summer finals (I know…summer finals…yuck), I hopped a plane back to Houston. The next ten days were a whirlwind of friends and family. My last full day there was spent on the beach (the sandy one in Galveston, not the grassy one at Hopkins!), playing soccer in the sand and Frisbee in the 89°F water. But the time came to leave home and go back Home(wood), so I got on another plane…destination, Baltimore…

When I got off the plane at BWI, everything seemed fine. I went to baggage claim and got my stuff. I headed out the doors and followed the signs to the left, where a bus that said “AMTRAK/MARC” pulled up and took me to the BWI train station. This is where my misadventure began.

I walked into the station and asked when the next MARC train heading to Penn Station would be taking on passengers (the MARC train is preferable to Amtrak only because it costs like four dollars to get to Penn from BWI, compared to the Amtrak which costs around twenty dollars). He replied that it would be about an hour. I was tired from a long day of travel, so, having no interest in waiting that long, I tearfully parted ways with my twenty-dollar bill. He handed me a ticket. This train was arriving in five minutes. HINT: My first clue should have been the ticket.

My second clue should have been that he told me to cross the bridge to the southbound side of the tracks. But I wasn’t paying attention, because I was exhausted and I just wanted to get back to school.

The train arrived and I, a little suspicious of my whereabouts, asked the conductor if this train was heading to Penn Station. “Yeah,” he said curtly. I persisted, “Penn Station…in Baltimore, right?” “Uh-huh.” Satisfied, I got onboard and lay down across two seats. Before I knew it I was asleep. I woke up to the sound of the conductors voice over a speaker in my car. “…(unintelligible)…Wash…(unintelligible)…D.C.!” I bolted awake. “WHAT???”, I shouted, causing the girl and her mother (who were wearing matching Georgetown hoodies) in the seats directly in front of me to jump halfway to the ceiling.

I disembarked, and found myself in what was unmistakably Union Station in Washington D.C.

I looked at my ticket, lo and behold it said: “TO–WASHINGTON D.C. (UNION)”!

I felt so betrayed! I had been misled to believe that I was going back to Homewood, and there I was walking behind two Hoyas in the nation’s capitol.

I began telling my story to everyone wearing an Amtrak uniform. Luckily, Amtrak’s headquarters is at Union Station, and my story reached the ears of a corporate higher-up who took pity on me. Turns out, he’s a Hopkins alum who now works for Amtrak and teaches Marketing classes at the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business. A train to Baltimore was just leaving, and he was supposed to be on it as well. He spoke to the conductor for this train and got me on for free! I thanked him and we parted ways–him (I can only imagine) to the super-fancy-special-private car for Amtrak executives, and me to Coach.

Finally back at Penn Station, I walked outside just as the JHMI shuttle was rolling up. I got on and it dropped me off at Charles Commons.

So I guess there are a few morals to this story…

First: Check your ticket. Do it right now.
Second: B’More is NORTH of BWI; D.C. is SOUTH of BWI…if you’re on the SAME SIDE as the ticket office, the trains go NORTH.
Third: Hopkins alumni are friendly, helpful and EVERYWHERE.
Fourth: The JHMI Shuttle is your friend. It will never forsake you. Say thank you to the driver when you get off.

Stay classy, Johns Hopkins.

GO HOP!

Me at my summer internship at Teen Vogue!

It is with mixed emotions that I announce that this will be my last post on the Class of 2014 shared blog, and my first post in my new Jay Talking blog. On one hand, I am a little sad to be saying goodbye to my freshman experience. The past twelve months have held some of the most incredible times of my life, and part of me is a little envious of the incoming Class of 2015 and the amazing journey that is in store for them. But my excitement for sophomore year trumps any nostalgia I might be feeling, because I have so much to look forward to in the ensuing months. I am dedicating this post to a preview to some of the topics I will be covering this upcoming year in “Jay Talking,” and I hope you come along for the ride.

Classes. Being the total nerd that I am, I can freely admit that I am itching to get back in the classroom after three months of vacation. I am particularly excited for next semester, because I have the perfect set of classes lined up. I am taking Introduction to the European Union, Ancient Egyptian Civilizations, Oceans + Atmospheres, Undergraduate Seminar in History and The Victorians.

Montauk 2011 with my dad and three brothers.

Now if you are like my best friend (and Biology major) Amanda, this schedule might make you groan. But if you are a humanities student like me, you might find this array of classes as electrifying as I do. One of my favorite aspects of Hopkins is the wide variety of available courses – something you can see for yourself if you take a quick look at our course catalogue. It is incredible to me that Hopkins is able to provide an extensive enough selection of courses to meet all the needs of its diverse academic population.

Charles Commons. Having lived in Wolman my freshman year, I am making a short move down North Charles Street to a sophomore dorm Charles Commons where I will be living in a double with Amanda. Charles Commons is absolutely beautiful – it’s the newest dorm on campus, and everyone in the dorm gets their very own room in a suite. Amanda and I also have a kitchen which means that I will be forced to don a chef’s hat several times a week… we will see how that goes! My other closest friends live only a floor away so I am eagerly anticipating all the good times we will be having in our new dorm.

Repping Hopkins at the Jersey Shore.

Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. If you have been following my previous blog entries, you might know that upon my acceptance to Hopkins I was also given the Woodrow Wilson Research Fellowship. The program is unique to Hopkins and provides undergraduates with funding for independent research in the subject of their choosing. I am in the planning stages of my project centered around media coverage of the 2012 Olympics in London, England. I am going to research the US Olympic Committee’s use of broadcasting during the games next summer, and analyze the success of these efforts. This upcoming year I will be working on organizing the details of my project, and planning my trip to the 2012 Olympics. Needless to say I am a little excited.           

Alpha Phi. Sophomore year will be my first full year as a sister in Alpha Phi and I am so excited to become more involved in my sorority. My friends and family from home still find it hilarious that I ended up joining, because I was positive I would not go Greek prior to coming to Hopkins. Once I got to campus however, I found out that that I harbored many misconceptions about what Greek life is like, especially at Hopkins. I met several amazing Alpha Phis and knew that it was an organization I wanted to be a part of. Some Alpha Phi events I am particularly excited about are our Casino Night, Greek Weekend, date parties and formals.

Enjoying Central Park with my friend Evan.

Study Abroad. I am planning on studying abroad for a semester in the fall of my junior year, which means that I have to start planning for my trip well in advance. I had such an incredible time studying abroad over Intersession in Spain last semester that I can hardly wait to go overseas again. I have an appointment with the Study Abroad Office scheduled for next week when I get back to campus to discuss what programs I will be applying for, but I am hoping to go to Oxford University!

With so much going on in the upcoming year, move-in day next Sunday can hardly come soon enough. Remember to stay tuned to Jay Talking as I write about all my new adventures as a sophomore!

Welcome to my new blog site: Talk Nerdy to Me! My cousin had a t-shirt with “Talk Nerdy to Me” on it and I thought it was clever, funny, and academic, which are three things I like to think I am (though my jokes could use a little work…) . This means that this will be my last post appearing on the Class of 2014 blog (feel free to shed a tear or two). From now on, you’ll find me here: http://blogs.hopkins-interactive.com/sydney/.

Though my new blog is nerd-inspired, this first blog isn’t. A girl has to shake things up sometimes. I’m going to write about a big milestone for me that happened just a couple weeks ago: running a 5k.

Now, in high school, I was pretty athletic. My freshman year, I made varsity swimming, and my team was the top team in the conference. I was varsity the next year, too. I also ran 5k’s and did a couple triathlons. But then, a little set-back happened.

One summer, my friend accidentally knocked me down the bleachers at a football game, and like Humpty Dumpty, I went tumbling down. After some doctors and some MRIs, I was told I have herniated back discs. My best way to describe it is if my spine was made of Oreos, a couple of mine would have the cream filling squishing out. Needless to say, my messed up Oreos made me unable to swim varsity anymore, unable to run, and in all honestly, unable to do any hard-core working out of any type.

During this school year, I used the elliptical at the gym and found that it didn’t hurt my back, so I started to rebuild my strength on that. And eventually I built enough strength to try to run again. And here I am, already completing a 5k.

Sure, I’m much slower than I used to be, but I feel really accomplished to have gotten this far. The main reason is because at school, I realized how important it is to stay in shape. A lot of people blame school food for the freshman 15, but in all honesty, it does have healthy options. In reality, it all comes down to being an adult and making healthy choices for yourself, and a healthy choice that I have made for next year is to get up in the morning and run or use the elliptical before class. Now, I’m not sure how well I’ll be able to stick to it, and it may change to nights because I’m not really a morning person, but just a word to the wise: there are a lot of changes in college, one of which being you are in charge of yourself. Make sure you treat yourself right. :)

Post-race...

Anybody familiar with the weather, which I sincerely hope is everyone, knows that a storm can come sneak up at a moments notice and disappear just as quickly.  Many things in life follow along with this pattern, and because of that it is vital that we become accustomed to rapid changes in our lifestyle, then rapidly being switched back.  For example, when I was moving into camp, not much time was given to become accustomed to life there, and as soon as you grew to a regular routine, it was time to go home and suddenly you were back to the lifestyle you had before leaving.

The view of Newport, RI from the upper boat deck.

Going to school is surprisingly similar.  The first semester comes as a bit of a shock to the system.  There are countless new faces around you, a new room, different rules from home, more freedom and independence.  By the time second semester rolls around, you’ve made your friends, you have a group you are comfortable with, know the routine and know what to do and when.   But second semester does not last forever, and eventually the time will come to move back.

That being said, from my experiences, I’d like to pass down a few words of wisdom to help out when dealing with these rapid moves.  First, don’t let them sneak up on you.  When you are getting everything ready to leave for school, don’t wait until the last minute to start thinking of what to pack, only to realize that you still need to shop or that you get there and forgot something important.  Start a list early, and add to it as you go about your planning.  This will help when you finally move in, and can be confident that you don’t need to be doing any last minute shopping and can know that you have all you’ll need.  The same applies for when you are ready to leave–when you determine you no longer need something until you go home, pack it.  That way when move out day comes, you’ll be able to say your goodbyes without having to worry about packing and such.

Second, I’d recommend you keep an open mind towards meeting people.  Everywhere you go will come with a different group, whether it be school, camp, home, etc.  Don’t go in with that attitude of immediately missing your home friends.  By the time you experience your new place and meet new people, you’ll be comfortable enough without them.  Be accepting to people and keep in mind that many of them are in the same situation as you are, new and confused.  Bond over what you have in common; explore together or learn from their experiences.

Finally, if you find something you enjoy, make a mental note of it but continue to try new things.  One thing which I do regret about freshman year is that I stuck pretty much to the same three or four places for eating and such and only towards the end of the year did I begin to branch out more.  I liked the places I went to, but never got to experience other enjoyable places until the end.  Once you’ve tried a variety of places, you can determine which are the ones you’ll continue to frequent and this will lead to a diverse and fun experience.

I hope this was helpful, and that you’ll keep some of these tips in mind for the next time a storm shows up on your radar (wow, that was really cheesy…sorry).

Thanks for reading,

Nick

Current track: H*A*M by Jay-Z and Kanye West

P.S. This will be my final post in the Class of 2014 Freshman Blog, seeing as how I am entering into my Sophomore year.  Thus, all my future posts will be in my own blog, http://blogs.hopkins-interactive.com/nick/. Enjoy!

“Read a book!” If you had suggested I do that during my senior year of high school, I probably would have laughed in your face.  It’s not that I wasn’t a good reader—come on, I was in the highest reading level in 2^nd grade!—it’s just that I didn’t enjoy reading as a pasttime.  The idea of sitting down and reading a book was less appealing to me than the thought of staring at a blank wall.  Then again, why should I have enjoyed reading?  It’s not like I’d read anything good since Goodnight Moon.

Everywhere I went I would see people reading, their eyes glued to their books.  “What on Earth is so interesting in there?!” I wanted to shout.  On the outside, these people looked uninspired…little did I know, they may have been watching a phenomenal book unfold inside of their minds in the form of a zillion vivid and magical little pictures that, when put together, could surpass even one of Hollywood’s greatest films.

The book that changed everything

Today, I am an avid reader.  How did I get this way?  Well, it all started with one little book.  Ok, maybe “little” isn’t the right word; the book is over a thousand pages long.  Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell.  When my mom recommended it to me the summer after my senior year, I reluctantly agreed to give it a try.  As I read the first couple of pages, all I could think about was the pain in my wrist from holding this gigantic novel, which seemed to weigh more than I did.  As I flipped through the first few pages, I still didn’t know that I was reading my way into a brilliant and extravagant world of glowing orange sunsets, endless cotton plantations, ancestral soil, ornate dresses, gorgeous southern belles, war-ridden gentlemen, a vast supply of gold, and, the inevitable, poverty and dirt.  Once I entered this world, there was no getting out of it.

It's pretty thick...

My parents had to tear me away from the book so we could have family dinners.  I’d miss episodes of my beloved TV series, “The Bachelorette,” because Scarlett O’Hara’s quest for love was a lot more entertaining.  Long story short, I found the secret ingredient that makes reading enjoyable—a well-written book.

After Gone With the Wind, I decided to listen to all of my mom’s future book recommendations—even if those books were a bit different from the ones I’d previously enjoyed.  She handed me The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins.  This young adult science-fiction novel about a post-apocalyptic society in a made-up country is the last book I could have ever imagined I’d read after finishing all of Augusten Burroughs’ eccentric memoirs.  I loved it.  When I finished it, my adventure was far from over; that book was only number one in the Hunger Games trilogy.  After Catching Fire, and Mockingjay, I was eager to read a fourth.

Augusten Burroughs is my favorite author

If I hadn’t tried something new, I would never have understood how much pleasure and excitement books could bring.  My life, my vocabulary, and my imagination have all been enriched by this new passion, and all because I gave it a try.  Reading books always looked dull and tedious, but guess what I’ve learned?  Don’t judge a book by its cover.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This will be my last post on the Class of 2014 shared blog.  I am moving onwards and upwards and I now have my very own blog page: http://blogs.hopkins-interactive.com/lucie/. “The Lucie Show.” I will post all future blogs to that new site. Check it out and tell me what you think!

JHU_Lucie’s reading recommendations in no particular order (you can thank my mom for this list…)

1. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
2. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
3. Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison (Augusten Burroughs’ brother)
4. Dry by Augusten Burroughs
5. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (definitely don’t judge this book by its cover)
6. Possible Side Effects by Augusten Burroughs
7. A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs
8. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
9. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
10. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
11. All I Can Handle by Kim Stagliano
12. Sit, Ubu, Sit by Gary David Goldberg (see my blog titled “The Screenplay of My Life” for more information about this book)
13. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
14. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
15. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
16. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Definitely see the movie too!)
17. Room by Emma Donoghue (Thank Julie Rebecca Leff esquire)

With summer winding down, most of my friends are getting excited about returning to college or going away for the first time. When the inevitable college talk starts, you tend to quickly realize that while the school you go to seems like the absolute most unique and incredible one in the entire world, there are a lot of similarities within the top schools. While they may be called different things, my friend Kelly will be leaving for the Cornell version of Pre-O on Wednesday; Lily’s “core” at Georgetown is eerily similar to our distribution requirements; and Iain has been sending the students in his “Orientation Leader” group emails just like the ones I sent to my “Peer Ambassador” group kids. All this has made me wonder, what does make a college special? Is there anything that is truly unique to Hopkins? Obviously my classmates and faculty are a huge factor in making Hop one of a kind, but that’s true for any university! However, I know there’s a reason I chose Hopkins over every other school in the country. Here are some of the things that make Hopkins absolutely unique:

1. Top graduate and professional schools with full-access for undergrads: I’ve never heard of a medical school with faculty so willing to let undergraduates participate in research, not even to mention that it’s one of the best programs in the country! At Homewood, it seems like the research question for pre-meds is “when” not “where” or “how.” Everyone I know who has wanted to work in a lab has had the opportunity to do so, which is ridiculously impressive! Several of the grad schools, like Bloomberg and SAIS, allow undergrads to take classes with graduate students; the Public Health major even requires it! Nowhere else have I seen such collaboration and continuity between all the schools.
2. Intersession: While most schools go back to school in January, our winter session is totally optional and pass-fail! And not only are these three-week courses much more relaxed, but they’re also about really interesting topics like “The Science of Cooking” or “Inventing Language.” There are also opportunities to go abroad to places like Ghana, Spain, or Italy; and freshmen have their own comprehensive courses (B’More) where they explore Baltimore and combine academic subjects with the city and community. Intersession is totally free as well (including housing and dining), so it’s one of the best orchestrated and most fun programs I’ve ever seen at a college.
3. Covered Grades: The fall of freshman year, all grades are Pass/Fail, although professors still grade you as if your transcript will have a letter grade on it. I could talk for days about how wonderful the covered grades program is, but that wouldn’t make for the most fascinating blog post. All I can say is that there is no further proof that the Hopkins administration cares about its students than covered grades. While critics may say that freshmen goof off as a result of covered grades, I think this claim is immensely unfounded. No one wants to start college getting C’s, even if no one sees them. Instead, it gives freshmen the flexibility to not be cautious in joining clubs and organization, making lots of friends, and exploring Baltimore. It doesn’t give you a “by” on studying; it just means that if it’s a choice between spending all day studying and taking lunch off to eat with that girl from down the hall who complimented your shoes during the RA meeting, you can, since it doesn’t matter if you get a 93 or a 92, like it does during non-covered grades. I learned exactly what study techniques work for me, which rooms and library levels I study best in, and how much time it takes me to do different types of assignments. My grades second semester were better than my first semester ones because I was lucky enough to get a “dress rehearsal.” All my friends from home are so jealous of my covered grades AND all the amazing experiences I was able to have because of them.
4. JHMI Shuttle: This free bus service runs every 5-10 minutes and takes Hopkins students all around Baltimore to each of the Hopkins campuses: Peabody, JHMI, and Bloomberg, as well as Penn Station. There are also shuttles to the different medical campuses associated with JHMI, including Bayview and Mt. Washington, so students can get to their research jobs for free. You can also hop on to go to Mt. Vernon for dinner or in order to get a much cheaper taxi ride to the Inner Harbor for one of the more Southern stops.
5. Seminars: While every school has both lecture and seminar offerings, Johns Hopkins was founded on the seminar style of learning. As a result, every major has its own seminars for every grade level. Last semester I took four seminars and this semester I’m taking two! I love the individual attention and the discussion format. Over 65% of Hopkins classes have under 20 students, so it’s clear that we still place serious value on this form of teaching!

August 7th. Apparently, this day in history marks the first time that a wooden raft managed a 4,300-ft voyage. This day last year also marks the day that I started packing for Hopkins as a freshman. I began by making list after list along with countdowns until that amazing day: FRESHMAN MOVE-IN.

I was so excited to get to campus, move all my stuff into a cramped room, and eat ramen noodles. It all sounded so glamorous! The other day, I was looking at my blog entry for the summer blogging contest; I talked about how AWESOME and unnerving college was going to be. I guess you can never really know how college will be until you actually start.

Egyptian artifacts in the Louvre

It is such a unique experience that I can’t imagine relying on the 194329823 other peoples’ input I got when I told them I was going to college. “It’s quite an adventure,” my old piano teacher told me. “It’s gonna be tough- so make sure you study a lot,” was the advice of the Target salesclerk. “I remember my days in college- those were the best days of my life- I wish I could be as lucky as you,” said the Apple Store guy. I guess while what they said was true, it was hard to believe that it was going to be such a mix of emotions.

A French ladybug!

It’s also hard to believe that one year has already passed and I am entering my sophomore year at Hopkins! I can’t wait to get back to campus and start a new year- even if that does mean frequenting the library. I really miss the environment at school- more than I thought I would. Even though it’s just been one year, Hopkins really has become my other home. I love Charles Street Market, and getting an Einstein Bros. Bagel in the morning before class. I love sitting on the beach instead of doing work. I love every inch of campus, even the Fresh Food Café (with its great salad bar).

Versailles

I think my favorite building on campus is Mason Hall. Not because it’s really fancy from the inside (which is a plus), but because it was the very first building I saw when I came to visit campus 2 years ago. Then, it was the first building I came to for my interview. It was also the first building my family and I came to when my dad accidentally drove up to Mason instead of the AMR’s during move-in.

If you can’t already tell, I kinda like Hopkins. I’m not really looking forward to the 2 hour drive to campus just because I can already tell that I will constantly be asking my parents the age old question: Are we there yet? (even though I can just look at the GPS for myself…)

Anyways, while I wait until move-in day (August 26th for me!), I have been reading a lot about photography- here are some of the pictures my family and I took this summer! I hope that you enjoy them!

nope. nothing really interesting going on in this photo except for the lady making a weird hand gesture.

If you haven’t read any of my other blogs, you may not know that I love Europe and hope to marry into royalty to get EU citizenship (and some crown jewels of course). Normally, when I want to be European, I wear my purple-knit beret when it’s cold out, eat chocolate croissants and crepes at Carma’s and Belgian waffles at Dominion Ice Cream, and if I’m really motivated, I fais la grève (strike) about the lack of AC in the AMRs like the French (just kidding!).

Last week, that wasn’t cutting it, so I decided to study abroad next semester. Unfortunately, I’m already enrolled in all my classes and those last minute flights to Europe are just so darn expensive (and the Charm City Circulator is completely free and doesn’t have a carbon footprint like planes do), so I decided to just study for a few hours in Little Italy, Baltimore instead. Armed with some books, I decided to go straight to a cafe and get some studying done. However, I got a little sidetracked along the way.

One of the reasons I normally get sidetracked is because I have a horrible sense of direction. To avoid this, I went to the Baltimore Visitor Center. This is a great resource even if you aren’t a visitor because they have lots of information about Baltimore, coupons, free tours of the area, and a great, free map of Little Italy. I would definitely suggest getting one because they are really pretty and it really find interesting things in the Inner Harbor.

An over-dramatization of what happened when I got lost and used the map in Little Italy. What can I say, JHU_Lucie is a much better actress than me.

After I visited the Visitor Center, I started to walk over to Little Italy. However, I couldn’t help but stop and notice the pretty fresco-type artwork.

This encouraged me to study; I wanted to make the world my oyster.

This encouraged me to sit down and eat oysters.

Even though those lovely frescoes might have had some subliminal messaging, I tried to stay focused and find a cafe to get some studying done. It was very hard though. Little Italy has lots of boards pronouncing the food available at their restaurants. When it gets towards dinnertime, you’ll see lots of people outside their restaurants encouraging you to come in and try their food (and if you’re skilled in the art of bartering, you can even get cheaper food– when I went here with a friend, we got free dessert!).

Distracting me from my studies... one chalkboard at a time.

As I continued to walk around the neighborhood, there were lots of people on their stoops (oops, they call them front steps in Baltimore) talking and chatting. It was very fun to walk around. I even learned some Italian from process of elimination on the chalkboards; I learned that “have a good meal” is “buon appetito” and “insalata” is salad. The pronunciation- I’m still a little unsure.

Piacere, little banner on street light. Mi chiamo Kate. A presto!

I decided to look for an interesting place to take my parents when they come to visit. I walked around the neighborhood and got very confused when I saw Max’s Empanadas. But, never fear- even though the cuisine is Argentinian, the owner is half-Italian.

I got averted from studying once again by this sign.

Former Speaker of House Nancy Pelosi's street sign

Apparently, Nancy Pelosi used to live in Little Italy with her father, the former mayor of Baltimore. I was curious about other people that lived in Baltimore, so I pulled out my Baltimore history guide from the Visitor Center and apparently Babe Ruth, Emily Post (the queen of politeness), and Michael Phelps were all born in Baltimore!

Since I considered that a considerable amount of studying for a summer day, I then decided to walk back to the Inner Harbor to go home, but I was sidetracked by the bocce courts. I wanted to play a game of bocce, but unfortunately no one was there to play with me and that was the only day I forgot to put my bocce ball in my bag. I talked to a man for a little bit and he said that the games get pretty rowdy after dinnertime.

And of course, no bocce court is complete without Italian flag themed benches.

After all that sightseeing, I got pretty hungry. I was about to turn around and go to Max’s Empanada’s. However, my mind was swayed when I saw restaurant with my favorite quote.

If you say so...

I walked inside Vaccaro’s and instantly, S Club 7′s “Never Had a Dream Come True” popped into my head. It’s filled with cannolis, tirasmisu, cookies, cakes, and gelato. Since it was a hot summer day, I settled for a mint chocolate chip gelato. It was delicious. Needless to say, the lyrics to the song still ring true.

Lessons Learned:

1). For some reason, I am persuaded to do things by street signs.

2). If you’re itching to go to Italy, you can go to Little Italy for a much cheaper and quicker journey. You don’t have to worry about culture shock (or reverse culture shock when you return), exchanging money or credits, or finding an apartment. And this is one of many cultural neighborhoods in Baltimore, so you have lots of options of where to study.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

“On an evening in Roma!”

-JHU “Non capisco italiano” Kate T.

Pre-Orientation week! From the left is me, my boyfriend, and two of my best friends (I met all of them during Pre-O!)

I’m excited to announce that I now have my very own blog page, Life Without Sound (thanks JHU_Joe for all the amazing tech work!). So in the future, you can find me here: Life Without Sound. You may wonder why I chose that to be the title of my page – well, as most of you know, I am deaf and I would say that I experience life at Hopkins from a very different perspective. It’s been a year since I moved into Wolman Hall on 6th floor east and I have not yet fully written about my experiences as a deaf student at Hopkins. Since the very beginning of Pre-Orientation (which is like, the best week ever FYI), I’ve received many questions about my experiences at Hopkins and life without sound. So here goes:

Have you had any negative experiences pertaining to your hearing at Hopkins?

Surprisingly, none. And I say “surprisingly” because I was extremely anxious about being accepted before coming here. I was lucky enough to attend a high school where the community was very close and supportive. I was unsure whether Hopkins would be like that too. I’m happy to say that Hopkins has gone far and beyond my expectations. My friends are truly some of the best people I’ve met and several of my professors have been quite accommodating too.

What challenges do you face in the classroom?

A lot. I have more difficulty in math and science courses because teachers tend to use the blackboard often to write out equations, draw graphs, etc. A common occurrence is that professors tend to turn around to explain something on the board, with their backs facing me. When that happens, sounds go off. I can’t see their lips anymore and I miss everything they say. The interpreters can’t really help in this situation, because the professor is wildly pointing at points, shapes, and lines, and there’s no time for me to quickly look back and forth between the interpreter and the professor. I get reallyyy lost. With that being said, another challenge is often missing random things the professor says. For some of my classes, I need note-takers to have an extra set of notes so I can find all the gaps in my notes and fill them in. It can be a bit frustrating especially if you’re a person who’s very particular with your notes (like me).

As you can probably guess, those aren't my notes (they're my friend's...sorry Katherine!) - needless to say, I got notes from someone else!

But doesn’t the extra time you invest in your studies like reading over another set of notes help you study?

No. It’s not extra time. Rather, it’s time lost. It’s more of catching up to do, trying to fill in what I missed. Then I have to actually understand the material. While I’m busy catching up, others are reviewing or studying their material. So it can be a disadvantage sometimes.

Then what is an advantage of being deaf?

Being able to sleep really well at night or just simply turning all sounds off.

Why did you choose to attend Hopkins, a hearing university, instead of a deaf university? While I have nothing against deaf universities, I looked at hearing universities because I went to a hearing school and I was also raised in a hearing family. I also felt that I would miss out on all the opportunities Hopkins offered and I wanted to take what I could get. I applied early.

Do you ever wish you didn’t have interpreters? Eh. Sometimes. Because the university provides me with two interpreters, they are scheduled to attend my classes. So, it’s not wise for me to skip class.  And yes, I like to skip class (but I don’t, I swear). I realized that in a way, it’s a good thing to have interpreters because I’m forced to go to class and in the end, it helps me because I never miss anything. Additionally, I’m really grateful to the university for providing me interpreters (for free!) so I will take what I can get. I also have a unique relationship with the interpreters and they’re really great people. They’ve always been advocates for me and I can always send them an e-mail/text whenever I can’t attend classes such as when I’m sick (I do get sick, I swear) or late. The worst is being late, though. I try not to put my interpreters in that position. Imagine them awkwardly sitting up in the front of the class with hands folded in their laps, having no one to sign to.

Matt and I!

Do your friends know sign language? Some of them do. Especially my boyfriend (he’s hearing), who is almost fluent in sign language. But the majority of my friends don’t sign because they’ve found that I can lipread them well (to the point where they don’t even use their voice when talking to me – this one goes to you, Matt!).

Signing "awkward"!

What’s the disabilities office like at Hopkins? Extremely accommodating. They assist all kinds of students and the director of the office is very, very friendly. Dr. Mosser is actually also a freshman advisor – if you have him, you’re lucky!! You can visit their website here: http://web.jhu.edu/disabilities. And yes, that’s an “O” in the American Sign Language alphabet on the front page of the website.

Can you drive?

You know, I really don’t know why people ask me that! Yes, I can and no, you don’t have to be able to hear to drive. You do miss the sirens and horns (you should be checking your rearview and side mirrors often anyways), but if you think about it, driving is mostly visual – there’s blinkers, stop lights, signs.

What about fire alarms going off? Especially when you’re asleep?

Hopkins is pretty much equipped with visual fire alarms in many of the buildings. I’m not too concerned about that; plus, I’m often always around other people and I pretty much get the message if a fire alarm goes off…Hopkins was also very accommodating in regard to my dorm – they installed strobe light fire alarms so that it will wake me up if I’m sleeping. I can’t guarantee if that works though – I haven’t experienced it yet. The four times the fire alarm has gone off in Wolman, I was somewhere else! I also basically had #1 in the lottery for dorm selection (maybe I should add that to my advantages of being deaf list) because they had to know which room in advance so they could install the fire alarm system which takes awhile. Needless to say, my suitemates were delighted to get our first choice!

My lovely suitemates for sophomore year!

Is there anything you regret not doing at Hopkins? I would say not much. Though there are a few things that I do wish I could have done/do at Hopkins. I regret not being in a lot of clubs. The time I devote to my work is a lot more than others since I have to do more catching up and extra work. It’s also difficult to be in social groups where there’s a lot of talking and activities. It’s really hard for me to follow what’s going on. I’d also love to be a tour guide because I could just share everything about Hopkins and why I love it so much. But it would be too hard for me mostly due to visitors asking questions in the crowd – I wouldn’t be able to hear them/lip read that far away. Plus I can’t really walk backwards.

What advice would you give to incoming freshmen? Based on my experiences, be vocal. Stand up for yourself and get it done. Talk to professors or TAs if you need help. I was a bit hesitant asking for help and I should have done that in the beginning of freshman year. They help you more than you expect. It can sometimes feel uncomfortable or intimidating, but don’t let that get into the way.  And, if you think that the disabilities office can help you (anything from visual aids, extended time on exams, note-takers, etc.), then ask. They are very discreet and respect your privacy. Bottom line: stand up for yourself.

Well, I think that’s just about it. That’s what life at Hopkins is for me.