And Here’s to You, Freshman Year

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Alexa C.

I took my last final yesterday. It was weird, walking out of the classroom, textbooks still filling my bag, to think that the semester was officially over. I packed up the rest of my belongings, indiscriminately shoving books and tablets and the errant sock found behind my bed into my backpack. Two weeks of final exam preparation had left me tired and a bit delirious, and I was functioning on autopilot. I turned in my key and closed the door to my AMR I double for the last time, saying goodbye to my Hopkins home and to my freshman year.

Bye AMR I.

I have a lot of thoughts about my first year here at Hopkins. The nine months that I’ve spent on Homewood campus are inextricably a part of who I am now, and, as I sit in a hotel room at the beach and type this post, I can still close my eyes and convince myself that I’m seated, not on a couch, but at my former desk. I’m grateful for the loud hum of the hotel air conditioning; after months of slamming doors and feet running down the hall and keys clicking in locks, I’m not ready for complete silence just yet. I don’t think I’m far enough removed from freshman year yet to be able to process it fully, and I know that as I continue to blog throughout the summer I will be able to articulate my thoughts much more eloquently and completely than I can now, still recovering from my post-finals haze.

This is what Brody Learning Commons looks like at 6AM

I can say a few things with certainty though. First, I’m happy – and relieved – to be free of final exams and papers, and my circadian rhythm thanks me for last night’s sleep, a full nine hours worth. Second, I’m not sure that I’m ready for freshman year to be really, really over.

I think I’ve had this selfish idea in my mind that I would leave for school and time would freeze around me – that I would go home for breaks and find my pre-college life preserved, exactly as I had left it, waiting for me. Life doesn’t work like that though; things change and you change and time keeps moving forward. I went home for spring break to find that my favorite restaurant, one that I’d frequented near-weekly for a decade, one where 8-year-old Alexa felt like a grown-up eating a scone and 18-year-old Alexa felt like a kid eating an ice cream cone, had closed. Even now at the beach, I’m surrounded by signs of change; we were hit particularly hard by Hurricane Sandy, and everywhere I look version 2.0 seems just a bit different than I remembered.

I will miss you, best ice cream place in the world

I want to be able to freeze time within freshman year too, to be able to wander around the memories that I have of a time when adjusting to a new environment and being a freshman was priority number one: a time when I could picture four years of college stretched out in front of me, full of possibility. I did work that I’m really proud of this year, and I made some decisions that weren’t 100% fantastic this year, and I’ve learned equally from both.

Hopkins is beautiful

This year, I learned how Hitchcock used symbolism and how to properly use a pipette and how the Pompeian local magistrate was run, but I also learned how to step back and have a good time. I learned how to properly celebrate Halloween with my friends on a Wednesday night, and how to skip Alpha Phi spring formal to finish writing a paper on C-Level of the library. I’ve learned how to be a good student and lab partner, but I’ve also learned how to be a good roommate, sister, and friend. I don’t think I can accept yet that my time at Hopkins is already a quarter past.

I’m heading back to Homewood in another week and a half to learn Organic Chemistry and the art of tanning on the (Hopkins) beach, and I know that my summer, and my next three years of JHU living will be just as filled with fun and stress and late nights and early mornings. For now though, I’m choosing to freeze time as best I can. I’m choosing to focus on the feeling of icy ocean water nipping at my ankles and the comfortable weight of the perfect beach pebble in my hand and the mixture of hot sun and cool wind at my back while I savor this time, with one year successfully completed behind me and another three years still ahead.

For now, I say goodbye freshman year; it’s been great. And to sophomore year: get ready. I’ll see you soon.

Favorite Hopkins Memories

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Alexa C.

You’ve probably noticed that Hopkins-Interactive has been a little different this month; our blogs have all been focused on common topics so that you can hear different perspectives about academic and social life here at Hopkins. When we were signing up for our blog dates, I was excited to find out that I would be posting about my favorite memory, but, as I thought about my almost-complete (!) first year here, I’ve realized more and more that the events that define my time here are far more scattered than can be captured by a single memory. Instead, I present a list of the things that I will forever associate with being a freshman at Hopkins:

(1) Move-In: For the first 18 years and 25 days of my life, I lived in a house on a corner in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The room that I left for Hopkins on August 29, 2012 was the same room that I had called my own since before I could speak, a room with the letters A-L-E-X-A hung on the wall opposite years-worth of certificates and photographs. By the time all of my belongings were packed up and ready to move 3 hours away, it wasn’t scary or exciting, it was just so completely foreign to a girl who had never even been to sleep-away camp.

Pennsylvania back yard

I was alone the first time that I stepped into my dorm room. My trunk and bags and boxes were already stacked along the left side courtesy of the Hopkins move-in crew. My roommate was still on her way, and my parents were parking and learning to navigate the campus. My first thought: this room is way bigger than it looked online. My second thought: So I guess I’m like an adult now? Of course, I promptly put my mattress pad cover over the fitted sheet and had my mom re-make my bed, reminding me that no, I’m still definitely not an actual grown-up person, but still, standing alone in my new room that morning was the first time that it really sunk in: my life is changing, like for real.

(2) The Sandy Bowl: Class was cancelled for 2 days during Hurricane Sandy. During this time, we played card games, stocked up on cereal, and, some people on my floor decided to try to play football on the freshman quad. I feel like this is the kind of decision that could only come to a group of bored 18 year olds, and I gave up about 5 minutes into the game after realizing that (a) rain in October is cold (b) rain makes mud and (c) I don’t really know how to play football anyway, but the memory of painting our faces and charging into the field is one that will forever tied to freshman dorm life.

(3) Invitation Night: After a week of formal Panhellenic recruitment, 60-some new members were invited to join Alpha Phi. Here, Antonella and I are pictured after once again painting our faces, this time in USA-phi red, white, and blue.

AΦ love

(4) Coming back from Spring Break, getting my mid-term back, and seeing this:

I am no longer studying subjects that come naturally to me. I am no longer a student that can do my homework in class before it’s due and get an A. I can no longer study the night before an exam and succeed. I’ve learned all of these things the “fun” way. I’m pretty sure I’ve studied more hours this semester than I ever did before, but seeing my work pay off is so much more rewarding than any “A” I ever received on a last minute assignment in high school.

This is in no my attempt to brag or show-off; rather, it’s a response to a general fear that surrounds the Johns Hopkins name, one that I’ve noticed in the class of 2017 and one that I felt myself before coming here. Yes, here at Hopkins you will work harder than ever before, but no, it’s not impossible to do well. The mythical “grade-deflating curve” won’t kill your GPA.

(5) Housing Lottery: Sophomore housing is largely determined by a lottery system, where you and your roommates will randomly receive a number from 1 – 400something. When the lottery number emails were sent out to freshman, you could actually hear cheering and screaming throughout AMR I, in both celebration of and resent for number assignments. After seeing that my group of 4 was number 16, giving us the opportunity to choose virtually any suite that we wanted, I ran out into the hallway only to find that two of my future roommates were already running towards me. In my excitement, I slammed the door behind me and locked myself out of my room. Realizing this did not stop the elated jumping (much to the annoyance of some of my less lucky hall mates).

Future roomies

I recently made the decision to stay at Hopkins for June and July and the beginning of August to take Organic Chemistry I & II. It wasn’t an easy decision, and I’ll admit: my original plan for the summer involved less chemistry and more anything but chemistry, but I know that my choice was the right one. By the time Orgo II is over, I will have lived at Hopkins for almost a year, and while I still think of “home” as Bethlehem, and probably always will, I know that Hopkins is home for me too, and I’m both happy and honored to be a part of the Hopkins community.

I have great days here, and I have terrible days here, but at the end of both I know that this is where I belong. Not once have I questioned my college decision, even on days where I questioned everything else.

Last but not least:

(6) This, on Keyser Quad, about an hour ago:

Why Hopkins? Because it has a Rock Climbing Wall

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Alexa C.

I visited 10 colleges in the summers following my sophomore and junior years of high school . . . and those are just the ones that I remember. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if, sometime after posting this blog, I get a message from my mom asking me how I forgot the weekend we spent visiting X college and Y university, or how the hotel we stayed at in Z city was the one by the Dunkin’ Donuts, NOT the one with the weirdly empty lobby restaurant. It’s true though – my college visits became family events. We spent weekends at a time traveling from one college to the next, road-tripping across the northeastern United States, touring cities big and small, and patiently dealing with me as I rolled my eyes at campuses that were not exactly a good “fit”. Hopkins was the first college I visited: the first of many.

first Hopkins visit, documented in a summer '10 photo book

Post-weekend road trip, friends and family always had questions. Where did we go? Did Alexa like it? Could she see herself there? What exactly was it that she wants to do with her life again?It was during these exchanges that a conversational pattern began to emerge.

“Well, you know it’s very strong in the sciences,” my mom or dad would explain to a well-meaning acquaintance asking about my interest in Johns Hopkins (more often referred to as “John Hopkins”, and once “John Hudgekins”). My parents would cite academic rankings, praise the lack of a core curriculum, and express their happiness over the University’s metropolitan location. “Alexa’s always wanted to live in a city,” they would say, approvingly. “And this is a good place for her to figure out exactly what she wants to do.”

Hopkins in the Fall

Around this time, somewhere around the point in the discussion where Baltimore’s safety was inevitably questioned, or I was asked what school I would be visiting next, I would interrupt the conversation.

“AND,” I would announce, drawing the word out to ensure that I was heard, “they have a rock climbing wall!”

The easy answer to “why Hopkins” is that in one visit, I found a school that allowed me to check off every single one of the elements that I had hoped for in my college experience. It was strong in the sciences, an area in which I’d always imagined myself working one day. It was, as my parents frequently explained, an ideal place to take classes that interested me for the first time and to find an area about which I was truly passionate. It was in a city, with great access to internships and the potential for future employment. The campus was beautiful, the professors were at the tops of their fields, and the admissions department was both technologically advanced and relatable. But, above all of this, it was the rock climbing wall that stuck with me.

Gilman at sunset

“But do they have a rock climbing wall?” I would ask, each time my parents suggested a new school for us to visit, gently reminding me that it was neither smart nor realistic to focus solely on Johns Hopkins.

“We’ve visited other colleges with rock climbing walls,” they would say.

“Yeah,” I responded, “but they weren’t as nice as the one at Hopkins.”

Really though, my apparent fixation was never about the rock climbing wall itself, or any grand plans to climb it. I am no champion climber; my attempts at athleticism have always garnered me sympathetic smiles from usually gruff gym teachers, the way that I look when I jog has been described as “endearingly ridiculous,” and the smile on my face as I walked out of my high school gymnasium for the last time rivaled my smile at graduation. In fact, I don’t even think we were shown the infamous wall during my tour of the Hopkins campus; merely knowing that it existed was enough for me to be smitten.

Gilman at . . . regular sun-time?

Somewhere along the way, the Hopkins rock climbing wall became, in my mind, a physical manifestation of all that was special about the campus. It was hard to convey to my family, to my teachers, and to my classmates how I just knew, after only a few hours on the campus of the first college that I visited, that it was the one for me, so I let the rock wall stand for the intangible excitement and fulfillment that I felt that day in Baltimore. It wasn’t just the wall though. It was the tour guide who quizzed us with trivia questions. It was the academic presentation that was funny and engaging in a way that other universities just couldn’t match. It was the sense, as I walked on to my first college campus, that I had already found exactly what I was looking for.

After I clicked “submit” on application to Johns Hopkins University, I took what felt like my first real deep breath since I’d announced, on the drive back home from Baltimore to Pennsylvania that day 2 years before, that I wanted to apply early decision. I closed the common application. I ate a celebratory cinnamon pop tart. I wrote an email to a friend that I felt relieved and happy and scared and so excited for the rest of my life that I couldn’t even stand it.

I chose Hopkins because I knew that being there would make me feel like that — the exhilaration, the excitement – all the time.

I chose Hopkins because a part of me knew, as I stepped on campus, that even though it was my first of many, many college visits, my search was over.

Major: Undecided?

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Alexa C.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

and sorry I could not travel both. . .

Robert Frost

. . . except no, it’s not two roads, it’s more like 100, and it’s not the woods at all actually, it’s Hopkins, or it’s a form to fill out, or it’s any conversation about your future plans, and you’re only 18, and you’re overwhelmed, and you just don’t know what you want to be when you grow up yet because you just graduated high school like, yesterday, and you’re still working on mastering the whole “doing your own laundry” thing. Deep breath.

Some people come into college knowing exactly what they want to study, stick with it for four years, and graduate still completely confident in their decision. Some people come into college with one major in mind, and over the course of their studies they fall in love with another subject and make the switch. Some people end up adding an extra major or minor. I wasn’t any of these people. I just didn’t know.

I don’t really like not knowing things. I love planning ahead. I love spreadsheets. In high school, I’m pretty sure my guidance counsellor and I had the next three years of my life planned out by the end of my freshman year. A large part of me wanted college to be the same. Earlier this year, I was talking with one of my friends from home over Facebook, and she reminded me that indecision as to what my adult life would look like was a trait of mine that went way back, saying “I had a feeling you’d be the girl to change majors every week. You were like that in middle school, one day you wanted to be a marine biologist, the next day you wanted to be an engineer haha.”

FOHOP nametag

By high school, I’d narrowed my career prospects down to the intentionally vague something in the natural sciences, and by the fall of my senior year, I was applying to Hopkins as a prospective Biology major. There was really no grand moment of clarity where I realized that I loved and wanted to dedicate my life to bio, but it sounded good. I was going to Hopkins and I was pre-med; of course I would study biology. Major decided: check! . . . until I started to worry. What if I didn’t end up going to medical school? Shouldn’t I at least take the opportunity to study something new – a subject that I hadn’t been exposed to in high school? Enter Public Health.

I had a new life plan: I was going to be a Public Health major and get my Master’s and then go to medical school . . . or maybe not but at least I would have options. Sure I wasn’t thrilled about taking economics and policy classes but I could get through them, right? I liked the idea of the major, but as I went to register for my freshman fall classes, I realized that I hadn’t been particularly sad about not fitting Intro to Public Health into my schedule. I kept it in the back of my mind – I can take it in the spring if I have to! I’ll just get some other requirements out of the way first! – but knew that my lack of enthusiasm meant that it just wasn’t the right choice for me. I entered Hopkins completely undecided.

I decided to embrace my indecision. During my first semester, I took a wide range of classes that I thought might lead me on the right path. Molecular Biology of Aging! Human Origins! Introductory Chemistry! (Okay, okay, the last one was a pre-med requirement – I definitely did not think about majoring in Chemistry). However, though I really enjoyed some of my classes and was very pleased with my final grades, I ended the semester basically where I started, except I knew for sure that I was definitely not a chemist.

NOPE

My goal was to find an area of study about which I was actually excited, and for a long time I wanted this to be Anthropology. I’d always thought the subject was so interesting, and coming from a high school with limited electives, it was a subject I was particularly excited about getting to study at Hopkins. I would probably still be on an anthropology track today if a few things hadn’t happened during my spring semester:

I fell in love with my Pompeii class – one that I signed up for on a whim the morning of registration. I’ve enjoyed classes before, but never have I looked forward to doing the assigned readings this much. This experience really reinforced how much easier it is to succeed when you enjoy what you’re doing.
I found myself doing well in my Foundations of the Brain, Behavior, and Cognition class. I had initially sworn off brain-related sciences as neuroscience had been my least favorite part of high school Biology and Anatomy, but this class made me reexamine the field. Maybe I wouldn’t be a neuroscientist, but the brain definitely interested me. . .
I realized that I wanted to love anthropology much more than I actually did. Especially compared to my enthusiasm for other classes, I found that I was always putting off my readings for Invitation to Anthropology until I had finished all of my other work and had nothing else to do.

Spring semester books

Over Spring Break, I went home to Pennsylvania and ~~lived vicariously through my friends’ beach pictures~~ went through the degree audits for a few different majors. On Monday, I told my advisor that I planned to major in Cognitive Science with a minor in Classics. I’m satisfied, and, more importantly, excited.

To any of you in the Class of ’17 that are still undecided, embrace it. Take advantage of our lack of core curriculum and our covered grades for freshmen fall and take interesting classes. Don’t let a need to plan define you. Don’t stress. I still don’t know exactly what I want to be when I grow up. I might change my mind again. I might not. And really, it’s okay.

What Wednesday Looks Like

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Alexa C.

True Life: I have one midterm left, and though I’ve been doing my best to stay on top of my work, the past two weeks of testing have definitely taken a toll on my life (and living space).

My dorm is currently covered in the aftermath of my sorority’s secret week (shout out to my awesome new phamily for spoiling me!) during which my roommate and I accumulated on the floor of our room 9 balloons, 2 posters, 4 stuffed animals, 3 baskets, and a sombrero – and that’s just what I can count from my vantage point on my bed.

I need to do laundry.

I had a handful of Oreos for lunch.

I’m basically a slanket away from becoming Liz Lemon.

Pictured: Me, minus some balloons

After evaluating the current state of my life (read: I couldn’t find my phone while I was holding it) earlier this afternoon, I decided that a study break outside my dorm room was definitely in order. Though my “break” extended a bit longer than I had intended, after a trip to Chipotle and walk around campus, I definitely feel refreshed and better about my last night of studying. This is what my Wednesday, March 13, 2013 looked like:

Happy (almost) spring break, everyone!

Staying Organized

Posted on March 9, 2013 by Alexa C.

I was relatively lucky last semester in that of my 6 classes, only 3 gave written examinations, and they never really seemed to fall at the same time. This semester has been a different story, and, as I sit here writing this blog, I find myself in the midst of my first real “midterms week” madness. More so than ever, I’ve realized the value of staying organized and on top of assignments – the fall-semester Alexa who was able to do well despite some less-than-stellar study habits is no more, and instead I’ve found myself making spreadsheets to track my grades and perpetually attached to my planner.

Fortunately, my new systems seem to be to working, and, despite the fact that I’m spending my last two weeks before spring break preparing for 5 tests and a paper, I’m finding myself much less stressed overall (though I’m definitely earning my vacation!). Here are some habits that I’ve picked up this past semester that have made staying organized and motivated much easier:

(1) Write it down! It’s hard(er) to ignore or forget deadlines when you have to look at them every day. For me, writing down important dates both in my iCal and in a physical planner helps me keep track of my workload – and lets me know in advance which weeks are going to be busy!

My planner!

Midterms!

(2) Empty desk; empty mind? For me, this old adage couldn’t be farther from the truth – when room is unorganized, it only adds to my stress, and I get tempted to clean instead of study! Even larger dorm rooms like mine can get cluttered, so I’ve been trying to make use of as much storage space as possible. It’s easy with a little imagination; the foot of my bed has made a great place to hang bags, the inside of my closet door is good for jewelry, and some pushpins have turned my wall into a great scarf display!

Hanging hooks on the inside of my armoire

(3) Stay motivated! Hanging up cards that I’ve received in the mail is a great way to remind myself of home, and is always great for a mood boost. They add a great pop of color to an empty wall too!

(4) Hold yourself accountable! One of the best things I’ve done this semester to make spreadsheets tracking all of the grades that I get in each class. Not only does this tell me where I stand as far as a letter grade at any given time, but it also motivates me to work harder – obviously, I only want to input high scores!

Spreadsheets are kind of my favorite

(5) Take good notes (the first time!) Last semester, I fell into a trap of zoning out during lecture with the intention of going back and taking notes later . . . which rarely actually happened. This semester, I’m making a concentrated effort to take good notes during class, and I’ve found myself scrambling around much less before my tests!

My "cheat sheet" for chem - a labor of love

(6) Stay calm and have fun. Doing well on my exams and papers is important to me (academics are, of course, the main reason I’m here at Johns Hopkins!), but it’s important too during times of stress to have fun. Today marks the end of Alpha Phi secret week, a week of presents and exciting surprises including a serenade from some of the Beta pledges! When I’m feeling overwhelmed, remembering that spring break is just a few midterms away puts everything back in perspective.

Sister, Sister*

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Alexa C.

*Alternate blog titles that I considered: “Alpha Phi’s the One for Me”, “I’ve got a Phi-ling”, and “The Week JHU_Alexa Stumbled Across Campus in Heels and Lived to Tell the Tale”

It was 27 degrees here in Baltimore last Thursday. I would have been cold had I been dressed in normal winter weather attire, maybe walking back to my dorm from the library or the FFC, but somehow, standing on the steps of Shriver Hall with the rest of my new sisters (!!) in a white dress and a pair of heels that I affectionately refer to as “fabulously impractical,” the cold wasn’t the first thing on my mind. (It was probably somewhere around 4th or 5th, after Alpha Phi-related excitement, general feelings of happiness and sisterhood, and “my feet really hurt, please don’t let me fall on these marble stairs.”)

I never thought I’d join a sorority. That’s actually a common sentiment here on campus; in the past few weeks, I’ve spoken to several girls who admitted that they entered college with certain negative preconceptions about what Greek life entailed, and that only upon living at Hopkins and interacting with girls from different sororoties did they change their mind and decide to go through formal recruitment.

That was my experience, too, to a point. During my fall semester, I did have some great talks with girls (Hey JHU_Ruthie!) who made a convincing argument that, at the very least, I should give formal recruitment – a crazy, overwhelming, fun, stressful week of parties and last minute shoe changes – a try. However, my trepidation lingered. I waited until the last day of registration to officially sign up. Even as I stood in line (a few girls behind JHU_JackieC!) as we prepared to enter our very first party, I couldn’t shake the thought: “What am I doing here?”

Almost immediately, my thoughts shifted instead to “No wait . . . what am I actually supposed to be doing here? Like, do I clap along with all of you or . . . ?” as the doors opened and we were greeted by what seemed like hundreds of singing, clapping, colorful-t-shirt-wearing sisters who proceeded to welcome us and tell us all about their experiences in Greek life at Hopkins. By the second night of recruitment, my only remaining uncertainty was as to whether or not I should try the thematically decorated mini cupcakes. (Yes. The answer is always yes).

With my friends (and future suite-mates!) before preference round

On Invitation Night, hundreds of girls in white dresses traveled to the Glass Pavilion and, in synchronized chaos and screaming and excitement, opened envelopes containing their invitation to join one of the four Panhellenic sororities we have on campus. I ~~ran~~ stumbled over to my new Alpha Phi sisters and never looked back.

Maia teaching Antonella and mw how to make the AΦ sign!

In her blog last year, JHU_Allysa talked about how great it was to be surrounded by sisters, and I definitely agree. Now I see sisters everywhere – at SAAB meetings, as I walk across campus, and in every single one of my classes, including a discussion section with only 5 other students. I’ve met girls from across the globe, across the country, and even just across my hometown – one of my new sisters, Rachel, played high school volleyball with the older sister of one of my best friends from home! My roommate Lisa, my future suite-mate Antonella, and so many more girls that I’m still getting to know are all an amazing part of being an Alpha Phi.

My and Lisa's matching AΦ nametags!

Before this week, I had never been a big fan of the color red, but I’m definitely starting to love AΦ bordeaux and silver. It’s been an exciting few weeks here at Hopkins, and I know that with Alpha Phi, there will be many more ahead.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Hometown to Homewood (and Back Again)

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Alexa C.

I’ve lived my whole life in a town named Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a place that is known as either “The Steel City” or “The Christmas City” depending on who you ask.

: Steel and Christmas, a visual summation of my hometown

I’m sitting in my room here as I write this. There’s a fresh blanket of snow outside of my window and a container of chocolate chip cookies in my kitchen and I’m struck by feelings of both familiarity and nostalgia. Some days I wake up and it feels like I never left.

Holiday display from downtown

When asked to define the “average Hopkins student,” a common answer is that there is no “typical” Blue Jay, but that we are all united by a shared sense of ambition. We are people that care about our futures – we are people that plan and that think ahead. This trait is one of the factors that drove me to Hopkins, and when describing my school to family or friends, it is one of the defining characteristics that makes me proud to be a part of the Johns Hopkins community. However, as I sit here in my Pennsylvania bedroom on the last day of 2012 and I think about the last year of my life, I’m starting to realize that it’s possible that I’ve spend too much time looking forward, and not enough time in the present.

So much of my 2012 took place as a calendar countdown, in “days crossed off” vs. “days left to go.” As a second semester high school senior, I celebrated the end of each day as it marked one day closer to graduation – one day closer to the next phase of my life. I could tell you exactly how many days of summer I had between my high school graduation and my Hopkins move-in (87). And – as much as I love Hopkins – I’ll admit that in the time leading up to Thanksgiving and winter breaks, all I wanted was for the last few days of class and work to melt away so that I could be on my way home.

Home for the Holidays

It’s easy to fall into this trap of valuing the future over the present. I see it every day from my friends still in high school and in the JHU Early Decision class of 2017 – everyone is ready to will away the next few seasons and the rest of their senior year in favor of college – the next great adventure. By the summer after my graduation, (or, if I’m being entirely honest, by the time I started high school) I began to feel claustrophobic in my hometown. I too was ready to move on and move out. We aren’t wrong to be excited – Hopkins, so far, has exceeded my expectations – but it is wrong to waste today by wishing it away because you can’t wait to experience tomorrow.

For those of you still in high school, try to enjoy the rest of the time you have left. Yes, the days are long and you probably have to take classes that have no relevance to your interests or future plans, and college, a magical world where you don’t have to wake up at 6:30 every morning and there’s no gym requirement (am I the only one that was really excited about this?) seems so close but yet so far away, but you’ll miss your home when you leave. Enjoy it. You have the rest of your life to experience the rest of the world.

For me, this outlook means I want to spend 2013 appreciating Hopkins while at Hopkins and home while at home. It means enjoying the rest of my winter break in the greatest city in ~~the world~~ Eastern Pennsylvania.

It means eating many cupcakes

The "Christmas City" goes all out for Christmas

Happy New Year, everyone. I couldn’t be happier to experience 2013 in my home(s) – old and new.

Surviving Finals: A Guide for the Sick & Tired

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Alexa C.

When SAAB was choosing our blogging deadlines for finals period, I was excited to claim December 15^th.

I had grand plans of writing a fantastically eloquent and moving blog celebrating the 1 year (!!) anniversary of opening my Early Decision “Congratulations!” email from Johns Hopkins University. I would have congratulated the Early Decision class of 2017 on their recent acceptance and shared in their excitement. I would have talked about how completely confidant I was in my decision to apply to and attend Hopkins, and how, despite the inevitable stress of my finals period, the past few months here have broadened my worldview in ways that I never thought possible.

Holidays at Homewood

Things to Look Forward To: The Beautiful Campus

The observant blog reader will notice that today is not December 15^th, and that the title of this blog is not “Congrats Early Decision-ers! Hopkins is the Best!” (even though the sentiment still stands). Sometimes, even the best-laid plans go awry. And sometimes, you get sick during finals period.

Finals period is hard. Being sick for the first time while hours away from home is hard. Sometimes, opening the child safety seals on Ibuprofen is really hard. Dealing with all three at the same time is definitely not an experience that I’d like to repeat in the future.

In honor of my last exam tomorrow, I’m dedicating this abbreviated blog to:

Things That Have Made Being Sick During Finals Period Slightly Less Terrible

The medical professionals at the Health & Wellness Center. Seriously, every single person with whom I was in contact over my 2 trips to HelWell in the past week has been extraordinarily friendly and sympathetic, even when telling me the depressing news that, for a virus, the best thing you can do is simply rest and wait.
SAAB “no questions asked” blogging extensions
Pillows

So Many Pillows

Microwavable chicken soup containers
Sweatpants (as much as I hate to disappoint Tim Gunn)
Brightly colored scarves to distract from the alarming paleness of my face
FaceTime with my family back in Pennsylvania
Donuts and orange juice (the breakfast of champions)

Pretty sure calories don't count when you're sick...

The other students in my Molecular Biology of Aging final who were nice enough to not glare at me for coughing throughout the test (I know, I am the absolute worst. I totally would have glared at me, and probably thrown in a few exasperated sighs too)
Festive holiday decorations

Netflix-related study breaks
Poptarts (can we agree that Poptarts improve practically any situation?)
Care packages from home (because chocolate coins and cotton candy are a delicious and whimsical addition to anyone’s finals diet)
The cashier at CharMar that gave me a free candy cane (you’re the best!)

To the first members of the Class of 2017: Congratulations! Despite the fact that I am sick and tired and I have an afternoon of chemistry studying ahead of me before I get to go home and eat Christmas cookies in my bed, I still like it here. You made a good choice.

Registration, College-Style

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Alexa C.

Something broke in my internal clock during my senior year of high school, leaving me utterly incapable of sleeping in and believing that waking up at 6:30 every morning was a totally normal thing to do. Luckily (or unluckily), it only took about two weeks of Hopkins life to remember how wonderful it is to sleep in until a more reasonable hour (thanks college!), and with my earliest fall semester class at 10:00 (definitely lucky), waking up before the sun became a thing of the past. Until this morning.

The last time I was up this early was move in day!

As you may have read, it’s registration time at Hopkins, and I saw 6:00 AM this morning for the first time in months, very much exhausted and once again extremely grateful for a schedule that no longer requires me to be up at such an early hour every day. Indeed, armed with synchronized alarm clocks, the freshman class rose early today to be ready to click the “register” button at exactly 7:00 AM. While I waited, groggily, for registration to open, I caught up with my classmates on twitter (follow us!), I sent my parents an email with the subject “it’s still dark out and I’m awake,” and I pondered the amazing fact that there is, in fact, still a whole world out there before 9 AM.

Successful morning for SAAB freshmen!

With 6 new classes successfully added to my schedule for the spring semester, I though I’d take the chance to explain a little bit about how registration works here at Hopkins.

At my high school, we registered for classes using the highly sophisticated “write your name on this paper and then circle which of these 3 history classes you want to take” method. One of the great things about Hopkins is 1) the huge variety (250 pages worth) of classes available and 2) a system that gives us a few weeks to look into the course offerings before we register online through a site called ISIS.

When I was registering for fall semester classes over the summer, I remember finding an archaeology course that I had hoped to be able to fit into my schedule, but alas could not due to a time conflict. I decided to see if it was available to take this spring, so I searched for “archaeology,” but I never got a chance to see if the class was available, because I was immediately distracted by what is sure to be my new favorite class . . .

The fact that I'm not currently sitting in this class makes me sad.

. . . The Archaeology of Death, Burial, and the Human Skeleton! Clicking on any of the course titles brings up a description to help students get an idea of whether or not the class would be a good fit for their schedule. For this aspiring medical examiner, this class definitely made the cut.

Is it spring semester yet?

In addition to my archaeology class, I’m finishing the year with:

Foundations of the Brain Behavior, and Cognition that fills Behavioral Biology and Cognitive Science requirements, two majors I’m currently considering
Invitation to Anthropology because I loved my first anthropology class and am very close to double majoring in Anthro
The World of Pompeii, a Classics/ Art History class that I chose on a whim because I thought it sounded interesting
The second half of Introductory Chemistry and the associated Lab for my pre-med requirements. While I really haven’t minded Chemistry Lab thus far, I was glad to make the switch from Friday to Tuesday afternoon for the spring semester!