2011: Hopkins Freshman Blog

WOW....What a Great Time!!!!

Posted by Rob A.

So I am done a quarter of my education here at Hopkins and I am still freaked out to say that I am a sophomore…weird. This past year has been the best so far in my short life, but thankfully I can remember it just as well as you can. But before I get to reflections, I thought I would talk about what I have been up to. After I finished up my finals, I headed to DC to stay with a friend and get a chance to relax and eat some home cooked meals. Unlike the majority of freshmen, I was unable to go home after the semester, so my friend’s family graciously took me in and gave me a break from school and Hopkins. The reason I was unable to go home was HOLT, an intense 10-day training for all of the new leaders in Outdoor Pursuits. I had been pretty hesitant about going on this for the past month, but I had an awesome time. There were two groups of us, and my group canoed two rivers in West Virginia for the week. At the end of the week, the instructors leading the trip left us and we had to finish the journey on our own. I learned so much about the outdoors but I also got the chance to get close with my fellow OP leaders; I can not wait for Pre-O. We got back from West Virginia just in time to watch the National Championship and the next day classes started for the summer term. I am currently bumming off of my friend until my house opens up and I can move in there. But more on that later this summer. This past year absolutely flew by, and I am at a place where I never thought I would be before. First of all, I am engineer. Didn’t really see that one coming. But I also never saw myself getting so involved with an outdoors program.

Living the Suite Life- Here I introduce myself to the world of Hopkins Interactive.

One Crazy Week- One of the highlights of my first semester was meeting Howard Dean. I also talk about what it was like to go home for the first time.

The Great Outdoors- Here is where my time with OP started.

Korean Food?- My mom came to visit for the first time. This is also the beginning of my addiction to Korean BBQ.

Studying- I highlight some of my favorite studying places around campus.

Having Fun and Studying- The end of my first semester at Hopkins.

Snow and Adventures- Winter break back home in New Hampshire. Also my first visit to NYC.

Shots, Shock, and Splints?- This is all about my time during intersession, where I took Wilderness First Responder. Such a great time. Also me with the Republican presidential nominee, John McCain.

Short Trip and Second Semester- I was able to take a short little vacation to Florida before second semester started up.

WOAH…..Absolutely Crazy- A random assortment of things I was up to. Including a midnight trip to DC and getting used to second semester.

I’m Sick- Yes you still can get sick in college and your parents aren’t there to take care of you. Thankfully I got better quick and was able to witness the start of the 2008 lacrosse season.

 JHU Rob: Favorites- Here is a short survey all of us took.

Midterms and a Major?!?!- I finally decided on Mechanical Engineering!

JHU Cribs: Wolman 7 West

- This is where I lived my first year. Boy am I gunna miss that place.

Why I chose Hopkins- A few reasons why I ended up here, as well as a few memorable experiences.

VIVA El PAPA- My trip to DC to go see the Pope. This was most certainly a life changing moment and something I will never forget.

 

As I look back on all that I have done, I am amazed I was actually able to do it all. I am looking forward to this summer because I will be able to explore Baltimore more in depth as well as hang out with some awesome people, but I just can’t wait until August 15, when I fly back here for August training with OP and start a second year.

(I've Had) The Time of My Life

Posted by Josh G.

So this is that time of year we all start to get sentimental on you.  Those of you who are Class of 2012ers are all graduating and getting ready to head off to Hopkins.  This blog is basically my freshman year in a nutshell.  A little slice of life (at least the stuff I can - and want to - publish on the internet for all to read).  Trust me.  Freshman year is all it is cracked up to be.  You'll have to work hard, you'll have fun, you'll meet amazing people, and you'll probably end up beginning the age old college process of finding yourself (which just shows you that Hopkins hasn't changed me from a humanities student to pre-med even with a whole year under my belt).  So here is my Freshman year: Revisited!

The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most
The one about who I am (or at least who I was way back then).  Move in.  Heat.  Fall Fest. Dashboard concert.

This Charming Man
The one with Fall Break. Getting Home. Seeing my family again. First Hopkins midterms. Rushmore.

The Devil's Workday (All Those People That You Know...)
The one with the first Open House.  Halloween.  Entering Wolman for the first time.  All of my wonderful friends. Apples to Apples: Jewish Edition.

Do You Believe In Magic?
The one with Parents Weekend.  Good food at FFC.  Academic Advisor meeting. First serious trip to the library.  Steve Scifidi.  Figuring out the Wolman turnstiles.  David Blaine Street Magic parody videos.

Friday I'm In Love
The one with The Cure motif.  Broken Social Scene concert.  Second round of midterms.  Walking from Penn Station to Grand Central with luggage.   Thanksgiving.

Positive Tension
The one with Chrismakkuh.  Interruption for Facebook and Message Boards. First snow.  End of first semester.  Fornicating snowmen.  Slippery walkways.  Creed's Blog on The Office.  Finals approaching quickly.

Me and My Friends
The one with the beginning of Winter break.   EDers  get in.  Christmas.  Old friends.  My gingerbread house.  The Pleo.  My Shamless plug.   

Sleep All Damn Day
The one with Intersession at home.  The Parent's Blog.  Visiting my Hopkins friends in NYC.  Lots of movies.  Freaks and Geeks.  Kevin Devine concert.

If Work Permits...
The one with the return to Hopkins.  The new schedule.  My new sleep schedule.  Towson and the Melting Pot.  David Blaine Pt. 3.

Where You'll Find Me Now...
The one with the beginning of Blue Key training.  Barack.  Awesome movie recommendations (all of which are still very highly recommended to you).

JHU_Josh: My Favorite Things.
The one with the favorites.  Bittersweet Symphony.  Wes Anderson.  Fran Drescher.

Where is My Mind?
The one with Spring Break.  Bogged down by work.  New computer.  Birthday.  Officially in Blue Key.  Declaring my major.  Oscars.  More movie recs.

Hopkins CRIBS: AMR II, Lazear House (The Men Who Live Upstairs)
The one with Cribs.  Sesame Street on the TV.  Wall of Randomness.  The fan.  The courtyard.  Sneaking in more movie recs.

How Soon Is Now?
The one with Homecoming.  The Film Fest.  The hospital.  Start of Open House season.  Praise You music video.  More movie recs (I sense a theme).

Memories on a Deck, Pt. 1
The one with Spring Fair.  My first film.  The Alpha Phi formal with my gal.  My sentimental side.  The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. 

So that's the year in review.  Looking back on it all, everything flew by.  The hours of the day went by so slowly, but I wish I had some back now because the weeks and months and year went by so quickly.  I hope that all you future Hopkins students enjoy Freshman year as much as I did and make sure you take it all in!

Memories on a Deck, Pt. 1

Posted by Josh G.

It’s that time of year again…Finals week!  Somehow I’ve managed to keep myself destressed and sleeping well.  With tons of work still to do, I thought I would look back on some stuff I’ve done recently, my freshman year as a whole, and what is to come…

Some of the best things I’ve done all year have come in these past few weeks.  First, I got to experience the amazing weekend of Spring Fair for the first time!  The freshman quad was filled with (somewhat overpriced, but still soooo delicious) food vendors ranging from Thai food to BBQ to Maryland Crab Cakes to smoothies to (everyone’s personal favorite) Funnel Cakes. Greek organizations among others were fundraising.  The Beach was buzzing with activities and music.  The upper quad had local vendors selling lots of random things.  There was a wing eating contest, break dancing, and a Vocal Chords performance on Saturday night.  The weather was amazing so it worked out well.  (Picture is of me and my friend Andrew playing around in the Kiddie Area)

The next thing that was really amazing was that I filmed my final project for film.  I’m still in the process of editing it together, but it should turn out really great.  I’m really pleased with what I shot.  (I have to thank my friends Nathaniel and Alyssa for acting in it) 

The final exciting thing was the Alpha Phi formal.  Lauren (read her blog here) invited me as her date to my first sorority formal.  We got all dressed up and took our promish pictures.  It was an amazing time.  One of the pictures I was hoping to include was one stolen from Julia who took a picture of all the SAABers that were at the formal (Rob, Stephanie,  Jackie, Julia, Lauren, and Me – also Adam was there, but he is no longer an active SAAB member), but she didn't put them up in time so I urge you to check out their blogs about it to see the whole gang.  The others are stolen from other people via Facebook.   

Looking back on Freshman year, I can’t believe how quickly it passed.  Every week seemed to take forever, but the closer and closer it got to the end, I just wanted to go back.  Although I want to obviously grow up and move on, I don’t want to lose one of the best years of my life.  So for all those out there who are getting excited about going to college, prepare yourselves to enjoy it.  Get involved, meet tons of new people, learn some stuff, and have fun while doing it. 

This is my last official blog as a Freshman blogger before I become a sophomore and head off to guest blogging (since it’s hard enough for me to keep up with my responsibility with this one…as you can see with this blog being posted half a week late)  Hopefully everyone enjoyed following along with my freshman experience.  (I know my mom sure did -thanks mom -, but I’m hoping others enjoyed too)  I remember way back when in October when my first blog went up and I never thought this day in May would come so soon.  I may be doing some blogging for the film department next year reviewing films and whatnot depending on what they want me to do so I’ll definitely plug that in the future if I get the gig.  Good luck with everything, keep reading my blog over the summer, and if you are one of the chosen few coming to Hopkins next year, maybe I’ll see you around.

As always I have to leave you with my movie recommendations and a YouTube video to enjoy.
Best Films I’ve Seen Recently:
El Topo (very violent and strange)
Hamilton (I got a free DVD of my Intro to Film Production professor’s first feature length film that is actually really visually pleasing)
Cloverfield (one of the few monster movies that I actually like, filmed in a really interesting way)
And finally…
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (probably the best film I’ve seen in years)

Here’s the video (thought this one would be appropriate):