Firstly, congratulations to the newly admitted members of the class of 2015!
I must apologize for my lack of blogging. I think I’m not the only one to admit that the end of the semester seems to fill up with an unmanageable workload that somehow becomes manageable. Just a day after my last final, I relied on friends (and their Zipcar driving, recycling, storage, and plant-sitting abilities) to make sure I was completely moved out of my apartment.
Why? Um, well, because my life would just not be nearly as exciting if I stayed put in the same room for longer than 4 months. Actually, that’s a lie. I’m a bit tired of living in piles. The truth is that I originally was going to graduate a semester early but decided that a Hopkins education was just too valuable to cut short.
And, well, now, I’m currently headed on a plane with my dad to Guadalajara, Mexico to visit my grandma who I haven’t seen in at least four years. The speed of my life, at 21 years of age, is already uncomfortably fast and about the only thing I’ve been able to plan ahead of time for is Christmas shopping. Where am I going with this?
There’s no denying that, at this perceived rate of time, I’ll be a college graduate before I know it. So, faced with uncertainty ahead, what is keeping me from having an anxiety attack?
Well, this past semester I had the chance to spend time with a few of my favorite female Hopkins graduates. Suddenly the answer became clear. It’s… them – those that were just recently in my shoes and managed to get through this life transition. Not just to get through it, but to succeed.
I introduce to you a few of those inspirational hens making up the party of Blue Jays (Did you know all female birds are called hens? And that a group of Blue Jays is called a party or a band?! Proof: http://www.birdnature.com/groupnames.html)
Why just females? Well, partially because if I highlighted the male graduates, I would need a much longer flight to write this blog. But, also, because it wasn’t until 1970 that women were even able to step foot on the beloved Homewood campus as undergraduates. Due to this male advantage, the alumni sex ratio is not exactly even, so it’s important to highlight successful female alums.
Steph (center) and Janine (right) – two public health studies graduates -
Where are they now? Less than a year since graduating, Steph is now at Columbia pursuing a Masters in Public Health and Janine is at Harvard Med. Whether they know it or not, I’ve looked up to these two since I stepped foot on campus.
I met Steph as a pre-frosh and she has continued to energize me. She kept herself busy at Hopkins and seemed to play and run nearly every club and intramural sport out there while still playing in the orchestra, working at student life, and cooking as if she had a family to feed. Throughout all of this, she inspired me to take beautiful notes in epidemiology and even helped design the my JH portal that so many of you newly admitted students will simply take for granted.
Janine is well…Janine. I wish everyone when they thought of pre-med at Hopkins could picture Janine. I met her through Public Health Student Forum. In fact, I can thank her for being appointed as freshman representative. She managed to race in cycling, become an environmental advocate on campus (which I believed led to her dressing up as a polar bear), and take off an entire semester to pursue tuberculosis epidemiology research in Morocco. Although she *only* made the third team of USA Today’s 2010 All USA Academic Team, she is definitely first team quality in my book.
Sharlene – a ’09 public health studies graduate
Where is she now? At Google. (Now you see why it’s so hard for me to answer the – “what can a public health graduate do with a degree?” question) Residential Advisors (RAs) are meant to serve as role models for their residents. I don’t know if they do for everyone, but they definitely did for me. Sharlene was my RA as a freshman. Although I would automatically be spending time with her since she was co-president of Public Health Student Forum, I had no idea that an RA would want to make room to spend even more time with her residents but Sharlene definitely did. She would eat breakfast and study with me. She too would find time during college to run away… to the World Health Organization! Although she’s always had dreams to become a doctor (and has already decided to eventually attend University of Maryland),she is currently working at Google on the AdSense team. That’s right she’s in…advertising!
JHU_Jackie (far left) - a ’10 philosophy graduate and JHU_Michelle (second from the right) - an ’08 neuroscience graduate - In this picture, I imagine we’re all being entertained by one of JHU_Daniel’s stories.
Ever wonder what happens to those crazy students that answer your questions at open houses or write those blogs? Well, they’ve all done some awesome things. I’ve been able to see two of my favorites Student Admissions Advisory Board alums this semester.
The first one up is Jackie. In college, she inspired me by simply being able to write philosophy papers. If that’s not enough, she is one of the best, and most dependable, study buddies I will ever have. Where is she now? Well, currently she’s on a train from CT back to our lovely nation’s capital. How do I know that? Well, we tend to talk a lot. Although, she can envision herself attending law school, she currently is working on all things social media for the No Labels movement. Let’s just say that when terms like “hyper-partisanship” are no longer used in our newspapers, I know that Jackie will have been a part of it.
And then there’s Michelle. As a freshman, I was a student with Michelle in Intro to Fiction and Poetry. I thought of her as an intimidating senior – one that I thought might break our curve (later I found out there was no curve in this class) and wasn’t afraid of being a few minutes late to class. I highly doubt back then that I could’ve imagined regularly talking to her for the next three years. As a freshman, I admired her as a Wilson fellow taking on epilepsy research while also finding the time to act in many productions. I’m positive I wasn’t the only one admiring her; she would go on to earn a spot on the JHU Board of Trustees as young trustee. What’s she up to? She works for a small company known as glassCanopy, where she helps with marketing Silicon Valley startup companies.
Tashi (far right) – a ’10 history graduate
I’ve been so lucky that Tashi decided to stay in Baltimore this year. This past semester, she has opened her door to her (and even her mother’s) delicious cooking more than once. She is one of the most giving and caring people that I know. Don’t believe me? She ended up having to go to the emergency room three times for a series of rabies shots all thanks to rescuing a terrified cat. I doubt she would have believed me if I told her that, in less than a year, she would be employed as a research program assistant at Johns Hopkins Department of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. But sure enough, that’s where she is: researching (and working directly) with youth.
Well, I could keep going on and on, especially if I include alums overseas. Don’t believe me?
- There’s Jenna, a ’10 chemical and biomolecular engineering, graduate who is now in Saudi Arabia at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology getting a masters.
- And Ayano, a ’10 public health studies graduate in Taiwan for a year as part of the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship program.
- Speaking of Ayano, her childhood friend, Alexandra, is a ’10 international studies graduate who is now a Peace Corps health volunteer in Cambodia.
And I can’t even say they are the only Hopkins graduates that I know on Fulbright and Peace Corps programs…. See I really can keep going and going, but I think you see the point.
Jessica – a ’11 (let’s hope!) public health studies graduate wearing her Christmas best
Well, I currently do not feel like a college graduate nor do I have any idea what continent I’ll be on next year. Yet, I find reassurance in knowing that the above alums this time back in their senior year didn’t know where they would be now.
To the high school students out there, this blog hopefully gives you the same reassurance that it has given me. The most important thing for me to do when I get worried about the future is to look forward. And when I just can’t seem to imagine the future, I look to those friends (or even just acquaintances) who are recent graduates. So whether you have just been denied (or even accepted) from your top choice school, the most important thing to remember is that your hard work will pay off.
Awww Jess, I feel so honored! Thanks for the shoutout and you’ve definitely highlighted some of my favorite people at Hopkins with Janine, Steph, Alexandra, Ayano et al!
LOVE THIS POST! You always write such inspirational blogs :)
Ah Jess this is great. Thanks for the shoutout. Just so you know last semester at KAUST there were three female JHU Alums working on their Masters and another one teaching math at the high school. Small world or just a large alumni base? I think both.