Verbal Snippets & Snapshots

My First Summer in Baltimore

After my last final of the Spring 2008 semester ended on Wednesday, May 14, I went home and stayed there for a little over a week until I returned to Baltimore on Monday, May 26. Since then, I've had so much fun in Baltimore so far this summer that I'm a little disappointed that I have a little over a month left before I'll return home for three weeks. Anyway, I've decided to summarize a few of the past month's shenanigans in a journal entry kind of format. I hope you like it!

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TUESDAY, MAY 27:

This was the first day of class for Summer Session I (there are two summer sessions at Hopkins). I took Organic Chemistry I, and so did a lot of people I know. Meanwhile, I also know a few people who took General Physics I, and a few who took Biochemistry.

This was also my first day back at the Ryugo Lab in almost a month! In order to concentrate on studying for finals for the spring semester, I wasn't able to do much research there during reading period and finals week -- and then, right after my last final, I went home for a little over a week. I missed doing research a lot more than I thought I would during that three-week period! It was great to be back. (By the way, JHU_Stefanie has recently joined the Ryugo Lab as another undergraduate research assistant this summer -- yay!)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 28:

This was my first day of work as a student assistant at the administrative office of the Neurogenetics and Behavior Center (a.k.a. "the NBC"), which is located here at the Homewood campus. The girl who's normally the student assistant during the academic year is away for the summer, so I've been hired to work as her temporary replacement this summer. In working in the administrative office, I do miscellaneous tasks such as fetching mail, booking the travel arrangements for the NBC's primary investigator (Dr. Michela Gallagher, who not only attends various neuroscience-related symposia and conferences, but also attends various meetings related to her post as the vice provost of academic affairs), sending faxes, making spreadsheets to organize information, et cetera.

SATURDAY, MAY 31:

In the afternoon, JHU_Tanya and I visited the family that Catholic Community had "sponsored" for Christmas 2007 through Centro de la Comunidad, an organization that assists Latino families in the Baltimore area. Ever since we gave the family Christmas presents and some other items that we thought would be helpful in Christmas 2007, I've been trying to coordinate an on-going outreach initiative in which members of Catholic Community -- as well as other interested individuals who aren't necessary members of Catholic Community -- keep in touch with and help out this family. Right now, it's a baby project, but I hope it'll grow into something more organized over time.

In the evening, my roommate Miriam and I walked to The Rotunda Cinematheque, where we watched Sex and the City. The two of us were laughing at how the camaraderie among the main characters reminded us of the chemistry among my three roommates and me (minus the expensive lifestyle and the scandal) -- I know I keep mentioning this time and again, but I'm really excited that the three girls with whom I shared a suite in McCoy Hall as a sophomore and I are all renting an apartment together this summer and junior year!

SUNDAY, JUNE 1:

Because Catholic Community doesn't celebrate Mass at the Interfaith Center during the summer, some of us from Catholic Community who are in Baltimore for the summer have decided we'd attend Mass at a different church in Baltimore every Sunday. This was the first of our "church-hopping" excursions. Along with five other people, I attended a Mass at Holy Rosary Church in the Fell's Point neighborhood. Holy Rosary Church is one of Baltimore's historic churches, as far as Catholic churches go. While the parish's current church building was built in the 1920s, the parish was established for the Polish immigrant community in the late 1800s, and it still serves the Polish community in Baltimore today. In fact, the Mass we attended was a Polish-language Mass. We heavily relied on Polish-English Mass booklets to translate the readings and prayers for us, and one of the guys in our group (who's Polish) translated the homily for us after the Mass. Some of us also went to the 35th Annual Baltimore's Polish Festival near Holy Rosary Church, but I chose to return to Hopkins and attend the 11th Annual Charles Village Festival near campus with two of my freshman year housemates instead.

SATURDAY, JUNE 14:

This was my first day working for JHU Phonathon. (This summer, I've been working for JHU Phonathon during weekends.) The JHU Phonathon works with the Office of Annual Giving by calling alumni and parents of current students and alumni to request monetary gifts for the Johns Hopkins Annual Fund. My job as a JHU Phonathon caller technically isn't telemarketing, since products aren't being sold over the phone to randomly selected phone numbers -- however, I've definitely gained more respect for telemarketers as a result of this job!

SUNDAY, JUNE 15:

My roommate Miriam (the same roommate with whom I watched Sex and the City) and I walked to the Hampden neighborhood to attend the 15th Annual HonFest. While Miriam was in Baltimore last summer, she didn't attend HonFest last year, so this was the first time for both of us to attend it. We ooh'd and ahh'd over the various beehive hairdos that some women were having styled and looked at different vendors' booths. I ended up buying a cute white and brown sundress, both of us ended up buying sunglasses -- and, of course, we also got some food to eat.

SATURDAY, JUNE 21:

In the evening, my roommates Miriam, Zainab, and I spent the night in our apartment relaxing and chatting with each other. Then our friend Cy ended up IM-ing us to say that he was bored, so we invited him to come over to our apartment to hang out with us -- and then before we knew it, the four of us were walking to the 24/7 Giant supermarket at The Rotunda at 11:00 p.m. to buy groceries. (Now how often do you walk to a supermarket to buy groceries late on a Saturday night?) Afterwards, Miriam cooked tacos, which we ate (as well as tortilla chips and salsa) while watching random shows on TV.

FRIDAY, JUNE 27:

It was the last day of Summer Session I, so a lot of people -- including yours truly -- had final exams that day!

MONDAY, JUNE 30 (TODAY):

Today was the first day of Summer Session II. For Summer Session II, I'm simply focusing on doing research at the Ryugo Lab as well as working at the NBC during weekdays and at JHU Phonathon during weekends.

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In addition to what I've mentioned, Miriam, Zainab, and I have invited friends to come over to our apartment to play board games on multiple nights; I've often grabbed lunch or dinner with friends during weekdays; and now that I'm living in an off-campus apartment without a meal plan, I've been cooking and eating meals at home a lot more often! Recently, I cooked the Filipino dishes pancit (a rice noodle dish) and adobong manok (chicken adobo) for the second time ever, with the first time having been the dinner party that my friend Aparna and I hosted back in January. They were much better this time around.

With that said, I'm about to walk to a nearby 24/7 Superfresh supermarket with Miriam and my friend Phil -- and once again, it's past 11:00 in the evening. Later, everyone!

The Year of Being a "Wise Fool" (Part II)

Note: This is the second of two blog entries looking back at my sophomore year; the first of the two entries was more reflective in nature. FYI, this entry is modeled after an entry I posted a year ago summarizing all my freshman year entries. I've decided to start with my entries from Summer 2007, since I was a "rising sophomore" that summer. All the entries are listed in chronological order, and my favorite ones are in bold, blue font. Enjoy!

SUMMER 2007:

Differences and Similarities mentions the differences and similarities between being a full-time student at Hopkins during the school year and living at home while taking a biology class at Fordham University during the summer.

Fighting the "Freshman Fifteen" gives a former freshman's perspective on...well...fighting the "Freshman Fifteen"!

Some Summer Snapshots has some photos of the summer between my freshman and sophomore years.

A Mixture of Emotions describes the conflicting feelings I had about returning to Hopkins after a four-month stay at home.

FALL 2007:

Birthday Cakes talks about the delicious fact that a lot of the activities I did during my first month of sophomore year involved birthday cakes.

Random Sophomoric Antics shows how my behavior as a sophomore demonstrated the fact that the word sophomore is derived from Greek words that mean "wise" and "fool."

Waaah! is a short -- albeit not sweet -- entry about the importance of saving your work on a computer.

My Special Suite is an entry written lovingly about my sophomore year suitemates and some of the quirky items the three of them and I managed to have in our suite. By the way, these three lovely ladies and I are sharing an apartment this summer and during my junior year as well!

A Photographical Postcript has three photos that supplement the entries Birthday Cakes and My Special Suite.

Culture Show Practice Snapshots have some photos taken during the Filipino Students Association's tinikling dance practices and La Organización Latina Estudiantil's salsa practices in preparation for Hopkins's 20th annual Culture Show.

Hopkins Halloween (V.2.0) talks about how I dressed up for a Halloween party four evenings before the holiday -- and did anything but wear a costume on the holiday itself.

Eureka! is a follow-up entry to Culture Show Practice Snapshots -- but instead of photos, it has video clips of dance practices for Culture Show. You know that's a nice technological upgrade.

Culture Show (V.2.0) discusses my second Culture Show as a Hopkins student. Like my first Culture Show as a Hopkins student, it went well. I'm looking forward to my third and fourth ones! This entry contains several photos and video clips.

Cool! is a dorkily excited entry about my fascination with the course "The Nervous System I."

I celebrated Thanksgiving not once, not twice, but thrice in November 2007. Do you want to know how? Read A Triple Thanksgiving Celebration.

The Faces Behind the Organization: A Spotlight on FSA describes some of the people in the Filipino Students Association (FSA) to whom I've felt very close over the past two years. I'm not saying that all my friends are from FSA, but some of my closest friends are from FSA, and I've come to view all the members of FSA -- including the ones mentioned in this entry -- almost as if they're extended family members.

Yikes. briefly gives an insight into the insanity of finals week.

Some Pearls of Wisdom discusses some of the non-academic lessons I've learned at Hopkins over the past two years.

WINTER 2007:

A Look Back at 2007 has a video that I made about the year 2007.

My Winter Break at Home is an "I'll give an update over what I've been doing lately" type of entry that chronicles my two-week-long winter break at home.

Intersession 2008: Happiness is my favorite entry so far, because it's about how I've come to realize that I'm in control of my own happiness.

Intersession 2008: Food and Friends discusses how my taste buds and stomach were very happy during Intersession. It also has a snazzy video that I made about a dinner party that my friend Aparna and I co-hosted.

Intersession 2008: Academics and Admissions acknowledges that while finding personal happiness, hanging out with my friends, and eating delicious food were fun, my main reason for spending Intersession at Hopkins was to take a class, research, and work.

A New Beginning talks about a few of the new things I was doing at Hopkins for the Spring 2008 semester.

A Glorious 24 Hours is another entry about hanging out with friends while eating delicious food.

Friends: One Reason Why I Love Hopkins talks about how studying with friends and taking study breaks with them helps break the monotony of the everyday school routine.

JHU_Kate's Favorite Things is a common blog entry that we Hopkins Interactive bloggers wrote about...well...our favorite things!

JHU Ballet Company is about the newest dance group on campus, of which I'm a proud member.

The Last Weekend Before Spring Break is yet another entry about eating food in the company of friends. This time, it helped relieve the stress of studying for midterms. Also, this entry has a cute little video that I made about a potluck that my suitemate Miriam organized.

SPRING 2008:

Hopkins Cribs: McCoy Hall 512 gives a tour of the suite in McCoy Hall where my three suitemates and I lived during my sophomore year.

Mysterious Flowers shows photos of flowers that an unknown person left at the door of my suite for an unknown reason. It's still a mystery who left those flowers, for whom that person left those flowers, and why that person left those flowers...

A Little Update is another "I'll give an update over what I've been doing lately" type of entry describing what I had done during that week inside and outside the classroom. It also has two video clips of an FSA dance practice for Filipino Cultural Night.

Yet Another Update -- Plus Some Musings is a hybrid entry: it starts as an "I'll give an update over what I've been doing lately" type of entry, and it finishes as a contemplative entry.

Relay For Life (V.2.0) + Filipino Cultural Night (V.2.0) describes how, in one weekend, I was busy with both my second Relay For Life and my second Filipino Cultural Night. In addition, this entry contains a few video clips of Filipino Cultural Night.

A Lot of Thinking gives some insight to all the thoughts that were flooding my mind during finals week.

The Year of Being a "Wise Fool" (Part I) is the precursor to this entry that reflects on my sophomore year of college.

Photo Captions: (1) This is my partially eaten slice of birthday cake from the surprise party that my friends Jeremy and Nian threw for me at Gertrude's. You can read more about it in the entry Birthday Cakes. (2) In this photo, my salsa partner and I are performing with OLÉ Dance Group at Shriver Hall for Culture Show. You can read more about it -- and watch a video clip of the salsa routine we performed -- in the entry Culture Show (V.2.0). (3) This is some of the food that my friend Aparna and I cooked for the dinner party we co-hosted during Intersession. You can read more about it -- and watch a video I made about it -- in the entry Intersession 2008: Food and Friends. (4) This is a photo of my friends Nian, Phil, Aparna and I at Crêpe Du Jour Restaurant as part of an FSA dinner outing for both FSA members and friends of FSA members. You can read more about the close-knit nature of FSA in the entry The Faces Behind the Organization: A Spotlight on FSA. (5) In this photo, my suitemates Miriam, Zainab, and I are cooking at the common kitchen of Charles Commons in preparation for a potluck dinner that Miriam organized shortly before spring break. You can read more about it -- and watch a video I made about it -- in the entry The Last Weekend Before Spring Break. (6) In this photo, three other members of the JHU Ballet Company and I are performing the Kitri variation from the ballet Don Quixote at Shriver Hall as guest performers in the Eclectics Dance Group's annual dance showcase. You can read more about the JHU Ballet Company in the entry JHU Ballet Company. (7) This is a photo of my roommate Zainab and I at the MAPP (Mentoring Assistance Peer Program) Masquerade Ball at the Glass Pavilion. We were invited to attend it as guests, since we were friends of several MAPP mentors and mentees. You can read more about my suitemates in the entry My Special Suite.

The Year of Being a "Wise Fool" (Part I)

Note: This is the first of two entries I'll post this summer looking back at my sophomore year of college. This entry documents some of my reflections on the past academic year. The next entry will summarize all the blog entries I've posted this year.

I'm shocked. I'm already halfway done with college -- yet, truth be told, I only feel like I've just gotten fully acclimated to college life. On Wednesday, May 14, I (a) finished my last final exam in the afternoon, (b) moved several my belongings from my suite in McCoy Hall to the off-campus apartment where I'll live this summer, and (c) brought my remaining belongings home with me. I've been home ever since, and I'll remain home until I'll return to Baltimore for the summer on Monday, May 26. Because I've done all those things, and because I don't have much planned for my twelve-day vacation at home besides sleeping and spending quality time with my family and friends, the fact has finally hit me on the head: I'm halfway done with college. And, as I've said, I'm shocked about that.

If I had to summarize the major difference between my freshman year and my sophomore year at Hopkins, I'd say this: freshman year was a time for me to try out many things. I tried out new academic areas, I tried out new extracurricular activities, I tried out new social experiences -- and, in a way, since everyone at Hopkins was a new face to me at first, I tried out new friends. In everything I did at Hopkins, I was simply finding my way around and searching for a niche in which I'd feel comfortable. Sophomore year, meanwhile, was a time for me to familiarize myself with all the "new things" from freshman year. I delved farther into the academic areas I first explored as a freshman, I devoted more time to the extracurricular activities I joined as a freshman -- and I solidified the friendships I formed as a freshman. These friendships gradually transformed from light-hearted interactions with people with whom I had fun being around to deep interpersonal relationships with individuals with whom I felt comfortable discussing anything, from jocular matters to tearful confessions. Of course, there were experiences that I had and people whom I met for the first time during my sophomore year.

Also, my end-of-year feelings are much different from the way they were last year -- besides the semi-panicky "Ack, I'm already halfway done with college!" sentiment, that is. While my freshman year was far from perfect, it was a mostly smooth experience as I found myself exploring many academic, extracurricular, and social options for the first time. A year ago, I found myself feeling disappointed that the year of exploration had already come to an end. I wished that the four months of summer vacation would pass so that I could return to Hopkins and do some more academic, extracurricular, and social exploration. Even though my freshman year had just ended, I was already itching to start my sophomore year and dive back into the busyness of another academic year at Hopkins.

My sophomore year was also far from perfect, but it was much less smooth than my freshman year. It was largely because I got so much more involved in almost all the same academic, extracurricular, and social endeavors that I started as a freshman -- all of which took a physical and emotional toll. The past year ended up being a time in which I had to realize my limits; eliminate academic, extracurricular, and even social activities that I couldn't handle; pick up the pieces in the activities I chose to retain; and strive to do my best in them given the circumstances. With that said, I'm not impatient to skip summer vacation and start my junior year. Instead, I'm enjoying the leisurely pace of summer vacation. Granted, I'll soon return to Hopkins to take summer classes, do summer research, and work in two summer jobs -- but even then, my average busyness in a given day will still be much less than it is during the regular school year. Instead of wanting to skip summer vacation, I'm embracing its arrival. These four months will be the time I need to recover from my sophomore year, so that I could make my junior year a much better one.

Most importantly, I'm cognizant of the fact that even despite my best efforts, I'll still encounter pitfalls during this summer vacation, during my junior year, and beyond. There'll be a lot more blood, sweat, and tears to come. But I'm prepared for all of it. I'll just learn from whatever experiences will come my way and continue working towards my goals.

A Lot of Thinking

Note: As you read this blog entry, please note that during all this thinking, I still was doing my everyday routine! I still went to class, I still did research, I still participated in my extracurricular activities, I still socialized, and I still ate/drank/slept. I didn't sit on a stone all day with my chin rested on my right hand, my right elbow on my left thigh, and my left hand on my left knee. I'm just saying that these topics have increasingly invaded my thoughts over the past three weeks.

During the past three weeks, the end of classes drew nearer (the last day of classes for the semester was this past Friday, May 2), the beginning of reading period drew nearer (today is the first day of reading period), and the start of finals drew nearer (the first day of finals will be Thursday, May 8). For obvious reasons, I've found myself thinking a lot more about school: what's my status in x course? How well must I do on the final for x course to get y grade? How much z studying must I do to get y grade?

I've also found myself thinking a lot more about my friends and acquaintances who are seniors (or, in some cases, juniors) who are graduating this year: who's graduating this year? Who'll stay in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area next year (and thus I can easily meet up with them next year)? Who'll head off to other U.S. cities next year (and thus I'll have to do long-distance correspondence with them)? How is it that time has flown and they're already graduating?

I've also found myself thinking a lot more about how I'm almost half-way done with college. I've also found myself thinking a lot more about wrapping up business for my various extracurricular activities, from coordinating end-of-year events to dealing with transfers of power from this year's officers to next year's officers. I've also found myself thinking a lot more about the logistics of moving from my suite in an on-campus dorm to the off-campus apartment where I'll live from the beginning of this summer to the end of senior year: transportation of belongings, payment of rent, et cetera. I've also found myself thinking a lot more about the finalization of my summer plans -- which still haven't been finalized as I'm typing this blog entry.

In the meantime, dear readers, please take what I've written in this blog entry as some food for thought -- and stay tuned for my next blog entry, which will come towards the end of this month and re-cap my tumltuous (yet still wonderful) sophomore year!

N.B. I got the images illustrating this entry from Art.com.

Relay For Life (V.2.0) + Filipino Cultural Night (V.2.0)

Last weekend, I spent some time eating food and looking at vendors' wares at Spring Fair. As many of the Hopkins Interactive blogs have already mentioned, Spring Fair is an annual three-day carnival that happens at the Homewood campus on one weekend every April. Despite all the Spring Fair festivities on campus, however, last weekend was still relaxing for me. I spent most of my time last weekend either sleeping or studying.

Two weekends ago, the opposite was the case: I was more busy than relaxed. On Friday, April 18, I had classes and research non-stop for about eight hours -- and once I was done with research, I went straight to Relay For Life! Relay For Life is an annual fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, and this year's Relay For Life event was held at the Upper Quad from 7:00 p.m. on Friday, April 18, to 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 19. Last year, I participated in Relay For Life as a member of the OLÉ Dance Group's team; this year, I participated in Relay For Life as the captain of the Filipino Students Association's team. Ergo, except for a 15-minute break to buy food at Charles Street Market, I was at the Upper Quad for all twelve hours. Like last year, I enjoyed myself -- and I got very little sleep. I slept in a tent on the Upper Quad for about 45 minutes sometime on Friday night, and I took a four-hour nap once I returned to my room on Saturday morning. I would've preferred to sleep longer, but I had to spend Saturday afternoon and evening helping other FSA members prepare for Filipino Cultural Night, from making props to rehearsing folk dances to creating and editing videos on my laptop.

After I went to Catholic Community's 11:00 a.m. Mass at the Interfaith Center, I helped with the final preparations for Filipino Cultural Night. Like last year, Filipino Cultural Night was held at the Glass Pavilion at 7:00 p.m. on a Sunday night, but the set-up of the event was quite different this year. For instance, we brought trays of food to the tables where the event's attendees were seated, instead of having people stand in line while waiting to get food from a long table. In addition, we had more dancing and singing acts this year, but we didn't have the presence of the talented pianist who performed last year. Finally, we used a lot of student-made video clips this year. We introduced the various dancing and singing acts with video clips that we had made. In addition, we played self-made video clips in which FSA members discussed cultural topics such as Filipino food and their reasons for joining FSA.

Because we had spent the entire year planning and preparing for Filipino Cultural Night, all of us in FSA were relieved that it progressed without a glitch. Once the event was over and we were done cleaning up the Glass Pavilion, it was back to -- of course -- doing homework and preparing for classes on Monday morning!

Here's the video clip that we played right before performing the folk dance singkil. FYI, the video is unclear for the first few seconds, but it should play normally afterwards.

Now here's a video of us performing the folk dance singkil at Filipino Cultural Night:

Here's the video clip that we played right before performing a modernized version of tinikling. FYI, the video is unclear for the first few seconds, but it should play normally afterwards.

And last, but not least, here's a video of us performing a modernized version of tinikling at Filipino Cultural Night:

Yet Another "Little Update" -- Plus Some Musings

I. A "LITTLE UPDATE"

After a busy week and weekend, I'm simply catching up on schoolwork and dancing ballet and salsa on the side. I have quite a few photos and videos from Relay For Life and Filipino Cultural Night, both of which were this past weekend (as I've mentioned in my previous blog entry). As I've said, this was a fairly busy weekend , although I still managed to take time to sleep and hang out with my suitemates. Huzzah. However, it's now time to focus on schoolwork. There's homework to be done and quizzes for which to study. Plus, since it's already the second-to-last week of the spring semester, reading period and finals week will be here before I know it! Ergo, I don't know if I'll be able to upload all those photos and videos and type descriptions about them until next weekend -- but stay tuned for that! Well, that's all for the update. Normally, I'd end this blog entry here -- however, part of me feels like being somewhat contemplative in my writing, so this entry shall continue for a bit.

II. SOME MUSINGS

Looking back at April 2006, I decided to come to Hopkins primarily for academics. The academics here have proven to be challenging over the past two years, but I've reminded myself time and again that tackling academics is the reason I'm at this institution in the first place. So far, I've been doing my best to keep academics my priority, even though it's hard sometimes.

Despite my focus on academics, I've been surprised time and again to realize that I've also learned a lot of non-academic lessons here. By living, studying, eating, working, and interacting with my peers 24/7, I've learned many more social lessons in college than I ever thought I would. I've learned how to handle myself better in meeting new people. I've learned the distinctions among acquaintances, casual friends, and close friends. I've learned how heartbreakingly often people can prove to be different from what they seem. I've learned how there is both something good and something bad in everyone. I've learned how true friends are the individuals who stay there for you and support you in everything you do as time passes, no matter how often you might clash with them. I've learned how there's both happiness and sorrow in getting romantically involved with the opposite sex. I've learned how being happy relies primarily on your will to be happy, not on the presence or absence of people in your life. I've learned that it can be fun to be acquainted with a lot of people, but what's even more valuable is having a small, solid group of close friends and maintaining your friendships with them. I've learned that being true to yourself and your values is the most important thing to remember when deciding what to do with your time.

These lessons aren't necessarily unique to the Hopkins experience. They're lessons everyone should learn eventually in his or her life. For me, I've just happened to learn them all at Hopkins, and for that reason, this place has a high sentimental value to me. While I've had my ups and downs at this institution over the past two years, because it's been the setting for my intellectual and so much of my personal growth, I can't help but have a soft spot for Hopkins. As a student here, I've found over the past few years that this institution has flaws of its own that I hope would be rectified one day. However, because I've been able to get so much out of my experience here in the long run both academically and socially, and because I've been blessed to find a small, solid group of friends here, I can't imagine myself not having come here.

So, as the half-way point of my undergraduate college experience draws near, and as I roll up my sleeves and replace my contacts with glasses for long nights of studying for finals, I want to say that looking back over the past two years, they've been chock-full of so much happiness, laughter, anger, frustration, blood (because of my clumsiness in lab and other scenarios), sweat, and tears. All of that has taught me many things -- and so I wouldn't change anything about the past two years at Hopkins, and I'm willing to accept whatever comes in the next two years, imperfections and all.

Wherever you decide to go to college -- it would be nice if it were Hopkins, but even if it's not, please keep this in mind -- I hope you also find that you're learning a lot and growing a lot both intellectually and personally. Good luck in finalizing your college decisions, and I hope that wherever you'll end up going for college, you'll be able to get much out of your experience there.

N.B. I got these images of magnets with motivational quotes from AllPosters.com.

A Little Update

It's 9:00 a.m. on a Sunday, and although I've slept for about six hours (which usually is more than enough sleep for me), I think I'll sleep a little longer before I have to get ready to go to Catholic Community's 11:00 a.m. Mass at the IFC. I got sick towards the end of last week. Right now, my body is screaming at me, "Kate, get some more sleep!"

Before I'll snooze a little more, however, I'll update you on my shenanigans since my last blog post. First of all, the flowers continued to come to my suite every night -- until last night. No flowers were left at our door last night. Even then, my suitemates and I still don't know who was leaving the flowers and why. Oh, well. Meanwhile, school is...well...school. I've been doing research as always, I've been practicing piano and taking lessons as always, I had a Latin midterm last week, I'll have a neuroscience midterm and a physics midterm this week, and I'll register for next semester's courses this week. Speaking of the Fall 2008 semester, I can't believe I'll soon be a junior!

Aside from the academia, I haven't been doing much besides rehearsing ballet, practicing salsa, and helping organize two things for the Filipino Students Association. First of all, FSA has a team in this year's Relay For Life event, which will be on Friday night this week. (Relay For Life is an annual fundraiser for the American Cancer Society in which various teams fundraise prior to the event and then take turns walking around a designated area of campus during the event itself.) I'm the team captain for FSA, so I've been trying to recruit people to sign up for the team and do some last-minute fundraising. Second of all, we'll have a "Filipino Cultural Night" event on Sunday night next week, so I've been working on the publicity for that, as well as practicing various Filipino folk dances.

That's all I have to say, and it's off to bed for me!

Later

I did get some more sleep before attending the 11:00 a.m. Mass, and it was glorious! Anyway, here are two videos that show part of a dance practice yesterday afternoon for next weekend's "Filipino Cultural Night" event. A bunch of us were practicing the finale to a modernized tinikling routine to the song "We Intertwined" by The Hush Sound, and I decided to videotape the others dancing:

Mysterious Flowers

Here's an amusing (or not-so-amusing) little story related to life in the dorms, as told with photos and photo captions:

1. On the evening of Friday, April 4, my suitemates Miriam, Nian, Zainab, and I found a flower left on the door of our suite. It had no label saying who left the flower and for whom the flower was intended. We brought it in and put it in a cup of water.

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2. Zainab wrote a sheet of paper, "To the person who left the flower: There are 4 hot girls living here. Who did you leave it for?" She taped that sheet of paper on the door of our suite.

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3. Tim, one of the boys in the suite next door to ours, wrote as a joke, "Sorry wrong room. It was for Sri." (FYI, Sri is one of the boys in the suite next door to ours, and Tim admitted to writing that joke.)

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4. On the evening of Saturday, April 5, Miriam, Nian, Zainab, and I found a bouquet of flowers left on the door of our suite. It had no label saying who left the flowers and for whom the flowers were intended. We brought them in and put them in a vase.

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The four of us still have no idea who left the flowers at our suite door, for whom the flowers were left at our suite door, and why the flowers were left at our suite door. Hmm. 'Tis a mystery...

Hopkins Cribs: McCoy Hall 512

Well, it's time for another round of "Hopkins Cribs" blog entries from Hopkins Interactive! After having written about my double in AMR I last year, I'll write about my much luxurious on-campus living quarters this year. I live in a four-person suite in McCoy Hall, a dorm that houses mostly sophomores and that has four-person suites, each of which has a kitchenette, a bathroom, and either two doubles or a double and two singles. As I've mentioned in previous blog entries this year (such as one that I wrote in October about the "odd" items we have in our suite), my three suitemates are my friends Miriam, Nian, and Zainab; our suite has a double and and two singles, and Zainab and I share the double. Since describing a suite with multiple rooms is (obviously) more complex than describing a single bedroom, I've broken up this entry into sections. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the tour!

I. THE ENTRANCE

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Let's start by looking at the main door of our suite from the hallway. As you can see, it's decorated according to the theme for our wing, which is the movie Finding Nemo! The second photo is of the same door, as seen from the kitchenette inside our suite.

II. THE KITCHENETTE

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Anyway, back to the hallway, where we're looking at the Nemo-esque suite door. Let's open it and see what's inside. Our first view is of the main wall of the suite's kitchenette. In the world of McCoy 512-land, this wall serves as an unofficial bulletin board. Miriam, Nian, Zainab, and I post our schedules on that wall in order for us to have an idea where we are at different times during the day; the four of us also post schedules for the Collegetown Shuttle, the Homewood-JHMI shuttle, and Hopkins intramural sports. Hmm, by the way, what's that to our immediate right? Do you see that? Yeah, that's a cabinet that Nian received as a hand-me-down from an upperclassman friend of hers (by the way, upperclassmen can serve as great sources of cheap/free furniture); we use it to store extra food, as well as to serve as a support for our rice cooker and toaster oven. If we walk towards our right, we get to have a better view of the kitchenette's stovetop burner, sink, cabinets, and mini refrigerator; every suite in McCoy Hall has these. In addition, my suitemates and I have a microwave oven and a coffee maker in our kitchenette.

III. THE BATHROOM

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In looking around the kitchenette, we notice an open door by the mini refrigerator, and we see that it leads to a bathroom! After having lived in AMR I last year and using communal bathrooms, one of my favorite things about living in McCoy Hall is having a bathroom that I share only with my suitemates. I'm not saying that the communal bathroom experience in AMR I was horrible (in fact, I thought otherwise), but this luxury is a nice improvement in standards of living from last year. The con about having a bathroom that's only for my suitemates and me is that we have to clean it ourselves -- at least we're cleaning our own messes only, though!

IV. THE "CRIBS" VIDEO

V. THE BEDROOM

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After looking around the bathroom, we notice that right across the hall is the door to one of the three bedrooms in McCoy 512. (Remember that one of them is a double and that two of them are singles.) It has an intriguing sign, and upon further inspection, we see that it's part of an advertisement campaign to encourage students to decrease their energy consumption. We open the door and realize that this bedroom is the double in McCoy 512, for two desks and two wardrobes greet us. We take a closer look at the wardrobes, and then we shift our gaze to the bed next to one of the wardrobes. This is Zainab's bed. We then look across the room at the other bed. Yes, that's my bed and yes, I have the same bedsheet set as Zainab. (We didn't plan it! It's just a coincidence. Seriously.) Then we turn right to look even more closely at the desks (the left one is mine, while the right one is Zainab's) before we look across the room and peer out the windows to see a gorgeous view of the patios from an apartment building.

VI. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

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Before I close this entry, I just want to show you a few items in my room. First of all, at the middle the windowsill is an aloe plant that Zainab brought to Hopkins at the beginning of the year; some of the things on my side of the windowsill include my alarm clock and a crab-shaped stuffed animal that I bought at the Inner Harbor at the beginning of last year. In addition, I have a K-shaped ornament that I tied to the cord of the Venetian window blind on my side of the room. (I closed the blind before taking a picture of the ornament, so that you could see the ornament better.) Hanging on the wall right above my pillow is a Hopkins pennant that I've had since the beginning of last year, and some of the photos and artwork that I've posted on the wall next to my bed include the following: (a) a large "thank you" card made from poster board that tutees in JHU Tutorial Project made for the Filipino Students Association when we demonstrated and taught the children some simple steps of the folk dance tinikling, (b) a map of Connecticut (my home state), and (c) photos of pointe shoes and piano keys, along with a painting of two salsa dancers. Also, on the edge of my desk's bookshelf, I've taped three valentines that I received from my friends Mary, Miriam, and Zainab on Valentine's Day this year. Last, but not least, above my desk is a poster I made to advertise the CSC Dance Program (a community service organization that teaches dance after school to elementary school students) whenever we try to recruit new members at student organization fairs.

With that said, that concludes my tour of McCoy 512. I hope you enjoyed it!

The Last Weekend Before Spring Break

Today is the first day of spring break, which I'm spending at home for the second year in a row. Unlike last year, however, I didn't have to wait for my dad at the MSE Library! He picked me up in the early afternoon yesterday, long before the dorms closed. Huzzah.

Anyway, last weekend, a few of my friends and I took a break from studying for midterms to have a potluck dinner at the common kitchen of Charles Commons. As with the dinner party that my friend Aparna and I had during Intersession, I've made a little video summarizing what happened. Cooking food before eating it is that fun: