Caught in Between

Just hours after graduation, my brother and dad attempted to move everything I was ready to part ways with out of my apartment. I watched as my bed, my textbooks, and my photos – which I thought were essential to my identity – were loaded up into a moving truck. It’s times like these when I question materialism. Maybe simplicity is really the answer to many of the stresses in life.

My plan had been established for months: I was to be a member of the 4K for Cancer cross-country bike ride to San Francisco. Over 80 donors had donated to my rider fund. They wanted to see that I went on this trip. I would be riding for them and their dedications, many of them part of the Hopkins community: from Dr. Carl Taylor – the founder of the academic discipline of international health – to a recent graduate starting chemo.

In three days, following two days of orientation, I would dip my back wheel into the Inner Harbor and have the odd experience of biking out of college. I’d part ways with Baltimore – a city that day after day since 2007 had grown to become my home. I was biking away from home. This was the plan. I had known I wanted to do this trip for so long and, yet, I felt anything but ready.

I stood in my living room as my dad approached me with a box.

“Would you like your graduation present now?” he said.

I laughed. Couldn’t he tell that this was the last thing I needed? My brother had given me a large, sky blue duffel bag as my graduation present. That bag and its contents was all I would need for 70 days of biking and sleeping. And then that duffel bag would follow me to Vietnam for one or maybe two years. Over the past month, I had a compounded transition. Orientation for both Princeton in Asia – the fellowship program I got my job through – and 4K for Cancer. Both of which felt like college orientation all over again. In both we were told to go in with an open mind and pack less than you think you need to.

Reluctantly, I opened up the gift to find… a desk box. The old Gilman tower – which had already become a memory of my time at Hopkins – was prominently featured on the lid. My full name monogrammed underneath. Inside, there was an envelope, room for, well, desk objects, and a mirror on the inner lid. I laughed.

“Dad, I don’t think that is going to make the duffel bag cut. For one, I do not have a desk…,” I said.

This could be the last thing I needed in my life, I thought. I really didn’t have a desk – my dad, friend, and I had conveniently lost my desk moving between apartments in Baltimore in December. Enclosed in the envelope was a letter from my dad. Another thing I just couldn’t handle in my life. Over the last couple of days I had received one too many – I assumed, but had not had the courage to find out – thoughtfully written letters from friends and family. I was in denial that I was the first one of my group of friends to be leaving the Blue Jay nest. I had heard one too many “take a picture with me before I never see you again.” And, well, even my mother was asking when she would see me again and if she would ever get that one week vacation with me that she had hoped for years for.

I glanced at my reflection in the mirror: the exhausted face of a college graduate who had finished a draft of her never ending thesis too recently, failed to say goodbye to the people, especially colleagues, who had made my Hopkins experience what it was, and who was still trying – but seemed to be failing –at being grateful for the immediate support my family was giving me to make sure my plan went, well, as planned.

I started writing this blog in a bedroom in Kansas. I was unsure what town I was exactly in and whose bedroom I was falling asleep in. I’m currently writing this blog from a church in Colorado. I cycled – or more like climbed – the highest continuously paved highway in the U.S yesterday. Right now life really is a highway, just like the Rascal Flatts song says it is.

Despite my cycling style – slow and steady – my life is moving fast: too fast to have keys to a bedroom or to care that I don’t have a computer for months.  And, well, I’ve been told my teammates that they like the way I pace on this literal highway of life. So, although I do question myself, maybe, for now, I should just keep peddling on.

My dad has reassured me that that box will be there for me when I reach that point in my life that my pace has slowed down. When I am ready to take mementos – the ones that are currently collecting dust in New Jersey – out of my desk box and reflect on my time at Hopkins. You know, when I’m ready to open and store those sealed envelopes from my support network.

I’ll admit that I already do reflect on my time at Hopkins. And that I know there will be plenty more reflection during those lonely times in Hanoi. A Hopkins lanyard that I bought freshman year is tangled on my front handlebar and I cycle with it each and every day. That lanyard will most likely end up in that desk box. Hopkins made me stronger.

Strong enough to build a path – mainly because of the opportunities offered and the people that I met –  that I don’t think I would have taken otherwise.  Freshman year did I ever think I’d be biking across the country? No. Doing research in the United States, Brazil, Switzerland, and Vietnam? Absolutely not. Did I ever think that I’d challenge myself to an environmental engineering class and a photography class? Definitely not. And what about voluntarily taking an extra semester to work with a history professor on a thesis? Surely not.

Sure, I have my own biased advice that I think made my Hopkins experience what it was.This includes working on C-Level the day before a big assignment or test, making friends on M-Level, leaving a fraternity party if it’s not your scene, studying abroad, getting a job,  writing a thesis, volunteering in admissions. But, in all honestly, there is no specific advice I can give. Just go with it.

My brother left me on graduation day saying, “I’ll see you when I see you. And if I don’t see you soon, I’ll assume that you’re happy.” Hopkins made me ready for this goodbye. As strong as I can be. Without me knowing – “as by magic or sorcery” – I got through that metamorphosis I wrote about the summer before my freshman year.

And, with that, goodbye, Hopkins Interactive. I’ll see you when I see you (in a guest alumni blog that I already have in the works, perhaps). But, until then, I’ll be pacing on, even if it means the occasional covering in expired pancake mix.

My Hopkins Experience:

1. When did you know Hopkins was right for you?
   Well, I can tell you that it was certainly not on my tour when a Hopkins student ran passed us and said, “I haven’t eaten or slept in days… I LOVE Hopkins.” Hopkins had been on my mind for a quite a time. I visited as a junior and from then on the school as an institution stayed on my mind. However, even after a student interview and tour, I still had reservations about the student body. I mean, seriously, had that student really not eaten for days? Fortunately, I stayed overnight the fall of my senior year and it was then that I realized this would be a place I would enjoy. After that night, I called my mom to tell her that Hopkins would be my early decision pick. 
   

   Me with my lucky Hopkins sweatshirt during the fall of my senior year.

    

2. What is one thing that would surprise your friends/family about Hopkins?
   My friends at home are always surprised to hear about the major composition; that 1/3 of the undergraduates are engineers and that public health is the largest major.
   
   
3. If you were the University President, what is the first thing you would do or change?
   My answer actually changed this week. It used to be to have more research grant opportunities. Luckily for you guys, this week Dean Newman, Dean of the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, announced that starting in the fall of 2011, Arts & Sciences students will be able to compete for grants in the range of $500-$3000 to support either their senior thesis research or to work as research assistants for faculty for an average of 25 students a year for at least the next 2-3 years. This is super exciting.
   Now that that’s taken care of, I think I would change the major requirements to require, or at least make it easier, for students to have a study abroad or applied experience within their curriculum.
    
   

   A picture from my trip to Venice during my study abroad semester.

4. If you could go back and choose your college again, would you pick Hopkins? Why?
   Yes. Why? The people. Why? Come graduation it is the student body that will keep me connected to this school. But it’s not just the student body – it’s the dean who opens her door to dinner, the professor who drives students for her photography class, it’s the security lady who calls me “baby” in the library, it’s the Hop Cop that drives me to my apartment late at night from the library, it’s the graduate-school professor who brings even his undergraduate students to a movie, it’s the world-renowned AIDS physician who gave me tape today, it’s my old supervisor who treats me like a daughter, it’s my thesis advisor who has been here for forty years yet still is as dedicated as ever, it’s my academic advisor who both physically and mentally pats me on the back (and plays Jeopardy with me at a student event), and it’s the administration who cares enough to give me a senior exit interview and hear about my time at Hopkins. 
   

   Me at my high school graduation.

    

5. What was your perception about Hopkins before enrolling and how has it changed since then?
   I remember when I was a junior my friend Matthew called me and was asking for advice; he was choosing to apply early decision to either Hopkins or Tufts. I hadn’t visited Hopkins yet and told him that I thought of Hopkins as a place for medicine so it might not be the best pick for him. Looking back, I am horrified that I ever uttered those words. I’m happy to say that Matthew didn’t take my advice and went with Hopkins. How has that perception changed? Well, let’s just say none of my closest friends in my class plan to attend medical school next year.

6. What is/was your favorite class?
   That’s a tough one. Favorite non-public health class has got to be Basic Black and White Film: Wet Darkroom.  I always wanted to take a photography class but I never thought that it would be at Hopkins. I can only describe the process of film photograph, from taking a picture to the developing and processing of the film, as magical. Sadly, the course is not offered anymore.
   Favorite public health course (that is still offered): Global Public Health Since WWII. Simply put, I would not have the mindset about international development nor have learned the acronyms of the actors within the field if it wasn’t for this course.

7. Describe your funniest memory or experience at Hopkins:
   That’s an even tougher one. It was probably the time that my friend Michael made me so embarrassed that I ended up under an M-Level table in the library. Or the time that my friend Mohammad made me a birthday crown. 
   

   Mohammad wearing the birthday crown he made me.

8. How would your college experience be different if you hadn’t chosen Hopkins?
   I think about this more and more as the graduation date becomes closer and I begin to think about paying back loans. Simply put, if I hadn’t chosen Hopkins, I don’t think I would have been a public health major; I don’t think that I would be biking across country this summer; I don’t think that come next year I could say that I did public health research in four continents in four years; and I don’t think I would have those people in my life that I discussed in question four. This school has driven me in the same way that it has driven the alums in the past – including, my personal favorite, Rachel Carson – and I am so fortunate for that. 
   

   Me at the World Health Organization during the World Health Assembly last May.

9. What has your greatest contribution been during your time at Hopkins, or what do you hope to accomplish before graduation?
   I have one contribution for each of my largest student activities. First, is probably having helped plan the first undergraduate conference in public health with Public Health Student Forum. Now in its second year, the conference next week will include a UNAIDS keynote address, an alumni and career panel, the attendance of Dean Newman and other faculty, as well as several dozen students that have done research.
   Secondly, I spend a lot of time giving back to Hopkins by volunteering with admissions, which has definitely been rewarding. I’m happy to say that I was the impetus behind the Academics Blog (http://blogs.hopkins-interactive.com/academics/). I am glad that the members of Student Admissions Advisory Board were able to develop and maintain this blog and surprise Admissions_Daniel with its success.  I hope that this blog provides the evidence that prospective and admitted students from around the world need to change their mindset that Hopkins is simply a premed school.
10.  
    

    The four senior SAAB members in the fall of 2009 after having presented at an admissions conference.

11. What advice would you give to a high school senior choosing their college?
    It’s really interesting being back in the same shoes as many seniors in high school are currently in and having to plan their next major move in life. I was fortunate know early on that Hopkins was the school that I wanted to be at; to have that feeling of certainty that many of us at this school had and still have. If you can, visit Hopkins and see if you get that feeling.
    But as I plan my next move, I realize that one doesn’t always have that feeling of certainty when planning their next step. I certainly don’t right now. Instead I have had to step back, realize how wonderful it is that I have the opportunity to make the decision that I am making, and adjust my mindset because of that realization. So if you don’t have that feeling of certainty, step back and realize that you are so fortunate to have the opportunity to decide whether to attend Johns Hopkins or not, and that no matter where you choose to attend its oftentimes what you make of the opportunities available rather than the institution itself.

Write a brief essay (250 word maximum) in which you respond to the following question:

A typical student at Johns Hopkins spends less than 15 hours each week in a classroom, leaving lots of time for volunteer opportunities, clubs and organizations, athletics, social events, and other on- and off-campus activities. Aside from the academic interests you’ve already expressed, in what activities do you plan to engage as an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins

***

Cycling shorts are to be worn without undergarments.

I’ll be thanking my Johns Hopkins experience for that fact. Thanks in part to my Hopkins acceptance letter, I’ll learn about 4K for Cancer, make inspirational friends, visit my grandparents, lose my athleticism (thank you, Sophomore 15), but gain self-confidence. These events will culminate.

Come senior spring, I’ll be back on campus with a stack of UNICEF thank you cards and my New Year’s resolutions – or more like to-do list. At the top of the checklist: write thesis, raise $4,500 dollars, bike cross-country.

I will have added 4K for Cancer to my activities.

Hopkins 4K was founded in 2001 by students dedicated to biking from Baltimore to San Francisco in honor of loved ones affected by cancer. In 2008, the group expanded beyond Hopkins into a tax-deductible non-profit organization: 4K for Cancer. This year, there will be ~100 riders biking three routes.

The mission: raise funds, spread awareness, foster hope.¹

Come senior spring, there’ll be no turning back. I’ll have: fundraised $1,610, mailed 16 thank you cards out the door, received cycling shoes, gained friends to motivate me more than the Spinning machine, which tells me to “strum the bicycle like a guitar” (I have no idea which hand I would strum a guitar with).

I will owe Dean Latting – the man behind that acceptance letter – a thanks. Due to his signature, I’ll have grown in an environment that has inspired me to go commando just two days after graduation.

Word Count:  250

(To learn more about the organization: http://cycleinspireunite.org/

For information on how to donate to my rider fund: https://4kforcancer.donortools.com/my/funds/14852-Rider-Fund-Jessica-Kraus)

¹ Below is a description of how 4K for Cancer achieves its mission:

Raise Funds – Each ride will have approximately $40,000 to give out during the ride to individuals and organizations. A portion of the money fundraised will be given to the Baltimore Hope Lodge – which offers free accommodations to cancer patients as they undergo cancer treatment. I’ll be volunteering here during my senior spring. Much of the other money will go to providing scholarships to young adults who are cancer survivors or who have had someone in their life affected by cancer.

Spread awareness – Along the ride, my team and I will be staying at churches and community centers. We’ll educate people, especially those in underserved communities, on identifying the early warning signs of cancer and connecting cancer patients with resources in their community which can help them. This year, for the first time, riders will be providing (in partnership) early detection cancer screenings and how to do self-exams.

Raise hope – My team and I will be connected to cancer patients each and every step along the way of my journey. We’ll be visiting cancer patients in hospitals. And by cycling cross-country, we are trying to do a small part in the fight against cancer.

The pictures in this blog are all from my B&W film photography class (an opportunitiy I decided to seize my senior year).

Senior year has brought with it quite a whirlwind of events and opportunities and, consequently, a sense of community. One of these opportunities was to attend a Zelicof Family Dinner with the Dean program at Dean Newman’s house (which is conveniently two blocks from campus). Dean Newman is the new dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Hopkins. To read about these dinner programs, click here.

A picture I took in Hampden, a nearby neighborhood in Baltimore.

As stated in the article, the idea behind the program is to offer “students and their professors who are in for-credit Krieger School courses a chance to get together outside the classroom.” In my case, I was able to hear Dr. Gebo, the professor of my thesis class and the director of the undergraduate program in public health studies, casually discuss her research on HIV in the United States over dinner.

The dinner itself exceeded my expectations. Well, firstly, the food was great (and vegetarian!) And, for me, the expectation Dean Newman has for the program, “more one-on-one time with their professors, and a greater sense of community,” was met. I was able to talk to Dr. Gebo outside of the classroom about herself rather than my own work. I learned about her time at Hopkins as an undergraduate basketball player, her time as a Hopkins med student, then as a Hopkins Hospital resident, and then as a Hopkins Masters of Public Health student. Yup, that would make her an alum to the fourth power.

On top of all of this, I was also able to witness Dean Newman first-hand. I was pleasantly surprised by how down to earth her and her husband are. Prior to the dinner all I knew about Dean Newman was that over the summer she had filled up my email with university-wide emails. Why? Well she had completely reconfigured the school’s top administrative structure. She had split my precious Krieger School into two by creating a vice dean for science and research infrastructure and a vice dean for humanities, social sciences and graduate programs.

I may have lost my readers after that last paragraph. I don’t blame you. This summer I quickly “archived” any university-wide email about the restructuring. I just didn’t think what the Dean did really would influence much of my day-to-day activities at Hopkins. And I must certainly did not play any emphasis when touring schools as a prospective student on a school’s president, let alone its administration.

But now, well, my views have changed. The administration basically had to hand me the chance to enter Dean Newman’s house before I realized how important the administration behind a school is and has been in my experience at Hopkins. I picked Hopkins because of its interdisciplinary majors. I never had one subject that stood out as my strength in high school nor could focus my mind on just seeing the world through one lens.

It is because of the administration that these interdisciplinary majors have exceeded. I was looking for a major in environmental studies. Hopkins hadn’t created an interdisciplinary major in that…well not yet. The closest thing I had to that was a major in public health studies. And well I grabbed onto that major. And public health basically has become a love of mine. Of course now there is a major in Global Environmental Chance and Sustainability but that’s besides the point.

Dean Newman was recently asked by The Gazette the following question:

“The public health major continues to be very popular among undergraduates, as does a new major on sustainability. Do you feel we have an excess of altruistic students, those who want to go out and save the world?”

Personally, I was surprised that this question was asked. The question itself means that one may question the type of education that Hopkins provides. However, her response was:

A tomato plant grows in a greenhouse at a E. Baltimore high school, as part of the Real Food Farm (a public health inspired program).

“I think Johns Hopkins students are very oriented toward service in the world, as are many people of their generation. Young people throughout the United States share the ethic of service. They want to make the world a better place than the way they found it.

Ironically, I think that the catastrophe of 9/11 had a profound effect on the generation that is in college right now. It left them with questions about the place of our country in the world. Enrollment in languages such as Arabic and Chinese has just skyrocketed. Why is that? There are many reasons. Students see that there are opportunities for them in the future if they can master these languages, but I think there is also just a broader sense of interest in the world beyond our boundaries that was catalyzed by truly tragic events.

Public health is part of this calling because a focus on international well-being of people far from our shores is integral to the study of public health, as well as questions of the underserved in our own country. This same ethic of service attracts students to international studies and to medical science.”

Well said, Dean Newman. To those that question an interdisciplinary major, well it looks like you’re out of luck, Dean Newman is not about to let that change. To those prospective students out there, add “university administration” to your list of things to evaluate a school on when making pro-con lists.

And, well, it took a four-course dinner for me to realize that it’s Hopkins administration that’s behind the agenda I have at the library today.

Until next time,

Jessica

PS To read the entire interview with Dean Newman, click here.

in·tense
[in-tens] –adjective
1.
existing or occurring in a high or extreme degree: intense heat.
2.
acute, strong, or vehement, as sensations, feelings, or emotions: intense anger.
3.
of an extreme kind; very great, as in strength, keenness, severity, or the like: an intense gale.
4.
having a characteristic quality in a high degree: The intense sunlight was blinding.
5.
strenuous or earnest, as activity, exertion, diligence, or thought: an intense life.
6.
exhibiting a high degree of some quality or action.
7.
having or showing great strength, strong feeling, or tension, as a person, the face, or language.
8.
susceptible to strong emotion; emotional: an intense person.
9.
(of color) very deep: intense red.

In the last week of school, ironically as I was last minute cramming for an Economics exam, this article came my way. Apparently, accordingly to the credible sources at the Huffington Post, Johns Hopkins is officially the second most “grueling” academic experience in the country.

At the time I didn’t get a chance to give it more than a cursory look and notice that the picture they initially chose for the article was not in fact Hopkins, but some strange photo at the Carey Business Schooll. Since I’ve come home, regrouped, and relaxed though, I’ve gotten another chance to look at it, and more importantly to think it over.

The caption states, “Hopkins is well-known for its intense medical and engineering programs and resistance to grade inflation.” And after I thought about it, I came to the conclusion that this is true. Hopkins doesn’t have grade inflation. Hopkins is intense.

But this is a good thing.

I’d be lying if I said Hopkins wasn’t intense, but I love it. I thrive in this environment. The people are intense, the atmosphere is intense, and people achieve intense things. Before you write this off as proof that Hopkins is the scary pre-med factory you always suspected it was, that’s not what I mean at all.

strenuous or earnest, as activity, exertion, diligence, or thought: an intense life.

Hopkins’ academics are impressive in scope, they challenge you to things you never thought you could do, present opportunities you never knew existed, and if you work hard at Hopkins this school will turn you into the best academic version of yourself you can possibly be. If that’s not intense, I’m not sure what is, but none of those things sound bad to me.

having or showing great strength, strong feeling.

The people here are passionate about their interests, academic and otherwise. My friends who run….run half marathons and triathlons, wake up at 4 am to run with the homeless in Baltimore, join varsity teams halfway through their time at Hopkins. People who work in admissions….work 10 hours a week, blog, go to every Open House. Engineers join EWB, do their own research, mentor young students in science, travel to third world countries to implement their research. I could go on.

People here are involved, on more than the surface level. They throw themselves wholeheartedly into the things they love, and this attitude encompasses the Hopkins experience.

————————

My mother, in a statement that was both a complement and an insult, once informed me that I didn’t know how to do things halfway. I do things to extremes, or not at all. I believe at the time this was in reference to the fact that my room at home went from disaster zone to spotless in 20 minutes, but this applies to nearly everything I do, and that makes Hopkins the perfect school for me.

My roommate is the same way; we’ll have 3 day study binges sometimes, and days where we stay out till 4 am, we’ll randomly decide to bake, and when we stop there’ll be 50 cupcakes, we’ll watch 10 episodes of Sex and the City, decide to train for a half marathon or plan a inter-state road trip on a whim.

People here don’t do things halfway…ever, and the school is designed to make this possible. If you want to learn three languages, travel the world, play two varsity sports, start a charity, found a club, anything, the school is there to support you. Hopkins is a place for incredibly self-motivated people, passionate people, and maybe that makes us intense, but it also makes Hopkins an incredible place to go to college

…despite what the Huffington Post may say.

At the end of my sophomore year in high school my mom handed me a college guide book and told me to make a list of colleges that I thought I might be interested in visiting. Johns Hopkins University appeared on that initial list and continued to remain on my list even while other schools were getting crossed out. I visited the fall of my junior year and left feeling overwhelmed after hearing about how challenging it was to get accepted to Johns Hopkins and after hearing about just how high of a reputation Johns Hopkins has. I visited again in the fall of my senior year and before this visit I had promised myself that I would leave knowing if I should apply to Hopkins early decision or not.

I was convinced after that trip that I was applying to Hopkins early decision. It fit so many of the qualifications that at that time I was looking for in a school:

1. A diverse student body where I wouldn’t feel as though the school would be “changing” me to fit-in with others.

2. A warmer environment. I am from New Jersey and hate the cold and find it depressing. I thought I wanted to go to California, but then realized that that was too far and that it may actually be too warm to study in. Honestly, the weather in Baltimore is warmer than New Jersey. There are occasional sprinkles of snow, but they don’t compare to the inches at home. And the spring flowers come out weeks earlier than those just 200 miles away. I should also say for those cold-lovers readers reading this, that you can still ski in Maryland.

3. A small(ish) student body. I came from a high school where everyone knew who I was and had been together since 6th grade. Because of this, I was immediately turned off by huge campuses. However, although I visited the schools with small student bodies I was turned off from them because of the lack of major choices.

4. A major. I knew I wanted an interdisciplinary major because I had never found a real “strength” in high school, I usually just did best in those classes with the best teachers. For a while I thought I wanted to major in environmental studies. My fall of senior year I realized that Johns Hopkins had more major choices than the smaller schools I had visited and that public health was beginning to seem like the ideal major for me. Nevertheless, I wanted a school with options.

5. A student body that is aware of current events and is active.I went through a phase where I thought being a part of an honors program at a college would be the best fit for me and another phase where I thought an all girl’s campus would be ideal. I had visited a few colleges where it seemed as though the students were uninterested in current events and were trapped in their dorm rooms or indoors. I had invested so much of my time into extra-curriculars in high school that I wanted a student body that would be doing the same.

6. A school that is not known for its party scene. I had no real idea of what a fraternity or sorority was, but at the time I assumed they were something I didn’t want to be associated with. I wanted a school that focused on academics and not Greek life. Looking back, Hopkins definitely has a party scene and a Greek scene that people can choose not to associate with, but that is there for those that want to. It would turn out that some of my best guy and girl friends decided to join sororities and fraternities and that I would have a complete different idea of what Greek life actually is. Nevertheless, Hopkins does focus on academics more so than other schools and I wanted this.

7. A school where I would not surrounded by people I knew from high school. Although, I love talking to visitors from my high school about my love for Hopkins. I also didn’t want to go to a school that had dozens of people from my high school as some other schools I was looking at did. I wanted to break away from high school.

From the above reasons, I think you get the idea of why I decided to apply early decision to Hopkins. I too, just like you, was facing a lot of pressure. There was personal pressure from my family and friends who thought I was applying to Hopkins because my high school boyfriend was a freshman at Hopkins. There was also definitely financial pressure, as many of you are definitely facing. My single mother had become unemployed the year I was applying to school and my father was pushing for me to apply to in-state schools. Although, the decision was up to me, they definitely brought up the financial concerns and that their money could only bring me so far.

Nevertheless, I decided to apply to Hopkins because, in summary, I wanted a school that would assist me in paving out a unique path for my next four years. Looking back, Hopkins has gone beyond any path that I thought it would help me path. I cannot tell you what it would be like for you to attend another school, but I can tell you what Hopkins had done for me that has gone beyond my expectations.

As a sophomore, I already owe the school so much simply because of the number of doors that it has opened for me. I have fallen in love with my major and couldn’t imagine majoring in any other subject. I have fallen in love with the beauty of this campus. I have fallen in love with the diverse student body. I have fallen in love with the late nights studying and the late night conversations with friends.

Specifically, what do I think Hopkins has given me that I don’t think I would have gotten at another school?

Well, firstly the research opportunities I have gotten as a Social Sciences major. This year I have been employed as one of two undergraduate research assistants at the Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Their mission is to promote research and to develop and communicate information about the complex interrelationships among diet, food production, environment, and human health. The director of the Center, Dr. Robert Lawrence, is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School and is a leading researcher on health as a human right and on food production. It is simply an honor to be around him.

Continuing with research, this summer I have received a MERCK Summer Scholar Program Award, which is grant given out by the Public Health Studies Program and sponsored by Merck & Co, Inc. to do international health research. Once again, I made a connection with the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health faculty, specifically Professor Jonathan Golub an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology to work on one of his sponsored research projects in Vitoria, Brazil. He has given me the opportunity to connect with a team of researchers in Brazil to look at preventing cervical cancer in HIV+ patients. This too is another opportunity that I don’t think I would be given at another school.

Going beyond that, I have extracurricular activities that I never thought I would get involved in. Next fall, I will become president of Public Health Student Forum which is a group made up of executive board and members that serves to connect the public health studies program with the student body at campus.

We hold general assemblies, speaker events, Public Health Awareness Week, and next year we’re hoping to hold a conference for students from other schools to present their research at. I have also been involved in Circle K, a flexible community service club that promotes community service events and allows me to participate in community service whenever I have time. In December, we went and bought Christmas presents for every student in a local elementary school. I have also been involved in admissions groups including this one, Student Admissions Advisory Board, and just recently the Admissions Representative program (a group of current students that gives interviews to prospective students). Being SO involved in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions is another opportunity that I never thought a University would be willing to do and has given me the opportunity to make friends with people in all different grades and majors that I wouldn’t have made otherwise.

There have been academic experiences too that I don’t think I would have gotten at another school. I have been able to take 1-credit Intersession courses on Vaccine Development (that had a guest lecturer by D.A. Henderson whose name is most commonly connected with smallpox eradication), as well as other courses like Sex and Sexuality in the 17th Century, and another on Infant Feeding disparities. Beyond Intersession courses, I have taken courses like Medical Sociology, Climate Change, The City and Time and Space, Global Public Health Since WWII, Oral Presentations, and MANY others that I don’t think I would have been able to have taken at other schools.

I am currently carrying around nearly 20 brochures of study abroad programs, one of which I will have the opportunity to go on in the Spring. Looking to the future, I can only begin to imagine how big of an impact the opportunity to study abroad will have on me.

This is what Johns Hopkins University has done for me. Just imagine what it could do for you. I hope that by reading through our blogs you can see that we all picked Hopkins for different reasons and have all gotten different positive experiences out of the University. Sure, many of you reading this are not interested in public health (although rumor has it that many of you are since we are expected to become the largest major on campus), but many of you can get involved in research in whatever field you are interested in. And that begins me to my last point…

I am often asked what is it about Hopkins that makes you love it so much? And the answer is that I simply love looking around campus and seeing how diverse the student body is. There really is no stereotypical Hopkins student, for a student body of less than 5,000, there are so many different people at Hopkins that you can find, that really anyone can find a group of friends and “fit-in” at Hopkins. (To the left is a picture of the members of my freshman suite last year).

And with that I really must go to the books…best wishes on deciding a school to attend for the next four years!

The beginning of last week was beyond stressful. I had two summer applications due, one of which involved 8 pages of essays, and had meetings with professors in order to develop a research proposal that is due this Friday. On top of this, I had three presentations all of which ended up having technical difficulties–in the one for my oral presentations class, none of the pictures showed up and I had to just “go with it.” I’m beginning to believe that when it comes to presentations, we should all just ditch technology. There were long nights in the library and all I could think about was, “I hope this pays off.” And in a month we’ll know if it did.

On Friday, after watching the lacrosse team win, I called my mother for our weekly phone conversation. And we said the usual, “How are you?” to each other. I couldn’t help but say, “My week has been stressful, I had horrible presentations, I just feel “off”, and grandma in Mexico (on dad’s side) isn’t doing well.” And she simply said, “Just keep taking care of yourself…” After I hung up the phone, I couldn’t help but think about what “taking care of yourself” really means. I didn’t feel exhausted and I didn’t feel sick. However, I was mentally exhausted and the only treatment I could think of was happiness…

And this weekend I couldn’t be happier! Happier than Valentine’s Day weekend, happier than my birthday weekend…I have decided to just simply enjoy myself and treat myself to hanging out with friends. This shouldn’t have to be a “treat,” but it would seem that I am one to get caught up in school work and forget about how great it is to be surrounded with friends. I realized that I simply needed a good weekend. But, how could I possibly find “cheer” so quickly. I think I have a theory…

So, I eventually stopped this endless list of questions and went on a tangent. I told the student not to stress. To be happy simply knowing that she will have the chance of going to college. And I told her that although I love Hopkins and have reason to believe that Hopkins has added benefits that I wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else, I also know that I would be happy at any of my top choices. There were few schools where I said, “This is absolutely not the place for me.” And rest assured for her and her father, I know that she too will love where ever she too ends up. However, I later realized that this was hypocritical of me.

PS I introduced myself to a freshman guy this weekend and said “Hi, I am Jessica” and he said, “Jessica…as in Facebook Jessica?” And then he went to his friend saying, “Do you know who that is?” And he said, “Jessica” And the guy said, “Not just any Jessica, Facebook Jessica, the girl that helped me out so much over the summer…” This made my weekend.

Hi guys!  And welcome to Roxi’s and my new shared blog. This blog will be shared by Roxi and me (Jessica). In the history of Hopkins Interactive, no two people have ever shared a blog.  We had the freshman blog last year (and this year we have the freshman and senior blog), but nothing like this.

So, why are we sharing a blog?
Well for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons is because (I’ll be the first one to admit it), as you will soon find out, we’re two busy people.  Although I love telling people about my life at Hopkins, blogging once a week sounded like too much for me.  However, blogging two times a week seems do-able on my end.  Luckily for me, I found myself a perfect match when it comes to blogging and because of this I’m happier to have a shared blog than an individual one.

Why Roxi and me?
1)  We’re both public health majors but are having a completely different academic experience at Hopkins.  Why is that?  She’s on the natural sciences track and I’m on the social sciences track.  So while she’s been learning Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry (and dreaming about working at NASA), I’ve been learning about climate change and urban sociology (and dreaming about being a professor).  I think this blog will show you how diverse the major is and that it is possible to do just about anything with it.
2) We’re, as the title of our blog says, “Caught in Between”–we’re neither the new or the old ones on campus.  We’re still figuring things out, but we already have some sense of the path we want to go.
2) We’re friends (although unfortunately that usually means we spend time procrastinating in the library together).  We hope that this blog can have some type of fun communication between us, especially when Roxi studies abroad next semester (we’ll practically be pen pals!)

Where did the old entries go?
Don’t worry, they’re still here.  My entries from my freshman year can be found here.  Roxi’s freshman and sophomore year entries can be found here.

How often will we be posting?
We will be posting once every two weeks.  We hope that every week there will be a new blog either by Roxi or me.  To filter to just Roxi’s blogs or my blogs, you can use the “Categories” section on the right side of the screen.