Caught in Between

(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 :)

this is a pic of the vending machine in AMR 2... it had soup and a tv dinner type thing in it ew! random pic but I just wanted to share. Anyways..

So I’m sitting here wondering why in the world my spring break is basically over. And why my to-do has been growing instead of shrinking. Needless to say I’m upset, but I expected it. Time has been flying this semester, and every year, it goes by more and more quickly. I’m coming to terms that in a month and some change, finals will start and my junior year will come to an end, whether I want it to or not. I wish I could make time stop just so I could breathe in and enjoy moments of life, without them being fleeting. But I can’t so all I can do is do my best to cherish what’s here…and with that, here is a list of some of my favorite things about Hopkins!

• Trees. When I walk to my physics class in the morning, I love looking at the trees and greenery. I’m grateful my school doesn’t look like a dump because having a pretty school makes you feel better…it’s true!

• Independence. I’m not gonna lie, this school doesn’t hold your hand and baby you. BUT, it provides everything you need and you have to learn how to be a go getter. I love the independence that this creates. If you need tutoring, there are several different services like the Learning Den (group tutoring) and Study Consultants (one on one time with a student who helps you study and manage time better). But a professor is generally not going to look at a bad test grade and tell you that you need to do something about it. At least for larger lecture courses. Independence also comes about because of the lack of core curriculum–students jump right into what they like. I like the independence the school gives because it really does prepare you for the real world!

• Interesting students. We’re an interesting bunch, I’d say. People stereotype us, I know. You’ve probably done it yourself ;)  (don’t worry, I did before I came to Hopkins!) But truth is, you can’t really define us stringently. People come from so many different places and have done so many different things, and those things have shaped them to be individuals. If you look at students by major, you’ll see that many have completely different motivations for studying that subject. And many plan to do completely different things with their majors.

• Eats. Compared to other schools, we don’t have as many eating places right around campus (as in walking distance). There’s Subway, Chipotle, a chinese food place, Coldstone, some other restaurants and cafes like Donna’s, Carma’s, One World Cafe…I mean there are a lot of places around campus but my point is that there is MORE outside of campus, downtown and in Mt.Vernon…places not walkable but easily accessed by shuttle. And I like that. Students complain that there aren’t enough places around school to eat at, but there’s a world of food in Fells Point, Little Italy, Federal Hill, Mt Vernon, and the Harbor. For those students…I think if that academically independent spirit were put to use in a more adventurous manner, food would become cooler. Is that the word I’m looking for? I’m not sure but whatever :P

• Faculty. No matter how big or small the field, faculty here are at the top and are very knowledgeable. Watch a professor’s eyes light up as you express interest in his/her research or area of expertise, rather than expressing interest in arguing with them over a grade. It’s a cool thing…and the professor you thought was pretentious and snobby will seem so much more human and approachable. I mean I am sure there are some jerk professors but hey that’s everywhere and the truth of the matter is, that’s life. I’ve yet to come across one though!

I think I’ll add more to this list in a later entry. Until next time!

-Dominique

I’ve been asked if I’m writing a thesis of a blog. The answer is yes.

Last weekend,  I attended a two-day Leadership Symposium put on by Johns Hopkins Development and Alumni Relations (the same Symposium that JHU_Mandy just wrote about). The idea was to get graduating seniors and young alumni to “reflect. connect. pursue.”

At the symposium we were told to draw a timeline of our four years at Hopkins.  The eventful timeline that I visualized  is made up of the people that I have met at Hopkins who I’ve connected with and who have given me much of the support that I’ll need when I pursue whatever it is that I do next year.

Who are these people? Last semester, I introduced you to Stephanie, Janine, Sharlene, Jackie, Michelle, Tashi, Jenna, Ayano, and Alexandra in the entry “A Party of Blue Jay Hens.” 9 female Hopkins alums who I connected with at Hopkins who inspired me at the time but that I now admire for what they are pursuing.

Why no men? Mainly because that blog entry was waiting for now. Without further ado,  I introduce you to the 9 most personally influential Hopkins men. In chronological order, because, well, this is my timeline:

2005: Matthew (New Jersey, Class of 2010, Public Health Studies)

I get asked about Matt every week.  To put it simply, we met when we were 16 and instantly became, to say the least, best of friends. Before we had met,  Johns Hopkins was conveniently on both of our college lists. When he got in in December 2005, I screamed in excitement in the halls of Tenafly High School. When I got in in December 2006, he screamed in excitement in Building A. Although over five years have passed and thousands of miles have been between us, he continues to be my biggest cheerleader.

Matt is a true example of the good worklife balance that is possible to have at Hopkins. As a person, he has the best work ethic of anyone I know. In high school and in college he never did schoolwork past mindnight. Where did that get him? London School of Economics. At Hopkins he became interested in health economics which brought him to LSE to pursue a masters in International Health Policy. His two specific interests are cost-effectiveness and China. I have a feeling this interest is going to stay with him as his program just placed him with a position at Double Helix Development, a health economics consulting firm that is looking to expand into China.

2007: Mohammad (New Jersey (at heart), Class of 2011, Public Health Studies)

Mohammad and me playing chess in Geneva.

I consider Mohammad my soulfriend. Coming into Hopkins, I knew there was this guy named Mohammad that I had to meet.

In middle school and high school, my main extra-curricular was volunteering with a student-driven non-profit, Global Care Unlimited.  Still, my biggest accomplishment in life is probably to have graduated middle school having been a part of raising $30,000 to demine a village in Bosnia. Six miles away from me this guy Mohammad was in the local papers for having created The Peace Project, a successful attempt to raise funds for war-ravaged communities. On top of all of this, Mohammad and I shared a mutual friend who had told me beforehand that Mohammad was coming to Hopkins and that I had to meet him.

Orientation week came along, and there Mohammad and I were sitting next to each other in Conversations With the Earth (yes, that’s a class). We exchanged names and instantly realized who each other were. After his freshman year, he biked across country as part of 4K for Cancer (yes, he inspired me to do it this summer). Last year, he took a semester off to work with FIFA on their Football for Hope movement. Next year, having received a Mitchell Scholarship, he will begin pursuing a master’s degree in development practice, a new program funded by the MacArthur Foundation and offered by University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin in partnership with the National University of Rwanda (yes, I had to look that up).

Mohammad is an example of how Hopkins students, if they’re willing to put the time and effort into it, have a vast array of opportunities at their fingertips waiting to be seized. But to me Mohammad is less the guy who loves social development and is more the guy who makes me a birthday crown, surprise visits me in Geneva, and complains and gossips with me.

2007: Mike (Massachusetts, Class of 2011, Anthropology)

It was a crisp fall day when I met Mike for the first time. He was sitting on a park bench… Ha. Anyway, Mike is currently sitting next to me in the library. Although, I can’t see his screen he is probably reading a newspaper article in Arabic or editing someone else’s grant  or writing his thesis related to his work at Charm City Clinic – a non-profit aimed to close East Baltimore’s health care gap. There is a good chance that he’ll stay up tonight reading Indiana Jones or watching a French movie. Come 9 am, he may knocking on the door of a patient who is receiving care from the Clinic he’s devoted his life to.

Mike is an example of how even a Hopkins pre-med student can fall in love with Baltimore while pursuing their interests. Next year, Mike dreams of living in Chad and becoming fluent in Arabic. I wish that all premeds were as socially concerned as Mike is. He idolizes Bruce Springsteen and Paul Farmer. And, well, given his singing abilities last night and his current diagnosis of my bug bites, he’s well on his way to become a combination of both.

2008: Dr. Bob Lawrence (School of Public Health Faculty, Department of Environmental Health Sciences)

Last blog, I wrote about just how awesome my job is at Center for a Livable Future. Well, that job wouldn’t be possible without its director, Dr. Lawerence.  I sent Dr. Lawrence an email at the beginning of sophomore year. Before I knew it, I was in his office discussing landmines.  I’m truly overwhelmed by him. In 2009 he received the American Public Health Association’s most prestigious award. How couldn’t he? Prior to his days at Center for Livable Future, he became the founding director of the Division of Primary Care at Harvard. He worked at the Rockefeller Doundation. He co-founded Physicians for Human Rights.

Dr. Lawrence is an example of how Hopkins students can find role models within the University’s faculty. I know Dr. Lawrence less as a professor with all of these accomplishments, and more as a professor who bikes to work, donates to my 4K for Cancer ride, and invites me to look at his baby pictures at a holiday party at his house.

2008: Dr. Lou Galambos (School of Arts and Sciences Faculty, Department of History)

Dr. Galambos is a beloved faculty member of the public health studies program. He has been at Hopkins since 1971. His path to Hopkins is an interesting one that includes engineering and the pharmaceutical industry. In fact, it is Dr. Galambos’s connections that secured me funding twice to do work abroad. He came to Hopkins with an ambitious project. For three decades, he edited the last 16 of the 21 volumes of The Papers of Dwight D. Eisenhower. However, he actually is known as a big-picture historian studying multinational corporates and big government. Because of this interest, he co-teaches the course Global Public Health Since WWII; easily one of my favorite courses at Hopkins. It taught me to question people’s intentions in public health and to look at historical events that have shaped the framework that we have today.

For me, Dr. Galambos is an example of how academia is supposed to work. He is my thesis advisor. Why? Because his course changed my perspective on global health, and led me to do research, which then led to his support. I wish that every student at Hopkins was able to have similar research experiences. Although, I admire him as a professor and as an advisor, I think of him as the professor who calls me JK, sends me emails from family vacation in Puerto Rico, and wears a Cat in the Hat tie and a lizard watch.

2009: Dr. Jonathan Golub (School of Public Health Faculty, Department of Epidemiology)

Dr. Golub is an example of how a Hopkins faculty, with a little bit of support, can pass down passions rather effortlessly. Dr. Golub’s focus is on the epidemiology of tuberculosis. Having the itch to go abroad during my sophomore year, I met with Dr. Golub. I left the meeting with his confidence that I could go abroad and make a difference on one of the studies he was co-authoring. Dr. Golub inspires me because of his ability to face MDs with a PhD.

As I continue to write and interview MDs on their thoughts on the history of tuberculosis funding for my thesis, I realize that this interest (that I hope to continue after college), would not have been possible without him.

2009: Michael (Minnesota, Class of 2010, International Studies)

Michael embarrassing me at Jackie's birthday.

I met Michael at a table on M-Level with JHU_Jackie. Jackie introduced us by saying that I had been in Brazil the summer before. Michael, who is fluent in Portuguese yet hasn’t been to Brazil, started up a conversation. And, well, he didn’t exile me for doing research in Brazil despite having little knowledge of Portuguese. Instead, well, he started embarrassing me, inviting me over for tea, and watching Glee with me. Our conversations haven’t stopped. And if there’s one thing that can cheer me up it’s Michael dancing to the song Tightrope (which is exactly what he did this weekend).

Michael is an example of why Hopkins students should study on M-Level. On M-Level he was able to not only meet me but he was able to develop the broadest base of knowledge of anyone I know. Yes, he’s a German major who is fluent in Portuguese and who came to Hopkins enrolled in Kiswahili. He studied abroad in Botswana, wrote an honors thesis & devoted his Woodrow Wilson research project to Thomas Mann, while still managing to write for the Twin Cities Daily Planet on how Minnesota Fun is just down the road.

On a more serious note, Michael is an example of how Hopkins students should stick with their interests when looking for jobs. Michael currently works for NED (the National Endowment for Democracy) in the District as a program assistant for their East and Southern Africa unit. I can’t even tell you how tightly my fingers were crossed that this position would work out for him.

2009: Wolfgang (Berlin, Class of 2011, Computer Science)

Wolfgang and me at the Rally to Restore Sanity in DC.

And, well, once you meet one awesome people, you meet another one. Thanks to Michael and his crazy connections from his broad base of knowledge, I met Wolfgang on M-Level. It was there that he stole my diet soda, coded, and told us the stories behind his wristbands. But I really met him, in the true sense of the word friend, in New York City this past summer where we were both interning. Our friendship started off rather dizzying (literally and figuratively). But despite that, he’s broadened my horizons – by simply being the person that he is – more than anyone I know.

Wolfgang is an example of a Hopkins student who treats their education as a gift. Wolfgang’s story is a story of someone who worked hard and planned his life out so that he could eventually get the education in the United States that he wanted (without sacrificing fun). During an interview in January I was asked, ‘What annoys you about people?’ My answer was people that don’t value the education that they’ve been given and also, in some cases, earned. I wish that every Hopkins student had the mindset that Wolfgang has and appreciated quality higher education in in the United States (despite the annoying professors, classmates, and stress that that education gives all of us). After graduation, Wolfgang’s solution-oriented mind will be back to good use with Bloomberg L.P. in New York City.

2011: Wall-E (Baltimore, Class of 2011, Geography – yup, it’s a major at Hopkins)

Wall-E and I admiring a Maryland farm together.

Wall-E, short for Waltraud (obviously), is the name of my bike. My relationship with Wall-E is an example of why every Hopkins student could benefit by having a bike. After just a couple weeks of riding, I can say with certainty that Wall-E has shown me more of Maryland than any one item or person. I’m hoping our friendship builds quickly since for 70 days this summer he’ll be my physical support.

*********

And of course my dad provides messages with additional support.

My dad for a while tried selling me on our state university. Given both of my parents got quality educations at state universities. I eventually convinced him that despite the price tag, the state university – because of its size and academics – wasn’t for me. I now realize that I should’ve mentioned student body in my argument. I think it says something that I’ve never met any college friends of my dad nor my mom.

Parents oftentimes want their children to have less life struggle than they did. It’s of course hard to visualize how me college experience would have been different if I had attended a different school. What I do know is that many people always say that the best thing about Hopkins is the people. I second that. And not just people, but I hope as you can tell from my personal touch, how naturally they’ve come into my life at Hopkins. I know for a fact that I would not have met these 9 (ok, well, actually 8 ) influences in my life if it hadn’t been for Hopkins. And I don’t think I would have met similar individuals if I had stayed in New Jersey. Who knows what life struggles are in store for me, but I’m sure they will be less of a struggle than they could be with this support.

(Sidenote – The title of this blog comes from the male symbol which represents the shield and spear of Mars)

Hey guys and gals! :)

Yea, weird title  (and it’s not a Michael Jackson song!! gasp). And it’s in no way meant to judge anyone. Many students love drinking and that’s cool–to each his own!  But I wanted to address something that I often get asked by prospective students who don’t intend to drink in college. Like:

“What is there to do for fun off campus besides party? Or drink? Or drink while partying?”

“Do non-drinkers feel pressured to drink? Do they ever feel excluded from the social life  because they don’t drink?”

And  the answers are, there are plenty of things to do and no there is no pressure to drink or any feelings of exclusion (unless you put yourself in those situations). Good news right? It basically boils down to the notion that your college life is what you make of it. If you are not interested in drinking, then don’t! Whether you’re somewhere with alcohol or not,  it’s up to you to make the choice to drink or not to drink. I’ve been places with alcohol and have had no problem with feeling pressured to drink. But, if parties aren’t your cup of tea either way, there are things you can easily occupy yourself with on the weekends. It seems like EVERYONE in college drinks, but that’s because the college schema always includes drinking and wild partying. This is reinforced in movies, music, television, radio, Internet, etc. The truth is that there are plenty of people like myself who choose to not drink for whatever reasons (faith/religion, health, social beliefs…) and we always,  ALWAYS,  find something to do.

friendssss

I just wanted to do a blog that addressed this issue because many students fear they can’t have fun unless they drink…and that’s simply not true. And your non-drinking fun isn’t limited to the mall, the movies, or to restaurants ( I used to hate when that was all I got told there was to do for fun here…not true either!)   This list is by NO  means exhaustive, but it has some interesting off campus things that are easily accessible to JHU students and I  hope they seem cool to you!

• Interested in leftist things? Check out “Red Emma’s,” a coffee shop/bookstore with a focus on radical politics and culture.  Red Emma’s is a short JHMI shuttle ride away from campus, near Peabody. We went there for film class over Intersession and it was cool…you’ll find books and newspapers that you probably wouldn’t find elsewhere. If you have a really intellectual group of friends who like arguing about such things (c’mon…we all have those kinds of buddies ;)  ) then Red Emma’s may be a cool place to visit and hold a discussion among  yourselves or even with the workers there.

small shop but pretty cool

• Take a walk on Saturday morning to the Waverly Farmer’s Market and support local growers by purchasing their fruits and veggies and meats…there are also a ton of pastry/drink stands, and people sell their homemade crafts and skin and hair products. It’s a good way to get off campus and to get some fresh air. If you keep going past the Farmer’s Market, you’ll run into a lot of stores, including a Goodwill in which I love shopping. If you need your McDonald’s fix and the fact that there is no fast food but Subway around campus drives you nuts :)  then there’s one a little past the Goodwill. Don’t judge me! I’m not a glutton. :)

• Visit Peabody! It has many concerts during the week and on weekends, and students with IDs  get discounts. If you’re into classical  music, symphonies, wind ensembles…there is plenty to see and hear at Peabody. It’s an excuse to dress up nicely for a classy event. Many concerts are on the campus and some are downtown. Peabody Calendar It’s a short JHMI ride away!

• Take the Charm City Circulator to the Inner Harbor any time of the day.  Like after class or in the morning or some other weird time of day. You can eat and go shopping, or just walk around, and I actually think it’s a cool thing to do alone! To give yourself some “you” time. Weird? maybe, but I like it. :p

• Be nerdy and visit some museums! The Baltimore Museum of Art is free and is right on/near the edge of campus. The Walter’s Art Museum is near Peabody can be reached via Charm City Circulator or the JHMI shuttle. The American  Visionary Arts Museum is just outside of the Inner Harbor in Federal Hill (a beautiful neighborhood, you should take a day to explore it by foot) and is America’s largest museum for “self-taught” artistry. The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and culture is right across the street from the Inner Harbor and is the biggest museum of African American history on the east coast. How about the National Museum of Dentistry? Cool right? ;)
  

  visionary art museum

• Visit other colleges…Towson University, Goucher College,  Loyola University, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Morgan State University…these are all schools close to Hopkins that often have shows and speakers and other events that you may be interested in. MICA is an artsy school with a tonnnn of exhibitions that are worth checking out!

• Have a gathering of friends with a theme…like that sounds really nerdy but it’s actually cool. For instance, this Friday, members of my Christian fellowship are having an honest discussion about sex and sexuality in an intimate setting with food and games afterward. I’m looking forward to it!

• I actually want to try this…you can go biking on the Gwynns Falls Trails which is a 15 mile greenway and part of it is near the Inner Harbor. Check out the website and you’ll see it’s much more than just biking on grassy trails.

The vast majority of my closest friends don’t drink either, so we find plenty of things to do and places to visit on the weekends that don’t involve alcohol. I know that’s the first thing that comes to mind when people think of college and college life, but quite honestly, if you’re not into it, it’s fine. I haven’t had any less of a social experience here because of my decision to not drink and I’m certainly not boring! ;)

For those of you who care, I hope this blog helped if you were worried about this issue, and feel free to ask questions!

Hasta Luego,

Dominique

Perhaps you have noticed (or perhaps not) that I haven’t blogged in a while. Where have I been? Well, the past month has been amazing, and amazingly busy.  I’ve gone on quite a few adventures, everything from a township home stay to a weekend-long music festival. There have been birthdays, beach days, a whale festival and some serious travel planning.

camps bay, cape town

Cape Town summer is now in full swing, meaning 75° and sunny is the norm. Heading back to winter will be a real shock to the system. Needless to say it’s been a struggle to stay focused on school, particularly in a city with so much to do outside. We’re surrounded by beaches, there’s a giant mountain in the middle of the city, and a 40 minute train ride will bring you either to more beaches, or beautiful wine country. It’s a tough life but someone’s got to do it.

Now, a bit more on exactly where I’ve been the past month. I’ll start at the very beginning.

After spring break, my program organized a home stay for us in Ocean View, a Coloured, Afrikaans-speaking township about 40 minutes outside of Cape Town. Ocean View was established in the late 1960s, when the apartheid government evicted Coloured South Africans from all the coastal towns in the area. Most residents used to live in Simonstown or Fish Hoek, but they’ve been in Ocean View for the last 40 years.

Unlike some of the other Cape Town townships, Ocean View is mostly made up of permanent residences (i.e. traditional houses, with a foundation). Other townships, Gugulethu and Khayelitsha, for instance, are mostly “squatter” townships, meaning that their houses are made of corrugated metal. Ocean View has about 20,000 people now, a high school, primary schools, churches, shops, basically everything a town should have, except it was all constructed in a matter of months when the government classified the surrounding areas as white in the mid-1960s.

About 75 Americans headed out to Ocean View for the weekend, bringing flowers and baked goods for our host families. I was placed with a really nice couple with two little boys, and twin two-month-old girls. So much fun, and so much babysitting! The sense of community at Ocean View was one of my favorite things about staying there. I’ve never lived close to my extended family, but entire families lived together on the same streets, seeing each other daily, eating and braai-ing together. I must have met fifty cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and little kids who ran around underfoot. It was such a cool weekend and a great experience to see a totally different side of Cape Town.

fellow Hopkins kid, Pearl.

After I headed back from Ocean View, we all celebrated my housemate Whitney’s  20th birthday. The next weekend was a three-day weekend for National Heritage Day (celebrated with a huge braai….I love South Africa). We spent Saturday out at the Hermanus Whale Festival. It was a gorgeous sunny day, and we got to wander around the festival. In the background of all our pictures you can see the whales—they were everywhere! Wandering around the town, I stumbled upon what initially seemed like a scene from a movie—a choreographed dance routine in the middle of the street. It was the Afrikaans equivalent of country music, accompanied by 40-50 dancers, decked out in cowboy hats and boots. Quite an entertaining discovery.

beautiful Hermanus!

After Hermanus was a weekend of exploring Cape Town art galleries with my friend Avery who is studying Art History here.

After galleries was an amazing hike up Lionshead Mountain at sunset, and after that, the highlight of the last few weeks, Rocking the Daisies (are you maybe seeing why my blogs have been delayed?)

Rocking the Daisies, a three-day music festival out in the lovely wineland town of Darling, was insane and amazing. Wecamped (apparently my new favorite South African activity) in tents that were about a quarter of the size you’d want them to be. Despite the incredibly high level of dirt, and overwhelming lack of sleep, it was one of the best weekends ever. I have officially gotten used to South African music, meaning house, electronica or dubstep without any words and the loudest bass you can imagine. It was gorgeous and sunny all weekend, prompting us to spend all of Saturday outside, lying on the “beach” at a lake that was mysteriously in the middle of the wine estate. Rocking the Daisies was also my friend Stewart’s 21^st Birthday, which she celebrated in style.

daisies!

Unfortunately, Rocking the Daisies marked the beginning of the end of classes, meaning it’s time to buckle down, write lots of papers, study for exams, and generally wrap up the semester. As I wrote recently, the end of the semester is a fairly scary concept, but I have some amazing things coming up in the next couple of weeks to distract me. This weekend my parents will be arriving on Sunday afternoon. They’ll be spending two weeks here and we’ll be driving the Garden Route, which I’m so excited for! In between exams and going home I’ll be heading out to Mozambique with my friend Nikki. We’re going to lay on the beach and recuperate from a week of finals. I can’t wait!

off to Mozambique!

-Lauren B.

The end of a semester is always a shock. In the course of just a few weeks you go from a normal schedule, to an insanely social one, to one where you don’t do anything but study and buy coffee, to one where you don’t do anything but sleep. I’m now in the sleeping phase of my end of year schedule, and I must say it’s glorious.

My car when I finally left for the summer. A years worth of stuff does not easily fit into a Prius.

I finished up my year with exams in Economics of Discrimination, Biology, Health Policy, and Social Psychology as well as a paper for my internship. In contrast to last semester’s exam fiasco, I actually had a great, spaced out schedule during finals period that allowed me to recover between exams….sleep, eat, etc.

Strange stuffed “Finals Cat” that appeared on M level of the library.

Reading period is supposed to be for reading and studying, as the name implies, but it’s usually notable more for the number of date parties and formals that occur during this week. As I’m not going to be at Hopkins next semester I was extra excited for Phi Mu’s formal, Destination Unknown. My lovely roommate Laura was my date, and it was a great wrap up to the end of the year.

My lovely littles and Laura.

After finals finished up, my roommates and I frantically tried to pack and clean our room in a matter of hours, attempting to restore it to a state of cleanliness acceptable for our subletters. It’s strange to see a year’s worth of stuff condensed into boxes, and then the back of a car, particularly if that stuff was completely intact just a few hours before, but we had some of the last finals so we had to get out of there quickly. I then headed off to Ohio with my roommate Laura and more stuff than I’ve ever seen in my life. Her parents’ huge car was packed to the brim, and we even had to strap some of it onto the roof. We passed out in the backseat before we even got to the highway, and seven peaceful hours later we rolled into Ohio.

I spent a lovely few days with Laura and her family, who live just outside of Columbus. I’d never been to Ohio before and it was so nice! I got to experience some Midwest staples….Bob Evans and an Ohio State party. I also got to see Laura’s high school, meet all of her friends, and generally relax after a hectic few weeks.

Laura and I in Columbus

I returned to NJ yesterday, just in time for my younger sister’s senior prom! It was great to see everyone all dressed up, and I honestly can’t believe she’s graduating! It seems like no time at all has gone by since I was the one at prom and then graduation, but I guess the fact that I’m halfway through college has to count for something.

My sister, Suzi, and I before her prom.

I’ll be home for the next few weeks, just visiting friends and catching up with everything I’ve missed, particularly before I head off to Africa in July. I’ve been listening to the official World Cup song in preparation….I highly recommend it.

Hope everyone’s having a relaxing summer or an exciting end to the school year!

Lauren

Haha like the movie. :P

Anyway, another myth I’d like to address:  Hopkins is not social. Students don’t do anything but study. We’re boring.  Blah Blah. ‘Tis yet another myth that makes me want to scream.

I will admit we have our share of the socially challenged; there are a few who do nothing but complain about grades and spend their time on D level; there are some who forsake going out for that extra hour of physics studying. It happens…but the things to remember are 1.) They are in no way representative of the whole student body  2.) You don’t have to be like that if you don’t want to (but if you so desire, then go ahead and study your brains out! ;)  )   3.) There is and should be room for work and play. End of story.

Nothing like a game of Mafia to relieve stress

I implore you to check this link out: http://bit.ly/b43gCM

Here we talk about what we do for fun and how possible it is to have a social life.  Even when we’re in the library studying we have social lives because you always see someone there and you just HAVE to talk to them! Anyway, here are some things I’ve done to have social life (disclaimer…this blog is limited so don’t think this is all I do… =] )

1.) Go on trips with your student groups. Many of my close friends are in Hopkins Christian Fellowship, and we go on many retreats and whatnot throughout the year. Here’s a pic of my friends on one of those rope swingy things that you have to pull to detach yourself from (do you know what I am even talking about?

2.) Explore Baltimore. Take the time to research a neighborhood in Baltimore and grab some friends and explore it! Many explore Hampden, which is a yuppie neighborhood right near Hopkins…but try some new places…Fells Point, Little Italy, Federal Hill, Locust point…here’s a pic from East Baltimore (near the med campus).

This was being demolished as I took this pic...to make room for med school housing

3.) Numnums….eat! Omgee I can’t say this enough. Baltimore has so many restaurants, many of which won’t break your pockets. Tired of dining hall food? Go to a restaurant! This is from Cafe Hon in Hampden, Baltimore…it actually helped to rebuild Hampden from being a druggy and prostituty area. Go there! The owner, Denise, is pretty nice.

Large plate from Cafe Hon. I don't even remember what this was.

4.) Take pictures…of each other? Lamesauce but taking pictures of people (well people you know…otherwise that qualifies as being a creeper) and things is a cool way to get to know stuff.

Pictures are fun when you take pics of your friends taking pics of you

5.) Throw/go to parties! Call me odd but I don’t like going to parties with dancing and stuff…I like parties with food, board games, couches, people, light background music, and charades. Impromptu ones are best!

Christmas partyyyyyyyyyy

There ya have it folks…some of the things I do to have a social life. Now you can either look at this and say wow how cool! Or look at the other blogger’s and say that I’m lame compared to them. Don’t feel bad, I do the latter all the time. Which gives you all the more reason to check out the other blogs and see what we cool Hopkins kids do for fun! :)  Now I’m off to pack for a half-week in New York, my real native land (love bmore tho!) I need to get some reacquainting done, so until next time!    -Dominique

posted by Lauren B.

So we’ve just had possibly the longest snow day (week) on record, and in the spirit of keeping the snow day going, I’d like to talk about the least academic thing I do at Hopkins. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I’m in a sorority….

We just finished up rush week, so after theme parties and pref rounds and endless flirting with girls, we now have 53 lovely new pledges, or “babies” as we refer to them. The new Phi class really is amazing, and it happens to have two of our lovely SAAB-ers in it, as well (Sarah and Becca)!

Last year I blogged about my decision to join a sorority, and I have definitely loved it, but it was much different being on this side of the process. It was so exciting to meet girls in the rush room, and so frustrating to not be able to talk to them outside of our parties–Phi Mu, and the other Panhellenic sororities at Hopkins, follows a “Strict Silence” policy up to and during formal recruitment to make sure everyone is given a fair shot and not influenced by any older girls they already know in a particular sorority.

I had spent tons of time during intersession in the Blackstone, an off campus apartment where our rush chair lives, painting crazy huge banners and putting my minimal art skills to work. I contributed painting by numbers talent and neat handwriting, while the more artistic Phi Mus worked on drawing Mr. Mint, Queen Frostine, and the other Candy Land inhabitants. It was exciting to see all the hard work that everyone put in pay off when the rushes got there and saw the huge banners, hundreds of cupcakes, and piles of candy.

The last night of rush, Preference (Pref) Night, is a much different night than the rest of rush, which can otherwise tend toward the screaming clapping summer camp variety of party. I think Pref can best be described as date night with a sorority sister…I think Becca K. can back me up on this one, and hopefully I didn’t creep her out too much, but I was so excited to be able to pref her!

After pref, we all go home and eagerly wait to hear which girls will be a part of our newest pledge class. Rush is a “mutual selection process” so throughout rush we are voting, and the freshmen are ranking their favorite sororities. On bid day you receive a formal bid from only one sorority, who is offering you a place in their pledge class. Our lovely pledges wear white on bid night, and we get the chance to finally talk to them and get to know them a bit better! This year we got amazing Lady Gaga shirts for bid day, while last year our shirts were gossip girl-esque.

My favorite part of this whole thing though has been getting to know the amazing baby Phis! We threw a dinosaur themed party, dressed them up in crazy visors with their names on them (my apartment looked like a glitter bomb exploded when we made those ones), and generally tried to get to know these 50 some-odd girls really well! We’ve schlepped through an unprecedented 2 feet of snow with them, gone sledding, dancing, eating, and this Wednesday they’ll all be attending their first ever Phi Mu date party, in downtown Baltimore! I hope they’re all as excited as we are!

Hopefully you’ll get another perspective on this whole crazy process from Becca, Sarah or Lauren Carney, but I just wanted to share my thoughts on rush and explain what on earth I’ve been doing these past few days/weeks…as it certainly hasn’t been schoolwork.

So over the past few weeks I’ve been going out and celebrating with my big, playing in the endless snow, meeting the new Phis, and baking with my roommates when we got cabin fever on snow day number 4.

Hope everyone is having a lovely winter!

-Lauren

Student Organization Name: Hopkins Christian Fellowship

Category of Group: Religious

Your Name: Dominique Duval

Your Year: c/o 2012

Your Hometown: Baltimore, MD

Your Position : Freshman Coordinator
******************************************************************************************************************

Hopkins Christian Fellowship (HCF) is my favorite group here, and most of my closest friends are in it. And no this blog won’t be preachy or anything, so no worries! We get a decent amount of questions about religious groups on campus so I thought I’d share my experience with one.

If you choose to be affiliated with a religion or faith, there are many groups at Hopkins to accommodate that. Since I am a Christian, when I came here, I naturally scouted out the groups…and to my chagrin I found that there were annoyingly a bajillion Christian groups on campus. HCF caught my eye specifically because there was free food. :) And it was a non denominational group with no religious requirements whatsoever…and it’s all history from there. In addition to Christians, HCF has individuals who choose to identify themselves as atheist or agnostic. And people of other faiths are welcome to and have attended our meetings.

In the beginning of the year HCF has a week of free food events and info sessions to get students who may be interested more interested. We call it “New Student Outreach.” We also work with the Veritas Forum, which hosts theologists/Christian apologists. And we usually get a lotttttttttt of students to come out so that’s good.

This week, HCF is co hosting an event that will have a Biochemist and an Astronomer talking about Christianity as it relates to their studies.
I just love that HCF is such an open community, but with clear objectives and goals. It also really focuses on community outreach, so for those who aren’t so into the faith aspect of the group, there are a lot of community service events that are separate from the religious meetings. Additionally, we have this thing called “Spring Break Plunge” where those who don’t want to go home over spring break (or can’t) stay in Baltimore and live in a house in Southwest Baltimore, and do a different service project each day. There is a longer version of Spring Break Plunge that occurs during the summer, called the Baltimore Urban Program. And of course I can’t forget the retreats we have twice a year! They are beautiful opportunities to get off campus to go to a serene campsite in eastern Maryland.

We meet each Wednesday at a large group meeting, and there are several small Bible studies for those who wish to come. We have a President, vice president, prayer team, Bible study team, and events team (that puts on cool stuff like movies…yes normal movies like Star Wars and Batman, we’re not stiffs..and lots of other events ). My specific position deals with focusing on freshmen, and I love it because they remind me of the newness and excitement that came with being one. Their concerns were/are mine, and I was put into this position because of my experiences and my ability to communicate things. I love it!

So, like I said before, there are many religious groups on campus that will suit your needs…but HCF caught my eye in the beginning and I am definitely here to stay!

Our retreat site..amazing

So I’ve disappeared for the last few weeks, and I’m sorry to be MIA! I’ve had a super busy end of October/early November, and I’ll try to re-cap it all in a few blogs.

So last I posted it was right before Halloween, and I was super excited to dress up. Naturally none of those costume choices worked out and I ended up dressing as a Harajuku kid from Tokyo, which was probably the best costume idea I’ve ever come across, as it enabled me to wear a ton of goofy clothes, thus being warm enough for the slightly chilly night, and I also looked insane.

My roommates dressed up as a frog and a geisha, and we encountered included several vampires, Hello Kitty, ladybugs, 80s work out gear, etc. It seems everyone at Hopkins was down in Fells Point, as well, which was really fun. Interesting skill I learned? I now know how to do traditional geisha hair, courtesy of a 10 minute long Youtube video. So useful.

A harajuku kid, a frog, a geisha, a soldier, and then a Telletubby, below.

Post-Halloween continued with more celebrations, as my sorority (Phi Mu) had its annual Halloween date party, which was actually after Halloween as our pledge class had midterms galore the week of the 31st. It was great to continue the absurd costume fun, though. My roommate’s mom is really involved with the theatre department at her high school, and she’s in charge of all the costumes. So we all headed back to her house that weekend, made millions of shortbread cookies, grocery shopped, and tried on 4,000 dresses. We decided as a group to go in crazy ’80s dresses, which was an excellent call, as we found more sequined, shoulder pad-ed creations than I even knew existed.

My roommate, Laura and I, at formal, and

spelling O-H-I-O…a lot of my friends are from the Midwest.

After the fun of formals and Halloween and whatnot, things did settle back into a routine at school. October has been pretty busy with work, and somehow I chose a truly appalling schedule where I had midterms every week from September until this past Friday. Kind of unreal, but it did give me a crash course in time management. I’ve taken on a lot more on-campus activities this year, so it’s been a challenge to keep up to date with SAAB responsibilities, homework, work work, tutoring, studying, Phi Mu stuff, community service, and whatnot. I definitely wouldn’t give up any of these things, and I’m really interested in my classes this semester, but it’s really been difficult to not let anything slip up. In speaking to upperclassmen though, it seems almost unanimous that sophomore fall is one of the toughest semesters, so I feel pretty good about what’s coming in the spring. Other exciting things in the spring include applying for study abroad–and in the mean time, figuring out where exactly it is I want to be next fall.

Speaking of spring classes, we had registration this past week. I am notoriously bad at registering–past mishaps have included my computer crashing, trying to register at a party, and failing to choose a single class for my major. All successes. This term, I registered at lovely 7:01 am, and still only managed to get into 3 classes (9 or 10 credits, I believe). 12 credits makes me a full-time student, so as of now I’m only kind of going to Hopkins next semester. Luckily my past registration failures have taught me that Hopkins professors are really kind, so I’m not too concerned, I’ll just be making a few strategic office hour visits in the next week to convince these professors that actually they really, really want me in their classes.

Final exciting October/November activities included Parents Weekend, and my roommate Eve’s 20th birthday. So excellent. We went to Charles Village favorite cafe, Carma’s, and had a baking extravaganza that included gluten free brownies, rice krispy treats, and chocolate chip cookies. We also spent far too much time decorating the suite.

Laura and I with Eve’s birthday cakes, and Eve, celebrating her birthday and our crazy decorations.

Right now I’m back in lovely NJ for a wonderful break from school. It’s great to be home, but I’m excited to get back to Hopkins–the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is so much fun!

-Lauren

p.s. another blog is coming soon with more updates, and hopefully information about what classes I’ll be taking in the spring!