The sun is shining, campus is beautiful, and ice cream is finally a suitable substitute for calories. That can mean only one thing. Finals are here. There is exactly one more week of classes left. Five days. And then, in a whirlwind, I have 4 finals in three days. And if that doesn’t seem bad enough, I also have two papers due. On top of all of that, I seem to have, for some odd reason, sophomor-itis.
Let me clarify. This year has been entirely different from last year. I have taken classes that have boggled my mind, like Organic Chemistry Lab. Gross. After my freshman year, I was convinced that I could handle whatever Hopkins dished out. However, and rather startlingly, I have learned that each year at Hopkins is a process. Each year represents a new set of challenges, and new set of wonderful experiences. It took me an entire year to realize that Hopkins is a whole new arena from high school. All that seems like child’s play now.
Now, don’t think that I am endorsing that awful stereotype about Hopkins being a cutthroat school. That couldn’t be further from the truth. College, not just Hopkins, is an environment built to test and stimulate you. It’s a trick really. It gets you to actually want to learn, not just because you have to or because you need to. Hopkins forces you to want to genuinely learn. My favorite class, for example, The Nervous System, is winding down, and our final unit is on the motor system. Comprised of 7 lectures, this unit is the by far the most information we have covered in a few short weeks. Yesterday was our review session, and I was on edge worrying about how I was going to learn everything for our final, especially with my other three finals (Organic Chemistry, Statistics, and Classics of Political Thought), extracurriculars, and my parents coming to visit me this weekend for my dad’s birthday. I was convinced my brain was going to explode. In a moment of panic, I thought of how I viewed my brain as a little kid, much like how I viewed my stomach: compartmentalized (with extra room for dessert). There just wasn’t room for everything in my head.

I'm so glad I realized my brain wasn't actually like this. My neuro professors would be so disappointed if they saw this!

I didn’t think it was possible for me to be able to pack in everything. I took a breather, and realized that I would have to start planning ahead. I made the ultimate study schedule. Enjoy the picture below (it’s page one of three!). Over the past few days, I have been going over notes in sections, and I am beginning to see the light. I didn’t realize it at the time, but when I had my almost close-to-awful breakdown, I found that I just had to do what I started doing new this year. I had to be organized on an entirely new level. This year has forced me to set higher standards for myself. Luckily, I have been able to cope with the tools Hopkins has provided me with.

Page 1 of 3 of my FINALS SCHEDULE. I WILL GET THROUGH THIS.

While I would rather be sitting with a delicious Dominion’s Ice Cream cone on the beach (which I did all through Spring Fair- which was AMAZING), I will be working. However, I know that it will be worth it in the end. Once classes are over, I will be getting ready to move into my new apartment! No more shower-shoes for me, thank you very much! I will be closer to a real person. Moreover, I will be a rising Junior. Holy Godzilla. I can’t believe I am half way done with my time at Hopkins. If I have learned this much in just two years, I can’t imagine how I am going to end up when I leave here!

Happy April Fools Day! April has started, Spring is in the air, and midterm season is afoot. It is time to pick classes for next year, and I can almost call myself a Junior. WHAT. Time has flown since I have come to Hopkins, and even my little brother, who is entering high school next year, has been asked the age old question: what do you want to do when you grow up?

When do you know what you “want to be when you grow up”? That sounds stupid. There are two ways of answering that question. Either you were born with the answer engrained in you, or you have eliminated every other option to arrive at your conclusion. Now, I was not born wanting to be a doctor; I didn’t even consider what I wanted to do until I applied to college. Being a doctor didn’t sound like a shabby way to end up.

I consider myself a person very set in my ways. However, upon coming to Hopkins, taking a variety of classes and exposing myself to a hospital environment, I have realized that that might not be a good thing. There are so many people here doing amazing things! You really don’t have to become a doctor once you leave here, something I naively assumed before applying to Hopkins.

The first baby step in deciding your career can be picking your major if you’re like me and unsure about where you will end up. It can be an extremely difficult thing to do, especially if you expect it to define or in some way shape your career goals. As a Neuroscience major, I didn’t assume that I would become a Neuroscientist “when I grew up.” After doing a lot of research on campus, I know that that might not be what I want to do. In fact, I have started to feel unsure about what I want to do in general.

With almost two years of college under my belt, that’s not the best feeling in the world. Especially because I have started to consider what many view as the polar opposite of Medical School: Law School. Why? I have no idea. I guess it all started once I decided what I was doing this summer. I knew I didn’t want to be cooped up in a lab; I wanted to get out there and actually do something. I will be interning for a health advocacy company in DC, talking to other health advocacy companies about the best ways to present information to patients, and doing clinical outreach in free clinics around DC. It’s a great way to see another dimension of the healthcare field, and it is one that I had never even considered before I started shadowing doctors at Hopkins and volunteering with the Stroke Association.

Enjoying breakfast at Carmas!

Getting involved at Hopkins is a great way to help you gain experience and expose yourself to the world out there. There are many ways we can all impact the world, and I think that putting yourself out there is the only way to help you get closer to “growing up”. There aren’t just doctors and lawyers and astronauts and firefighters like we think there are when we were little kids. The great thing about our increasingly globalized job market is that there are an unlimited amount of possible careers. You just have to be creative enough to figure out what you want to do.

So while I came into Hopkins unsure, picked a major that sounded “cool” to me, found out I loved it, but didn’t want it to define my life, and found out I don’t know what I want any more (whoa. That’s confusing), I have decided to throw myself out there and try everything. That may end up meaning that I apply to joint MD/JD programs, which sounds really daunting.

Dessert at Tambers...I know it looks like I just eat all the time here. I really don't. Promise.

I think the one thing I can say for sure is that while being a doctor is an amazing job, and saving lives is probably the most rewarding thing in the world, it might not be the only thing I want to do. I don’t think I can imagine myself being a doctor for the rest of my life, but I do know that I love learning about the body and how it works. I also know that I love learning about health policy and health law. To me, figuring out what combines those interests is the point of college.

To all you recently accepted Regular Decision applicants (Congratulations to the Class of 2016!), I have one thing to say. Choosing a college can be one of the most difficult things you do, not only because you have to consider things like financial aid, majors, ranking, social life, etc, but also because the college you go to molds you into who you will end up. It is the place that grooms on a fundamental level you whether you realize it or not.

Views from Spring Break.

I assumed that Hopkins was just a great school. However, it is much, much more than that. It has given me the opportunity to accept the fact that it is okay to be confused. Moreover, it has provided me the means to understand how to solve my dilemma. The faculty is an impeccable representation of Hopkins, and they are always ready and willing to help you on your path. The clubs and organizations expose you to the world in a way I didn’t expect. And while all of this is very generic, the true Hopkins experience is a very unique one. Yes, I applied Early Decision and have always loved this school, but I have come to appreciate it in a very different way. It may be a school just like other great schools in some ways, but I think that the environment (which has a reputation of being toxic) is actually the best driving force there is.

Competitive? Yes. Difficult? Yes. Sleep deprivation? Yes. But why would you want to go to a school that doesn’t test your limits? College is your chance to figure out who you want to be, and how you are going to grow. The environment at Hopkins is one that forces you to put yourself out there and really “grow up”.

And that is why I chose Hopkins.

Good luck with your decisions!