The Lucie Show

Tuesday, November 23^rd, 2010, 5:13pm

I need a massage.  I’m heading home to New York for Thanksgiving break and this train is completely overbooked.  I had to stand up for the first 15 minutes of the ride, my shoulders throbbing under the weight of my own luggage, waiting for the traffic jams in the aisles to clear up so I could find a seat.  The automatic door must have tried to squish me over 50 times.  I finally sat down – yay, I won’t be standing up for three and a half hours!  I’m in the food car since every other seat is taken – you know what that means, no comfortably cushioned seats or headrests – and even here, 7 people are jammed into a booth for 4.  Now I really need a massage.  I’m excited to get home to see my friends and family (and to get off of this train, obviously), but at the same time I’m very sad to be leaving Hopkins.

I’ve already adjusted to life at college, and it’s weird to be going back to New York to my house. Whoa, I forgot that I used to live in a house.  Although living away from home for three months doesn’t seem like that long, I’ve definitely changed already.  In addition to having learned how to write a cover letter and a résumé, or how to locate the various fissures and lobes of the human brain, I’ve changed in another way too: I take care of myself!  No one tells me when to do my work, go to bed, wash my clothes, eat meals, sign off of Facebook, or go to class.  Sure, I’ll only be away for 6 days, but I’m going to miss Hop so much.

I honestly couldn’t be happier with my decision to attend JHU.  This is not an exaggeration at all. I feel so lucky to have ended up at a school that I sincerely love this much.  I can go on ranting and raving about how much fun Hopkins is…how fantastic the school is…how familiar the campus is to me…how friendly the people are…and how it’s like a fairytale.  All of this ‘f’ alliteration has inspired me to make a list:

JHU_Lucie’s Five Favorite F’s (what I miss most about Hopkins):

FFC “Reservations” - The FFC, or the Fresh Food Café, is the place to eat freshman year.  While everyone eats breakfast and lunch at different times due to varying class schedules, dinnertime is FAMILY time.  Who says you can’t have your family with you at college?  7:00pm is dinnertime in the FFC for my friends and me – we frequently joke that we have a “reservation” in the FFC at 7:00pm every night.  Note: the FFC does not actually take reservations.

Friends – You might call me crazy.  You might say there’s no way to make such close friends in 3 short months.  Well, let me tell you, it is possible!  Friends at college are like family: you eat together, work together, and live minutes apart.  I often wonder how I went 18 years of my life without knowing some of these people…

Fortress of Solitude (the library) – You might wonder why the library is on this list.  Well…libraries don’t always have to be quiet and boring.  In fact, the study rooms that my friends and I use are typically loud and lively.  Some floors of the library have study rooms with one giant table in the center and chairs surrounding it.  While we (somehow) get a lot done in those rooms, we are constantly chatting, laughing, and listening to music.

Floor nights – One of my favorite things to do on school-nights at Hopkins is to sit outside of my room with the other people on my floor and have a “floor party.”  I supply the Oreos, someone else brings the Sour Punch Straws, another makes a pitcher of hot tea, and we’re good to go.  My absolute favorite thing about bedtime at college is that the dorm will be buzzing with chatter and music well into the night.  It’s really a huge switch from being in your own room at home in a quiet house.  It’s nice to know that as I’m going to sleep, there is still so much going on around me – and if I’m ever having trouble sleeping, there are people playing games and telling stories right behind my door.

Feeling of the campus – JHU’s Homewood Campus reminds me of a giant bubble.  Leaving the campus is like walking through a tiny door on the side of the bubble and closing it behind you.  You know that everything will be just as you left it when you return, but it still feels extremely unusual being away.  The Homewood Campus has such a homey feeling to it, and the Johns Hopkins community takes such good care of it.  It’s always clean, the leaves and grass are constantly being taken care of, and now the lampposts have beautiful Christmas lights spiraled around them for the holidays!

Monday, November 29^th, 2010, 8:00pm

I got back to Hopkins yesterday!  Returning to campus – reentering that bubble – was like a breath of fresh air.  My floor is ready for a major catch-up night.  I spent a little while in the Fortress of Solitude with my friends.  Our FFC “reservation” topped Thanksgiving dinner.  And where am I going now?  I told you I needed a massage…

Did you know that Hopkins has a club called Stress Busters?  Every Monday night from 8-10pm, the Stress Busters give free massages on the top floor of the library.  Want to know something else?  If you get five free massages, the café in the library will give you a free drink!

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