Class of 2013: Freshman Blog

To New Beginnings and ENFJ's

Posted by Becca K.

Hi there!

I wish I had a cool epigram or something equally amusing to zap you into my blog and keep you entranced, but I don't... so I'm just going to start with...surprise!...an introduction.

My name is Becca. I’m from Dallas, Texas and attended The Hockaday School, a private all-girls school, for a whopping fourteen years before coming to Hopkins. Currently, I’m a Writing Seminars and History of Art pre-major (we don’t formally declare our majors until second semester). Interesting and/or random facts about myself? I’m left-handed, I used to be on a nationally-competitive Indian folk dance team, and according to an online personality test I just took, I’m a “ENFJ” personality, also known as the “extrovert.” Intriguing. As of now, I’m wondering how legit those online tests are. I’m not about to complain, though, because Oprah and Barack Obama are both ENFJ’s as well. So this is what we do for leisure at Hopkins—just kidding!

I was definitely nervous when I first arrived here in Baltimore. Dallas is over 1000 miles away, and I met a majority of my good friends from high school when I was like four. Also, telling people you meet for the first time that you attended an all-girls school for fourteen years is like telling them that you still have an invisible friend named Magic. Just not cool. But making friends here has been an awesome and surprisingly easy experience: my roommate rocks, I have friends that are—gasp!—boys and girls, and in college, you really get to know these people on a whole new level because you live with them. Pretty neato.

So far, I am loving the Hopkins life! I live in the AMRS in a double, which is great because it’s near the FFC (the freshmen eatery), the Freshman Quad, and most of my classes. It’s also known to be one of the more “social” dorms, but I feel like just about every dorm is social if you make the effort. My roommate is also from the South, so we bond daily by reminiscing about exclusively southern concepts like fried chicken and sweet tea.

Balti is a pretty righteous city. It’s got all the perks of a large city, but it’s not about to swallow anyone up, and it definitely carries that small town charm. There are tons of quaint little non-chain restaurants, coffee shops, and cafes, which I adore—this city has character, y’all! I am also appreciating the whole idea of “public transportation”—something I was deprived of as a Texan. My friends and I recently took a weekend excursion to Washington, D.C. via the Amtrak and had a blast. It’s great having the capital just a short train ride away!

And to save the best for last, you’re probably curious about what sort of classes I’m taking. I’m in Intro to Fiction & Poetry (the introductory course for the Writing Sems major), French Conversation and Composition, History of European Art, Studio Drawing I, and Intro to Neuroscience. Evidently, my courses really run the gamut. But Art History and Studio Drawing have really complemented each other so far, and it’s been cool challenging myself with Neuro.

Well, I’m out of words. Thanks for reading and a special shout out to all you other ENFJ personality types out there! -BK

Worlds Away

Posted by Joe N.

Hey guys! I'm Joe and I'm (obviously) also a Freshman at Hopkins this year and I'm one of the 8 Freshmen who are going to be writing on this blog. I would also like to welcome everyone to the blog and if you don't find the answers to you questions I invite you to check out the Student Profiles and the Admissions Forums. If you still don't find your answer be sure to contact one of us and we'll make sure your question gets answered. Before I get to the main point of my blog I'd like to let you guys know a little bit about me.

I'm from Belmar, New Jersey (right on the Jersey Shore, I actually live about 5 blocks from the beach), I'm a Neuroscience major and Psychology minor and I'm on the pre-med track. I attended High Technology High School, a Pre-Engineering magnet school that was recently ranked 4th best high school in the country. I watch a LOT of different TV Shows but my all-time favorite TV Show is LOST (closely followed by Fringe, if you don't watch these shows you should start now =D), I'm literally obsessed with it. I listen to all different kinds of music but my genre of choice is definitely metal, all the concerts I've been to were to see metal bands. I'll listen to all other kinds of music but I prefer metal. I'm also obsessed with almost anything related to technology or medicine and you'll find that all of the classes I'm taking this semester and next semester are related to both of those topics (I tend to avoid humanities at all costs =D). I live in McCoy Hall which is actually an upperclassmen dorm but the floor that I'm on (Terrace Level) is all Freshmen and I'm right across from Wolman Hall. I personally love the location because even though I have to walk a fair distance to my classes (especially Physics which I have at 9AM and is literally the farthest building from my dorm room) I love being close to the book store, Charles Commons/Nolan's, and all of the restaurants on St. Paul Street. I also love McCoy because I have air conditioning and I share a bathroom and kitchenette with my two other suitemates.

Here's what the bookstore and the entrance to Charles Commons looks like from the outside.

In case you're wondering, here's a little bit about why I chose to come to Hopkins. I chose to come to Hopkins because when I was here for the 2008 Pre-College Summer University program I found out that everyone on campus is so nice and friendly and always willing to help you out if you have a question or a problem. (Summer University was one of the best experiences of my life and if you have the ability to do it I strongly suggest you do) I also came because of the presentation I saw during one of the open houses for the Neuroscience department. At that time I wanted to major in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering but after I saw that presentation I started leaning toward Neuroscience. I actually made up my mind when I filled out the form that went along with my deposit to Hopkins and changed my major to Neuroscience. The availability of research here was also a deciding factor. At my high school we were allowed to do research but we couldn’t use human subjects so all my ideas weren’t approved. At Hopkins not only can you do research on campus relating to the medical field, but you can also work with students at the medical school or even work directly with the Hopkins Hospital.

The Hopkins sign! This is how my friends and I would orient ourselves when we didn't know our way around campus.

Right now I'm taking 5 science-y classes: An Introduction to Neuroscience (my favorite class and professor so far), General Physics I for Biological Sciences Majors, General Physics Lab I, Introduction to Cognitive Neuropsychology and Introduction to Psychology. So far I've taken my first exam (An Introduction to Neuroscience) and while it did require a lot of studying it wasn't that bad. Some of the activities I participate in on campus are Club Swimming, Hopkins Organization for Pre-Health Education (HOPE), Student Admissions Advisory Board (SAAB), and the JHU Photo Club. I also love video games (even though I haven't found the time to play them that much yet). One odd fact about me is that since I've been to Hopkins I've gotten more sleep than I used to. At my High School I was used to having 4+ hours of homework each day and now that I only have 2 classes with homework I spend my free time catching up on readings (which doesn't take long at all) and sleeping at random hours during the day.

Thats basically everything you'd ever want to know about me and my schedule at Hopkins so far, so now I'm going to talk a little bit about Orientation (otherwise known as O-Week). Orientation is the first thing you experience at any school and it is often one of the most memorable times. I remember talking with my friends about what they were going to have going on during their orientations and it sounded really fun. The odd thing was that all of them had orientations lasting one or two days. When I finally got the schedule for the JHU orientation I was ecstatic. They had events planned for us for the entire first week, and even a few more days. They knew that we started classes and they had events planned around that as well. Interestingly enough one of my greatest experiences during orientation was the Alcohol and Making Informed Decisions meeting because one of my favorite Neuroscience Professors was the one who gave the lecture. That's all I have to say for orientation right now, but don't worry I'll go more in-depth into it during my next post.

This is just one of the many fun activities you get to do as a whole class during orientation. Among the others are convocation and first night/class party following first night.

Well that's all I've got for you guys right now. In closing I've been here for a month so far and to me it seems like its been a lot longer (in a good way). No matter what time of the day it is there's always something to do here (and not just schoolwork) which is great. A lot has happened too, I've made a lot of new friends, participated in a lot of different activities, learned a lot more than I thought I would in all of my classes, and learned my way around the entire campus. Make sure you check out my student profile when its put up in the middle of October, and my page on the Hopkins Forums (please don't hesitate to post your questions, I'd love to answer them!) Also check out my TypePad profile page for other ways you can keep up with me, friend me on facebook if you want or check out what music I've listened to recently on last.fm =D.

Oh, I forgot to mention I'm going to try post a link to a random funny YouTube after every blog post I make. Here's the first one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jxXdCEcFHM. Also if you're wondering I got my post title from one of my current favorite songs. See you guys next time!

Miranda Writes

Posted by Miranda B.

Hi everyone!

I’d also like to extend Daniel’s comments, and welcome everyone to this blog. With eight different viewpoints of Hopkins, you’re sure to find out lots of information, and find answers to your questions. If this isn’t enough for you, then check out our profiles on the forums, and ask away!

I’m from Culver City, California, which likes to bill itself as the “Heart of Screenland.” Although people assume that Hollywood is the center of the movie business, Culver City is actually home to a lot of the studios. Fun Fact – Gone With the Wind, Wizard of Oz, and Singing in the Rain were all filmed there, and Jeopardy still is!

I’ve lived there for most of my life, so Baltimore and the east coast is a big change for me. Some of the differences are pretty major, like the weather, the non-palm trees, the lack of a real beach (as lovely a lawn as the “beach” here is, it pales in comparison to the real thing) and the brick buildings, but I’m slowly noticing other things. Case in point – no earthquakes. While that might seem like a pretty obvious thing (“Hey, the earth’s not moving!”), I’m also getting used to things not being bolted to the walls and worrying about things (like my laptop) falling off from their precarious positions.  However, being from Los Angeles does have its perks – I didn’t have to deal with all the comments about city violence and crime!

This year I’m living in the AMRS, which, as Tyler mentioned, are the best dorms at Hopkins. We meet people, we’re right on campus, and we don’t have to clean our bathrooms. Life’s pretty nice.  We’re also broken up into houses, so you literally have a home away from home.

I’m taking five classes this semester – Discrete Math, High Intermediate French, Medieval World, Contemporary International Politics, and Expository Writing (Education and the American Dream). I’ve written a little bit about them on my forum page, and I’ll address them more as the semester goes on.  I’m currently a history major, but I’m also considering international studies.  As for activities outside of class (because it’s not entirely about studying here), I’m involved with the Tutorial Project and Mock Trial (which you might have figured out from the title).

However, as all you seniors applying to college know, we’re more than our resumes, transcripts, and extracurriculars.  We’re people, not just statistics on a blog. So, a little bit about me, the person. I really like to read. I read 35 books this summer, over half of which were from the library, and only one of which was bought. I make a lot of my own jewelry, and I love blue glass beads. I’m also a vegetarian, which has meant a big change in going from home cooked food with variety, to a lot fewer choices here at the FFC.

Going back to the changes theme…I’m really excited to be living on the east coast. I was never hugely in love with Los Angeles, and so far, I really like Baltimore. It’s a lot easier to get from place to place, there’s the Inner Harbor, and it’s very close to DC. Additionally, there are also the weather changes – I’ve had all of my California seasons between yesterday and today!

Something else I really love here is all of the gardens and grassy areas. It's really nice seeing lots of natural trees, and just having peaceful, beautiful places to relax and work in. There's also a really cool sculpture garden, with lots of huge animal sculptures. This picture gives an idea of what the garden's like, although not at this time of year (I actually took this last year during the spring Open House).  All in all, I love it here. Today actually marks one month since move-in, and time has definitely flown by, what with new classes, making friends, and exploring classes. Next month should bring more of the same, as well as some more unknown weather!   -Miranda

An Ode to the Futon

Posted by Tyler D.

Hey my darlings! My name is Tyler Elizabeth Dougherty/Ty Doc/ Ty Ty/ the most beautiful person you will ever see in the world. I hail from Ocean City, New Jersey: land of sandy beaches, a beautiful boardwalk, and infinite guidos.

Honestly, I have loved Hopkins so far and could not have been more surprised. I came in expecting the worst and have found challenges, friends, and a really cute TA. Despite all of Hopkins's pluses, I also want to be honest with my readers (all ten of you + grandmom). There is an underground conflict at Hopkins that is not shared throughout the countless Hopkins brochures littered throughout guidance offices across the nation. There is a deep rooted problem at Hopkins that no one is willing to talk about. There is separation. There is tension. But I am going to bring it to light...Now! There are turf wars at Hopkins, likened only to the east/west coast rap wars of the '90s. And it all depends on where you live.

Freshmen live in a variety of housing options: the AMRs (traditional dorm living), Wolman Hall (the most updated option), and Buildings A&B (a mixture of the two). I may be biased, but AMRs are the place to be.  You are forced to make friends, considering how you live on top of one another and basically have fifty roommates.  I eat with my dorm-mates, make corny jokes with my dorm-mates, and even let my dorm-mates see my absolutely crazy clothes that are reserved for dire laundry days only.  Now, people here can get a bit crazy about their dorm and what it represents. To quote the Real Housewives of New Jersey, "Me and my family, we're as thick as thieves."

So when I realize that I haven't even been here for a month, I'm like "Say What?!?" Making friends has been the easiest/most rewarding part of Hopkins so far. Thinking back to move-in day, besides the heat stroke and awkward parent conversations, the only thing I can really remember is watching a sofa/couch/futon combo being lugged up three flights of stairs in Griffin House, AMR II. I followed that sofa right into the room of the girls who were soon to become great friends and now our "baby" the Futon has become a communal symbol similar to the big comfy couch on PBS, Homer Simpson's sofa, and the seating at Central Perk on "Friends." The futon has housed therapy sessions, giggle sessions, and sleeping sessions when I'm too lazy to make the twenty steps to my room. Still, the Futon has caused some conflict, as evidenced by this pic of my friend Freezie (names have been changed for privacy) trying to jack it.

Basically, my friends all think that this blog will be their gateway to super-stardom. So, throughout the year I will reference some of their situations and problems- that way all of my readers (and grandmom) won't get bored just hearing about me.

But as a closing note, let's talk about my fabulous self for a quick minute. I am an International Studies Major, but I am still undecided to an extent. I am taking:

1. Macroeconomics (which I will refer to as Home Ec)

2. Issues in International Development (with the most diesel professor ever)

3. Chinese (Let's just say it is beginner's beginner level)

4. Great Books (A lot of reading with a lot of professor drama because it is taught by four different people)

I am just starting a Work Study job at JHU Press and am getting involved in clubs (but I will save that list for a later update because I'm worried about what I will stick with). But what I am loving is Baltimore and the fact that I am just a short train ride away from my favorite people on earth: the Obamas!!!

My Source of Inspiration

Posted by Greco S.

I’m Greco. I’m also a freshman and I am planning on majoring in biology (you can read more about me here: http://z14.invisionfree.com/Hopkins_Forums/index.php?showtopic=1827).I was thinking about what I should write about, and the first thing that popped up in my mind was “The Vocal Chords!” The Vocal Chords is one of the best a cappella groups on campus (I really want to say it is THE best a cappella group, but um… yea). Today I would like to share my experience auditioning for a cappella groups.

The first time I saw The Vocal Chords performing on stage was during the Orientation Week. There were 8 a cappella groups performing two songs each. Even after I came to Hopkins, I had still believed in the Hopkins myth that the school is only academically driven. Well, I was wrong, of course. A lot of the groups performed like professionals, and most of all, they ENJOYED themselves, automatically drawing in the audience. Two groups stood out for me, Octopudies and… The Vocal Chords! I really wanted to enjoy my college life, and most of all, I wanted to have that happy smile on my face like they had on stage. I just HAD to sign up for audition. Choosing the right song was a challenge for me. I usually listen to electronica and all those weird experimental pieces which are not really a cappella materials. There was ONE song that I was really familiar with and could be used for my audition: Rehab by Amy Winehouse! Apparently, it was a pretty popular song back in 2006-ish but I haven’t even heard about it until recently. Anyways, so I decided on my song, nervous as poop, and entered the room. The Vocal Chords members started the audition by introducing themselves and doing some warm-ups. I thought I was only going to do my song and get out, but it was more complicated than that haha. They had me memorize random notes from the piano and sing them back which was pretty challenging. They also wanted me to do some sight-reading as well. It was hard, to be honest. But the moment my voice joined the rest of the member’s voice, we created a “harmony.” I felt a warm, open “community.” I wanted this so bad. Fortunately, they called me late at night for the callback the next day. During the callback, I sang Right as Rain by Adele, though it was not as prepared and I had to look at the lyrics during the audition. The moment I got there call, I felt ecstatic. I was so glad I could be part of this awesome, friendly community. I was so proud of myself. It’s been about 2-3 weeks now and I haven’t regretted once that I joined The Vocal Chords. The people here are SO genuine and are just so awesome that they are willing to help me from the bottom of their heart. Isn’t that what community is all about? Being able to share the talents and being each other’s inspiration! My freshman year is going to rock. *Check out The Vocal Chords website here and check out their performance last year here and here.

First Impressions

Posted by Sarah S.

Hey everyone, I’m Sarah, and I’ll be blogging this year along with Daniel and six other freshman on the Class of 2013 Shared Blog.  I’m from right outside of Philadelphia, only about two hours away from Hopkins.  Unlike Daniel (read the post below mine!), I’ve pretty much lived in the same place my whole life, and I went to high school here. 

As of now, I’m planning to major in biology and Spanish, and I’m pretty happy with the combination of classes I have this semester. I love my Advanced Spanish II class because it’s such a nice break from a difficult morning of physics and math, and there are only like thirteen or so people in the class.  My Expository Writing: Analyzing Comedy class is a lot more work than I expected, but the course content is really cool so far and our professor is great.  In a few weeks, we get to start watching and analyzing Bugs Bunny cartoons, which is so much better than reading and writing about long books.  The two classes that I’m a little less enthused about taking this semester are General Physics I for Biological Science Majors and Calculus I (also for bio majors).  Both of these classes are requirements for both the biology major and the pre-med curriculum, so I’m getting them out of the way early.

So instead of talking more about all of my classes, here are a few things that I really like about Hopkins so far:

1) I absolutely love being in AMR 1.  All of the people I’ve met in Wilson House are incredibly nice, and we definitely see a lot of each other since we’re not in suites.

2) Not having class at 7:30 is the greatest thing ever.

3) The Rec Center is amazing.  It has air conditioning, which I’ve really come to appreciate after living in the AMRs for three weeks.  It also has these huge industrial sized fans, a ton of cardio machines, TVs, an indoor track, a gymnasium, and probably a lot more that I haven’t gotten a chance to scope out yet.

4) There are a ton of campus events going on all the time, and most of them offer free food.  One of the student group meetings I went to even had a cookie cake.

5) Walking to class is so much more scenic here than it was last year.   The campus is much prettier than the hallways of my high school.

There are also a few things that I didn’t expect to miss about high school as much as I do now:

1)   I miss getting seven or eight hours of sleep!  There is always something going on in our hall (Xbox, Rock Band, re-runs of Friends and The Office, late night FFC trips, premature Wilson House Halloween costume planning, etc) that is worth staying up late for.  Then I wake up in a really grouchy mood when I have to walk all the way to Bloomberg for 9 AM Physics.

2)   I miss not having to walk through the rain to get to class.  Thankfully, I’ve only slipped three times on wet marble/brick this year: once near the library on move-in day, once going up the huge set of stairs near the Bloomberg Building, and once going down the marble stairs in the breezeway (just a few minutes after I tripped up the Bloomberg steps).

So that pretty much sums up my classes and first impressions of Hopkins.  Please leave comments/ask me questions!  Until next time!

First Post: And Then It Began

Posted by Daniel R.

Before I dive into an introduction, let me be the first to welcome you to the Johns Hopkins: Class of 2013 blog.  I speak for my freshman colleagues in welcoming you to our blog, and we all sincerely hope that you’ll find these posts useful, informative, and (even) entertaining as you prepare to make the collegiate plunge. 

There are eight freshmen who will contribute to this blog.  Each one of us will aim to post about every two weeks with whatever two cents come to mind.  Please feel free to post a comment should you have a specific question or concern.  I’ll do my best to address your question/comment as soon as possible.  If you're wondering about something, odds are the next guy is, too, and putting questions out in the open can kill two birds with one stone.  Don’t be timid about asking anything, either: you might give me an idea for a blog posts, which will make my life much easier.  You can also follow me on Twitter; my username's JHU_Daniel.

Quickly about me: My name’s Daniel, and as you may have gathered, I’m a freshman here at Hopkins.  I aim to major in International Studies.

I’m from Arkansas.  For the past 11 years, I’ve lived in Batesville, a town of 10,000 about 100 miles NE of Little Rock.  In Batesville, I attended public high school, before moving to Little Rock in July.  My family and I have made a progressively southward move in years past: I was born in CT and have lived in RI, MA, and MO in addition to AR.

A few of the things about which I’m most interested and passionate are the political and legislative processes.  In June 2007, I served as a Page in the United States House of Representatives.  I’ve since returned to DC many times, most recently interning in the House this summer.  It’s my love of the political process that makes me want to be an International Studies major here at Hopkins.

My hobbies and interests are wide ranging and are often subject to whim.  For the past several years, I’ve been a competitive tennis player.  I’ve recently gotten into both road and mountain biking, and before I left Arkansas for the East Coast early this summer, I got pretty good at/into trap shooting.  I’m politically active and have no intentions of losing my fervor at college, and a program with which I’d like to get reunited is Big Brothers Big Sisters (and I intend to do so once things settle down here).

That’s me in a nutshell.  There’s more, I’m sure, but nothing else of great importance/entertainment comes to mind.  

Before I conclude, I want to leave you with this: For many, school’s still starting up, and you’re probably still kicking the summertime cobwebs out of your work ethic (I am, too), but I feel compelled to remind as many high school seniors as possible to begin work on their college application essays.  I’m the guy who waited until December to start, and I ended up submitting every college admission essay on the day they were due.  Don’t be like me, so at least look at the prompts.  That way, you’ll have many fewer arguments with your parents/admissions counselor – and that’s a good thing.  Also, writing essays on Christmas Eve is a drag – trust me. 

Until next time,

Daniel

P.S. For those who are wondering, the graphic at the top of this post is our class' banner.  It's tradition here for the banner of a class to hang in Eisenhower library.