Archive for December, 2009
Dec
First off, happy end of 2009!
I decided that I’ll continue with the 990.990 title for all of my study-abroad related blogs in order to keep a standard theme. Anyway, I’ve been asked a lot about why I decided to study abroad in Switzerland and just about study abroad at Hopkins in general. So, I decided to write a blog about it. I should mention that study abroad is a very personal choice. Also, that last November, JHU_Jackie wrote a great blog that included the seven easy steps to study abroad. I encourage you all to check it out, because it not only provides some helpful tips but organizes the process, I’ve decided to not discuss the process, but rather just a few key areas.
- I’m a prospective student and I have dreams of studying abroad. What should I be doing?
I should introduce the topic by saying that a lot of prospective students ask about study abroad. And I just want to say that prospective students should not be overly stressed about knowing what country they want to go to or about finding a program ASAP. As a prospective student, my personal words of advice are to just make sure that the universities you are applying to have some sort of study abroad office. However, don’t pick a school because of one study abroad opportunity that one particular university offers that at the time seems interesting. Also, don’t pick a school because a huge percentage of the junior class study abroads-this statistic shouldn’t influence your decision. Again, personal opinion.
Once enrolled in a university, my personal advice is during your first few months,to mention to your academic advisor that you are interested in studying abroad and you want to make sure you clear a semester free. For me personally this was rather simple because I knew what I wanted to major in right away and I don’t have too many major requirements. However, for people in engineering or who are pre-med, it can be a little harder. Nevertheless, some of my best friends who have studied abroad have ranged from engineers to double majors hoping to apply to med school. You can make it work. However, sometimes there are sacrifices that have to be made–you may have to take a course a year early, take a class during the summer, etc. If you are interested in learning about the programs out there then go to one of the freshmen study abroad information centers that the study abroad office at Hopkins puts on.
- How do you find a study abroad program at Hopkins?
I’m going to be honest, it’s not as easy at Hopkins than it is at other schools. In some ways this is because Hopkins keeps the door wide open for study abroad exploration. If I was a student at Duke, for example, chances are I could go to the fancy Duke study abroad website, see that the university offers dozens of programs, and find a program just within that site that satisfies my interests. Hopkins doesn’t have a fancy study abroad website, well, not yet.
However, Hopkins students, like Duke students, have the option of participating in their own university’s sponsored programs abroad. But there are far less of these programs than at say Duke or Boston University. Some of these Hopkins sponsored programs include a junior year abroad at Sciences Po in France, a Johns Hopkins in Spain program, a junior year abroad at the SAIS Bologna Center in Italy, and a Berlin Consortium for German Studies program. And well, those are all the Hopkins semester programs that I know of.
Because Hopkins does not offer too many of these programs, the majority of students participate in external programs offered by other universities, organizations, or study abroad providers. And this is when the pile of brochures from study abroad providers like CIEE and IES start piling up and from direct enrollment programs through other universities like London School of Economics and University of Glasgow. And then you start hearing about Semester at Sea and you might become overwhelmed.
Luckily, the study abroad office provides many of these brochures and also keeps binders of reviews of programs that previous students have gone on so that one can get an idea. The exciting thing about this is that although there are a few more popular programs that Hopkins students go on, chances are that you will be the only Hopkins student on your program or one of just a few, simply because there are so many programs to chose from. This is exciting because you’ll be able to really just go out in the world and explore.
I should mention that you need to be somewhat proactive through this process. Study abroad is an opportunity that one needs to somewhat seek out. Yes, you’ll get support, but you need to take the initial steps.
- How do you pick a program?
This is a personal decision. And I’ll try to be brief. Personally, I never thought I would pick Switzerland as the country to live for four months in. I really thought that I would end up in Southeast Asia (and I think my friends and family did too). Ididn’t see a huge desire to go to Europe, but after I factored in a few of the criteria that I was looking for, I realized that studying abroad in Geneva was the best choice for me. Here are a few things I would say to consider…
Language: I wanted to be able to begin French and most programs in French-speaking areas required prior French-language experience. So, think about what kind of language immersion you want-
-do you want to go to an English-speaking country? Do you want to continue a language you are already great in and become fluent? Or do you want to start new?
Living arrangement: I spent over two months this past summer in Brazil on a research grant. In reflection, I give myself a pat on the back for going out there without the assistance of a program, without any other Americans, and living with natives. I had an excellent living arrangement in Brazil, however I decided I didn’t want a home stay experience this time around. For the Geneva program I will be in apartments with other American students. This was completely a personal decision. I have friends who have had amazing home stay experiences and that has helped them tremendously understand the culture and language.
Courses: Yes, there is the word study in study abroad. So, look into the courses that you’ll be taking for each program that you are interested in. I know some people who have picked their program to get away from their major. And others, like me, who have picked their program to allow them to continue classes related to their major. Make sure that there are classes that interest you and are taught in a way that you’ll enjoy. My program will allow me to have an internship for credit, which I think will help me in the long run.
- How much does it cost?
One of my biggest worries for picking the program that I picked was the cost. I picked a program by a U.S. private university (in this case, Boston University), which are oftentimes more expensive. On top of this, I was picking a program in one of the most expensive countries in the world (as someone who is used to going to less developed countries, I know this will be a shock). All payment for study abroad programs at Hopkins goes through Hopkins. For external programs, the cost is the program fee (given by the organization, provider, or university) and on top of this a 12% of Hopkins tuition study abroad fee for keeping you as a matriculated student at Hopkins. In addition, you’ll have to consider additional costs like traveling and sometimes even board which may not be included in the program fee.
The good news is for financial aid students all of your financial aid is transfered over (besides for work study) and used to pay for the program fee. The additional good news is that for many programs, especially ones not in Europe, this cost is actually less than a semester at Hopkins. If you’re a non-financial aid student, this simply means you will pay less! If you are a financial aid student, then your financial aid package will oftentimes be adjusted so that you still have the same cost as a Hopkins semester.
For financial aid students that are looking at programs that may be slightly more expensive than a semester at Hopkins (especially with the 12% added fee), look for scholarships. I was very fortunate to have received generous merit and financial scholarships through Boston University for my semester abroad. Because of this, the semester, even though in Switzerland, will financially not affect my family more than a semester at Hopkins.
Until next time,
Jessica
Dec
I honestly cannot believe that it’s the day after Christmas. As I said in my last post, I came back to Hopkins and looked at my calendar and was startled by the fact that I was in my last full week of class. I tried my best to buckle down and get my 60+ pages of writing done in the two weeks that I had. And I did. I worked my hardest without losing my sanity and though I didn’t get all the grades that I wanted, I know that I tried and that’s what really matters. In the end, I relate to many other SAAB members, especially the upperclassmen, who seem to be glad that this semester has wrapped up and are ready for the new year.
I stayed at Hopkins until the very end. I think Baltimore just didn’t want to let me go since the day I was expected to leave ended up being the same day as the snow storm of ’09. So I stayed on campus and enjoyed the day with senior public health majors who were still on campus since they take Bloomberg School of Public Health classes, which are on a different academic calendar. I also observed Baltimore’s inability to know what to do with 18-inches of snow. Let’s just say that I don’t think plows or salt are in the city’s budget.
The next day my mom drove down, helped me finish packing up my room, and moved me out. And now, well, I’m back in New Jersey surrounded by a pile of stuff as I try to sort it until piles–stuff for Hopkins (next year), stuff for Geneva (next semester), and stuff just to put away. I was looking forward to a relaxing time back in New Jersey, but I think that this unpacking and packing and cleaning process will keep me busy. And if that doesn’t, then I’m sure these tasks will: finishing up my research work, reading, hanging out with friends, trying to figure out ideas for the summer, and whatever other miscellaneous tasks come my way: going to the Swiss consulate, the DMV, etc. You think as a student that winter break would leave me with an empty to-do list, but it has seemed to have done the opposite.
It may have finally hit me that I won’t be returning next semester. I think it’s been the combination of saying “goodbye” to my room, friends, the admissions office, co-workers, etc. combined with logging into ISIS (the website that allows students to check billing and financial aid, register for classes, view grades, etc) and seeing my ‘schedule’ for next year. Now instead of my usual semester’s list of five courses it simply says: AS.990.990(01)-Off-Campus Study.
I really do not know what’s in store for me next semester. All I know is a typical spring semester at Hopkins–filled with cherry blossoms, lacrosse games, and Spring Fair–will quickly be replaced with a semester in Geneva, Switzerland. I keep hearing that study abroad is a great opportunity, a transformation, an eye-opening experience, etc. But only the future knows what this means for me in particular. In my next post I’ll write about the study abroad process at Hopkins–with a personal twist.
- Jessica
Dec
Let me just apologize in advance for what’s going to be a long blog, but it’s something that I feel needs to be addressed, as I reflect on my semester. (And yes, the title is yet another MJ song from the musical The Wiz…an African-American version of The Wizard of Oz. :) )
So back to winning. I’m a Hopkins student (duh). And that means that I strive to do my best. I know what I am capable of, so I push myself towards being the best I can be. I know what I can’t do, so I settle for the next best thing in those cases. I do what I can to ensure my success in classes, but in a reasonable manner. I care a tremendous amount about my grades, as being good in school is something that I have prided myself on for years and years.
But being a Hopkins student also means that when I fall short of something I think I could have done better on, I beat myself up and have a hard time accepting it. I overanalyze and try to find where I went wrong, what I could have done differently, etc…then I end up an unhappy mess. And who wants to be that?
This past semester was my lightest in terms of the workload. I only had 4 classes. I had a great schedule, and I didn’t have to smush a ton of classes in one semester to fit my minor in either. I was able to watch television and chill, and I had more time to myself. While my roommate had 4 consecutive tests every few weeks (forcing her to only have a few days to study for each), I had seven exams total for the semester, giving me plenty of time to study but relax at the same time. As a result, I was a lot less anxious and worried about exams and grades than I’d been in semesters past. I mean, I had moments of anxiety, but they passed. So, naturally I thought that I would ACE this semester. 
But orgo had something else in mind. I wasn’t happy with my test grades, considering how well I knew the material. When I went to discuss my progress with my orgo professor, even he said he expected me to do well in the end because my exams looked that they were hurt by test anxiety issues, rather than comprehension issues. That conversation made me feel a lot better.
So when I saw my final orgo grade that was far from anything I’d ever seen as a final grade, I freaked out. I felt like it was so unfair. How could I have understood the material so well and attended tutoring sessions and worked so hard, but end up with a crap grade that looked like I’d studied a little (which some people did and even they did better than I)? I’d never gotten a grade like that before so I didn’t know how to react or what to think.
I felt like I could not afford to have this blemish on a transcript. I felt ashamed next to my peers who were taking say, 5 science classes at once and still excelled in all of them. How could I only have 4 classes, which were not that demanding, and only one final and one paper, yet still do badly? At Hopkins, it seems like bad grades are some sort of blasphemy because everyone is so smart and can do so much. My goal of being able to say I completed undergrad at Hopkins with all good grades was gone.
So yea, I felt like I couldn’t win–I felt this way because everything was in place to ensure my success in orgo..the time, the resources, the study habits. So I could not understand why I hadn’t performed better. This bothered me so much it overshadowed the other 3 A’s I’d gotten in my other classes.
Was I losing my mind? Of course I was! I was totally hysterical, and I was making it a much bigger deal than it needed to be. But for me this WAS a huge deal. It’s always hard experiencing something undesirable for the first time. However, after I calmed down, I saw a brighter side of the situation, regardless of the orgo grade and regardless of the general stigma of bad grades, period. Yes I got good grades in the midst, but one terrible grade can kinda steal that away from you. It shouldn’t though.
When you feel like you can’t win, the key is to CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE. No need walking around in a funk about something you can’t change, especially when you did the best you could. Usually when you put in a lot of effort you see it–but there are times that does not happen…and we just have accept it and brush ourselves off. So here are some things that are helping me deal.
–Be realistic and have an open mind. It’s pre med at Johns Hopkins (heck, it’s Hopkins in general)—the classes will be hard. And in all honesty no one is immune from doing poorly once in a while. I don’t necessarily mean for the final grade, but most people see some bad test grades during their time here. I was always thinking that I could never do badly for a final grade because I never had before. How stupid. Well, as they say, there is a first time for everything, right?
–No need to be ashamed. People may make you feel badly because they did better than you did, but you can’t compare yourself to other people. I did the best I could for Dominique, and that’s all I can ask of myself. I’m not happy with the result but it can only hurt me personally as much as I let it. 
–Erm, it’s JUST A GRADE. It seems like so much more because so much weight is placed on the value of grades…but remember there are so many more factors that contribute to that grade. Test anxiety issues, personal/familial problems, health issues…I was so mad at myself that I forgot I’d been battling chronic severe headaches and bad carpal tunnel along with other health things–and I can say that I am proud of myself for working through those instead of using them as an excuse for not trying as hard.
Life does not stop, nor should you let it…and I realize that I did what I could given my circumstances. We keep saying this, but you really aren’t your grades!
–It’s a chance for improvement. When you do badly then improve drastically, that is JUST as, if not more, impressive than doing well all along. This is what I will be aiming for come next semester. And this, my friends, is what causes grad schools and internships and whatnot to take interest in you, despite some undesirable grades.
–It’s not the end of the world … if you want something, you can reach it regardless of bad grades or whatever else you may be experiencing. Then when you get to where you want to be, it’s more rewarding.
Now as I’ve said, sorry for this long blog … but I just felt as if I needed to address this whole issue of bad grades, because everyone has a chance of getting them no matter how good you were in high school. College is a whole different animal and the ONLY thing you can ensure is that you do your best.
When life gives you bad lemons, throw ‘em away and get some fresh ones to make a good batch of lemonade. What’s even more important than your final grade is your growth and what have learned from your experiences as an undergrad. Sometimes we have to struggle so we can learn how to change the way we look at things, which I personally think is more valuable than getting the best grades ever. I know it feels like you can’t win when your best is not good enough to guarantee you a good grade, but you actually can win, if you just change your perspective and give yourself a break. =]
Until next year, (: P)
Dominique
Dec
So unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve probably heard that the east coast has had some serious
snowfall this past weekend. I’m currently back at home, in lovely Summit, which has been blanketed under about 10 inches of snow. It looks great, and has given me a great excuse to do absolutely nothing. Since getting home on Friday afternoon in the worst holiday traffic I’ve ever seen (six hour drive from Baltimore? no thank you) I’ve done very little, save Christmas shopping and some playing in the snow. It’s been wonderful, and a great antidote to the stress of the past few weeks.
Probably the cutest picture of the snowstorm (Thank you, New York Times)
As mentioned before, I had a fairly atrocious exam schedule, where I took four tests in 48 hours. Luckily, those four finals fell as the very end of exam period, so I had plenty of time to prepare, but it was still quite overwhelming. I’ve always known I’ve worked better under pressure, but I think this was a bit too much. Needless to say, I’m glad it’s over, and now I’m just nervously awaiting my grades. Unfortunately I have a Blackberry so my emails come through to my phone, surprising me at inopportune moments with that horrid phrase “A new grade has been posted to your ISIS account.” Now it’s just a waiting game, but I’ve come to the very Zen-like realization that there’s nothing I can do about it. Thus, I am in full holiday celebrating mode.
Home Sweet Home!
I’m now at the start of a wonderful winter break. My high school friends are slowly making their way back to NJ right now, and I get to have a full week with them before Christmas hits. My town has a really nice tradition of placing candles out on Christmas Eve, so my house has been overrun the past few days with neighbors organizing this, as my Mom takes charge of our neighborhood’s “Luminaries” every year. It looks really beautiful every year, and will be even better this year in the snow.
My Dad and I in the snow last night.
The highlight of this year’s break might just be the trip to New
Orleans. Out of sheer luck, my roommate Laura will happen to be there at the same time, visiting friends and family. I’ve never been there, nor has anyone in my family, so it’ll be great to be shown around the city by some (almost) natives. The other serious benefit of this travel situation is that it limits the amount of time I have to spend sans-roommate. After living with someone and seeing them round the clock for a full semester, it’s very very strange to be apart.
One of my roommates and I before formal.
I’ll actually be back at Hopkins for all of Intersession this year, which is a big change from last year when I loafed about in London with some old friends, and attempted to find entertainment in the NJ suburbs while all my friends were back at school. It was a relaxing time, but I nearly lost my mind of boredom, and I can’t wait to get back to Hopkins. I’ll be working in Admissions, and taking a class called “Free Will and Determinism, a Psychological Perspective.” I’m not entirely sure what that means, but it seems really interesting and I’ll be taking it with a friend as well….and it’s pass-fail.
More from Winter Formal!
I’m excited to be back for Intersession 
as it kind of gives me a middle-ground with returning to school. I only have classes 2 or 3 days a week, so I have plans to visit my best friend from high school at Notre Dame, swing through Chicago to see my cousin and her new baby, and head back to Summit with my friend Megan to celebrate her amazing 20th birthday. Hopefully I’ll also be able to fit in some day trips to Washington DC and Philly to visit more high school friends, but I’m really excited about having so much time to travel while still being at Hopkins.
More frolicking in the snow.
Even though I’m still winding down from this semester and how incredibly busy it’s been, I’m so exciting for what’s coming up in the spring. I have a bunch of great classes (and luckily, fewer than last semester), I’m going to be training to be a tour guide, might be working at an internship, and the spring is always so fun anyway. Right after we get back from break, official recruitment and rush begin, which will be so fun. I can’t wait to be on the other side of the process, and I’m excited to get a great group of new Phis.
This has been a great semester and I’m so happy to be home recuperating from everything. I hope you all have a wonderful and restful holiday season and a happy new year.
-Lauren
p.s. CONGRATULATIONS NEWLY ADMITTED CLASS OF 2014!!!
Dec
It’s the mostttttt wonderful time of the yearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!! No, no, not Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whatever else you celebrate or don’t celebrate. I mean finals at Hopkins.
Sorry for the weird intro. It’s a wonderful time of year because it means most of us will be home in 2 weeks or less, and will return at the end of January. But of course, as students, we fail to see this wonderful-ness until after exams are over, and rightfully so. It’s a rough period because it’s the time to make up any bad midterm/paper grades that you got during the semester…and this puts a lot of pressure on us. It’s also easy to do the reverse–get great grades during the semester and then mess up because of a bad final, which are usually worth 1/3-1/2 or more of your grade. Sorry if this scares you kiddos, but this is the reality of college. And as scary as it may be, you don’t have to over-overstress or be in the dark about how to conquer finals. Now, I haven’t found a fool proof method that always ensures success on these finals, but I do know one thing students can/should do if they feel in the dark about finals–talk to your professors!
Hence the title of this blog (still MJ songs). We’re all in the dark about how to prepare for exams at one point or another. Personally, I’ve found that speaking to professors outside of the classroom helps with this a lot. Many students find professors unapproachable, which is understandable; they do have PhDs and prizes and awards and whatnot. However, learning to get over that is a good thing to consider. Some professors are willing to talk to you about your exam/paper track record and see what you may have been doing wrong/need to improve on. And who better to get advice from than the person who grades your stuff? 
Example. Organic chemistry hasn’t been going the way I would have liked for it to go. Fine. Happens to the best of us. So I went to the professor to talk to him about what I could be doing wrong and how to best study for his exams. He actually took my exams from me and looked at the types of mistakes I made, and concluded that he was optimistic about my performance on the final because the mistakes looked like ones due to time constraints and anxiety, rather than a severe comprehension issue. He then told me that my method of studying (reading the text and answering some questions) wasn’t the best way to go; rather, I should attack the problems first (and do more of them) then go back to the text as a reference. Then he told me the score range I would need to get on the final to get the class grade I want. Who says professors are all scary beings?
For another class, I have a chunky research paper due, and I’m kind of clueless. Thankfully, we have the opportunity to go to office hours and speak with her about our paper and whatnot.
So, my whole point–yes, finals can seem like impending doom and they are on ALL of our minds (I think this is why all of the other recent entries are about finals…sorry for not being more original). BUT, you don’t have to be in the dark about them. Not all professors will do what mine did, but a good amount will, and there are also upperclassmen and TAs who can help with this also.
Now it’s time for me to really REALLY stop procrastinating by watching GLEE over and over again and looking up every possible tidbit of information I can find about the show and its characters. It’s getting kind of creepy.
If you’re having high school finals also, suerte!!! (Good luck!)
-Dominique
Dec
So my mind is really not here right now. I quickly dived right out of Thanksgiving mode into my last full week of classes this semester. Right now I feel like my mind is in the rice paddies of Cambodia investigating just how the landmine situation there can be reexamined through a gender lens. And in a few hours it may, or well hopefully, will be in Brazil looking at why in the world as countries develop they seem to feel the need for mega hydroelectric power plants. On Monday, I’ll be looking at the relationship between smoking and tuberculosis. In actuality, my mind is in the library right now forcing my hands to write, write, write (or well research, research, research)…in hopes of hitting 60 pages in the next two weeks.
All I know is that I’ll be writing, writing, and writing some more. And well, you see, I’m all about the word play.
P.S. Because this really wasn’t a blog, read a blog I recently posted about farrowing cages for work (my
Dec
Hello, again
I’m now back at Hopkins, and may have just experienced the fastest week of my life, which (considering how soon exams are) does not bode well for me. This was the last full week of classes before we transition into reading and exam periods, so it was a lot of wrapping things up, and trying to start reviewing for the impending finals–eek. On the upside though, it’s the most wonderful time of year! Christmas and my birthday are perfectly spaced, and I have been counting down since the big 1-9 this summer to my favorite holiday ever. Before I chat about my pseudo-problematic Christmas obsession though, let’s deal with the most recent holiday…
Thanksgiving was wonderful! It’s always so nice to be home, particularly this year. I’ve had a rather rough fall, both at home and at school, so it was great to be back with my family and have so much to give thanks for. It was wonderful to be able to see so many of my friends from high school–my parents have been kind enough for the past two years to let me have a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with a bunch of girls from Kent Place. It’s always so funny to catch up with everyone, and it inevitably ends with people crying because they’re laughing so hard. My high school experience was very singular and slightly strange, so it’s always good to catch up with people who know what Chumley is, who remember things like the Mabie House, senior privileges, and the blindfolded dance competition at Mardi Gras (seriously).
The Thanksgiving day parade and my sister and I at home.
Back at Hopkins, my roommates and I spent some serious time decorating. We now have a great holiday themed room, unfortunately we haven’t done much else. Obviously, little has changed since freshman year when I spent the better part of the week after Thanksgiving learning how to make the best paper snowflakes ever (thank you, Jillie). Really useful skill.
I wish I could take credit for these amazing snowflakes, but I won’t lie, mine aren’t too much worse. It’s a well developed procrastination tool.
Now that we’re officially into the acceptable Christmas-celebrating time, I am having trouble balancing between Christmas excitement and serious exam 
fear. It’s really difficult to count down to Christmas without also counting down to exams. I have a rather unpleasant schedule this year with almost nothing at all until the last few days of exams period (exams are assigned based on the hour that your lecture meets), so it’s becoming tough to schedule my time out so far in advance. Luckily, in the mean time there’s a lot of exciting stuff going on–making it still more difficult to study, but at least it’s really fun.
Unfortunately, I’ll be missing an exciting Hopkins tradition (Lighting of the Quad) on Monday, but it’s because of our great Winter Phi Mu Formal. Because we rush second semester, I’ve never been to winter formal, so I suppose it’s a good trade off, but really I was quite excited to see the Christmas lights turn on all over campus. Every group on campus is trying to fit in one last thing before break so these two weeks have been a whirlwind of activities–Hopkins “Top Model” for charity, the Octopodes and All Nighters acapella concerts, a few last rush events for the sororities, a bunch of exciting speakers, etc. etc. etc. Reading period is quite a challenge–it’s an incredibly social week, but in reality you’re supposed to be studying/writing papers/stuffing every possible fact into your brain before you take your final exams. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to the next week, and resigned to camping out in the library to churn out the papers I’ve been avoiding.
One of the more exciting things I’ve found out recently is that despite an slightly unpleasant exam schedule, 
I’ll be able to come home just in time to see the winter concert, STAR, at my high school. My younger sister, Suzi, is a stellar singer and a really excellent flute player, so I can’t wait to see her being a musical genius. STAR is a great tradition at my high school that I’d love to be at regardless, but I’m so happy I’ll be able to see Suzi’s last Kent Place concert!For now, it looks like I should be off to get a bit of last-minute studying in before going out to celebrate three birthdays, the end of classes, Christmas and Fridays!
