Simply Serendipitous

the critical juncture

This semester, I'm taking two courses that deal with policy--Politics and Policy Design and Politics of Health Policy.  The two overlap slightly in the principles, as you might expect, but I feel like I'm actually getting a very diverse education in policy-making and implementation, and how what seems like the logical solution is not usually the one used in practice, largely because of political concerns (i.e., re-election).

Anyway, an important principle discussed in both classes is the "critical juncture," or, roughly, a turning point.  This also plays into the concept of "path dependence," where current options are limited by past decisions.  Basically (and I mean VERY basically--a quick google search shows that this can be an extremely complicated topic), as it was explained in one of my classes, critical junctures are the point when big decisions are possible, and the rest of the time, you're limited by path dependence set in place by the critical junctures.

In simpler terms?  The decisions you make now set you on a specific path, where some later options can be drastically changed depending on the current decision.  I guess you could kind of think of it like the "butterfly effect," if you want to skip the middle part, and think about the impact a current decision will have on your available options twenty years from now.  But it's not really about endpoints (as in, right now and twenty years from now), at least as I see it.  It's  about the entire path--now, tomorrow, the entire time between now and twenty-years-from-now.

I see it like this:  as college students, we're at a critical juncture, RIGHT NOW. (no pressure, right?).  We have the ability to make relatively big decisions that set a whole particular path before us.  That's not so scary though, because I don't think political science is completely translatable to peoples' lives on an individual level (despite this blog entry's attempts at that?)...as in, just because we're setting our paths, doesn't mean we're going to be entirely limited by it.  I think path dependence works a little better with policies than with people, but it still applies.

I don't know if you necessarily have to call out just one critical juncture for all of college or this age period, but to choose one, I think mine is when I settled on my public health major and realized I'm not doctor-material.  Choosing not to continue pre-med studies is rather path-dependent, at least in the short term.  (Luckily, nowadays, there's post-bac programs for people who decide after graduating that they actually do want to go to med school, but that's not me.  Just throwing it out there).  Anyway, I set myself a new path when I had that critical juncture and made that decision, and now each successive decision relevant to my life goals (undefined though they may be) are putting me further along on that path--I hope.  That is, if political science works.  I think I believe in it.

I hope this doesn't get construed as alarming--it's not like you make one decision and you're stuck for life, as it can be with policies.  I think that's the beauty of our generation; we have so many options and fallbacks and the ability to redo things, all at much later points than previous generations. 

So now, here's your quiz to see if you've been paying attention.  Here I am, having passed my critical juncture in which I chose to pursue law school, and am currently faced with the following path-dependent decision: spring internship in DC or LSAT course?  I might need a few more weeks of policy classes to figure this one out.  Or maybe just a few more days in the week next semester.  I'm wondering what the politically feasible option would be in the long run...okay, I can't even think of any more ways to stretch this.

(By the way, I'm choosing the LSAT course, sadly).

and we're back

Happy November!  I can hardly believe it's already November (and we're more than halfway through the semester), but October was a crazy month and I'm kind of glad to have it behind me in some ways. 

Just to demonstrate, here's my October calendar, fresh off the wall.  The highlighted items are exams.

But this isn't a blog about how busy I've been, because that's all behind me.  Today, I woke up, cleaned and organized my entire apartment, and will soon venture out to Eddie's Market with my grocery list.  You see, I'm trying to get back into being a productive, orderly, healthy person.  I kind of let all of those priorities fall aside when I got busy, and I'm definitely feeling it now.  So I'm giving myself one day to catch up, clean up, wake up, etc., and then I'm going to get back into doing homework the day before it's due (instead of the early hours the morning of), eating actual meals (instead of snack food and coffee) and other things that I think normal people do.

Until then, I'm enjoying the extra hour of sleep (which couldn't have come at a a better time), am taking the day to lull around, and will leave you with one picture from my Halloween celebrations.  I was a pop-punk something-or-other, inspired by Avril Lavigne. I promise to get back to my usual blogging very soon, just as soon as I get back to my usual life.

fall open houses

Fall at Hopkins always means several noteworthy events at the top of my not-to-be-missed list, and a favorite is definitely the two fall Open Houses--it's such a great opportunity for me to take a break from work, enjoy the fall weather (whatever it may be) and talk to prospective students and their families about why I love my life here.  What's not to love about that?!

For two consecutive weekends in October, the campus is devoted to prospective students and their families.  There are presentations from each major/department, student panels, advising panels, tours, plenty of the famous Hopkins tote bags, and always lots of food. 

 This year marks my fifth and sixth fall open houses, during which my fellow SAAB members and I don our lovely light blue t-shirts and "mingle..." sometimes with each other, sometimes with AdmissionsDaniel, but (hopefully) mostly with you!  We're there to talk to you about anything you want to know.  And this year, we have spiffy business cards to hand out so that if you think of questions later on, you'll have a way to get in touch with us.

Of course, fall in Baltimore means occasionally unpredictable weather.  And by that, I mean the weather is entirely predictable, but it can be predictably nasty.  Last weekend, we had a high of about 46 degrees and it rained the whole day.  But we still had a great time (with the help of the abundance of hot chocolate and coffee at breakfast and lunch, of course) and hope that if you were there, you did as well, and if you weren't, you'll be out this coming Saturday!  The weather's supposed to be a good 20 degrees warmer, for what it's worth, but either way, it's a great chance to see the gorgeous campus and meet all of us.

my own fall break

I'm sitting here, early into Sunday afternoon, almost ready to get serious, but not quite. 

You see, this weekend I decided to give myself my own fall break.  I've already mentioned that I don't have classes on Friday, but this doesn't automatically mean a three-day weekend.  Most Fridays I try to get up at the same time I do Monday-Thursday, have a bit of a leisurely breakfast, and then get to work.  But not this Friday.  I woke up late (does 10:00 count?) and somehow managed to do nothing productive with my day, at which point I decided I was on fall break.

 My fall break coincided with fall fest and young alumni weekend, meaning there was a TON of stuff going on, with both on-campus events and off-campus parties.   Of course, as any break should, mine included plenty of laziness.  I spent the majority of Saturday watching movies and re-watching Thursday's episode of The Office (3 times, so far).  Aside from that, I saw a screening of The Hangover on the beach, and stopped by a couple of other events and parties as well.  The closing event of my fall break was a trip with friends to Pete's Grill and The Book Thing this morning.  Pete's Grill is an awesome place a few blocks away that's garnered fame for being Michael Phelps' favorite breakfast place, and this morning I understood why.  Delish.  And The Book Thing is Baltimore's free book warehouse.  Walk in, browse, pick up anything that appeals to you, and leave.  It's so great and a short walk from Pete's Grill, making for a perfect morning.  I left today with six books on criminal law, American politics, interest groups, and the like.  My friends picked up entirely different things (of course) and it was kind of funny to look at what we all got and compare. 

So I realized that sometimes, once in a while, on occasion, it's okay to completely disregard real life and focus on having fun.  It's good and perhaps even necessary for maintaining sanity.  And even Hopkins students do it!  Of course, now it's time to buckle down, go back to being a normal person and do my biostats homework (I can't even tell you how much I'm dreading all of that), but it was a fantastic break that hopefully prepared me to get back to reality.

classes, v. 5.0

So, in between work, meetings, events, and the like, it's easy to let it slip my mind: I'm actually here to go to classes and, you know, learn things.  And this semester I'm doing lots of both--going to classes, and learning things, that is.

As per tradition, here's the blog entry where I'll tell you about my fabulous class schedule, show you why I love it, why it's a little bit crazy, and where I'll tell you a few times that I have no classes on Fridays. (And can I just mention that I can't believe this is my fifth semester of classes?  I'm not sure how many times I'll throw this kind of tidbit into my entries, but I'm still not wrapping my brain around the fact that I'm so far along in my undergrad studies!)

-politics and policy design: This is a hugely intimidating, 300-level political science seminar full of students who know a lot of things about politics and economics.  I know very little about either of those subjects.  So I sit there quietly and try to take it all in.  But the professor, Dr. Teles, has a sense of humor that I really appreciate and I feel like I'm learning a lot, on many different levels (as in, not just from our assignments).

-constitutional law: This class is all about our judicial system and the Supreme Court.  We haven't gotten too in-depth with actual cases yet, but it's a very interesting class.  There's always some current events to be discussed at the beginning of class and the topic is ever-evolving, making it very relevant.  Professor Grossman has been teaching for 45 years and really knows (and loves) the subject.  He's always got some fun little anecdotes about an issue or particular justices.  And, just look at one of our textbooks.  When I'm reading this, I feel so legit and it definitely makes my bookshelf look more scholarly, and you can't tell, but it's actually a huge book.

-politics of health policy: My third political science class this semester.  There's actually an interesting bit of overlap between all three classes, though it's very slight and really only on subject matter, so I'm able to look at an issue from varying perspectives.  Roughly speaking, this class focuses on different health policy examples and how they've been framed in the political world to achieve various policy ends.  It's kind of taking a case-studies approach to policy analysis and principles that I'm learning in my politics and policy design class. 

-environment and your health: One of four core classes required of all public health majors, this is one of those bigger, lecture-style classes.  So far, I've learned that almost everything causes cancer.  It's an interesting class, and there's always some kind of alarming fact or another.

-biostatistics for public health: As the name might imply, this is another of the four public health core classes.  Unfortunately, this runs back-to-back with environment and your health (a.k.a. "EAYH"), in the same room, each for an hour and fifteen minutes, which can be a bit of a long stretch some days.  Especially for a non-numbers person (me) who thought they were done with numbers for the rest of forever.  But it's really not so bad. 

So, that's it!  I've already had my first midterm and am really invested in the courses by now (you know, I've done the work so far, gotten to know the little quirks each of the professors have, etc.), and am getting very comfortable with my routine.  And of course, I love love love the fact that I have no classes on Fridays, allowing me to have the occasional three-day weekends, extra study time, time to run errands and/or clean my apartment or any other possible options.  Fall 2009, in short? So far, so good.

junior year, again?

From the very beginning of high school, I remember hearing the horror stories about the junior year.  Between the first APs, the college search (at least for students at my high school), taking on leadership roles in extracurriculars, and still keeping grades up, it was sure to be a year of hell.  But it actually turned out to be my favorite year of high school.  We got to park in the upper school lot, we felt hardcore with our ridiculously long study guides for AP US History, and we got to plan the prom.   With great responsibility comes great reward, or something like that.  (right: the admin building of my high school).

I'm starting to think that junior year of college might be similar, though on a larger scale and for more undefined reasons.  But maybe it's just that I'm slightly lagging behind my classmates in taking things on, which is a definite possibility.

So what is it that's making my junior year so different from my first two years? 

*a job: I work in the Admissions Office this year and I'm definitely excited about the responsibility and opportunity.  It does, however, mean a more structured routine during the week.  My classes start at 12 or 1:30 (depending on whether it's M/W or T/Th) and in the past, that would've meant I'd stay up really late and then sleep in really late all week.  But nowadays, I'm working in the mornings before class, keeping me on a normal schedule.

*an apartment: I have my own apartment, as I mentioned in an early post, which is a really nice place to go back to at the end of the day.  It also means remembering to pay rent and other bills, and if there are any problems, being annoying until it gets fixed (as opposed to dorms where a phone call fixes any problem you could ever have).  I'm also absolutely terrified of bedbugs. (They're actually a serious problem--look it up if you don't believe me.  Thankfully I'm still in the clear).

*no meal plan: It's surprising how much of an adjustment it is when you start doing your own grocery shopping and feeding yourself.  I've already gotten into the habit of making huge portions of things that keep well (last week was chili) for the nights that I'm too lazy to cook.  There's also the whole budgeting thing that goes along with this.

*active involvement:  The past two years, being a member of the Student Admissions Advisory Board has been my main involvement, but I'm trying to branch out this year while still staying hugely involved with SAAB.    I'm the Presiding Official of the Academic Ethics Board this year, though, so that will certainly keep me busy as well.

*classes: Somehow I ended up in three, 300-level polisci classes this semester.  I feel like I'm getting such great exposure to different things, but I have SO much reading.  More on classes in a future post.

*routine: The biggest change, mostly the sum of all of these components, is that I have a pretty rigid routine.  This past week, I was busy from approximately 9-6 with work and classes, and then some days later if I had evening meetings.  In the past, I'd have a lot of free time during the day (which, admittedly, I didn't always use very wisely, but it was always there), so it's been a big adjustment to have a full day and then come home and realize I still had all of my assignments to do (sounds like high school, actually!). 

Despite the busy-ness and all the changes, I am fully confident that, like high school, my junior year at Hopkins will be my best yet.  And, sadly, it's my last full year at Hopkins, too, since I'm graduating early and will be spending most of my senior fall semester at the School of Public Health to finish up my major.  But stay tuned to see how the story plays out.

not quite ready yet

As I sit here with a giant cup of coffee and a daunting stack of readings, I can only come to one conclusion: it's time to get down to business.  School's back in session and there's no more escaping it.  I've been trying to pretend that I wasn't going to have to do work this soon, but here it is, staring me in the face.  No matter how many times I reorganize the pile, make to-do lists, make sure my planner is in order, tidy up my apartment, consider my next baking project, etc., the fact remains: it's time to do my school work.  The longer I put it off, the bigger the stack is going to get, the larger my cup of coffee will need to be and the worse I'll feel about how much work I already have.  But, really.  It's only Labor Day and my college clock just isn't used to being productive yet. 

So instead I think I'll print out some more of my readings and continue to not do them.  I think my apartment could use another round of tidying, and it might even be laundry time.  In fact, tonight seems like the perfect night for a dinner party, so I'd better start on the rolls now and give them time to rise.  And while I'm at it, I could even try the chocolate souffle that I've been dying to make.  Or maybe chocolate truffles would be better?

I may be back in school and starting classes, but, honestly, my brain is just not ready for this yet.  I'm still having entirely too much fun and can't even think of trying to manage my time yet.  The time between when everyone gets on campus until classes pick up (a.k.a. freshman orientation) is one of the most fun times all semester, regardless of your year.  So I'll just ease myself into the whole 'productivity' thing...fair enough?  And once I manage that, I promise to come back and write a real blog entry about what I'm actually doing with my life, and hopefully I'll have something on that topic to write about.

new look, fresh perspective

First things first -- if you've ever visited this blog before, you may notice that it has a new look.  It's still the same old stuff, but I chose a different design to start off the new school year.  Let me know what you think!

And speaking of new, I'm writing this new blog from my new apartment!  I moved in exactly a week ago and have gotten completely unpacked, organized and settled since then.  It's taken a lot of cleaning and furniture assembly to turn it into a my own little home, but now that it's all taken care of, I really love the place.  I'm still working out little things here and there, but it's wonderfully comfortable and relaxing.  I feel like it suits me quite well.

I ended up living by myself this year which was a little bit intimidating at first.  But after the first day, I already started to love waking up and just going about my new routine in my own place.  And as an added perk, I have friends living in the building, so I don't feel completely isolated.   And in the interest of full disclosure, I'm living in between two dorms.  So I'm not exactly branching way out or anything.  It's really my perfect situation to be living on my own.

Most of all, I'm excited to be back in Baltimore.  This past week was pretty quiet but my friends are just starting to get back and the campus is getting busier, which makes me even more anxious for things to pick back up again.  I'm looking forward to my classes this semester and learning more about my public health major (after all, I've only taken one class in the department!), as well as dabbling in political science a bit more.  I think it'll be a good balance of challenging and engaging yet all interesting in different ways.

As for the next couple of weeks (up until classes start), I've got big plans:  learning to cook, doing some suggested pre-reading for my Constitutional Law class, and starting work in the Admissions Office.  And before long we'll be welcoming a huuuge freshman class and getting immersed in all of the orientation events--I can't wait.  It's good to be back.

i should be packing

Just as many of the incoming freshmen are getting antsy and anxious about the upcoming weeks, I am too.  As a rising junior, you'd think I'd pretty much be a seasoned pro when it comes to moving back and forth from Baltimore, but the persistent butterflies in my stomach tell me that's not the case.  

 

I'm moving into my very first apartment in exactly ten days. 

And it's my own, too--I'll be living completely by myself.  Yet, so far, I've packed just one box.  This is a drastic improvement though.  Because at this time yesterday, when I should've been packing, I was watching a movie while my pastry dough chilled.  In fact, I spent the entire day making a chocolate Danish braid when I should've been packing.  Before that, when I should've been packing, I went through my books from old classes to sell online.  And before that, when I should've been packing, I caught up on tv shows I'd heard so much about but never had the time to watch.

Apparently, one of my favorite coping mechanisms is avoidance.  I'm nervous about moving into my own apartment, so I don't pack.  Instead I watch movies and bake ridiculous pastries.  Seems like an easy enough conclusion to come to.  Except for the fact that it's absolutely STUPID.  Like it or not, ready or not, packed or not, in ten days' time, I'll be in that little apartment that's going to be home for the rest of my undergraduate years.  

I think that's what's getting me.  I'm about to move into something that I can make into a real home.  For the past two years, I lived in on-campus housing, which is certainly nice, but the 9-month contract, by it's very nature, makes the residence a temporary situation.  It became a home away from  home, but it wasn't a real home itself.   Comfortable, fun, and personalized, but still a dorm.  

And now I'm moving into my own apartment--for the rest of my time as an undergrad (granted, it's only a year and a half for me--but let's not kill the drama).  I'm buying cookbooks and baking sheets and I'm going to have my own furniture.  In my own apartment.  This is so weird to me.  

So, dear freshmen, if you're reading this and feeling anxious, you're certainly not alone.  All of your fellow freshmen are feeling it, and at least one overwhelmed upperclassman is, too.  My best advice would be to enjoy your time at home and NOT to avoid packing.  As for me, I think a trip to the grocery store might be in order--I'm all out of flour and yeast and thinking it's about time to try making chocolate croissants.  (...and maybe I'll pack another box tonight, but only if I can pretend I have more than ten days left before I have to start playing grown-up.  And clearly, based on this blog entry, I'm going to be SO great at that).  Bear with me, I'll get there.

court appearances, jail visits, and prison time.

With just a couple days left of my summer internship and a rapidly-approaching return-to-Baltimore date, I'm quickly realizing that my time at home is coming to a close.  This, of course, means an insane amount of packing and organizing and shopping is to be done, but I don't even want to think about that yet...how about I'll just recap that process once I've moved into my apartment in mid-August?

For now, I'll stick to an update on the past few weeks, seeing as my last post was just at the start of my internship.  I feel incredibly lucky to have found such an opportunity; it's been so much more than I ever could've imagined.  Some days are more tedious than others with the various office tasks, but a couple of the attorneys have had pretty big trials in the past several weeks that we've been following.  It's fascinating to watch stories unfold and a new twist reveal itself, and I've quickly learned that nothing is as clear as it will initially seem.   There's always two (or more) sides to a story and an infinite number of potentially-complicating factors to throw into the mix, making "the truth" (as we think of it) not so much an objective matter but more of a question of what fits together the best, even if there are some holes and unanswered questions.  At least that's the job of the jury, in these trials I followed; which version of 'facts' makes the most sense?  

And certainly it's not always a difficult decision to tell what makes sense.  In working with some attorneys who have been practicing longer than I've been alive, I've heard quite a few good stories about outrageous defense strategies that come out when all evidence clearly implicates their clients' guilt, yet their job is to give it a shot anyway.  

As for actual experiences I've had, aside from administrative tasks, we've conducted a few client interviews, shadowed an attorney for the day, visited jail for interviewing clients, toured the state prison (including death row), and spent lots of hours in court for first appearances, motions, pleas, trials, etc.  I'm now an expert copier and alphabetizer, have pretty well mastered the court computer systems, am getting a little better at reading people (and jurors) and have a pretty good idea of the tendencies of different judges.  All in all, pretty productive summer, yes?

Aside from the internship, I've just been spending time with my family, seeing a little bit of the lake, and doing a bit of reading that I never got around to during the school year.  I had surgery on my hand a few weeks back and I think it's finally back to almost-not blue, depending on the way you look at it.  

As for the next couple of weeks, I'll be trying to figure out how to furnish a studio apartment, where to get said furniture, packing up and before I know it, moving back to Baltimore.  Whew.  Until next time...here's hoping your August will start out much less busy than mine.