Caught in Between

jokes

A few weeks ago as school wound up for the semester, my roommate Laura casually asked, “If someone told you in January what the end of the semester would look like, would you have believed them?” We spent the rest of the evening recanting the general hilarity of this past semester. It turns out older doesn’t necessarily mean wiser.

my sister visits hopkins!

why our building's management hates us

My return to Hopkins/America began with a bang. After a trip to Ohio with my sister to pick up Laura, she and I packed everything we owned into a U-Haul, trucked down to Baltimore in a snowstorm, and began a three day decorating binge. By the time my mom left a few days later, our apartment was painted and almost furnished, but still cluttered with endless IKEA boxes ( see right).

We spent most of a very snowy January hibernating in our  new apartment, venturing as far as class when needed. Decorating turned from a three-day to a monthlong project, as we found our hastily assembled furniture less stable than one might hope. We learned a bunch of new skills-painting, re-assembling, power drilling and the like.

My friends and I took a class together on Vaccine Development, which was really cool to learn about. My sister Suzi made an appearance, we all celebrated a friend’s 21st, and attempted to prepare for the spring semester.

laura attempting to leave ikea

Intersession was a nice step between home and Hopkins–only about half of the student body is there for January–and it was great to catch up with all the friends I had missed abroad. The (real) start of classes crept up on me, though, and before I knew it, I was back to early morning Einsteins runs, late nights at the library, and the always crucial debate between backpack and tote bag when planning for a long study session at MSE.

This semester I took American Literature, 1865 to today, Global Environmental Politics, Lectures on Public Health and Wellbeing in Baltimore, Fundamentals of Epidemiology, Clinical & Public Health Behavior Change and Health, Development and Inequalities, A View from Latin America. Academically, it was a challenging but interesting semester. After coming back from abroad, I have a much better sense of what interests me (global health) and it was great to be able to choose classes with that in mind. Next year most of my classes will be down at the Bloomberg School (http://www.jhsph.edu/), and I’m toying with the idea of focusing in International Health or Epidemiology.

....hopefully that will bring me back here, to lovely cape town!

As I’ve written about before, the first half of the semester was mainly occupied by job applications–frantic interview preparation, resume editing, and learning how to dress in a suit. Just before leaving for spring break, I was thrilled to get an offer from McKinsey and Company, where I’m now working as a Summer Business Analyst. I started last week, and I am happy to say it’s just as exciting/overwhelming/amazing as I thought it would be.

on the beach for spring break

my phi mu pham at homecoming

Spring break brought a lovely sunny trip to the Bahamas. We found we weren’t quite up to Spring Break social standards (turn on MTV to see what I mean), and spent much of the week napping on the beach. It was a much needed break from midterms, and a hilarious bonding time with friends.

As usual, the weeks between spring break and exams flew by. I got two fabulous new little-littles in Phi Mu. I became a part of the executive board for Alumni Student Ambassadors and spent a week or so interviewing all the nominees. We ended up with a fabulous class of new ambassadors, and a number of exciting projects to start next year.

At Hopkins we celebrated homecoming, spring fair and a great school-sponsored concert. I spent more time at Mason Hall than I knew possible, planning and then working at two amazingly successful Admitted Student Open Houses…class of 2015 we can’t wait to meet you!

wiz khalifa concert

I’ve now been home for the summer for several weeks…shockingly this means I’m officially a “rising senior”…something I could do without. It’s crazy to think of all the things that have changed over the past year, and what the next one will bring!

Happy Summer!

Lauren

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

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

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

Hey yall!

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

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

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

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

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

-Dominique

The end of the year rolled up without warning, and was busy as ever.

The blur of formals, finals, and goodbyes was strange and exciting–even more so that I’m now officially a rising senior.

One of the least pleasant aspects of the year’s end was saying goodbye to my lovely big, Thalia, who will be graduating and heading off to law school in D.C. She’s so fabulously accomplished and motivated, I can’t wait to see what she does next! It’s so strange to think that just a few years ago I was applying to colleges, looking at this same website, while now I’m preparing for senior year and watching friends head off to medical school, move across the country, and become adults.

Exams were taxing as usual, but it feels good to be done, knowing that I won’t have homework again till September. I got by on a steady diet of coffee, plain m&m’s and Adele. I managed to almost completely avoid the library, embraced Self Control (download it if you have a Mac) and procrastinated by online shopping for noise canceling headphones. Luckily, finals are done, I’ve resumed eating and sleeping normally, and I’m back at home.

Back at home I’ve been preparing for my job, trying to catch up with high school friends, and unpacking. I helped my younger sister, Suzi, move out of her dorm at NYU. It’s insane to think that we’ll be sophomores and seniors in the fall! I got the chance to spend some time in the city, but unfortunately it’s been raining non-stop since I emerged from my finals hibernation.

Work starts on Monday, my high school friends return from abroad in the next few weeks, and I’m looking forward to sunny days, bicycles, bbqs, and the beach. Happy Summer, everyone!

-Lauren B.

Hello All, Happy May!

As I spoke to my parents last night for our now only semi-regular Sunday Skype sessions, my Dad pointed out that I had precisely three weeks until the first day of my very real summer job. As I was quietly freaking out, it occurred to me that I still hadn’t written about my job up here! What serendipitous timing, as I searched for a blog topic late on Sunday evening.

hey brown family! real life skype date

So, after many late nights, flashcards, romantic dates with “Case in Point,” and a few nail-biting days of interviews, I am thrilled to say I’ll be working for McKinsey & Company this summer.

The first few weeks of my semester were completely consumed with the job search. My iCal was transformed. My planner was scrawled with things like “midnight resume drop,” “superday” and “on-campus recruiting,” phrases entirely foreign to me before this semester. I made the bold step of purchasing an actual skirt suit (thank you, J.Crew) and investing in a pair of classy, rather than crazy, heels. I rewrote my resume, learned how to submit expenses, took the Acela Express. I hung out a lot in D.C.

After a particularly nerve-wracking round of interviews in the first week of March, I got perhaps the most exciting phone call of my life (bear with the drama, and understand that very few things are actually done via phone these days). At an entirely un-collegiate hour of Sunday morning, I got a call from the D.C. office informing me I’d been offered a position as a Summer Business Analyst. To be quite honest, I was shocked. So shocked, in fact, that I asked the lovely woman on the other end of the line if she was kidding. After reassuring me that she was not, in fact, joking, we chatted and I celebrated.

As amazing luck would have it, my parents were in town for the weekend. I frantically called them and they threw their own mini-celebration in the aisles of Home Depot (they were kindly picking up paint for my half-finished kitchen).

Since then I’ve been doing other new, real world things. Tax forms? Background checks? More sensible heels? Now that my start date is officially three weeks from today, it’s starting to feel a bit more real, and I can’t wait. I’m so excited to see what it’s like! I can’t wait to find out what projects I’ll be working on, meet the other interns, and spend the summer working at such a fabulous company.

While I’m on this note though, it’s important for me to recognize the amazing work everyone in the Career Center did to to help me get to this point. The On-Campus Recruiting events for other firms, the networking, alumni connections, and endless support were so helpful. The director of the Career Center, Mark Presnell, sat down with me on multiple occasions to help me review case interviews. He spoke with me about alums working at McKinsey and the other firms at which I was interviewing. He broadened my horizons about other companies and post-graduation options. I genuinely don’t think I would have received an offer without everyone else’s help, and I’m so appreciative for that.

Interviewing was an interesting experience.

Hopkins, at most financial firms, is not a “target school” (another new term I’ve learned). Despite this, Hopkins is widely respected and renowned. At every turn, I was asked how Hopkins might prepare me for a job at “X” firm. The more I thought about it, the easier this question became to answer.

Hopkins is an incredibly self-motivated place, it is a place that lets you be an independent learner, a place that makes you take responsibility for yourself. Hopkins is an amazing place to go to college, but it’s also an amazing place to have gone to college. In so many ways it not only gives you a great education, but prepares you for the real world. Hopkins teaches you not what to think but how to think, how to approach a problem, how to work hard.

These are the skills I’ll really need this summer and as I go into the real world next May. Despite the inevitable butterflies, I feel prepared and ready to work at McKinsey. I can’t wait.

Looking forward to business casual, to long hours, a short commute, and a fabulous experience!

-Lauren B.

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

“What’s your major?”

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

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

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

But I’m not.

ZOMG.

WHY???

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hello All,

Hope you’re enjoying the beginnings of spring! Here in Baltimore, it’s rained nearly non-stop since Spring Break.

Things have been busy here–my sorority initiated our newest pledge class, Spring Fair and SOHOP took over the Homewood Campus, I travelled home briefly, turned in a series of projects and papers, and celebrated both “regular” and Greek Orthodox Easters.The past few weeks have been interesting in a number of other ways as well. As I get older I cant help but feel that every semester at Hopkins gives me a different perspective on the school and its students. Every semester, I appreciate this place more.

April has been a bit of a strange month for me, and I’ve been trying to think of an appropriate, and meaningful way to talk about it here.

About two weeks ago, my sorority received some terrible news. Katie, a lovely girl the year younger than me passed away after a long, brave battle with cancer. Inevitably, this has colored the past few weeks for me in ways that have been both incredibly difficult, and surprisingly wonderful. At every turn, I have been nothing but impressed by the support, kindness and strength of everyone at this school.

My “little” in Phi Mu was very close to Katie. Upon hearing the news, my group of friends rallied around her to an extent that continues to amaze me. People dropped everything to make sure she was okay. Meals were delivered, classes skipped to give her company, baking occurred in bulk. It was incredible. I heard from old friends, acquaintances, my boss, faculty advisors. People reached out to me and to my friends, to our sorority as a whole.

By chance and circumstance, this month I have gotten the opportunity to spend a lot of time off campus and in “non-college” settings. Meeting the parents and siblings of long-term friends, seeing my big chatter away in Greek to her neighbors, attending a Catholic mass with a friend and her boyfriend for Easter, seeing my lovely little dance her heart out–in each of these situations I saw someone I thought I knew so well in a very new context.

Time and time again, on this blog and and at the Open Houses, I have said that the thing that first drew me to Hopkins was its students. Three years later, this is still true, and after these past few weeks, it has never been more important. I have been endlessly impressed and surprised by those with whom I am privileged enough to go to school.

I worried when I first arrived at Hopkins that I wouldn’t find my friends, those people with whom I was meant to spend my college years. Coming from a very small, very close high school, I fretted on the move-in-day drive that I could miss them. What if? I asked. What if I never find my friends? What if they’re on campus but I just never meet them? My Dad, logical and wise as ever, reassured me that though the school was new, and to me it was big, I would eventually find my friends and my “home.”

my wonderful roommate

I have.

Anywhere else, these past few weeks would have been intolerable. The support I received from friends was incredible. More than that, though, this experience has clarified how much of a home Hopkins has become for me. Sitting with the entire chapter of my sorority, hearing stories and jokes about Katie, celebrating her life, seeing those same girls motivate to raise nearly $10,000 in a week for cancer research, boarding a bus together a few days later to travel to New York for Katie and her family, I was stunned by how much I felt a part of this community. Watching my little steal the show at her dance performance last night, seeing her smile and throw herself into each dance, incredibly happy for the first time in weeks, I was overwhelmed. This place, these people, have become my home these past three years.

My Phi Mu "family" at Greek Easter today

As terrible timing would have it, two days after  Katie’s death, SOHOP arrived on campus, and my life transformed into a 24-hour-a-day Hopkins job. Becca and I braced ourselves for the day. There were few things we wanted to do less than bounce around campus fielding questions, and I worried that I would be overwhelmed. I spoke to family after family, though, and tentatively tried to tell them what had been going on in all of our lives those past few days. I spoke about how incredible my friends had been, how proud of everyone’s strength I was, and how the community had rallied around all of us.

Katie was an incredible member of the Hopkins community; we celebrate her life and we will continue to miss her so much. For those of us who remain, though,  this community here, whatever it was that first drew us to Hopkins and continues to keep us so happy, has been a great comfort. For me, this was, and continues to be, the people. I love the people at Hopkins and I can’t thank everyone enough for these past few weeks.

-Lauren B.

“I don’t mean to sound like your parents, but do you have plans for next year?” Dean Conley, the Dean of Enrollment and Academic Services, asked me at my “Graduating Senior Exit Interview” today (an optional time scheduled for graduating seniors to meet with administration to discuss their time at Hopkins).

“Going to Vietnam…” I said.

* Pause *

Me talking to a monkey in Cambodia.

Over the past couple of weeks, these words have begun to just naturally roll off my tongue. From meeting parents at open houses to casual conversations with strangers in the elevator of my apartment, I have begun to perfect my speech. I realize that I have been ignoring writing about my job hunt in my blogs but now that plans are settling, the questions have begun to start flowing:

What are you doing next year?

I am going to Vietnam starting in August for at least a year. I received a grant through Princeton in Asia, a private non-profit founded in 1898 and affiliated with Princeton University, whose mission is to “promote the free interchange of the best ideals of in the civilizations of both East and West.” As a fellow, I have been placed with Population Services International (PSI) in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Although Princeton in Asia has existed since 1898 and there were 165 fellows last year alone, this is the first year that this specific post exists. With a travel extensive position, I will be working with the region’s research teams to design anything from small qualitative studies to outlet audits looking at distribution strategies of health products. Projects that I may be researching include HIV, malaria, TB (my personal interest), reproductive health, and safe water in Laos, Burma, China, Thailand and Vietnam.

Why take this fellowship?

Returning from dearest Suisse, I was overwhelmed when I received an email from my academic advisor to consider highly competitive national scholarships and grants for my post-graduation plans. Don’t get me wrong, I was honored. But the idea of post-graduation plans just seemed somewhat nauseating. And the idea of developing a research project or putting together some applications that required eight recommendations was equally frightening. I really did debate if any of these grants were “for me” and by the end of this debating, I quickly managed to drive myself to get two applications together.

I found out that I was a finalist for both of them during the winter months. And, well, then it got tough. Princeton in Asia has many different types of placements, many are teaching posts, others are working for much smaller environmental non-profits for instance. But the PSI post was special for me: it was in my first choice country, with an organization that I had learned about in my coursework, and it would be doing work that I know would be productive.

I had a hunch that what happened was going to happen: I found out about the Princeton in Asia grant before the other grant and had to decide whether to take the job or not, and risk taking a “leap of faith.” Honestly, it was a good place to be in: having opportunities lined up before graduation day!

But I’m indecisive. And this felt so much harder than high school. I sought advice from my advisors, recent alums, family, and students (from my close friends to Vietnamese students). It was a harder decision for me than I thought it would be. I was literally questioning everything from the obvious (benefits and orientation dates) to comparing the average work schedule. I had anxiety attacks: Did I really want to be away from home for so long; did I want to spend Christmas in Hanoi? Why international public health? Why not an elementary school teacher? Why not a nice job in New York City? But the biggest problem was not being able to judge how my daily life is going to be before stepping foot into my new office; I definitely took the whole idea of being able to visit colleges as something for granted.

Uh… Vietnam?

Me in Cambodia in 2005.

Southeast Asia has played an important part of my upbringing since middle school. My non-profit work at a young age got me to Cambodia in 2005 to visit the landmine surviviors a group of us had fundraised for. Since freshman year, I have had some kind of desire to work in Southeast Asia. But I found it rather difficult to find research opportunities in this region or even just to take a course on the Vietnam War let alone a language course. But, sure enough, I have made it follow me. Any open subject academic paper, there I was writing about Cambodia. I was eventually told that the best way to continue this interest was to just go by myself. And, after taking a deep breath, that’s what I am doing!

What was your thought making process like? What got you to accept?

My computer background aka my inspiration.

I found out about this post the same day that regular decision Hopkins letters went out, which I felt symbolized something. Some may see this post for me as strange. I’m going to yet another continent to do research without knowledge of the language. But I think this post is the obvious decision for my career path. What ultimately made me decide was thinking about which opportunity I had at hand that would be less likely to get again and also which opportunity I would be more upset by if someone else was doing it. When I asked myself those questions, this post seemed to have won.

For my honors thesis, I’ve been interviewing tuberculosis experts. I have always enjoyed finding out and reading about how people got to their current career position. Rarely is it because of what they decided to double major in or where they went to school, it’s often about the opportunities they have seized and the people they have met from those. Come to think of it, I may have to take that last piece back since so many of the interviewees were Johns Hopkins alums.

Anyway, the best piece of advice I got was from Dr. Lee Reichman, the founding executive director of the Global Tuberculosis Institute at UMDNJ. Besides for advising more education, he told me to about getting his first job out of his Masters in Public Health. He said he was offered this job as Director of the Bureau of Tuberculosis of New York City. After that, he called 10-15 people that he knew in the tuberculosis community to ask them what they thought.

He said, “I really just wanted to tell them, ‘Oh look, I was offered this job, isn’t that exciting?’ And all of them said they were offered this job already and turned it down because it was impossible to do. And so, of course, that met my criteria: to do a job no one else thinks you can do. And, therefore, if you fail, nothing is lost…. And, so, if you want to make it in academic medicine, and this is what I always tell my students, you have to be smarter than everybody else or do something else no one else does….”

To me, and even my future supervisor, this post is one of those impossible posts that somehow I seem matched for. The task is to assist on research in a region that is so diverse within and across country divides. But in many ways, my Hopkins career path has built me up for this post and I am excited to just run with it.

How does it feel to have this planned out?

Honestly, I feel like a barbie doll these days. You’ve got studying Jess, working Jess, spring Jess, baking Jess, cycling Jess, and now Vietnam Jess.

Can I call you Hanoi Hannah?

Well, of course. Or as the beloved office I currently work at calls me: Jersey girl via San Francisco via Hanoi.

* End Pause *

“And don’t worry about asking,” I said to Dean Conley, “my dad asked me yesterday what I was planning to do come August 2012.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

interesting image in our spanish book--unit on drugs

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

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

Until next time!

-Dominique

Today ends the Hopkins Interactive “Get to Know the bloggers and why they chose Hopkins” series (bad title, huh? Oh well I tried). Through these, you’ll get to know the HI bloggers, and learn a little bit more about our Hopkins experience and why we chose Hopkins.  Hope you enjoy! WHOO!

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Ok, weird title. My name is actually spelled DOMInique but my nickname is “Domo” and half the people on campus call me this so that’s why I did that. But you can call me whichever you like. Hmm I used a lot of pronouns there sorry. Anyways…

random pic my friend here drew of me when she was abroad :P

Get to Know JHU_Dominique:

1. Birthplace and current hometown: Birthplace was Brooklyn, NY. Current hometown (10 years and counting) is Baltimore, MD.

2. Major(s)/Minor(s): Public Health Studies Major, Africana Studies minor (just declared yesterday!)

3. When I grow up I want to…not be working at a desk, be moving around and traveling and speaking to large groups of people. I have no idea what I want to do. Maybe teach.

4. Favorite place to eat in Baltimore: Hmmmmm… Cafe Hon in Hampden is pretty good.

5. Favorite spot on the Homewood campus: Gilman’s cool

6. Favorite TV show: Pretty Little Liars! (don’t judge me ! )

7. Favorite color: Not sure…  think it’s pink but it could be red or orange.

8. Favorite sports team: SAN ANTONIO SPURS!!!!! :)

My Hopkins Experience:

1. When did you know Hopkins was right for you? When I first visited I was not impressed…I think because I lived so close and had heard so much about Hopkins, I was like blah, where’s the fun and newness? But further exploration led me to believe that JHU was right for me because of the programs of studies it offered (I had never heard of a Public Health major and  it sounded like a perfect mix of science and social science!–I was correct) and I felt like I’d fit in with the student body because I cared a lot about academics. Even after I enrolled, I had reservations about the social life and the types of students here, and I allowed myself to become psyched out by misconceptions and myths. However, I am happy I came because this is definitely the right place for me. And being here has made me grow as a student and as a person.

2. What is one thing that would surprise your friends/family about Hopkins? There is diversity here! :)

nyc trip with 1 dolla pizza yumm

3. If you were the University President, what is the first thing you would do or change? I would definitely make a lot of freshman seminars not only for freshmen because the topics are always so interesting. I also wouldn’t make meal plans mandatory, especially if there are people with food allergy problems or financial issues. And, like everyone else, I’d like a student union place with a tv, game stations, and tables to just chillax. We have those things, just not in a centralized location.

4. If you could go back and choose your college again, would you pick Hopkins?  Why? Yes, I would–I believe that anywhere I went would have worked out, but I definitely couldn’t see myself anywhere else. I love my friends and the people here, and my major and the opportunities Hopkins has for us in terms of community service, clubs, and connections with its other schools. I would have chosen Hopkins because of the Public Health major and opportunities.

5. What was your perception about Hopkins before enrolling and how has it changed since then? I didn’t know much about Hopkins until my jr. yr of HS, then I started hearing too much about it. I don’t even really remember much except that I heard it was a place for people who couldn’t socialize and that it wasn’t fun and that’s when I started panicking. I never thought much about the cutthroat thing (although I did hear it) because I was a closet grade grubber in high school HAHA. But now, I will say that the school is competitive because everyone wants to do well and everyone studies to do well. But that’s normal and I don’t think I’d want to go to a school where students were apathetic.

6. What is/was your favorite class? Social Psychology with Dr. Drigotas was soooooo good. It wasn’t too hard of a course and it was so interesting and applicable. I liked learning that there were actual names and theories that described things that we humans do everyday, like groupthink and conditional responses. I liked my class African American Poetry and Poetics–taught by a Peabody professor, Dr.  Hollis Robbins, who was enthusiastic and just crazy about the subject. I dislike writing poetry and in this class all we had to do was read it and analyze it through paper writing, which I loved. This class was so much fun and very laid back. I still speak to that professor because of that class. I am currently taking The  Sociology of Disability with Christian Villenas, a grad student here. He has spina bifida and wanted to teach a course about how disability  can be seen not just as a medical issue, but as a social construction. SO good!

7. Describe your funniest memory or experience at Hopkins: FFC midnight breakfast freshman year where my friends and I were just completely wacked out from studying too much….we  were just so out of it and I don’t remember what we were saying or doing but we created a poster drawing (they had  crayons and paper for us there) of us and it looks so bad. So bad but it’s so good. It’s in my RA friend’s room now.

my first lacrosse game!

8. How would your college experience be different if you hadn’t chosen Hopkins? I wouldn’t know what it was like to have to be a “go getter” because this school gives you all that you need, but it does not hold your hand (for the most part). I wouldn’t have been able to study public health and be able to take grad school level classes at the first school of PH in the world, all included in my major and tuition, I wouldn’t have met so many cool people from all around the world if I had chosen to go to the other schools between which I was choosing…

9. What has your greatest contribution been during your time at Hopkins, or what do you hope to accomplish before graduation? Greatest contribution? That’s weird…um, well that’s hard to answer. I hope when I graduate I will have been able to encourage other students here with my experiences, because there are many rough patches that you can’t always say will end smoothly. But I hope I will have made an impact on how the school is portrayed to prospective students and parents, an impact on diversity awareness on campus, and through being a TA I hope I have made some students’ 1st years here a bit less frightening. And as a RA next yr I hope to make my future residents’ 1st year here fun fun fun! I may not be at the top of my classes, but I’m ok with that– because I’ve learned that just being here and learning– from classes and from people is an accomplishment in itself, and it certainly hasn’t stopped me from getting anything! ;)

10.  What advice would you give to a high school senior choosing their college? Don’t listen to what other high school students say, stay OFF College Confidential, speak to current students at the schools in which you are interested, make sure the school has a lot of programs of study in which you are interested because chances are you will change your mind about your major, make sure you can see yourself as a student there each day, think about money and loans if that matters to you, and just pick one! You don’t always have a gut feeling…I sure didn’t. But I couldn’t see myself anywhere else.

I’m so excited for you! And slightly jealous! ;) Congrats 2015!!

-Dominique