Class of 2013: Freshman Blog

And Here It Goes: Semester 2

Posted by Greco S.

Hey everyone, it’s Greco. The school has just started about a week ago and I’m still jetlagged from my visit to South Korea. Usually, I sleep between 2 am and 3 am but this jetlag makes me fall asleep at midnight and wakes me up at around 5 in the morning. I mean, it’s all nice waking up early and all, but this is a bit too early. NO ONE IS AWAKE at this time and the world is just too quiet haha.

 Oh yea, and there was this massive snowstorm yesterday that almost got us to have a snow day! Coming from California and not having seen snow for a long long time, I just can’t stay calm when it snows. I gotta get out there and just breath in the breaze..

Anyways, today I’m going to go over the classes that I’m taking this semester. I have just transferred from Arts and Sciences school to Engineering school, switching my major from Biology to Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering (like JHU_Cate!). This certainly means much more math, chemistry, and physics, but I really do believe it’s worth pain; chemical engineers get a lot of job opportunities and also can earn a LOT of mulah. So here it goes:

Calculus III

This pretty much says everything. It’s the last part of Calculus and this time, I’m going to be dealing with multivariable functions and do partial derivatives,  integrals, and other fun stuff with them. It also introduces vector calculus, a very important concept for Physics. My professor is Professor Chang, and I think he is a pretty good teacher once you get a hang of his accent.

Differential Equation and Application

This is another math course and yes I am taking two math courses this semester. You can take this course after you take Calculus II. For me, this course is a required course for my major. Professor Ivanovicci teaches this course and JHU_Brian is taking the class with me!

Intro. to Chemical and Biological Process Analysis

This is also a required class for ChemBE major. I will be learning the basic principles of chemical process analysis, ranging from energy balances to the solution of complex, multi-unit processes. Basically, it’s an introductory class that prepares you for higher-level ChemBE courses. A lot of math, chemistry, and physics involved.

Introduction to Fiction and Poetry II

This is a Writing Seminars course that follows Intro. to Fiction and Poetry I. Like IFP I, we read a lot of short fictions and poems and have weekly discussions. I think it’s different from other English courses in that we don’t really analyze the literary works, but we analyze the techniques that the authors use so we can apply/avoid them in our own fictions and poetry. It’s also a writing-intensive course, so there are a lot of writing assignments. But usually, you write your own poems and fictions instead of essays, unlike other writing intensive courses. The class is really small, usually around 15 people, and discussion is my favorite part of the class. I think it’s a really good creative outlet for me.

Introduction to the History of Modern Philosophy

This is an introductory philosophy course that examines the logic & ideas of modern philosophy giants such as Descartes, Locke, Kant, and Leibiz. I am quite enjoying this course since it involves a lot of thinking and discussing rather than just sitting and listening to the professor. How do can we tell we exist? Can we separate mind from body? Why are human beings unique? Can we prove that God exists? I’m taking this course because I’m thinking about double majoring in Writing Seminars and I feel like learning about these philosophy giants’ ideas and experience can widen my perspective and inspire my literary works. I’m taking this course with JHU_Daniel. I also like our professor, Dr. Melamed, because he does a very good job on leading discussions and posing interesting questions for us to think about all through his lectures.

Ok, so all this is 18 credits. I took 16 credits last semester, so right now I’m taking 2 more credits. This is going to be hard, I’m not gonna lie. Two math courses plus a writing intensive course is going to make me very very busy. Why do I torture myself like that? well that’s because I believe this is going to prepare me for later semesters when things are going to get even busier. It’s also a good opportunity for me to test out how well I can manage my time and handle work efficiently as well. And it’s not like I’m going to isolate myself and give up my social life. I’m still doing SAAB, Vocal Chords, photography, plus hanging with my floormates.

So here it starts, the second semester of my freshman year. I really hope this time, I’ll learn a lot about not only academic stuff, but also about myself, what I am capable of, and what my goals should be for the next school year.

  
 

STUDENT ADMISSIONS ADVISORY BOARD (SAAB)

Posted by Greco S.

 

If you are reading this then it is safe to assume you are aware of Hopkins Interactive and the blogs, videos, forums, and other related projects. So who’s in charge of all these?

WE ARE -- the Student Admissions Advisory Board, SAAB in short (pronounced just like the car) and we are in many was the student marketing branch for the Admissions Office. We are the faces of Johns Hopkins University and we try our best to show the real life at Hopkins, should it be academic or personal. Our goals are to make the school admissions more approachable and accessible to all the prospective and admitted students and to help those students make their best college decisions.

To do so, some of us post blogs. Most bloggers post entries every week, but we can also share blogs (like all the freshmen SAABers) and post entries every other week. You can write about your classes, research experience, or something personal like what you did on Halloween! Through blogging, we are hoping to provide something beyond our formal admission website and talk about Hopkins in current students’ point of view. We also use twitter as well. Right now, JHU_Saznin, JHU_Brian, and JHU_Keith are posting daily tweets about their college lives. It’s all about making our school more approachable and relatable to our prospective and admitted students.

Another role is to answer the questions posted on our Hopkins Forums (Message Boards). Our Hopkins Interactive Forum is the place where prospective/admitted students post questions about academics, student life, and admissions process. In addition, we have a “Parents’ Corner” for all the parents to ask questions as well. Students can directly interact with us and get information from the real insiders!

This is not all! We also participate in Open Houses as well. Some of you might have visited our Fall Open House 2009 programs. I was there mingling with you all during lunch and answered questions. We will also be doing similar thing during the Spring Open Houses for admitted students as well. Some of us are designing an awesome booklet named the Insider’s Guide, which will provide a variety of information from choosing the right dorm to finding good restaurants around the campus. All of us also interact face-to-face with the students during the Open Houses and answer questions. It’s all about being the friendly faces of Hopkins.

We meet once every week and the meeting is usually an hour and a half, sometimes shorter but never longer. Most of the time we talk about upcoming events like Open Houses and brainstorm ideas for ongoing projects. Every SAABers, no matter what year he/she is in, has an equal voice during the meetings.

Aside from all the work we do, ALL the SAAB people here (SAABers) are amazing and unique individuals. It’s just so interesting how diverse we are in terms of where we are from, ethnicity, majors, and even interests. It’s a group in which you can be who you are and truly feel like you are contributing. I did have some difficulties adjusting to this new college environment, but not for long; many of the upperclassmen SAABers helped me a lot with the transition from choosing classes and finding resources. It feels great to know that I belong here.

Hopkins is different. And it is our role to show this to the prospective students. In order to do so, we need people with creativity. We need people who can think outside the box and give Hopkins a distinct appeal to the prospective students. Commitment is also very important as well. Commitment is what makes us active on forums, blogs, and other projects we are working on. Personally, I would love to have people with diverse background to join us since we would very much like to be accessible to students with diverse interests and talents.

To be part of SAAB, you need to fill out the application provided during summer. SAAB members and Admissions_Daniel read all the applications and pick the applicants we would like to interview during the Hopkins orientation period. After the interview, SAABers and Daniel meet once again for the final deliberation.

SAAB is always evolving. We started with only a few people helping out during open houses, but now we are utilizing not only our own Hopkins Interactive website, but also blogs, Twitter, and even Youtube. We also connect through Facebook, creating Facebook groups for specific class years. The result is tremendous, almost every admitted students joining our groups and actively posting discussions and even planning meet-ups before actually coming to Hopkins! With our effort, Hopkins is more and more opening its arms to the prospective/admitted students and I feel honored to be part of this amazing, innovative group of people.

If you are interested, get your application next summer! We are so eager to meet you!

Why I miss Hopkins

Posted By Greco S.

Hey, what’s up guys, this is Greco and greetings from the other side of the earth. Right now I’m in South Korea with my family and I’m enjoying my relaxing break here.

Now.. Imma say something that might upset some of the Hopkins students enjoying their wonderful break… Yes, the break in Korea is pretty awesome; I have been eating Korean food like EVERY meal and shopping cheap but nice quality clothes and all… but… I MISS HOPKINS!!!

There, I said it! I HONESTLY MISS HOPKINS so much that I can’t wait till the departure date!! Of course, my parents doesn’t know this cuz they might misunderstand my longing to go back. It’s pretty awesome staying with my parents, but one whole month stuck in South Korea doesn’t sound so fun. Here are some of the things I miss…

1. My new friendzzzzzzzzz!!

I don’t really know anybody here in Korea since my parents moved when I moved to Hopkins. It’s really really boring here with no one to hang with and now I very much miss my friends in the dorm… OH and also my a cappella Vocal Chords family!!! OH and also my SAAB peeps ;)

2. Homewood Campus

Right now I’m in a city here and there’s nothing to see except buildings and cars (LOTS AND LOTS of cars! Traffic here is probably as bad as NYC). I miss our campus where I can actually breath… I mean, the workload and stuff at Hopkins is a lot, but the campus itself always lets me breath whenever I want. So much open space filled with trees grass.. also the brick buildings with inspiring New England architecture… AHH I miss it so much…

3. Diversity

… Yea well this pretty much says everything haha.

4.  Late Night @ FFC

I’m not really a big fan of FFC food, but their late night breakfast, I really really miss. Late night is from 8 pm to midnight and they serve breakfast food like pancakes, scrambled eggs, fries, burgers and stuff like that. They also have special food sometimes like taco salad, chicken tenders.. mmmmmmmmmmmmm

5. Gym!

No I don’t work out. But always I plan to though lol. If there’s a gym nearby and you know it’s free, it just makes the plan much more feasible, eh?

6. Things to come!!!

I’m also very excited about the new semester! New Vocal Chords gigs coming up and also a road trip! JHU_Peter and I are also planning on making an amazing vido for you all prospees! I haven’t told Admissions_Daniel about it yet because it’s a bit sketchy as of now but I think it’s going to turn out awesome! It involves human connection through common emotions. New classes, too! This also means new classmates, and new professors! YAY

So yea these are few of the reasons why I can’t wait to go back to Hopkins. I know things will get harder and harder, but that’s what life is all about, eh? I think being a Hopkins student lets you get through harder stuff earlier so you can sit back and enjoy life earlier  as well.

Happy new year, everyone!

-Greks

Winter Break!

Posted by Greco S.

Hey, guys! Well first of all, CONGRATULATIONS to the ED admits!!! I am sooooooo excited to see you guys next year! It was our highest pool in history of admission and I’m very certain that they picked the finest of the finest.

Anyways, I finished my finals on Wednesday and Now I’m in South Korea with my family! I don’t know… I’m not that excited haha. It’s not really a “home” persay since I did not grow up here. I’ve been moving around places sooo many times that I don’t know what “home” really feels like. Plus, I don’t really have many friends living in Korea so I’m basically stuck in this house :( But I’m staying with my parents and that’s all that matters, right?

The first semester flew by so fast! It REALLY did. And to be honest, it wasn’t that hard. It’s probably because I had covered grades this semester. I’m really scared of next semester and other upcoming years, though. I’m really challenging myself next semester and this times, all the grades will be legit. I’m also planning on doing a research in medical campus so I’ll be pretty busy… yea…

Ehhhhh So I’m coming back to Hopkins on January 23^rd. I’m not coming back for intersession. I feel like I have to stay here the whole break since I didn’t get to be with my parents for a long time.

So what will I be doing this winter break?? Well, I gotta start reading a lot of articles to prepare for my research. I’m also going to read some of the books that have been stuck in my bookshelf for too long a time… Not that I like reading, I just feel guilty or something..

I have a lot of things planned for y’all in Spring! New videos coming up, and also we’re planning a virtual open house for those who can’t make it this April. So stay tuned and I’ll see you guys next time.

First Snow at JHU!! And A Cappella Concert!

Posted by Greco S.

Hey everyone! Today is a very exciting day! I woke up this morning and guess what I saw right outside my window. SNOW! Yes, it is finally snowing here in Baltimore and I am utterly excited! In California, especially So Cal, it NEVER snows (maybe up in the mountain, but not where I lived). So this is a pretty big deal for me. Of course, as an “artist” I quickly changed my clothes, grabbed my dslr camera and went outside. <CLICK TO ENLARGE>

 <Memoir> btw.. look at that person in the back ... that was totally a lucky shot.. yay

 <Vignettist> 

Well that’s that.

So apparently I haven’t been so good at keep you guys updated. A LOT of things happened in last three weeks. Well, JHU_Josh  finished editing my “A Day in the Life ” video (check it out! I think it’s pretty funny…) and most of all, my a cappella concert!!!

It happened on Thursday a week before Thanksgiving. I remember going to Bloomberg auditorium at 5 pm to start chalking the board. Each concert, we have this theme that makes the concert pretty unique. Also, we’re the only group that does skits during the concert. This semester’s theme was “Acappellair,” and we did a parody of the movie “Airplane.” Sounds uber fun, eh? We also had a guest a cappella group from Drexel University in Pennsylvania.  

Oh and I had a solo! I sang Rehab by Amy Winehouse (ok, so maybe her life is f-ed up, but her musical talent is undebatable so I love herrr). To be honest, I was SOOOOO nervous. Usually we practice our solo before the concert during small gigs, but we haven’t had a lot of gigs this semester so this   concert was actually the first first time I sang in front of an audience… yea pretty scary, right? I think it went alright tho. I mean, I speeded up and went sharp a lil at the end, but I’m still proud of maself for pulling it off… so if yall wanna see how I did, JHU_Peter recorded ma solo so watch it HERE

BAAA now back to school… and finals. Sigh. But after 2 weeks I’m going on a plane to KOREA!!! YAY. I haven’t seen ma parents for 3 months and I didn’t get to see my family for thanks giving… so this is a pretty big deal for me (well isn’t this true for everyone…)

Anyways, ED decision comes out pretty soon! I hope yall get into the colleges that’s the best for you. Good luck.

ttyl

Love, Hopkins

Posted by Greco S.

This weekend was full of love love love. Not that I’m in a relationship or anything, I just got to witness so many different kinds of love on/off campus this weekend.

Yesterday, the Vocal Chords went to the Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute up in Mt. Vernon to sing at a wedding. I heard a lot of JHU alumni like to get married in our Peabody library. I had been there before for a photo shoot and it’s a truly beautiful place for wedding. We were so excited to be part this amazing wedding! It feels great to be part of someone’s very special moment. Here are the photos my friends took yesterday:

We sang for about one and a half hour at their cocktail reception and earned some mulah.

This morning, me and my friend went to Penn Station for our photography project. It’s our final project for the photography class and we’re planning on portraying love. If you’ve seen Love Actually (my FAVORITE movie), in the beginning the movie starts with showing people reuniting at an airport. I’ve always been touched at that part and I wanted to do something similar. So we went to Penn Station to witness people hugging and kissing. Basically, we would be the creepers taking pics behind the scene… haha. Well, we couldn’t find the right moment in the beginning. So later we asked people if they would like to pose for us (of course we told them we’re from JHU to reassure them that we are legit college students haha). We were very surprised because all the people we asked said yes and were just so nice. Good actors, too.  Here are some photos we took this morning <click the pics to enlarge>:Sisters

Husband & Wife

Boyfriend & Girlfriend

It’s just so beautiful how powerful love is. I mean, these photos are staged, but the content wouldn’t have come out this well if these people weren’t in love, right?

Love is beautiful. Love actually is all around :)

My Schedule...

Posted by Greco S.

Hi, everyone. I’m really sorry I’ve been very lazy with my blog entries.. I’m alive, everyone.

I was thinking about how to start my blog entries and I think from now on, I’ll show you a photograph of mine in the beginning of each blog entry and sorta relate it to the actual content of the entry.

This is a photo I took in the JHU campus (in front of the President’s House). I named it “look up.” It was right after the long rain. I really loved the reflection of the clouds in the fountain and how it formed this awesome harmony with the plants on the fountain. I actually flipped the photo 180 degrees from the original because it just looked awesome that way.

Alrighty.. so today I’ll talk about my courses in depth like Daniel and Becca. I’m actually a biology major (for now), but most of the courses I’m taking have nothing to do with biology (I’m skipping intro chem and bio because I took the AP tests).

General Physics II

Ok, so this is basically an intro physics class. I skipped General Physics I because I already did it with AP. So General Physics II covers electricity, magnetism and waves. This is probably the hardest class I’m taking. I hate physics, period. That’s why I’m not doing any engineering stuff. I’m only taking this class for my pre-med requirement. The professor’s really nice, though. I wish he were my grandfather haha no not really. There are about 200 people in that class, but we have smaller 20-people section every Thursday with one the professor’s TA’s.

General Physics Lab II

This is a complementary lab section for general physics II. This section is pretty easy, definitely easier than chemistry and biology labs—we don’t have to do write-ups, we just write our data in the guidebook.

Fiction and Poetry Writing I

This is actually a very fun class (if you are taking it during pass/fail period and not really worry about the grades). Very small class, too; only 13 students in my class. We basically read poems and short stories by different authors and have discussions. But instead of focusing on the plot, symbols, and stuff like that as I did in my high school English class, we focus more on the techniques the authors used in their work. Then we try to apply (or “copy”) the techniques into our own fiction and poetry writings. At the end of the semester, we turn in our portfolios, each with 2 poems and 2 short stories. The difficulty and grades really depend on who your instructor is. My instructor is uber harsh (he even told us that our section is probably the hardest), but he is very intelligent and gives you realistic critiques.

Introduction to Digital Photography

I talked about this class last time a little bit. Basically, we get projects every two or three weeks and turn in our prints. Some of the projects we had include self-portrait, imitation of other prominent photographers, and trip to Hampden. We also had a guest lecturer, a local resident artist Hank Thomas who does a lot of creative work with different media. There are a lot of field trips as well! The class is about 3 hours long, so we went out to places like Mount Vernon (this is where Peabody is located), and Hampden. Rehoboth beach in Delaware was a weekend photography trip, which was uber funnnnnn (read ma prevo entry).

Intro to Physiological Psychology

This is more like a neuroscience class. We learn about our sensory system, nervous system, biorhythms, and more psychology stuff like emotion, sexuality, and personality. It’s a pretty fun class. It’s pretty much lecture lecture lecture and exam, though. I don’t usually go to that class because it’s a bit early in the morning and she records all her lectures.

Freshman Seminar: Tuberculosis

This is a seminar having 12 students. In first couple of weeks, we read chapters out of a textbook about immunology. We than read an intro article about tuberculosis (written by this German guy named Koch, if you’ve heard of him). After that, it’s pretty much lead by two student presentations each week. Each student has to read a scientific research paper about tuberculosis and do a 20-minute presentation on it. Actually I’m next in line and I’ve been preparing it for a week.

Biology Workshop I

Since I’m skipping intro biology class, I decided to take this course. The class is led by different guest lecturer each week. Sometimes the lectures are really interesting (such as behavioral biology of songbirds, immunology of neuropathy disease, and environmental engineering of Chesapeake Bay). One time, I met a professor at our med campus and had an interview with her for a lab position and I’m going to work in her lab next semester!

Ok.. these are my classes and I really should stop typing.. I got a paper cut on my left index finger and it’s hurting every time I type t, g, v, f, or r.  So until next time (probably tomorrow cuz I’m a bit behind with my blog entries), peace out.

Rehoboth Beach!

Posted by Greco S.

Hey, guys! So I went to the Open House this morning to help out the admissions crew and it ended up being a very interesting experience. It’s really odd to think that I was once like you prospees about a year ago—I was in the same place, all confused and nervous about the whole admissions process, but at the same time wanting to get into the school that seemed right for me. If you were there today, you might have seen me. I was all Hopkins-geared with black Hopkins sweatshirt (with a bluejay on ma back) and the black and blue beanie. Last weekend, however, I could not be at the open house because I was at the Rehoboth Beach in Delaware for photography field trip! If you have read my profile, you’d know that I am taking this course called “Intro. to Digital Photography.” Well, last weekend, a small group of people from the class went to Delaware to shoot some interesting photos.

If you live on the east coast, you might remember how the weather was like last weekend—HORRIBLE. Not only did it rain, it was windy as heck like it literally pushed me around. Anyways, we could not go on any other weekends and we’d already booked rooms so we had no choice.

We were actually really excited when we finally arrived there because it wasn’t rainy at all. But the moment we got out of our motel, it started to rain. I was totally preoccupied with the weather that I shot pictures without thinking about composition or lighting. Going through the photos yesterday, I felt miserable.

We decided to stop taking pictures for today and decided to stop by the huge Rehoboth Outlet nearby. Shopping is the way to go when it’s rainy and windy out and you don’t really have anything to do. I went to Ralph Lauren and bought two long-sleeve shirts.

Good thing about small group field trip, though, is that you get to socialize and get to know more about your classmates—and your professors! Coming fresh from high school, I was not comfortable at all calling my photography instructor by her first name. I was still used to calling people Mr. or Mrs. Whatever. But by the end of the trip, I got comfortable with it and felt much closer to the professor.  I also became good friends with my classmates who all turn out to be very interesting people. For example, I met a Hopkins senior who is political science major and minoring in museums and society. She is currently doing an internship at a museum in Washington DC, working to make the museum more approachable to general public. I also met a sophomore who’s currently taking a course about criminal justice and shadowing a sheriff around Baltimore. It’s really funny how all of us, coming from all different backgrounds, got along really well. The next day, we went to a military base in Delaware that was used during WWII. Luckily, it didn’t rain in the morning so I could concentrate more on photography instead of figuring out how to save my $1,300+ DSLR camera from the horrible weather. Everything was here; rusty pipelines, containers with damaged windows, doors, and furniture, interestingly shaped rocks, and most of all, TEXTURE!!! We took photos for about an hour and a half, but I really think I could have stayed there fore another 3 hours just exploring this exotic place.

We tried the beach again. It was windy as heck like the day before, but wasn’t raining. It was freaking cold; I couldn’t move my finger to press the shutter and one time, I got too close to the water that my shoes got wet when the waves rushed in.

When you are inspired, though, those things can’t stop ya. I remember running along the beach just so excited and.. liberated. The wind blow over my head felt so good and refreshing. I was breathing in the moment of zen.  

Here are some of the pictures that I've taken in this trip.

What Have They Done to You?

Contact

Is It Time?

Assortment

Stay Here Longer

Splash

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.