Okay, not really sure why I chose this title but it sounds fun so I will go with it (still doing the Michael Jackson songs as my titles thing, BTW :) ).
Junior year! Whoudathunk?? This is cliche and annoying I know, but NO PUEDO CREERLO (I cannot believe it!) ! Wasn’t I just a dinky freshman applying for SAAB? (No offense to freshmen ;) ) Now I have to kinda start thinking about stuff! Freshman year and sophomore year are more relaxed becaue many students are still floating from major to major, but one huge thing marking a difference in my jr. year is that I have to start growing up:
-Like taking the GRE (graduate school standardized exam), thinking about what I want to do in Public Health, applications for grad school and grants/scholarships, possible jobs/internships, really deciding if I want this Africana Studies minor or not, how I can/whether I will study abroad…it’s so much! But very necessary.
hmm University of Michigan...possible grad school?
-And more responsibilities. I am still in SAAB (durh), Hopkins Christian Fellowship, and Multicultural Student Volunteers like I have been for the past 2 years. But this year I’m adding being a Chemistry Lab TA (that’s right…ta-ing one of THE most notorious classes at Hopkins mwahahahaha ;) ), being an Admissions Representative (giving interviews to prospective students) and possibly joining or at least attending more cultural clubs. Maybe. I might even think about taking some dance classes, which is a huge thing for me to even consider…I’m not much of a dancer but I guess I can’t say that until I’ve actually tried…laugh out loud?
-And trying to be more organized and actually stick with using a planner for more than a few months. And trying to actually like what I am learning rather than just cramming for an exam then literally forgetting everything I learned…I want to actually appreciate what I am doing and the fact that I am able to learn at this fine institution. That sounds weird but seriously, we spend all day wishing class would end so we can get out and do what…facebook? twitter? Then when the year is over, it’s like WOW I wish I could have gotten more out of those things. Am I weird and is this just me? Maybe..but just throwing it out there!
-And everything just FEELS different. Almost all juniors are living in off campus apartments, so the whole centralized feeling you have freshman and sophomore year has basically dissapated because everyone is in different places. Also, as of now, I am officially a commuter student which has definitely been making my year feel strange and kind of scattered and way more stressful. So yea..Junior year is very different feeling.
Anyway, the halfway point of my college career has made me look back and think about how I want to spend my last 2 years at Hopkins. I definitely want to be more spontaneous (but still within certain limits of course!) and explore my town more and be more read and learned and to just be able to take in the moments when I am in them–good and bad. I want to be able to make sense out of my experience and to take from it.
i may even start allowing people to take pics of me! (i hate pics) as a spontaneous thing.
So here here, to junior year! (mmmk definitely did not mean to make that rhyme!)
-Dominique
Dominique I can’t believe you’re a junior either – I remember reading your freshman blog in high school! Good luck with everything this year and cute picture btw!
Haha thanks! I still can’t really believe it and it makes me jealous of the new saabies =]
Take a deep breath. You’ll rock at being a junior.