A busy fall semester has come to a close bringing winter break and intersession upon us! For those unfamiliar, intersession is the three-week period in January, during which students can stay at home for an extended break, or come back to campus to take a variety of unique classes or just hang out with friends and enjoy their time off in Baltimore. For more information and to see some of this year's offerings, be sure to take a look at the 2010 Intersession website.
While the Guest Blog will be on break during intersession, we're looking forward to a very exciting spring semester and hope you'll be back to join us in February. In the mean time, check out our blogs from the semester, all wonderful entries on a wide range of topics:
12.24.09: Kristine - Multicultural Groups at Hopkins
"My friends always say that I have more clubs than classes. Many of my activities range from committees, advisory boards, volunteer groups, dance, and multicultural student groups. Spreading multicultural awareness on campus is close to my heart, so I’ll tell you about 2 of them that were created to assist multicultural students—SSS and MAPP."
12.21.09: Julia - Boogie Down in Baltimore
"While I have thoroughly enjoyed my academic experiences at Hopkins, the one thing I look forward to most in the week is dance. Not only is it a great way to keep in shape, but its also fun and it can work to help you unwind after a tough week. Here on campus, there are tons off dance groups to choose from. It was really hard for me to decide, but I ended up settling on Ole Latin dance and Eclectics."
12.17.09: Tabitha - Fun During Finals
"Anyway, I wanted to mention this because I was one of the few people who had finished finals, so I wanted to show you all that people still have fun during finals period!"
12.14.09: Sarah - Balancing Act
"That is the million-dollar question. Sometimes, I don’t even know how I manage to pass Organic Chemistry and stay involved with six outside activities in college. But then I ask myself if I really want to be locked in my dorm room twenty-four/seven studying carbon-carbon bonds and reaction mechanisms. The answer: Absolutely not. And therein lies the answer to the question: Balance."
12.10.09: Daniel - Teaching About the Social Web
"It was excellent teaching the course. I received a real appreciation of what it takes to build a course from just an idea to making the course successful for all of my students. This level of experience I personally feel is only available from teaching an entire course."
12.07.09: Hannah - Toward the Saving of Sweatshirts
"If that girl from two years ago, preserved true to emotional form, could see me now, she would wonder at the fact of my existence. How could it be that I did not simply cease to exist the moment it became clear I was not going to my first-choice school?"
12.03.09: Laura - Hopkins Soccer
"I started thinking that I actually might have a chance of continuing my athletic career and playing soccer in college. I had never really thought about varsity athletics beyond high school because I never considered myself good enough to play at the next level. Plus, I was supposed to be focused on schoolwork. But after careful consideration, I finally decided to email the coach."
11.30.09: Anna - Life in Technicolor
"Daydreams are all well and good, but honestly, when I decided to attend Hopkins last spring, I had no idea what to expect. Looking at my life, I realized that I had spent the past nine years at a tiny independent school in Athens, Georgia and was about to graduate alongside the same 62 kids that I had known for most of my life. What was I getting myself into? Needless to say, I was terrified at the prospect of moving over 600 miles away to attend a school several times larger than I was sure my comfort zone could handle. Before I knew it (or could accept it), it was move-in day."
11.26.09: Laurin - Back On My Feet
"An Internet search taught us that Back On My Feet is a group that organizes running clubs at homeless shelters. It started in Philadelphia and now has a chapter in Baltimore. After attending an orientation session, Charlotte and I became official “non-res members” (meaning we don’t live at the shelter) of one of the 4 BOMF clubs here in the city. We get up around 5 a.m. on Friday mornings (sooo early, I know—but it’s only once a week!) and head down to the shelter in order to start running with our new friends by 5:30."
11.23.09: Adam - Notes from a Hopkins Teaching Assistant
"The way I teach is really the way I learn: through problem-oriented, question-driven discussion. I always try to bring the conversation back to the historian we’re reading: Why did she choose the evidence she chose? How is she using it? What is her argument? Do we agree? Why not?"
11.19.09: Katie - Salaamaalekum ci Senegal (Greetings from Senegal)
"I knew I wanted to study abroad starting in high school, and maybe even earlier. I had imagined myself going to France, given the fact that I started taking French in middle school. I definitely surprised people when I announced I wanted to study abroad in Dakar, Senegal. West Africa is certainly a world away from Europe."
11.16.09: Kim - The Vocal Chords Experience
"A cappella has been infused in every aspect of my college life. I’ve always been a singer. I planned on trying out for a variety of music groups in college, but I didn’t expect that the one I joined would affect my entire undergraduate experience."
11.12.09: Neha - International Conference on Birth Defects & Disabilities in India
"My goal at the 4th International conference was not only to represent March of Dimes Team Youth, but to relay the importance of “The Power of Youth in Global Public Health.” My presentation offered strategies for mobilizing young professionals in developing countries to help reduce the rates of death and disability from preterm birth and birth defects in local communities."
11.09.09: Sam - London Calling
"After looking at the course catalog (which was essentially perfection for someone with my interests), I made up my mind that instant. I knew that I would be spending next semester in the land of the Beatles, royalty, and – most importantly – afternoon tea."
11.04.09: Kit - L'automne à Paris
"To get to class every day I have to take a 30 minute bus ride. That might sound pretty terrible to you… except I forgot to tell you that I live in PARIS! So, my bus ride isn’t just any bus ride. I get to drive down the Champs-Elysees, cross the Seine, see the Eiffel Tower in the distance and catch a glimpse of the spire of Notre Dame. All on my way to class. No biggie."
Comments