Caught in Between

Hey guys!

So, after my awesome internship ended, I had about a week and a half to just chill at home and do nothing. It was so boring. I wasn’t made to do nothing. I guess this is why I’ve had a job every year since the summer after my freshman yr of high school and even during the school years I was doing something. And no,  I will not turn into a workaholic when I get older haha. I just cannot stand to sit around…I get anxious and weird and start literally losing my mind. I have yet to learn how to just be.

I feel like antsy high school seniors who have in mind the schools to which they want to apply, and are excited to move on with their lives but aren’t quite ready yet. Well, unlike you all, I only have one school on my list of public health grad schools and I am pretty much so clueless about the whole process. In high school, my mom was breathing down my neck about everything (think labeled folders with materials from each college) and now she is as clueless as I…which is fine because I am an adult now and should be able to deal with this on my own right? *cue nervous awkward laugh*

But hopefully as time moves on, I’ll figure it out. It’s harder because unlike HS where EVERYONE is going to college, in college, everyone is NOTTTTT going to grad school, and those who are aren’t even applying at the same times.

This is freaking me out so I’ll do what any other normal college senior does and not think about it. :)

Anyways, I am about to be really busy with RA training. An RA is a resident advisor–an upperclassman who lives in a dorm with residents and is responsible for making living there pretty much so awesome. I hope I can live up.

OH and btw, this is my last post on this blog…follow me on my new senior year blog In A Different Light!

(WARNING: This blog is for the serious blog readers…it’s long! sorry :( But hopefully worth it…)

This whole summer I’ve been in the middle of it all. And I’ve been lovin’ it.

I hate taking pictures of myself. A slightly unflattering pic of me at work.

That’s one of the reasons I took this internship–I wanted to be in the community. Yes, I live in Baltimore, but I have never really been IN Baltimore, doing meaningful work in places that look like something you’d see on The Wire.

(SIDENOTE/RANT  And because I know you’re thinking this, and because I may get this question…I’ll say that the show is accurate in its depictions of its pieces of Baltimore–but guess what y’all–it’s not all of Baltimore!  The show does a good job of DOING WHAT IT’S SUPPOSED TO DO–show the problems of Baltimore  in their truest, rawest forms. I would be a LIAR if I didn’t say that urban blight was real and a serious issue. But dang flabbit if you all think that ALL of Baltimore is like that! IT’S NOT! And I hope you’ve seen many of the positive things Baltimore does have to offer through the other students’ blogs to back up my assertion. And those blogs don’t even cover all of it, to put our city in perspective. /ENDRANT    :)  )

So yea, that’s not the point of this blog. The point is to show how I can see this place as beautiful even though I see these “wire like” things every day. Yes, even with it’s problems, Baltimore is a beautiful place, and it is VERY possible to enjoy it and all that it has to offer in the middle of it all. Just give Baltimore a chance to be Baltimore. Don’t close yourselves off. Talk to people in the community. They don’t bite :) Do service and get to know the problems and why they exist, rather than just know that they DO exist. Learn about the wonderful non profits working to change people’s lives step by step. As Hopkins students, we can easily do two different things:  stay stuck in our bubble and do nothing really meaningful in Baltimore (ME FOR 2.5 YEARS–FAIL) or reallllly get involved (WHAT YOU SHOULD DO!) Why complain and not try to be a part (no matter how ‘small’ but a part nonetheless) of the solution?

ANYWAYS…

So I work in Sandtown-Winchester, a neighborhood in West Baltimore. More specifically, I work on Pennsylvania Avenue, which used to be a THRIVING place.  Musicians like Cab Calloway, Diana Ross, and Billie Holliday stopped on Pennsylvania Avenue to perform in the Royal Theater…it was one of THE places to perform if you wanted to be somebody. Pennsylvania Avenue had theaters, clubs, dance halls, Black owned shops, and comfortable black businesses and homes.

So yea life happened…shops closed, MLK was assassinated, race riots happened, jobs disappeared, people moved away, and Sandtown declined.

If you were to take a walk along there today, you wouldn’t see the historic Pennsylvania Avenue…take a look:

storefronts

rowhomes

unhealthy corner stores

What’s  here now? Chinese food stores (I went to one for lunch the other day though, it was good and cheap!) , liquor stores, nail salons (went to one of those too last week…nice and cheap and good!! you find some gems in the hood :) ), little mom n pop stores, clothes/shoes shops, old store fronts, rowhomes, beauty supply stores…no major stores or retailers.

People wandering the streets at all hours of the day and night. I had the wonderful experience of getting lost last night (with a GPS too…I’m great) and getting twisted up on some streets I really didn’t want to be on, and I’m sure the people I saw wandering them didn’t want to be there either but unlike me, they really didn’t have a choice.

But here is the beauty in the middle of it all I was talking about. THE PEOPLE. THE COMMUNITY. THE PEOPLE THAT MAKE UP THE COMMUNITY.

Whatchu talkin’ bout, Dominique?

Aight. So my work again. I pulled up on the first day and saw this sign:

There are actually several on the street in front of my job, and many many more in the surrounding streets

And I was like “Whaaa? WHERE am I?” And ya… we’ve seen this activity around my job. And some other weird things. One day I came outside and some teenager was banging on my car and I had to deal with that situation (he was just sitting there tho, bored and using his hand, not a tool or anything so that was good); some guy beating up his girlfriend across the street; a small mob up the street from my job that stabbed a boy (that was at night though).

Maybe in a former life I’d be fazed by it, but I’m not now. And that’s because I am surrounded by people who love this community despite its shortcomings and are willing to live in it and love on it until it changes. THAT’S BEAUTY. (Don’t get me wrong, I HATE that this stuff happens and I’m NOTTTTTT excusing the behavior because it’s terrible, but what I’m saying is that I am touched that there are people who have hearts big enough to be filled with compassion to want to stay and help  these issues rather than turn around, GIVE UP, and run away. Ya feel me?)

This was behind a school...I'm guessing people play ball here

People can look from the outside in and turn their noses up at Baltimore all they want but what are they doing to help? I care about the opinions of the people who are putting themselves in the middle of it all each and everyday to make a difference in their beloved communities. You put the help where it is needed…so if that means people have to move into these communities to help them, then so be it. That’s why I love my internship–everyone working here lives in Sandtown.  People don’t try to come from the outside in to “fix” Sandtown, then go home to other places…they move here and LIVE here and have lived here and are working to transform it HONESTLY from the inside out.

These are some of the houses that have be rehabbed by Sandtown's Habitat for Humanity--working and living from the inside out.

Baltimore is a friendly place too. Yea, people can be abrasive, but they will say hello and good morning even if you don’t know them. That’s beauty, right? You have to be willing to put yourself out there and say “hello” to see the friendliness. How many people actually do that? Now, I’m not saying be dangerous and put yourself out there to creepers…so don’t tell your parents that I said that!!! But I mean just when you’re in a store or in a place doing work, saying a simple howdy or good morning or hello…you know what I mean. And you’ll see that this is quite the friendly place.

The biggest thing I’ve seen in Sandtown is the urban ministry though. I won’t go into the details, but urban ministry has been what’s really been giving Sandtown that sense of community. If you’ve ever traveled around Baltimore city, in the really blighted areas, you will notice that there are churches on every corner. Literally. Here, there’s a philosophy of Relocation (moving and living among the people), Reconciliation (the heart of the church), and Redistribution (giving resources equally). If you’re interested in learning more about Sandtown, here is a really good article, a nice quick read, about it: http://www.sndtwn.org/urbanite1104.pdf

That being said, I’ve already been planning to come back to Martha’s Place (name of my internship) to support its events; to attend the ladies’ graduation ceremonies; to just check up on them; to help out when needed…I’ve formed a relationship and I can’t just stop it now. I mentioned before that my first 2.5 years here, I didn’t do any kind of steady service. (I just started this spring semester) But being here this summer has shown me that it’s a two-way street. I help and I get helped. Service is one of the really good ways to get to know this place and it’s not a cookie cutter thing–there are several types of problems that requires several types of solutions.

So yea, that’s why Baltimore is beautiful to me.  I’d never heard of anything like this before working at my internship this summer–this sense of character, pride, and love–in the middle of it all. And it’s there for everyone able and willing to see it! :)

I do that a lot–my gas tank gets on E and then I end up running on fumes. I like being busy and I guess I forget that I need to take a break–and this means taking a break from fun also. As in just sleeping. And BEING.

I really need to stop driving around like this, esp. since my gas light is broken.

I took my GRE exam yesterday (Like the SAT for graduate school) and it has been the bane of my existence for the past month or so. I had to rush to study for it and take it because I didn’t know I only had until the middle of July before the format changed to something with which I’d be completely unfamiliar. So, I sucked i up, paid my 160$ (WHAT?????) and started studying for the exam.

It was weird having to remember math from 10th grade but it came back pretty easily. What was worse was the Verbal section, which requires one to know thousands of antiquated words in the hopes that the ones you do know will show up on the exam. Not too bad if you’re into that kind of thing. I’m not into that kind of thing LOL.

Anyway, I took it and got a score which I feel is decent, so I’m happy it’s over and I can have my life back! I have so much left to do this summer because Baltimore has so much to offer. If you’re thinking about coming here for college (which you probably are since you’re reading this blog ;)  ), keep in mind that the adventurous spirit is the happiest here.

What do I have left to do?

-Take a DC day trip to the Smithsonian and the Zoo

-ARTSCAPE (America’s largest free outdoor festival)

-American Visionary Arts Museum

-Great Blacks in Wax Museum

-15 fitness classes at the Baltimore Merrit Athletic Club Downtown (whoohoo!)

-NY trip with one of my best friends and her summer roommate from France who just HAS to have the touristy NYC experience

-Picnic in Sherwood Gardens

But before all of that, I need to take time to just BE. and SLEEP. I think we forget that sometimes. If some of you guys are rising seniors and starting the application process (as I am for grad school, YIKES!). take time for yourselves because it’s about to get hectic!

I think that is about all for now! I’ll be back soon with more on my internship as it end in the coming weeks :(

Until next time,

Dominique

I guess I should write about my internship, huh? :)

We’re 5 weeks in and I really don’t get how. Like I don’t understand how it has been possible for time to fly by SO QUICKLY. I really did just get there! Wow. Wowowowowowow. Hard to believe I will be finished in 3 measly weeks. If you couldn’t tell, I’m upset about this.

So this internship is thru Hopkins, namely thru the Center for Social Concern–Community Impact Internship Program. An anonymous donor (if you happen to be reading this blog very randomly, I’d just like to say THANK YOU so much for giving students like me who want to be in the community but weren’t quite sure how, this opportunity…words cannot express how grateful I am :)  ) gave 1.25 million dollars to the CSC for this program and for 5,000$ internships. I bit my lip, applied, and was accepted along with 24 other eager and socially-concerned students of all ages. Read more here: JHU Gazette Article

So, Martha’s Place. This is a transitional housing center for women seeking to overcome drug addiction and homelessness. Now, I can’t really tell you what compelled me to choose this area of social concern except for curiosity. The application allowed us to rank areas of interest–environmental issues, women, children and family issues, criminal justice, health policy, and education. I guess it was more process of elimination and the desire to try something new. I was VERY skeptical at first (why do we do that? Like why are we scared of trying new things?) but I am so glad I’m here now. I’d never really thought about drug addiction and homelessness beyond what those things superficially presented themselves as–sad situations that needed to be fixed. But, being here has made me see addiction in a different light, and it’s made me see the strength of willpower and desire.Here, addiction is seen as a disease that can be treated.

And of course, it’s all public healthy–but on the community side. Last summer, my amazing internship was health policy focused and all of the things we did affected urban areas in southwest Michigan. But there was no interaction with the community. This summer, I am deep in the community and seeing the ramifications of public health and health policy from a distance–so it’s cool seeing things from the opposite side.

This is Martha's Place...the women live in this house while they're in the program. The mural is kinda like the face of Martha's Place.

Women in the program have to have completed a 28-30 day detox treatment program before entering. So MP is more of a recovery place than a treatment facility, and focuses on making the women independent. How?

-Structure. The house has strict rules that many of these women aren’t used to. Keep in mind several never grew up in stable homes, so having a 6pm curfew, having to be told to do chores (that get checked daily), having to have your bags searched and receipts checked everytime you enter your own house, not being allowed to have a cell phone, having to have someone else manage your money for you…and much more…would be quite strange. Upon first glance this may seem harsh, but for people who never had to live by rules, it’s kind of necessary.

-Focus on job attainment. The women have to diligently search for jobs every day. Many have records, so this is hard, but not impossible. Martha’s Place sets them up with a job employment agency and works with the ladies on how to do job searches.

-Recovery and Restoration. Each day (except for weekends and holidays), the women have to attend 3 NA meetings as a part of their recovery. I actually went to one yesterday because one of the women was celebrating one year being clean and it was really something. Hearing her story about using drugs and being married to a drug dealer and doing all sorts of behavior she thought she would never do was just crazy. I loved her honesty and her willingness to remain clean, and I could see other people at the meeting were inspired. And of course, there were others who were just there, not really listening or getting anything from the meeting. But what I have been learning is that as long as they keep coming back, one day something may just click. That’s how it is most of the time–multiple failures before an addict finally gets tired of him/herself and finally decides to change–for good.

this is hanging in the hallway. i loved it so much it's my phone's wallpaper.

-Personal Enrichment. MP is under an umbrella organization called Newborn Holistic Ministries, so it has Christian foundations and the women are encouraged (though not forced) to embrace that. Whenever I am here, I see many of them reading Bibles and journaling, as well as writing letters. They can’t watch tv until 4pm so when they’re not cooking, job searching, or at NA meetings, they’re reading or writing usually.

-Therapy. The women meet with an addictions counselor weekly, as well as a therapist. They each also have a sponsor whom they can call when they are struggling and need someone really special to talk to. The sponsors are usually former addicts who are fully recovered.

dining room/sitting area where they hang out and have meetings

I spend much of my time in the house at the front desk, working on various projects, answering phones, getting the ladies their medications and watching them take it, answering questions, monitoring phone usage, checking groceries and receipts, and other things. The other half of my time is spent at the administrative office across the street, where I talk with my supervisor about what needs to be done.

Of course, women living together is always weird ‘cuz cattyness comes out. And it’s encouraged that those feelings be talked about rather than suppressed. It’s weird being an intern because I hear a lot of behind the scenes stuff on the administrative side after things happen, but I don’t see them happen in real time. I guess being an intern is just weird that way in general. Being in this kind of place (a nonprofit I should say), I am allowed to hear more than I would at another type of agency because of the small amount of staff and just because of the real atmosphere. People’s lives are trying to be transformed so I guess there’s no need to be weird and hush hush–what needs to be said and done needs to be said and done and fixed. And I love that.

I think I will write a part 2 with more personal feelings about my internship as the end nears. Stay tuned! :)

-Dominique

(Before I start, I just wanna say that this is the 2nd anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death, and if you didn’t notice, up until a few blogs ago I named all of my blogs from last year and this year after his songs because his music was and is just that awesome. So yea, for those who care, there is it is, and that was why I named my blogs after his music. However, I think it’s time to adopt a new naming tradition. But until I figure that out, I’ll go with ‘regular’ names. We love you MJ!)

I admit, I don’t know any Latin and I wanted to know how to say seize the summer instead of seize the day, so I Googled it. Forgive me if this is incorrect! Anyway, I had it in my head that I was going to make my last undergraduate summer as amazing as possible. I think it’s been working so far!

This summer, I am here in good old Bmoreeeee, living at my apartment and actually being around my Hopkins friends for the first time in terms of being here for the summer. We’re all the same and still close, but we’re old now. Well, you guys see us as old. I still see us as innocent freshmen entering in summer of 2008, waiting to see what was gonna happen. But I guess that’s not the case–we’re old and now I feel like we’re just “professional students” using this last year to apply to jobs and grad school while finishing up last minute requirements.

One of which is the GRE–so I have been crazily cramming for the exam in 3 weeks because of poor planning/neglect on my part. Thank God for serendipity through a random conversation with a person that led me to realize that I basically had no time to take it before the format changed in August. So I rushed to register for a day before any more spots got filled. I got shut out of later dates but oh well, I got what I could. I had a prep course last summer through the aforementioned amazing internship but wasn’t ready/able to take it until this summer so here goes nothing! First and last chance to get it right. So yep…3 week cramming starts now. I just made an intense study schedule complete with online practice exam allowances and I am slightly scared but such is life! If you were wondering, the GRE is kind of like the SAT, but for graduate school. THIS MEANS I AM GETTING OLD!

My prep books from last summer. Peep the unhealthy bowl of fruity pebbles in the background.

But I don’t want it to feel like that just yet, which is why I am seizing my summer and trying to make the most out of it. I am going to more places and trying new things and spending more money (if you knew me, you’d be shocked because I am quite possibly one of the cheapest people alive–but I came to the realization that in order to live a little, I’d have to spend a little) in order to do these things. I’m proud of myself thus far!

3 weeks ago my friends and I went to a Jazz and Blues Festival. Last weekend, I dragged my sister to NYC and we, along with a few 2011 graduates, saw a Spoken Word poetry show  that was wonderful. I have spoken about my love/hate relationship with poetry before, but something compelled me to be open minded and to go to this show. I saw these poets on so many people’s FB pages and then I watched numerous videos of them on YouTube then I said wow I have to go to this show. Yes I was confused for a good bit of it but I enjoyed it nonetheless and am hoping to see more of them! If you’re interested in Spoken Word in the Black Arts Movement, these young people will blow your minds. Here’s their site: The Striver’s Row

All of the poetry was dynamic and explosive like this, like BAM

One of the poets, Joshua Bennett, and I after the show. If you havent't seen this young man's work YOUTUBE HIM!

This weekend, actually today, I am going to a dinner play with my mother and sister. I”m actually upset about that because There is ROOTSFest going on in Baltimore today, which is a celebration of the arts in an attempt to showcase Baltimore’s beauty and initiatives with regard to empowering citizens and the city itself through art, and Talib Kweli among others are giving free shows tonight. LATINOFest is also going on today! But both events will be going on tomorrow (just without the concerts :(  ) so maybe I can stop by then.

Tomorrow, I will be taking advantage of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum’s of Maryland African American History and Culture FREE Admission because of its 6th anniversary, and there’s a lot going on with community events bringing attention to issues with black males so I am excited for that. I’ve been before but it’s always good to go again, especially when it’s free. A group of friends are coming with  me as well, none of whom are black :) and I love stuff like that–when we reach out and explore cultures different from our own.

So yea Baltimore has a LOT going on in the summer! And it’s only June! Next on my list is the American Visionary Arts Museum–I got 7 dollar tickets from Groupon and am really excited to go because I keep hearing such cool things about it. I’ll write more about that place once I go but if you are interested now, google it. It’s known for it’s self-made artists, in a nutshell. Then a DC trip is in order. I haven’t really been to DC since I’ve been at Hopkins because I’ve never really had the time to go and do stuff (without being a tourist), so I am making that a priority!

And I’ve just been trying to expand my knowledge of things in general. Reading more news blogs and fewer junk blogs…things that are just more academic in nature. I am finishing up my Africana Studies minor this fall so I have been trying to read more on Black issues in America and beyond, namely in the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean, and Brazil. And there’s always the good ‘ol reading for literary pleasure. :) But that will have to wait till I finish my 3 week GRE cram session.

So yes, carpe aestatem, till next time!

-Dominique :)

Now that I have gotten a good 3 weeks of summer in, I’ve had some time to think about life and school since my junior year has ended. I’m still shocked at that and getting emails that read “JHU [seniors]” is kind of freaking me out…I mean this is it! The last year! No more cushion and no more babying. It’s both terrifying and exciting at the same time. I feel like seniors aren’t real students anymore. Instead, we’re just professional students finishing up the last year just because we have to, but the real aim is to find a grad school or job. I’m “old” now and expected to know everything and to have been everywhere. That being said, the question of “Who am I?” still remains.

And I’m totally fine with that. Many friends are submitting applications to medical schools or taking the MCATs or LSATs, and many know exactly what they want to do after graduation–whether it’s work with a “corps” for a few years, whether it’s going straight to graduate school for a coveted degree, whether it’s to work with a specific or certain type of agency after college..I could go on. My mind keeps floating around now that I have to introduce myself as a rising senior, the question has already been coming. “Oh that’s so nice! What do you want to do?”

At this point, I dunno! I am making a list of public health graduate schools and also looking at possible jobs that I’d do before grad school. Buttttt in the midst of all that, I’m doing some soul searching in an attempt to work toward this question of who am I.

After classes ended, I went on my yearly beginning of summer retreat with my Christian group on campus, which was pretty awesome and I learned a lot about life and my future.

Here we are after a 2 something hour hike up a mountain that had what felt like 85 degree inclines--but we made it!

I didn’t do as well with my grades as I would have liked despite my hardest efforts, so coming to this retreat and getting some honest perspective about that was really encouraging and refreshing. Plus, just hanging out with my friends in a completely non school atmosphere was great! As you can see in the picture above, we climbed some sicknasty mountain that I thought would kill me but we made it up! On the way down though, the 85 degree angles got me and I fell and got owned by a rock but the scar isn’t too bad now :P

After that, I had a few days to chill before I began my internship at Martha’s Place, a transitional housing center in Southwest Baltimore for women trying to overcome drug addiction. I will admit, at first I was very wary of interning here because of my preconceived notions of the internship and how it would be set up, but I’m really glad I stuck with this site because I am enjoying it thoroughly and learning so much from it. It deserves its own entry, possibly two, so I will save my experiences thus far for a subsequent entry. Just know that it has definitely forced me to be completely out into the community, face to face with one of the biggest problems in Baltimore (drug addiction) and involved with a real way to help remedy that issue. It IRKS me when people complain about issues, like “omgee Baltimore is this and this and this” but aren’t doing anything to help anything. I don’t mean save the world–duh, no one can do that–I mean small things to get involved like volunteering once a week or once every two weeks, whatever! I just  hate when there’s so much negativity but the positivity of what’s being done to HELP these issues is never discussed/done. ANYWAY off soapbox :) I’ve really enjoyed being here and I am learning a lot from the ladies and their struggles and I hope they don’t see me as some uppity kid from Johns Hopkins who is up in their space, but we’ll see what happens as time progresses.

So at this point in time, who am I? I’m a rising senior (gulp)…I’m an intern, I’m trying to be open minded and learn new things about my community and my surroundings, I’m trying to think about what I want to do with my future and with my life, and most of all I’m just trying to enjoy it. So I’ll be back soon with an entry about my internship! for now, I leave you with an image I saw on the way home from work. It was so good I had to take a pic of it from my car.

TTYS,

Dominique

Yep--the store is called "Welcome Second Obama." A prophecy, perhaps?

I just returned from a beautiful week long retreat in Pennsylvania with my Christian group on campus, and I must say that it really helped me to put the semester into perspective, as well as the summer. Grades weren’t very good despite my hardest efforts and I was upset about that, but hey life happens and moves on. So to celebrate moving on,  have a to do/bucket list to give you guys an idea of my rising senior summer status:

-take GRE at the end of June
-Review GRE material  (I took a prep course last summer and I regret not taking the  GRE last summer)
-Internship! :) (more on that to come!)
-look into master’s programs (someone just told me that Brandeis University has a really good one for public health??)
-Research with someone at JHSPH
- def a NY trip to see Lion King on Broadway!
-Learn more about my family history and culture on my father’s side
-Embrace my Africana Studies minor and read MSNBC’s “BLack Agenda” online to learn more…just to start :)
-DC museum and zoo
-Federal hill picnics
-campus biking at night (myabe…)
-Sherwood gardens picnic

Hopefully I will actually do some of these things. We’ll see…. ;)

Hey yall!

My junior year has ended and that dreaded “rising senior” time has finally come. I really can’t believe it. I’d like to say I ended my year with a bang but I didn’t, but it’s over and science is officially done ruining my life (and my GPA!). I can look forward to summer and a community service internship that will hopefully be tons of fun…plus I have to do “grown up” that include things like looking at graduate school programs. Anyway, more on that as they transpire. Here’s my year in blogging!

I started the year talking about how everything felt different in Rockin’ Robin, because we were juniors and everyone lived off campus. Gone were the days of us being innocent underclassmen, searching for ourselves and what we wanted to do…nope, now we were upperclassmen with definite majors. And apartments. I gave an overview of my fall 2010 classes in Ease On Down the Road…again. I can’t say that was my favorite semester of classes, and it was the first time I didn’t do well in an English/Africana Studies class (those are usually my forte…they balance out my bad science grades haha).  But I will say that me not doing well that semester taught me a lot in general about school and grades and what mattered in life. Anywaysssss, Break of Dawn was just a really chill entry about my visit to the Farmer’s Market…it’s a really relaxing thing to do on Saturday mornings, especially in the fall when the weather is nice. Ease on Down the Road 2 is my favorite blog this year (READ IT!). It was a random thing I came up with and I just went with it. It’s an analogy between a corn maze I went through that weekend and Hopkins, and there’s some hidden wisdom in there that I think everyone can benefit from. :)  Off The Wall let me reminisce about the college application process because it was a common blog we SAABers did while you guys were deep into your applications–I hope you all found them helpful! I am about to go through the process again with graduate school, but this time around I won’t be as spazzy and crazy because college and life have changed my perspective. (it took me way too many tries to get the spelling of ‘perspective’ correct, btw).

I had a really cool job this year as a chemistry lab teaching assistant! I wrote about my love for it in Butterflies and Butterflies 2. Seriously, this was the first job I’ve had (and I’ve had MANY jobs…and I[m not talking regular customer service jobs…like really cool prestigious ones) this is the first one I’ve actually loved forrealz. I don’t know if I will be able to do it again for my senior year but whatever happens, I’m glad I got a chance to experience it. So amazing.  In Human Nature, I reflected on my top 2010 moments. In Workin’ Day and Night, I attempted to microblog…I think it was a failure because I re read it and it looked pretty stoopid but o well, I tried. :p In HIStory, I reflected on my last 2.5 years at Hopkins and wrote some inspirational words about not caring as much about grades and caring more about life, blase blah. My second fav blog. Or maybe it’s tied with the other one. You should read it. :)

In True Life | I Don’t Drink, I addressed the concerns around drinking that students who don’t want to drink may have. This is my second favorite blog I think, haha. I think a lot of people are afraid to voice this concern, and I wasn’t/am not, so I thought I’d write a blog about it.  I tried microblogging again in Don’t Stop till You get Enough. You tell me if it was any better (or if the 1st one was even bad). I got a lil sappy in I just Can’t Stop Loving You and talked about why I loved Hopkins. We did another common blog about our Hopkins experiences, so that’s what Meet JHU_DOMO-nique :) is all about–sorry for the weird title. Working Day and Night 2 talked about my spring semester classes. I really liked my Sociology of Disability class and my Epidemiology class…the others could go kick rocks :) And my last entry, Oh em gee….like what’s your major?? talked about why I was a Public Health Major Natural Science major (aka taking pre med courses) who is NOT planning on going to medical school.

That’s my year in blogging! Here’s a pretty picture of the sky in front of my house to relax?? you? :)

-Dominique

Ok, forgive me for that title. I don’t talk like that at all unless I’m imitating someone. Anyway,

“What’s your major?”

You’ll be asked this about a gabazillion times, regardless of where you go to college…because it is important. You go to college first and foremost to study something and to become proficient in it. So, ask me my major!

“I’m Public Health Studies, Natural Sciences.” (NOTE: the NATURAL SCIENCES/SOCIAL SCIENCES distinction no longer exist for the classes of 2013 and onward. The department did this to make the major more cohesive and more focused on public health.  Natural sciences merely meant that the pre med requirements were built in, and a number of upper level social science classes were still required on top of the Public Health core courses).

So most students who do Public Health Studies, Natural Sciences are pre med. (here’s a freshman year blog I wrote about what Public Health is: http://hopkins.typepad.com/2012ksas/2009/02/what-is-public-health-anyway.html check it out please!!! )

But I’m not.

ZOMG.

WHY???

Why put myself through the torture of Physics and Organic Chemistry if I have no intention of going to medical school? Especially if I am at the Johns Hopkins University?

Let’s be a bit more open minded, kids. Science does not have to automatically equal medical school.  So why did I do it?

• Options. I didn’t want to be pre med, but there was still the possibility of pre health professions–dentistry, veterinary med, and nursing. I can say that now I’ve no interest in any of those but as a freshman, I may have been.

• Self-enrichment. Science is useful! I wanted to be able to read a journal article and have a basic understanding of what was going on if a chemical reaction was mentioned or if a mechanism from organic chemistry was being explained….knowing what a carbon is or what different elements are/do is a useful thing, IMHO.

• Research? Unless you’re completely turned off by the thought of science and math and you know your paths will never cross after college, science may come back again in your work. In the form of research. You never know. I knew coming into college that I did not want whatever I ended up doing to ever completely exclude science (although I certainly did not want it to exclusively focus ON science either) , so I knew that studying them would benefit me. Now that I have completed the basic pre med/health requirements and their labs, I feel like I can handle research oriented jobs that have slight sciency and lab oriented components. I have more options. That was always the key for me–options.

• Teaching career!??! Teaching has been on my radar since high school, and it still is. I am not sure if I want to do it as a career or as a short term thing, like Teach for America–but it is something in which I am veryyyyy interested. And guess what–America has a shortage of good science (and math) teachers. Taking science courses will have prepared me for teaching science in schools! I couldn’t see myself teaching any other basic high school subject in good conscience because I don’t have the training or background for it. This factor is probably not important for most people but it may be for some and it certainly is for me.

I hope that gave some perspective! I am now off to get ready for our pre game rally to our Homecoming game against Loyola !

I leave you all with this very Public Healthy poster on our Hopkins shuttle:

This post is really really late and really overdue, because I usually like to talk about my semester classes at the beginning of the semester. But oh well, better late than never right? Here goes…my 6th semester of classes! I really can’t believe it. Yesterday I registered for my last Fall semester of classes and I was so sad because I know my time here is indeed coming to an end. But here we go:

Physics 2: This is my last science class! My last natural science class at Hopkins. We just had our last exam (before the final) this morning, and while I was reallllly happy for it to be over, I was a little sad because this marks the end of my natural science career at Hopkins…the end of being able to relate to my pre med friends with studying and agonizing and cramming…and the end of being part of the pre med culture of Hopkins. It’s not the only culture here of course, but I’d be lying to you if I said that it wasn’t strong. Weird, right? I’m definitely happy about it because my science courses here have been the ones that have made me the most miserable because of my inability to handle test anxiety and stuff– but I’m really happy I will be able to take classes next year that will show my strengths and that will be more specific to my interests. (If you are confused…I’m taking the pre med courses for my own “enlightenment, but I am *not* going to medical school.)

spring fair fireworks! this is how i feel about physics...jk!

Anyway, the material in this class is electricity and magnetism , optics, nuclear and quantum physics (not sure what part of AP physics that corresponds to but just so you know). It’s way more conceptual than last semester’s Newton’s laws and our exams never have numbers on them–so some students who are really into math and numbers hate the conceptual thinking our professor’s exams require. I haven’t been doing too well in this class because of my text anxiety issues, but the professor has been really understanding and helpful and has a schedule where he moves things around be available with his students. I love this professor!!!!!!

Physics 2 Lab: Continuation of physics 1 lab. It’s pretty hard to do, I won’t lie…I can’t even describe the things we do because I don’t half understand then when I’m doing them, haha. But yea, we just do experiments like the ones you may read in your physics textbook.

Fundamentals of  Epidemiology: This is one of the required Public Health courses at Hopkins (JHU_Saznin and JHU_Lauren B. are in it with me now). I actually like it a lot and it’s prob my favorite core Public health course (out of Biostatistics, Health Policy, and the Environment and Your Health). Epidemiology is a science that looks at the patterns of disease and death in a population, and through observation and data collection, it determines the causes of these diseases and death outcomes. It’s a really useful science and it’s probably the class that is the  most “public healthy” to me when you think about it. We learn about study designs, math techniques to calculate ratios and rates and proportions, causes of disease…I could go on and on. If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, look into this major! ;)

Intermediate Spanish 2: Just a continuation of Spanish. This is my 4th consecutive semester of Spanish here, and it gets harder each time of course but not too bad. I wish the Spanish classes here (at least the grammar learning ones..I’m sure once you get into the literature and culture ones it gets better) were structure differently, I won’t lie. I am definitely learning a lot and my grammar is strong, but we’re lacking in the whole speaking and listening and culture department. Even in the lower level courses (we call it “Elements” ) we learned about the cultures of different countries but now we don’t. I always suggest that they should bring in Spanish speakers from different places so that we can be exposed to culture but no go so far. But, you never know!

interesting image in our spanish book--unit on drugs

The Sociology of Disability: I loveeeeeeeeeeee this class. I took it because it counts for a Public Health upper level and my adviser said that I’d like it–and she was right! The class is taught by a graduate student with spina bifida who realized that there weren’t really any classes on disability studies being taught, at least not at the undergraduate level. So, he created this class to teach students about how disability is seen in society, and how where you are affects the severity of your disability. We learned about disability and family formation, in the media, in schools, social constructions of it, the history of it, medical models vs social models, and more. We watch a movie every week and we just finished a hige group independent research project in which we had to investigate how disability friendly different aspects of the Hopkins campus was. We had a big presentation at which deans from the school were present….I think will write a separate blog on the class and these projects because it’s too much to put here.

All in all, this is one of my more favorite semesters. I am sad to see junior year go, but I can’t do anything but roll with it, right?

Until next time!

-Dominique