The Hoplimpics

By Nick G.

Aug

15

Now that all the hype over the 2012 Olympics are over and we can finally focus all of the worlds TV excitement towards some quality apex ocean predator themed programming, I hope that this blog post doesn’t seem too late in the worlds events, but hopefully you can all think back to last week and pretend the Olympics are still happening.

So, in Olympic fashion, I’ve decided to hold my own Hopkins themed games. There are no athletes, rather, there are various aspects of Hopkins. Instead of competing in sports, they will compete in quality added to the school. Instead of judges, it will basically just be my opinion. So, what are the events? Various Hopkins components will compete in: best dorm, best dining hall, best off campus restaurant, and best study spots. Let the games begin!

Best (Freshman) Dorm

The AMR's in the winter, clearly prettier than Wolman

Gold: As much as it truly pains me to admit it, I am going to have to go with Wolman for this one. If this were the non existent 2011 Hoplimpic games, I’d give it to the AMR’s, but with the new renovations Wolman got this year, I think it pulled ahead for the lead. What could beat the trifecta of air conditioning, a movie theater, and a gym that I would probably never use anyway?

Silver: AMR’s will go home with a sparkly silver, as a little piece of my heart will always lie in Willard house. Wolman may have all kinds of awesome features, but what it comes down to is that not having to clean my own bathroom is a major plus. That, and being right next to the FFC made getting my eat on super easy.

Bronze: I mean really, how could we give a gold or silver to a building that doesn’t even have a real name? Buildings A and B will take the bronze. They’re rather quiet for my taste, but I’m sure there are tons of people out there who like that, and being next to the AMR’s/FFC/Rec Center is also a plus.

Best Dining Hall

Gold: Charmar will get the gold here, which, coincidentally, is the same color as the cheddar cheese they put on their sandwiches. The variety (sushi, subs, paninis, salads, hot dogs, and a whole lot in between) gives Charmar the edge here, although you can’t use meal points (other than meals in a minute, but that’s like fake Charmar so it doesn’t really matter). You can also get beef jerky and queso dip, which is an awesome combination.

Silver: Like the AMR’s, the FFC will always have a special spot in my heart. That spot just happens to be a clog in my arteries. The pros of the FFC lie in its convenience and proximity to basically everything, as well as the reasonably impressive variety it offers, although sometimes it does get kind of boring.

Bronze: Levering Hall, although to be honest I don’t have much experience going there. It’s not that I’ve ever been disappointed, more that it both doesn’t take meal swipes (which I always seemed to have an abundance of) and is kind of out of the way compared to where I usually am around lunch time. Bronze medal for you, Levering!

Best Off-Campus Restaurant

Gold: This shouldn’t come as any surprise to anyone who knows me, but the gold goes to Chipotle. It’s just such a classic, like the 1992 “Dream Team”, but with Bugs Bunny and Bill Murray on it too, sort of a quantum “Space Jam meets Olympics And Michael Jordan Is On Both Teams” type deal. Totally gets the gold, no question.

Silver: A Hopkins must-dine-at, Tambers is the kind of place that you’ll run into someone that you know almost every time you go there. The menu is overwhelming–there really isn’t much that they won’t serve, and all at very reasonable prices so you can have plenty left over for more food.

Bronze: For some reason, I feel like Ajumma is the kind of place where you either know about it and love it or have never even acknowledged that it exists. Known for its bulgogie (honestly, I have zero idea how to spell that, and my spell check doesn’t offer any help, and I don’t feel like Googling it), Ajumma is always a quality meal.

Best Study Spots

The Brody Learning Commons under construction

Gold: Not going to lie, I haven’t even been there, but the newly opened Brody Learning Commons looks sick. When my Facebook feed is blowing up from people talking about how cool it is when they went the first time, I’m actually excited to get to see the completed project in a few weeks.

Silver: There are few study spots at any school where looking up has the same awing look as the upward view in the Gilman Atrium. The newly renovated area is a work of art in and of itself, plus you are basically studying on top of a mummy, which is kind of cool in a creepy way.

Bronze: You can’t really have a study spot medal ceremony without mentioning the library. That’s like having a sprinting event and not having Bolt win everything. With a level for each type of study personality, we couldn’t let the MSE Library go home without something to put on the mantle next to pictures of mom and dad.

Well, there you have it, consider this the closing ceremony of the Hoplimpic games. I’d write more, but my friend from Baltimore, Michael, wanted a swim lesson so I’m going to go show him a thing or two.

Thanks for reading and thanks to my friend Paige for the blog inspiration!

-Nick

Current track: Ummmm…..who listens to music during Shark Week?

 

MSE Symposium

By Nick G.

Jul

28

I honestly don’t remember much from my tour of Hopkins, way back in the days of being a senior in high school. There are, however, a few key things that seem to have become forever engrained in my memory. I still recognize my tour guides when I pass one of them on campus, and I remember seeing the DiVinchi robot in Hackerman hall and thinking “wow, that looks pretty cool, like something smart people would use”.  Another thing I remember is, as we were walking up the steps to the breezeway, our tour guide mentioned several of the speakers who had come to campus in recent years. The only one’s I recall being mentioned then were Will Ferrell and Bill Nye the Science Guy (talk about selective memory, huh?), but I know there were several other super important people we were told had come to speak.

Jerry Springer, one of the first speakers of the 2011 programming year.

As it turns out, there are three entirely student organized and run groups in charge of finding cool people to bring to Hopkins. There’s The HOP (Hopkins Organization for Programming), which focuses on performers and entertainment. There’s FAS (Foreign Affairs Symposium), which focuses on speakers with international and diplomatic connections. Then, there’s the MSE Symposium, which does a wide range of speakers including politicians, authors, actors and business people. Last year, I was asked to help out the MSE Symposium staff by becoming their new web designer after their previous one graduated. Not really having much of an idea of what MSE actually did, other than that I had been to a few of their speaker events in the beginning of the year, I accepted and the summer after freshman year began to redesign the website based on the 2011 theme.

One of the really cool things, I think, about the MSE Symposium is that we get a very wide range of speakers, and don’t limit ourselves to one type or another. The speakers we try to get change year to year with the theme, but it isn’t a strict “we only want people of this type” kind of thing. Past speakers include, as mentioned before, Will Ferrell, Bill Nye, Gerald R. Ford, Maya Angelou, Newt Gingrich, Michael Bloomberg, Tom Clancy, Bob Woodward and Malcolm Gladwell. In addition, after each event, speakers take questions from the audience and after that some gather for a meet and greet with whoever is still around after the event. All events are open to the public, too, so the audience isn’t just Hopkins students.

At Hopkins, through organizations like the MSE Symposium, FAS, and the Hop, opportunities to meet many famous and important members of society are all around you. If you have the opportunity to join any of these great organizations, I strongly recommend it, because this is truly a once in a lifetime opporunity to do something very few college students get to do.

Thanks for reading,

Nick

Current track:  Chasin’ by Sander van Doorn

 

P.s. keep an eye out for the new version of the MSE website, coming out in the next week or so! http://www.jhu.edu/mse/index.html

Baltimore -> Boat -> Big Apple, Part 3

By Nick G.

Jul

14

Welcome to the epic conclusion of the three part series on my summer, Baltimore -> Boat -> Big Apple.

For the past 6ish weeks, I’ve relocated myself to Chinatown, in an NYU dorm so I could be closer to Wall Street for my internship. Living in another university’s dorms has been an experience in and of itself, almost as much so as actually interning.

The city looks so ominous in this picture...

First, although the actual layout of my room/suite is quite similar to living in Commons or Homewood, the feeling of living here is very different from Hopkins residential life. The social life here certainly exists, but in a much different form. At Hopkins, especially during your freshmen year when nobody really knows anyone else, it is entirely socially acceptable to leave your door open so people will walk in and make friends. For the most part, what I’ve found, is that people here tend to stick with the people they knew coming in. In addition to this, not many people here are students. Most of us are, like me, summer interns looking for a relatively inexpensive and easy place to crash for the summer. With most people, including myself and my suitemates, working 10-12 hours a day, weeknights are pretty quiet, but the weekends tend to be when a lot of activity begins to stir. At Hopkins, however, regardless of the time of week you’ll always be able to find someone to do something with (although, admittedly, it may get difficult during finals week and such). My dorm here is also much different from living at Hopkins in that I am, in fact, in the middle of Chinatown. Anyone who has been to both Canal Street (the main street in New York’s Chinatown) and Charles Street (the main street in the Homewood campus) can tell you that although both in the middle of a city, they are worlds apart. I’ve never been offered to buy a Rolex, Ray Ban sunglasses, or Louis Vuitton handbag on Charles street.

Another big difference between life in Baltimore and in New York is the way the public transportation system is organized. In Baltimore, subways are so rarely used by Hopkins students to the point where I don’t actually know of anyone ever taking a Baltimore subway. Rather, city buses, the Charm City Circulator, and cabs are the preferred methods of transportation (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4GIJ6GjPPo). Here, I’ve yet to take a cab or a bus. Most of my morning and evening commutes involve about 20 minutes of walking and 10 minutes on the subway, and I have yet to take a cab since I’ve been here.

Private tour of the New York Stock Exchange

The final big difference between what I’ve been doing and being at home/Hopkins is that I’ve been working. Not at a camp, or the admissions office, or Hillel. In an office, with a desk, a salary, and a business phone (seriously, why do I need a business phone? I have one, though, and that’s pretty cool). The experience has really showed me a lot about the corporate world, as well as some life skills and an ever increasing network of fellow interns and full time employees. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I’m not really the type that likes to sit at a desk for hours a day, but it really doesn’t feel like I am. Time flies by, especially when I’m “in the zone” (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYhOqPFmppE). So, really, it hasn’t been a bad experience, especially since I’ve come a very far way in my ability to function as a programmer in just a few weeks.

Thanks for reading!

-Nick

Current track: Two Million by Avicii

Baltimore -> Boat -> Big Apple, Part 2

By Nick G.

Jun

25

Get your towels ready, it’s about to go down.

Welcome to part 2 of the three part series, Baltimore -> Boat -> Big Apple, and perhaps my favorite part of the series. My drive home from my brief summer time excursion in Baltimore did not end in a suburban house in New Haven. No, it ended up in a marina parking lot. The second part of my summer would begin on the water, stopping at home only to drop off some boxes from the trunk of my car.

Chipotle on Deck

As can be seen from this post from last year, boating is a big part of my life. If it were up to me, I’d bring it down to the Inner Harbor during the school year and live there instead of a dorm. But, alas, that option isn’t exactly in the cards (not to mention, who knows what kind of radio active Inner Harbor monsters live there).

What makes this part of my summer so special? Well, what not many people realize is that no, we’re not out in the middle of the ocean. No, there are no sails. And no, I don’t need to swim there. My car is a whopping 30 feet away, up a slightly inclined ramp from the dock, and my house is another 20 minute drive from there. Essentially, it is like a piece of my house was cut off and is floating in a harbor 20 minutes away.

It is a difficult thing to describe in a blog post, and the reasons I’m so attached to the water are even harder to describe.  Ever watched Shark Week on a boat? There is nothing better. Unless there is Chipotle involved.

As weird as it is to say, it is a bit of an adjustment not being on the water often this summer. I’ve got a few weeks in the beginning, and another week and change in the end of the summer, but other than that being in Manhattan is becoming an adjustment. With the awesome water view from my office, though, I never feel too far away.

Stay tuned for part 3!

-Nick

Current Track: Trouble On My Mind by Pusha T ft Tyler

 

P.s. sorry for the brevity of this post, things have been pretty busy here, but that’s why it is a three part post, isn’t it?

Baltimore -> Boat -> Big Apple, Part 1

By Nick G.

Jun

9

Give or take, it’s been about a month since Sophomore year officially ended for me.  Well, for classes at least, there’s that whole finals week thing but that doesn’t really count, right?

So, what has been going on since that time? My summer, thus far, has come in three main stages. First, Baltimore end of school celebrations. Second, beloved boat time. Finally, the move over to New York City for the start of my summer internship. So, here is my first part of a three part series, “Baltimore -> Boat -> Big Apple”.

Stage 1: Baltimore. Finals end on a Thursday, but graduation doesn’t happen until the following Thursday. So, what are all those seniors to do during that time? If you’re JHU_Saznin, you probably spent that week watching Green Day and Vitamin C videos on YouTube. For everyone else, the JHU student government helps to organize Senior Week, a week long celebration of being done. Unfortunately, I’ve got a few years left before I get to part take in my own senior week, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t tag along this year.

The crowd during the Wiz Khalifa concert.

The event I attended was Preakness, the annual horse race right here in Baltimore and a part of the Triple Crown. Horse race, however, only partially describes it. In addition to horses, there were performances by Wiz Khalifa and Maroon 5, beach vollyball competitions, and dozens of tents all around the infield with every type of food imaginable.  Basically, horse racing took second stage, up until the main race where I’ll Have Another ran for a very exciting win (and cost me a few dollars with it).

Other senior week events, which I did not attend, included mini golf, senior prom, and a post exams library party.  In the last few hours in Baltimore, I was able to get my room ready for next year (finally moving off campus!) and make sure I’d have furniture, finalize the rent and lease, and say some final goodbyes to friends who are graduating, studying abroad next year, and who are returning next year.

Overall, if your schedule and such allow for it, I would strongly recommend hanging out for a few days after classes; it is a great way to relieve post exam stress and to leave Hopkins in a happy mood, rather than exhausted after all the finals work.

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for part 2 coming soon!

-Nick

Current Track: Some Nights (Jakob Liedholm Arena Mix)  by Fun

 

Hillel at Hopkins

By Nick G.

Apr

25

Shalom! Here at Hopkins, there are several great religious organizations, including Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. Since arriving at Hopkins, Hillel has played a large role in my activities here. At first, I was a bit reluctant to go, assuming that it was going to be a horribly boring place akin to going to synogogue at home. But, after a few weeks and letting several seemingly fun events pass me by, I decided to go check out an event called “Torah on Tap”.

The Men's Club Chili Cookoff

Torah on Tap is a bi-monthly gathering in an informal setting (often a local bar or eatery, obviously only those in attendance over 21 are allowed to order alcohol) where we discuss Jewish topics, including views on mixed marriages, tattoos, and the effects of camp. After coming to my first event, I quickly saw that Hillel events are not anything like Yom Kippur services back home (notorious for being the most boring day of the year), but rather a group of energetic Jewish Hopkins students eager to branch out and engage in meaningful discussions.

Beyond this, there are also events such as JIGL’s Purim Party. JIGL stands for Jews In Greek Life and serves as a liason organization between Greek campus activities and Hillel. The Purim Party, which takes place at a local club, is open to anyone who wishes to come. This year, many people were actually turned away due to the abundance of people in the club. Both Jews and non-Jews came and had a great time. In addition to the Purim Party, JIGL hosts Shabbat dinners at fraternity houses, providing a (free) and less intimidating way to celebrate the Sabbith outside of the regular Hillel setting.

Finally, Hillel hosts events such as the Men’s Club Chili Cookoff, which occurred last week. Unlike Torah on Tap, which focuses on Jewish discussions, these events are purely for hanging out and socializing. As the name suggests, we made somewhere in the vicinity of 14 pounds of Kosher chili, which turned out to be pretty good. We each added our own toppings to our bowls, such as onions, tomatoes, corn, various sauces, and a variety of meats before putting them in tins and heating them on the grill. Overall, it was a great way to hang out and get a free delicious chili dinner!

So, if anyone out there is looking for a fun time (whether Jewish or not, as all events are entirely open to the whole community) come check out something at Hillel!

Thanks for reading,

Nick

Current Track: Breaking Spring by 5 & a Dime

Why Hopkins: For Jobs!

By Nick G.

Apr

14

As scary as it is to admit, one day, I’ll have to go out into the real world and do the unthinkable…get a job. While it seems ages away at this point, it is still something very crucial to start to think about.  One of the great things about Hopkins is the career center, where students can go to get resume advice, learn to write a cover letter, contact employers and get help in seeking out their future careers.

There are several things which the career center has done very well, and resources that I have found to be very helpful in my search for summer internships. Here are several things which I believe makes our career center unique and which have helped me get a fantastic internship for this summer.

1. Walk-in hours. Depending on your year, the career center will hold walk in help hours. No appointment needed, simply show up an get advice on whatever you need. I took advantage of walk in hours during the fall semester, expecting to enter in to a madhouse of people waiting, only to have someone look at my resume for all of 5 seconds and move on to the next one. But, when I arrived, I found that after only a minute or two of waiting, someone brought me in and stayed with me to go through my entire resume, start to finish, and to give me tons of much needed advice.

A typical career center email

2. Recruitment emails. Every Friday, I get an email with the subject line “Hot Jobs, Cool Internships” sent to my JHU email. In this email is a list of dozens of job openings which match something similar to my major or future career goals. These weekly emails are very helpful in keeping you posted on what kind of opportunities are out there, as well as to remind you to keep an eye on new job postings.

3. J-Connect. J-Connect is Hopkins’ own job listing site, where you can upload your resume, cover letter, and transcript and apply directly to jobs. When you go on, it is often overwhelming the number of posts for job listings. After some search narrowing down, however, chances are you’ll be able to find something that interests you. Once you have found it, you can apply directly from J-Connect and then all that is left is to wait for a reply!

4. Other career centers. In the fall, the employer I will be working for this summer came on a recruiting visit to campus. Due to limited availability and high demand, you actually had to apply to attend their info session. I applied and was not accepted to attend. However, a few months later, the Hopkins career center sent out an email regarding a career fair in New York, which Hopkins teamed up with several other schools to put on and was only open to students from those schools. At this fair, I met with the same employer that I had been turned away from, got an interview, and two weeks later had a position for the summer!

So, when your here, be sure to use the career center as a resource, because it is a great one!

Thanks for reading,

Nick

Current track: Over, Hyper Crush Remix by Drake (JHU_Ruthie, if you are reading this, you should download this song)

Why Not Hopkins

By Nick G.

Apr

3

By now, the barrage of “Why you should choose ________ University” is just starting to kick up. Every school sends you their respective recruitment videos, congratulating you on your acceptance letter, showing you smiling students in big grassy courtyards and a happy, exciting campus. Energetic tour guides will eagerly take you around campus, where they’ll tell you their favorite things about their respective schools.

But let’s flash back to the real world. No school, no matter how seemingly perfect, is just that…perfect. It may very well be your dream school since you were in 3rd grade, but that doesn’t mean there are no drawbacks. Let me, first, regress a bit and tell the back story to this blog post.

One of the more fun moments of last week: helping a friend decorate her little's room during secret week. Static electricity caused the balloons to stick to me whenever I walked. One might say I'm just really attractive.

Last week was one of the most stressful weeks I’ve ever had. Just ask Admissions_Daniel, JHU_Tess, JHU_Kate or JHU_Allysa…they had to deal with my grumpiness and lack of productivity all week (which, I am very thankful for their understanding!). I had midterms on midterms followed by problem sets on problem sets, and the time not spent in class or the library was spent at various meetings. Needless to say, it was busy. That being said, one of the things that it caused was the inspiration to write this post. So, I give you something that no one else is going to be willing to come straight out and say: reasons not to come.

 

 

Don’t come to Hopkins if you:

-Are afraid of hard work. There will be times when you are going to be overwhelmed. Hopkins, and all other schools of its caliber, aren’t going to give you 4 easy years of school work. If you plan on coming here and slacking off, you’re going to quickly find yourself in hot water. Hopkins students are all extremely hard working, after all, they probably wouldn’t have been admitted if they weren’t. If you are someone who likes to take the academic easy way out, Hopkins probably isn’t the place for you.

-Are uncomfortable working in a team. One of the biggest things that was asked about in my summer internship interviews were questions regarding past experiences in working as a team, what kinds of things I’ve worked on in a team environment and probing into how well I’d fit in with their existing teams. One thing Hopkins does often is encourage teamwork, working on group projects or just forming a study group to work on a problem set. Often, the most successful Hopkins students are the ones who studied in a group and helped each other grasp a firm understanding of the material. So, if you truly are uncomfortable working with others in any circumstance, Hopkins probably isn’t the place for you.

-Plan on being a 4 year extracurricular wallflower. What do I mean by this? With over 300 student groups and organizations on campus, it would be a shame to go through your time here having not experienced them. We’ve all heard of people who do nothing all day but sit in their dorm all day and night, whether they’re studying, playing World of Warcraft, or doing who knows what else, but you’ll find that this is far from the typical Hopkins student. Hopkins students are active on campus. If you are someone who plans on getting a degree and doing nothing else in their time in college, Hopkins probably isn’t the place for you.

-Think you’re the second coming of the Messiah. Spoiler alert: You’re not. Many people have a too-good-to-fail attitude coming in to college, having become accustomed to being constantly at the top of their class. When coming to an institution like Hopkins, the things that may have made you a stand out all-star are no longer going to be that impressive. No matter how good your GPA was, there’s someone with a comparable GPA, or SAT scores, or extracurricular accomplishments.  That being said, however, Hopkins offers you an entirely new stomping ground. A place where you have a clean slate, and can make people impressed by what you choose to continue to do or have started in college. Its a time where you have a pivotal crossroads: to try to continue to surf on the wave of what you did in high school, or to make a new splash with collegiate accomplishments. If you want to come to college being number 1 and not have to work to maintain that top status, then Hopkins probably isn’t the place for you.

-Have little ambition. Don’t confuse cockiness (see above paragraph) with ambition. The two are not one in the same. When you consider all the things I just mentioned, it takes a lot to be a successful Hopkins student. It takes a lot of drive and ambition to accomplish it all, especially at the same time. Hopkins students all have huge plans for the future, and are using their experiences here as the basis for those plans. They make the most out of their educations, both in and out of the classroom, and are able to be successful at both. It takes ambition to get through weeks like I had last week, with high amounts of stress and low amounts of sleep. But its something Hopkins students are not afraid of, because while there may be some pretty challenging weeks, there are some pretty awesome ones mixed in. Kanye West once said “Ain’t no tuition for havin’ no ambition”, and while tuition may or may not be a driving factor in Hopkins students’ ambition, it certainly is a common attribute. If you want to sit back and have the ambitions of a sloth, then Hopkins probably isn’t the place for you.

There you have it. The kinds of things that, if you feel you exemplify, will likely make you happier at somewhere not Hopkins. But, if you feel you are up to it, if you truly feel that you are ready for a challenging yet fun college experience, then Hopkins probably is the place for you.

It is for me.

 

Thanks for reading,

Nick

Current Track: Pursuit of Happiness  by Kid Cudi (Steve Aiokii remix, Project X soundtrack)

NCEMSF

By Nick G.

Mar

14

I’m sure many of you looked at this blog title and thought that I had fallen asleep at my keyboard and hit the publish button. Well, spoiler alert: I didn’t. NCEMSF stands for National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation. Basically, NCEMSF is a non-profit organization which serves as a “parent” to HERO (Hopkins Emergency Response Organization) and other similar EMS groups on college campuses around the country. I’ve written about HERO several times in the past…what makes this blog different from all other blogs?

A few weeks ago, NCEMSF held its annual conference right here in Baltimore, and I had the honor of attending (plus getting a super awesome hotel room to spend the weekend in at the Inner Harbor).  As a hosting school, the attendees from Hopkins had gotten more responsibilities than the average unit. We spent much of our weekend helping to serve as patients (several of our members were actually used in an ultra sound demonstration, which was super cool), competition judges and AV specialists. However, we did get to learn some cool things and meet some cool people as well.

The NCEMSF Logo

On day one, it became immediately apparent the diverse range of schools represented. Dozens of different uniforms from collegiate EMS squads across the country were being worn (Texas A&M made it pretty apparent that they were, in fact, from Texas, based on the cowboy hats with EMS pants combination), in addition to our Hopkins delegation.

One of our first tasks was to serve as the victims of a mass casualty incident, where a car crashes into a frat party, causing an explosion and injuring the car driver, party attendees and the first crew to respond to the incident. The responders were a group of the top members of three units, and each was judged based on the effectiveness of their response to get the award for best MCI preparedness. In addition to this competition, units competed in both BLS (basic life support) and ALS (advanced life support)  skills competitions, where units sent their best representatives to compete against other units.

In addition to skills competitions, professional medics, trauma surgeons, and other EMS professionals as well as students gave talks about unique experiences they’ve had, important things for EMS professionals to know, and general continued education knowledge. I had the time to attend several interesting lectures, including one on tactical EMS (how SWAT teams use medics and EMS in their situations), marine trauma (a case study on trauma that occurs in a maritime setting), dealing with intoxicated patients (very important stuff to know on a college campus), and on controlling spinal trauma (a very interesting lecture given by a Hopkins trauma surgeon).

Opportunities such as this are few and far between, but I consider myself very fortunate that Hopkins and HERO gave me the opportunity to attend NCEMSF.

Thanks for reading,

Nick

Current Track: Levels (in reverse) by Avicii (George Monev edit)

 

P.S. Pictures coming soon!

Best Of Baltimore: Barbershops

By Nick G.

Feb

28

Before

Hair is a funny thing, when you really think about it. Like what does it even do anymore? Hasn’t evolution provided us with nice warm hats? I mean, let’s be real…its not like bald people have a huge disadvantage when it comes to survival of the fittest. Also, we spend so much on hair removal that it seems an absurd evolutionary trait that we just want eliminated as easily as possible, and if not eliminated, styled up to change our natural look.

Speaking of hair removal, the birds nest of thin strands of protein atop my head recently got past the point of “need a haircut” (see photo right). How do I know when it has reached that point? When it reaches the time where I wake up and have to splash water on it to pat down the noticeable spikes, that’s when its too long. Well, there is one very unique place right here in Baltimore, just a short drive away in the Inner Harbor, where they provide a haircut experience unlike any other I’ve ever seen.

It goes by the name of  ”The Quintessential Gentleman”, or QG for short. QG offers a wide variety of services, from a traditional haircut to a massage and shoe shine. Believe me when I say that its more than a haircut…its an experience. I should be their spokesman or something.

After

Instead of a traditional waiting room, you know, with some chairs around a coffee table with stacks of old magazines on it, QG takes an upgraded approach. When you first check in for your appointment, they offer you a complementary drink (soda, beer for those over 21, water or coffee), and there is a billiards table and TV upstairs for while you wait.

Once your haircut begins, its pretty standard, except for…oh yeah, you get your own little cubicle with a personal TV. After your cut, they use a traditional straight razor for the back of your neck and sideburns, a classic touch. Finally, to top it all off, a quick rinse and shampoo. All for a pretty good price.

I know I sound like a total advertisement right now, but I just came back a few hours ago and am still impressed. And that, my friends, is why QG deserves its place in the Best of Baltimore series. Check out http://www.baltimorebarbershop.com/ for more info!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Current Track: Seven Nation Army Dubstep by UKFdubstep/The White Stripes

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