Author Archives: Brian L.

Experiencing Everything Hopkins Has to Offer

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So this month, all the bloggers on SAAB are writing entries about different topics ranging from their favorite person on campus to favorite academic experience. Today, I am going to talk about my favorite outside the classroom activity. Being at Hopkins, I have been given the opportunity to be a part of many wonderful groups and activities. As a part of the Student Admissions Advisory Board and the Hopkins Hosting Society, I have been able to help with Admissions with regards to recruitment efforts and helping out at fall and spring open houses. I have been able to tell prospective students about my experiences at Hopkins as well as answer any questions they may have. In addition, I am a part of the Student Alumni Ambassadors, the swim club, and various other activities.

However, one of my favorite outside the classroom activities is not really an activity, but rather an amalgamation of all the events Hopkins provides for us on a regular basis. Whether it be the MSE Symposium Speakers, Fall Fest, or Spring Fair, Hopkins provides students with numerous opportunities to just go out around campus and have fun with their friends. Some of the most memorable experiences I have had on campus have been attending these various events with my friends. Here are just a few of what Hopkins has to offer:

High Table Dinner:

This annual freshman tradition brings together different faculty members in the university and the freshman class to a fancy dinner called the High Table. This is an incredible experience to just get dressed up and have dinner with friends and faculty. This year, I had the chance to meet an incredible computer science professor who teaches a sophomore class.

 

Spring Fair:

Sometimes though, it’s not just the fancy events where you get to have fun with your friends. Sometimes, it’s the most informal of them. Spring Fair occurred just a few weeks ago and it was absolutely incredible. The entire campus turned into a carnival with food vendors, art sales, and children’s areas for everyone to be a part of. People from the Baltimore area came to Hopkins to just have fun for a few days. The highlight? Funnel Cake and Deep Friend Oreos!!

 

Fall Fest:

Similar to Spring Fair, there is an event in the fall called Fall Fest! It is similar to Spring Fair in that Hopkins hosts many different events including acapella shows and a haunted house! It’s great that Hopkins has one of these big fairs every semester. Hopefully soon, Fall Fest will become just as big an event as Spring Fair.

Foreign Affairs Symposium:

One of the large student groups that brings in speakers is the Foreign Affair Symposium. This event occurs annually every spring. They bring in speakers once every two to three weeks to talk to students about various current issues. Recently, we had Rick Santorum come in and speak to the students, which was a very interesting experience. You can learn more about this specific event by reading JHU_Kevin’s blog about his experience at the event.

Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium:

On the other hand, in the fall, the big speaker series is the Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium. Many speakers have come to Hopkins to speak to both the Baltimore Community and us. This year, we had Seth Meyers, the founder of Wikipedia Jimmy Wales, and many others come to campus to speak. In the past, we have had many prominent political figures like Hillary Clinton speak to us.

 

These are just some of the many events Hopkins sponsors for its students. Having such a diverse group of events to attend makes students excited for each event when they occur. Whether it be Spring Fair, acapella shows, dance shows, or a speaker series, there are always events to attend with your friends on the Homewood campus.

 

A Post for the Applicants to the Class of 2017

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To all the high school seniors who have received their college decisions over the past few days and will continue to receieve them over the next few days, this post is for you!!

First off, Congratulations to everybody who has recently been admitted to the Class of 2017 at Johns Hopkins University!! You should all take some time to step back and be proud of all your accomplishments over the past few years. With an acceptance rate of just over 16%, the lowest in the school’s history, you should all be incredibly proud of your accomplishment. All that hard work and those countless hours spent in school have finally paid off as you have been accepted into one of the most prestigious post-secondary institutions in the world. Take a break and just relax, because what lies ahead is a path filled with both excitement and nervousness.

Yes!!

I remember receiving my admission decision from Johns Hopkins University one year ago, and to this day I still cannot believe I was accepted. Hearing that decisions have been released this year brings back all the memories of my senior year. I remember feeling scared but excited, nervous but enthusiastic about attending college. Honestly, I want all the students out there to know that it is okay to be nervous about attending college. I had no idea what to expect when I first stepped foot on the campus in August. Coming from Canada, the environment was different and I was incredibly nervous about what the future was going to hold by attending Johns Hopkins. Though I have only been here for around eight months, I can safely say that attendings Johns Hopkins has been the greatest decision I have ever made. Though there are times when it seems like you have exams every week and difficult problem sets, at the end of the day I know that I am

New experiences arise with every decision you make. I personally, never heard acapella live until this year, and it was awesome!!

surrounded by an incredibly supportive student body, intelligent professors who are always willing to help, and an administration that creates an environment condusive to success. So, my wish to all the admitted students out there, is to choose a school where you think you will be able to be successful. Rankings mean nothing unless you are happy and successful at the school you choose to attend. You were all accepted for a reason, and in the end, if you really dont know, ATTEND JOHNS HOPKINS!! Haha. Trust me, this place is AWESOME! There is a lot more information online at Hopkins Interactive, where you can read other student blogs, ask current students questions, and learn all about Hopkins. Also, don’t forget to read the Admitted Student Blog when it goes live on April 1. Another great opprotunity to gain a better sense of campus is to attend SOHOP, the spring open house and overnight program. You will get a chance to ask questions, meet your future classmates, attend class, and enjoy campus life for two days. More details will be available online here soon.

Check out this video about SOHOP:

College is a time for personal enrichment. It is a time for you to go outside your comfort zone to try something you otherwise would never do. Is it a time for you to work hard in class, get involved outside the classroom, and meet some incredible professors. But most importantly, it is a time to surround yourselves with your classmates: people from all over the world who have made the same decision as you to attend university. At college you will meet some incredible people who will shape your lives in many different ways. Each and every one of them will have their own special talents and areas of expertise that you will learn to be a part of. Together as a class you will grow, experience success and failure as a group, but most importantly experience the world together.

That’s all for now. Best of luck to all high school seniors wherever your final destination may be! And once again, congratulations to the Class of 2017 Admitted Students!!

Best,

Brian Lo

The Luck of the Draw: Sophomore Housing

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So it’s finally Spring Break! After a long two and a half months of class, it’s finally time to just sit back and relax for a week. I’m blogging all the way from Vancouver, Canada right now! Just last week, all the freshman at Johns Hopkins signed their sophomore housing contracts so we all know where we will be living next year! I thought this would be a good time to let people know how the sophomore housing process works:

1) So first things first, the housing options for sophomores. There are two types of housing for sophomores: living on campus in residence halls, or living in apartments. The on-campus residence halls are Charles Commons and McCoy Hall, while the apartment style choices are Homewood and Bradford Apartments. There are pros and cons to all the residence halls, it is basically determined by your living preference and what you want out of your housing experience in sophomore year. Homewood Apartments are the farthest away from campus, around three blocks east. The main sophomore dining hall is located at Charles Commons, and it also contains a ton of amenities. In the end though, it’s all up to you and your living preferences.

Homewood Apartments

Charles Commons

There are two other options for freshman: Rogers House and Group Housing at McCoy. At Rogers House, all the residents are part of the Healthy Living at Hopkins Experience, in which Residential Life implements a healthy, balanced, and substance free lifestyle. For group housing, you can basically sign up in groups and take up a floor in McCoy. In doing this, you are guaranteed to live with all your friends as long as you sign up together to do group housing.

2) Now let’s talk about the actual housing process. Freshman first have to decide who they want to live with in sophomore year, and they sign up online in groups of either one, two, three or four. I personally chose to sign up in a group of two with my friend James. Everybody who signs up online is then put into a random lottery and given a lottery number. Every group receives their own number and this year, numbers ranged from 1 to 407. Basically, this number determines the order in which you will choose your housing. Amazingly, James and I managed to get number 61!!!! We were really happy about this and spent a lot of time choosing our room for next year, which I will talk about next. Since it is a completely random assignment, all groups have an equal chance of attaining their numbers.

Priority Number!!!!

 

3) Choosing a room: Possibly the hardest part about this whole process is actually choosing the specific room that you want to live in. There are many things to consider, including whether you want a 9 or 11 month contract, what building you want to live in, and what room you want. The Housing and Dining office does a great job of helping us though as they provide floor-plans for all the rooms in all of the buildings. James and I honestly spent about three hours in Brody talking about which rooms we wanted to live in. We knew we had to choose a few rooms so that if our first choice got taken, we would have backups. We decided to live in Charles Commons and our top four choices were rooms 1125,1128, 1028, and 928.

One of the many floor-plans the Housing office provides you with to help you choose your rooms.

4) Contract Signing: On the Tuesday after receiving our number, James and I went to go sign our housing contracts. Basically, in the span of three days, all 1300 freshman would be signing their housing contracts for sophomore year. James and I eventually signed our contract and we will be living in 1128 Charles Commons next year for a 11 month contract! I’m actually so excited for sophomore year, as most of my friends are also living in Charles Commons!

5) Be Happy!! Regardless of whether you got your a low lottery number or a high lottery number and regardless of whether you got your first choice room or not, it really does not matter. All that matters is that you are happy with the people you chose to live with. It’s not where.. it’s with whom.

That all for now, Thanks for reading!!

Class Review: Spring Semester 2013

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Time has flown by since I last blogged! Everything has started to get into full swing as classes, clubs, and volunteering have all started to pick up steam. I will start working at the Baltimore Rescue Mission Clinic soon and the Relay for Life Event is coming up next month. But beyond that, I thought this would be a great time to give a review of all the classes I’m taking this semester. Things have been going great for the past month and I’m excited for what the rest of the semester will bring.

Spring Classes 2013:

My revision assignment was on water quality standards.

Professional Communication for Science, Business, and Industry: I love this class! haha. This, in my opinion, is one of the best classes I have taken just because it is so practical and relevant to everyday work. I have learned how to write cover letters, resumes, and how to edit documents to make them user friendly all in the span of a month. One of our assignments that I just handed in actually, was to revise a poorly written document into a user friendly flyer. This assignment incorporated both visual design skills and an ability to write concisely.

 

 

General Physics II for Biological Science Majors: I won’t lie, I’ve always found physics difficult. Throughout high school I struggled in understanding concepts and figuring out equations but luckily, this semester I have a really engaging professor who simplifies problems where understanding them is easy! All the exams in this class are conceptual questions, which is good because it makes sure that I understand everything that I am doing.

This picture of anthrax was a component of my recent report on bioterrorism and the role of the media.

Freshman Seminar: Microbes in the Media: The greatest aspect of this class is the presentations every week and the incredible professor, Dr. Cebula. He has formerly worked for the microbiology research department with the Food and Drug Administration and comes to Hopkins with a wealth of knowledge. This is one of the only classes he teaches, so I greatly encourage all incoming freshman to take this class with him. You won’t regret it!

 

 

Calculus II for Biological Science Majors: It’s hard to believe that this will be the last math class I will ever be taking at Hopkins. For my major, I only need Calculus I and Calculus II. Calculus II for Biological Science Majors is an interesting course because it incorporates many different aspects of math; I get the chance to learn about linear algebra, multivariable calculus, statistics, and probability.

As much fun as it seems dealing with matrices for the past two weeks in calculus, it really is starting to get confusing with all these numbers in boxes.

Intro to Social Psychology: Though this is the biggest class I am currently taking at Hopkins,  it is probably one of my most engaging. Dr. Drigotas teaches us the basic concepts of social psychology but instead of focussing on the pure definitions, he tells stories about his personal experiences and the different discoveries made in the field. By telling all these stories, he slowly introduces and emphasizes key terms and definitions.

That’s all for now! Only two weeks until spring break!!

Best,

Brian Lo

Looking Forward While Looking Back

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Spring Semester has started! I can’t believe I’ve been in college for almost 6 months now and though it’s been an incredible experience so far, it’s only bound to get better! Many upperclassmen have said that spring semester is much more fun than fall semester for a number of reasons.

Things I’m Looking Forward to:

- Student Activities Fair (SAC Fair): I really enjoyed all the activites I was a part of last semester and hope to be a part of a few more activities this coming semester. I plan to be part of the Baltimore Rescue Mission Clinic as well, working with homeless people in the Baltimore area.

- SOHOP: The reasons I write these blogs are not only because I enjoy talking about my love of Hopkins to others, but also to reach out to all the prospective students. Soon, many of them will be on campus as accepted students! SOHOP is an incredible experience and I had the chance to attend it last year. It really solidified my reasons for why I wanted to come to Hopkins. I’d encourage everybody to take the time to attend either the open houses or SOHOP to get a sense of what college life is like.

- Greek Life: Greek Recruitment has been occurring these past few weeks and though I am not rushing, you can read all about the experiences written by JHU_Alexa and JHU_Alex.

- Spring Fair: This is possibly one of the biggest events that will be occurring in April. I honestly can’t wait for all the concerts and vendors. I heard that the best food there are the Deep Fried Oreos, which I have never had.

 

 

 

- Warm Weather: Back in August, I remember packing for college and trying to figure out how cold it was going to get in the winter. Coming from Vancouver, I was used to getting rain for around 300 days a year. The past month, it’s been quite cold compared to the weather in Vancouver. At least now the weather’s getting warmer and before we know it, summer will be here.

- Lacrosse Season: Hopkins Lacrosse is starting in the spring!! Lacrosse was never played in my high school, and it was awesome seeing Hopkins win their home opener against Siena 15-6. GO HOP!!

Even though there are so many things to be looking forward to this Spring, what I’m looking most forward to most is the chance to hang out with my friends. I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to meet some incredible people during my first semester. My friends have become like family to me as I spend an incredible amount of time with each and every one of them.

With this new semester already starting to get into full swing, it’s time to officially say goodbye to covered grades haha. I really like this concept though, as it gives freshman the chance to adjust to college life without having to spend all their time focusing on academics.

It seems like everything’s pointing in the right direction so far. I can’t wait to see where this semester takes me!

Intersession 2013 + Super Bowl!!

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For the past two weeks, I have been a part of an incredible experience that is Intersession! While most of my friends back home have been in school for around three weeks now, I feel blessed to have the opportunity to spend three weeks taking classes to expand my interests for credit.

When deciding which class I wanted to take for three weeks, I knew that I did not want to sit in a lecture hall. I wanted to do something hands-on in a laboratory setting with a small group of people. That’s when I decided to take: Foreign Gene Expression Laboratory with Dr. Horner.  I knew going in that this would be quite an advanced class relating to biochemistry and molecular biology but at the same time I thought it would be a lot of fun.

We cut two genes from two different plasmids to create a fusion protein gene!

Basically, the goal of the lab is to cut two plasmids, combine them to form a fusion protein gene, insert this gene in E. Coli, grow the bacteria, and finally purify the product. Though this is a class that meets at 9 am everyday and has a lab report due at the end of three weeks, I’m still excited to go to class everyday and enjoy everything I am learning! Through this lab I have been able to learn protocols and techniques that will provide me with the tools necessary to start doing research in the biology department here at the Homewood Campus. I’m incredibly excited at this prospect and look forward to doing research next semester!

 

Lab Partners!!!

But all in all, intersession is an incredible time for students to travel, study abroad, or stay at the Homewood campus. I have friends who have travelled to Ecuador for two weeks for a public service trip. I have friends trying to be certified as Outdoor Pursuits Leaders, and I even have friends who came back just to keep working at their job and hang out with their friends. Whatever your plans may be, intersession is just a great time to be back on campus without the stress of problem sets, midterms, or projects. Because as we all know, things are probably going to get a lot more hectic when second semester starts in just over a week.

So to all the incoming freshman out there, don’t miss out on Intersession next year!

And on a completely unrelated note, this intersession became all the better after watching the Ravens beat the Patriots 28-13 earlier today. The Ravens are headed to the SUPER BOWL!!! Things are going to get really awesome in the next few days as the Super Bowl draws near… Go Ravens!!

The Vince Lombardi Trophy!!

8 Things to do in 2013

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It’s hard to believe that a new year has already dawned upon us. Most of my friends who are seniors in high school right now have finally completed all their college application and are now playing the waiting game. For me, though, with the start of the new year comes more goals and new opportunities. Unfortunately, most years I never end up accomplishing everything I want to, but here it goes:

1) Finally Watch the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movies:

These are two of the most iconic film series ever made. Almost all of my friends have seen these movies and love them, so I think this year is the time for me to finally sit down and watch them all. Also, I just watched the Hobbit a few weeks ago, which should prove a decent swing into the Lord of the Rings Series.

It's hard to believe my friend bungee jumped off this building.

2) Go Bungee Jumping:

This is a bit of a random goal I have and it’s kinda something I’ve wanted to do ever since my friend bungee jumped off the Macau Tower last summer. It’s the highest Bungee Jump in the world and  hits speeds of 200 km/hour at a height of 764 feet!! According to my friend, the scariest part of the whole process is standing atop the tower. Apparently, once you jump, all your fears vanish… I don’t really know how true that is though. This would be something fun to accomplish and check off my list haha.

 

 

 

 

 

3) Travel Outside North America:

Throughout high school, I always made plans to go to Europe during August in the summer but every year, those plans are cancelled because I have to compete at the Age Group National Swimming Championships. However this year, being in college, I won’t be competing at that meet and finally have the chance to possibly go to Europe with some friends.

It's time to get back in the water and start swimming for fun now.

4) Get back in the pool and start swimming again:

For the first time in the past eight years, I have not been in the pool everyday training year-round as after high school, I decided to call it quits from the sport of swimming. It felt weird not jumping in the pool for at least three hours every day this past semester, but next semester I plan to get back in the pool and start swimming for fun. I’ve taken my break these past three months and it’s now time to get back in the water.

5) Run the Baltimore Half-Marathon:

I’m sure many have heard the saying, “Swimmers can’t play land sports.” Being a swimmer for most of my life, I won’t completely deny this fact. Yet, I do want to try and run the half marathon later this year in October. Upperclassmen have said its a lot of fun and great motivation to exercise throughout the summer and early fall.

6) Learn to play the guitar:

I’ve always started to learn to play the guitar, but unfortunately, I have always ran out of time or gave up and decided to pursue other activities. This year though, I will finally take the time to learn to play the guitar.

My acoustic guitar!

7) Make Dean’s List in Second Semester:

My one academic goal on this 2013 list. I’m a very goal oriented person so hopefully this will keep me motivated to keep on studying to try to get on Dean’s List.

8 ) Find out who the mother is on How I Met Your Mother!!!

I have no control over this goal, and it probably won’t be accomplished because the t.v. show has decided to continue on for another season, but I feel like they have strung out the show long enough. For eight seasons, I’ve been waiting for them to answer one last question… “How did he meet their mother???”

 

 

Fall Semester: Memories of a lifetime!!

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Walking out of my final physics exam, I finally had the chance to say that I had completed my first semester at Johns Hopkins University!! It has been a crazy couple of months with many high and lows and it felt overwhelming knowing that I would finally be heading home after four months away. The two days after my exam before I left for Vancouver, British Columbia, gave me the opportunity to reflect on the my amazing time here at Hopkins.

I have made a ton of new friends:

New friends = New Experiences

Like many college freshmen, I was worried about making new friends at college. I came to Hopkins only knowing one other person, a friend from my high school, and I am happy to say that I have made so many friends this semester that it is truly unbelievable. I have met people from all over the world who have interests and talents which continue to amaze me.  I actually met my best friend on the first day of orientation going from room to room introducing myself, which was pretty cool.

I have not pulled an all-nighter:

Though the work at Hopkins can sometimes be overwhelming with the many problem sets and exams, I am happy to say that I have yet to pull an all-nighter studying. Everyday, regardless of the work I have to accomplish, I have always been able to go back to my room and get some sleep before my classes in the morning.

Baltimore is an incredible city:

I have said this before and I will say this again, the Inner Harbor is beautiful! But not only that, there are so many places to visit and things to do in Baltimore. Whether you’re going up to Fells Point for Halloween, or Towson for some shopping, there’s always places to go with your friends. And if you need a weekend off, then D.C. or Philadelphia are just a train ride away! Two of my friends actually made a trip up to New York on a Saturday to do some sightseeing.

Over Thanksgiving, one of my friends at the University of Pennsylvania came down to visit!

I miss my friends back home:

I remember five months ago, it was hard leaving behind all my friends back home to start a new life at Hopkins. For most people, it is difficult to leave behind the life you have loved and cherished to start something new. These four months have been absolutely incredible, but coming home and catching up with my friends has been an amazing experience. Since my friends currently study in five different countries, it gave us some pretty interesting stories to tell each other upon returning.

 

 

 

 

 

I am incredibly excited for the upcoming semester and intersession:

A few weeks ago, I made the decision to come back for all three weeks of intersession. I will be taking Foreign Gene Expression Lab with Dr. Horner for three weeks and then before I know it, second semester will start! I’ve heard amazing things from the upperclassmen regarding spring semester. With everything from Spring Fair to getting to meet the future of Hopkins at SOHOP, spring semester will surely be a time to remember.

I love Hopkins:

This might be a bit self-explanatory, but I absolutely love Hopkins. Not only is the environment here one that promotes success, but the people I have met and the clubs I have joined have all formed permanent memories with me. I look forward to everything that is to come and to experience more about Hopkins. Though there are times when the work is overwhelming, this truly has been an amazing first semester.

This is my beautiful home... Hopkins!!

 

Since this will be my last blog post until the new year, I would like to wish everybody a safe and happy holiday!!

Once again, Congratulations to the Johns Hopkins University Class of 2017 Students!!!

Happy Birthday!!

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These past two days were composed of two things: registering for classes, and my birthday!! As most of the prospective students already know, freshman registration came upon us yesterday in the early hours of the morning. For most of the students at Hopkins, this meant waking up at 6:45 am and sitting in front of the computer waiting anxiously to press that “Register” button at 7 am. Luckily, I got almost all of the classes I hoped to be in except for one, Expository Writing: Fairy Tales.

Currently, I am taking 16.5 credits:

  • General Physics I for Biological Science Majors and Lab
  • Calculus I for Biological Science Majors
  • Freshman Seminar: Tuberculosis
  • Freshman Seminar: From Genes to DNA and Back
  • Project Lab: Phage Hunting
  • Foundations of Brain, Behavior, and Cognition

So these are the classes I will be taking next semester:

My schedule next semester... Wednesday's are going to be my hardest day.

  • Freshman Seminar: Microbes in the Media: Currently, I am taking two freshman seminars entitled: “Tuberculosis” and “From Genes to DNA and Back.” I have really enjoyed being in these smaller classes and being in a more discussion based class compared to lectures. These are my favorite classes and I definitely recommend everybody to take at least one seminar in freshman year!
  • General Physics II for Biological Science Majors and Lab: Next semester, I will be taking the second part of my Physics requirement. This will probably be one of my hardest classes next semester mostly because we will be starting electricity and magnetism, which I don’t have a strong grasp of.
  • Calculus II for Biological Science Majors: Similar to Physics, this will be the second part of my Calculus requirement here at Hopkins. Hopefully next semester will be quite similar to this one. Calculus and Physics are the core of my course schedule next semester, as both will combine for a total for 9 credits.
  • Introduction to Social Psychology: This was one of the classes I was really hoping to take this semester. I heard great things about it from upperclassmen and apparently the material is incredibly interesting and the professor is really knowledgeable.

Lastly, there is a chance I may take the following class. I am currently signed up for it, but have not fully decided on whether I will take it yet.

  • Literature and Medicine: This was a class I did not decide to take until the day of registration. When I realized I was not able to get into two of my expository writing classes, I chose this mostly because I thought it would be interesting to analyze the relationship between medicine and literature through primary sources.

It was a mayhem of balloons in my room!

After those few moments of stress when I was just waiting to see if I got all my classes, I had the chance to finally relax because my birthday is today, November 20th! For the past six years, I have always had an exam, a swim meet, or both on my birthday. It was nice to finally have a day where I can just relax and enjoy the day.

However, I was in for a surprise when some of my friends surprised me by talking to my suitemates and managing to tape a ton of balloons to my ceiling. Though I did not realize it at the time, taking balloons off the ceiling requires more work than you would think!

 

Hurricanes, Applications, and So Much More.

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A lot has happened these past two weeks since I last blogged and this past little while has been filled with moments of fear, elation, hard work, and even more hard work. It’s hard to believe that I am just under a month away from completing my first semester at Hopkins. Time has gone by so fast!

But before I get into my own experiences these past two weeks, I’d just like to give a shout

Take a break, have a coffee!!

out to those students who have just submitted their early decision applications. Congratulations!!! You have just completed the first step in the college application process. I will give you one piece of advice though… “Take a break, calm down, and don’t worry.” Your applications are in good hands and you have done everything in your power to show your strengths. College applications are a time for you to show colleges all the hard work that you have done throughout high school. It’s time for you to be proud of your accomplishments and be proud of everything you have done. Take a step back, and put on a smile! You’ll receive your admissions decision soon enough. It’s so exciting that the next wave of students have already applied to college and that the community is going to be shaped in the coming months.

On a more sombre note, Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast of North America this past week. Luckily, this hurricane did not hit Hopkins badly as there were only a few fallen trees and minimal flooding in a few of the dorms. We didn’t lose power, which was the most important thing. Unfortunately, other parts of Baltimore and cities along the east coast were not as lucky as us. My thoughts and best wishes go out to the cities with major infrastructure damage, and to the people still with no power.

I really hope that everybody affected by the hurricane stays warm and safe.

 

While I was in the middle of this hurricane, my hometown of Vancouver, BC was on the outer edge of a 7.7 magnitude earthquake. There was no damage which was incredibly reassuring, but the city had a tsunami warning for the next few days. It’s been a whirlwind of worry for the past two weeks but I’m glad to say that my family is safe all the way back home.

I've probably said this before, but I will say it again... I love Hopkins!!

But beyond my friends applying early decision and the natural disaster, I have had the opportunity this past week to reflect on the past few months of college life and realize just how fast everything has passed by. Hopkins has provided me with so many opportunities inside and outside the classroom. I never realized it until now how much fun I’ve had in all the clubs and sports I am a part of!

 

 

Winter break is just around the corner, and I will be registering for second semester courses in just over a week! But more about my second semester courses on my next blog… Thanks for reading!!

P.S. I heard it’s going to be snowing a lot this winter. Can’t wait for more snow!!!

Let it snow!