Although I did not know at the time, my 88 year old grandfather got very sick during my final exams. (Holidays and packing up to go home were interesting, to say the least.) He passed away a few days ago. He was smart, hard working, and very friendly. He lived a pleasant life and, being the goodhearted person that he was, was aware of what he had, even as Alzheimers and Parkinsons amongst other things, seemed to take that away.
He served in the navy, attended night school 15 years for an accounting degree he never used and accepted unusual work commissions with his glass installation company. He went fishing with his friends every weekend, as a young man. He did so many community service hours that a day in Connecticut was named in his honor, and cashed out his life insurance policy so that my mother could afford her last year of university.
He always had a resolution to be better, but I don't think he had any regrets.
That's how I felt, while dealing with the aftermath of my first semester of college. I had a great time in the city. I haven't spoken to many school people in this chaos, but I bonded enough with people that spring should be a blast. I passed all my classes and made Dean's List, although it seemed rather close. (My grades were the lowest I've seen in years. I haven't gotten the equivalent of a 3.7 since the start of middle school.) I don't have it all, or even a fraction of what CUNY promotes itself of capable of giving me. I want to be more social, more scholarly, and do find/develop the cool extracurricular that never materialized this semester.
I want to live life to the fullest in Gram-pa Larry's memory.
Is it in poor taste to post a picture of a loved one's hearse in a school related blog on New Years Eve? NO REGRETS, and have a great 2011.
As I am sure you have all ascertained by this point, there was a lot of snow the day after Christmas and there is still a lot of snow. I was supposed to work at the Rubin yesterday but the museum was closed as was most of NYC. I am still at home in Westchester and have had the opportunity to see many of my friends from home, which is great! The snow has forced me to hang out and most importantly, go and play in the snow like I used to when I was little. Sliding down a slide full of snow into a huge pile of snow in my 10 year old snow pants was a blast! I just hope it doesn't snow again too, too soon. I miss the hustle and bustle of the city and being able to go out and do things in Manhattan. I also miss working at the museum.
Right now, I am doing optional hours in Visitor Experience over the break and learning how to work the front desk. The computer system and protocol is much more complicated than I thought it would be but it is a really fun challenge. I enjoyed doing a mini-tour of one of the pieces in the museum with two groups of adults last week. Working with adults and children/teens is not that different but the adults did make me realize that I need to learn more information about the artwork in the collection. I am looking forward to doing some research over January!
In other news, I am still attempting to finalize travel plans and hope I will make it to Indianapolis and Florida over this January break. I just want to travel and snow is bad for traveling too!!! I am glad I am not taking a class and that I can focus on starting the Sociology club, DKMS Americas club and on volunteer work. I also hope to apply to an honor society that can help me with scholarships for grad school. GRE studying is also imminent. Well, I must go back to the city now. Enjoy the rest of this holiday season!!!
So it has been a while since I last posted since it was finals week. It was a week of intense studying for a lot of us since we all egg each other on. Also no ones wants a low average anyways. Right now, for those of us who are taking bio, we are still waiting anxiously for our bio grades.
I managed to organize a night out for the people I have become closest with. We went out to eat at this really nice Thai restaurant called Room Service. The place had pretty nice decor but the food was amazing for the price. We were a pretty large group with 24 people and pretty much took over a subway car. After dinner most of us headed back to the dorms and had some of the brownies I baked and pretty much had a really nice time chilling together as the night winded down. What really surprised me was how tight knit of a group we have become since most of us come from near the city. At this point, I really can't imagine being somewhere else. I just spoke to one of my friends who is a senior at Stuyvesant High School. Early decisions just came out and she found out that she got into Brown University with almost a full ride. It was a bit surprising that she didn't feel particularly happy, rather she asked me some really interesting questions, which is: what if she decided to go to somewhere else? Who would she end up as? How would she change? and most of all, who would she meet? I thought about this too when I left Stuy behind. Looking back, there was absolutely no way to find out what the future has in store, you just have to take a pick. I never had any regrets about this decision.
The vacation so far for me hasn't been anything special and I am really not looking forward to tomorrow. We didn't really plan anything as a family. There is simply too much to do right now. I did drive my family around the town and took my baby sis to see the giant Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. As for tomorrow, I am getting three wisdom teeth pulled. I already had one pulled and I'm not much of a fan of going through the process consciously. It is not anything horrible per say, but it does feel like they are trying to break your jaw. The dentist wanted me to have general anesthesia since 3 teeth takes a fairly long time, but I wasn't able to schedule it since it requires me to go to the operating room. Still I wonder how I am gonna get back home through all the snow being all knocked out and bloody. Guess tomorrow is going to be interesting.
Anyways hope everyone else had a good vacation!
New York clearly got the message about this being winter break - we are now covered in a couple feet of snow. Which is great because it's encouraging me to spend a lot of time lounging around in pajamas reading rather than doing something productive, and I always have a tendency to not really take a break on my breaks.
Actually, there is a fair amount of work to be done during this break. First off there's lab work to be done; though I managed to dig up about 12-15 hours a week to put in there during the fall, now that school's out I'm hoping to get some real work done. I also have to write a several different things and organize letters of recommendation for my application for the Goldwater scholarship, an undergrad science thing which I was nominated for. And write an application or two for some summer programs. And start to think about grad school, GREs, etc...
But in the meantime I'm still enjoying the fact that I can sleep a normal amount each night, drink about 1/3 as much coffee as I have for the past several months, and maybe even get in shape, if I'm really ambitious. At least until the spring semester starts.
It's hard to believe that finals are finally over. After days of studying for Bio, I feel like my life has no purpose anymore. Sure I have the holidays to enjoy but I know I'll be worried about my final grades and how they'll affect my GPA. It's so frustrating to have school invade every aspect of my life, but that's college for you! Hopefully I can salvage my vacation before Winter classes start.
So I finished finals yesterday, after I had my Law final, which ended at around 5:30. On the whole, I feel good about it - largely because Prof. Cohen gave copies of the answers after the exam was complete, so I know what I got wrong (which thankfully isn't much). I feel pretty good about all of my classes: my grades for my Arts in New York seminar were great (including a 105 on my final review, which I wrote at around 3 in the morning); I, and others, thought that my presentation for Dreyfus Affair was really good; and my Expository Writing final (my only other final) went pretty well, I feel.
(It should be noted that, while this is my first semester in college, this isn't my first college final - I took two Queens College classes last year, of which both had finals.)
After the exam, I went to Wafels and Dinges, because they had a free waffle promotion through Tenka - the waffle with chocolate fudge was, of course, wonderful, and a great way to celebrate the semester coming to an end; I also watched the lunar eclipse last night, which was actually really cool (and reminded me to put the Quadrantids meteor shower on my calendar).
Tomorrow, I meet with my fellow participants in the MHC program going behind the scenes of the Metropolitan Opera's production of Nixon in China in conjunction with Thirteen, after which I'll be heading back to southeast Queens for my mother's birthday, Christmas and New Year's. Thursday, however, will be back at the Macaulay building for the live show the Macaulay Vlog is doing. It's at 4:00, and the information will be posted on the event page on Facebook - tune in and watch us be funny!
Update: A+ in Law and Arts in NYC, A in Dreyfus and Expository Writing!
Today right around noon I walked out of my very last final - fall 2010 is completely over! Well, for me. A lot of people are still in the last bitter days. It was rather anticlimactic; for one thing, this final was really weird and out of left field, so I have no idea how well I did, but on the other hand it was not hard, so it only took me about half an hour, of the two hours allotted. Oh well.
I celebrated my completion of finals by getting a peppermint mocha, and going to my lab for the first time since last Wednesday. There wasn't much work to be done though so I almost immediately was overcome by overwhelming sleepiness and decided to head out.
I was, however, at lab long enough for my boss to emerge a few times from his office where he was reading grad school applications complaining vehemently about how poorly the applicants wrote, them go back in only to emerge shortly later with another painful sentence to groan over. It was pretty amusing. And I now know a whole slew of things NOT to put in my grad school applications, so that's good.
Tonight was all christmas gift wrapping and enjoying the chance to sit still for the first time in four months or so, and I've already begun to check obsessively for grades to be posted. Then tomorrow night I'll head back to Hunter to collect my boyfriend as soon as his last final is over and enjoy actually getting to see him look relaxed for the first time in four months. And then it's off into the wonders of winter break....
It is my fifth straight hour in the Hunter library, and in that time I've successfully managed to read through 8 external sources for my paper on Richard Wright and guns. Woot! That's 8 books - articles within books, but still, at about 50 pgs. of usable material per book, I feel quite accomplished.
Time to reward my efforts with a very large vanilla latte, before I outline my paper tonight. Yikes. At least I have a thesis now. Research papers aren't so bad as they seem. You read other people's opinions, and by the time you're done deciding what you agree/disagree with in each paper, you have a thesis. It only takes...hours. But it's rewarding.
Happy Saturday evening, people with lives. I'll join you in 3 days.
- Katharine
Friday, December 17, 2010
Ahh, the end is near, in a good way. Having completed 5 tests in the past 8 days, I'm not just one test away from winter break, and I've got most of the weekend to study for it. I was quite leased with myself that I pulled off my philosophy final - two essays in two hours, with no advance warning about what the prompts would be - despite having gone out with my boyfriends family for a delicious German dinner around 9 o'clock last night, going to sleep sometime around 1 and waking up at 7. On the flip side though, I'm alway surprised by just how tiring taking tests is; each time I get out of one I'm completely wiped out for the next several hours. Those several hours after each final have been a good opportunity though to chill out, see people, and finally start my christmas shopping.
The semester is over in exactly a week for me and I can't believe it! It's seems so soon - too soon. I am not complaining because I am looking forward to the holidays, traveling, volunteering, and just having fun. But still... 2011 will be a milestone year for me because it will be the year I take the GRE and the year I apply to graduate programs. It will also be the year I study abroad or leave the US for the first time. I can't wait! It will be busy but deeply rewarding.
My classes have gone relatively well this semester although I noticed myself being the most distracted this semester compared to others. I am a little restless to travel and explore this winter. I have never really been anywhere outside of the tri-state area so going to Indiana and potentially Texas is infinitely exciting to me. I am also anxious to produce some artwork over the break and start studying for the GRE. Preparing for events for the sociology club and elections in early February will also be enjoyable. It may sound crazy but I can't wait to be productive with other things in my life besides classes. I will also be working in Visitor Experience at RMA to make some extra money and continue working at the museum over the break. I will miss seeing the school children and the teens. =(
Now I have two more finals and a paper to write so I will go do that. Hope the holiday season is going well for ya all!
I mean I guess part of that title can be "ail" as in yes, I am sick (finished antibiotics last night though so hopefully I'll be better super soon) but really the title was ailey as in alvin ailey as in wonderfulness.
background check: I love to dance. I danced all through high school with teachers from alvin ailey (my school was right by their studio so they taught dance at my school) and I really loved it. I've done ballet, hip-hop, jazz, modern (my favorite), afro-haitian...everything. really, everything. and I miss it so much. I want to start taking open classes or a class at hunter but I don't have the time yet. soon though.
so I've seen the ailey company perform before but tonight it was really, really gorgeous. everything was lush and beautiful and it was fun. my mhc seminar went together and, obstacle #1 was that our professor was totally m.i.a. before the performance. luckily, I spoke to the woman at group sales and she organized us and we were let in. that was good. and our professor made it for the second act, so that was nice.
in all other news, the snapshot exhibit is going up on saturday so that's going to pretty much consume my day (which means I get to cancel other plans to do that...growl) but it'll be fun and sunday's the exhibit! come see it!
and then wednesday is my only final and that is all. the semester is over. first semester of freshman year of college? totally almost done!
The end of the semester is upon us - only three more days of class! The only really consistent thing about college is how incredibly quickly the time seems to pass, but this semester has gone even faster than most for some reason. Finals week is just a stone's throw away. For me it's a bit anticlimactic; although I'm taking 5 classes for a total of 17 credits this semester, most of them are fairly easy so I only really have a couple finals that I need to worry about for more than a day or so, compared to last year when I studied for my bio and chem finals for several days straight each.
Looking back, this semester has been really good. I have to say, being an upperclassman is great - I didn't expect it to be particularly different, yet in some ways it is. For one thing this was the first semester I didn't have an honors seminar, or a German language class. But more importantly, over the course of the summer and this fall myself and most of the people I know in the class of 2012 have completely turned a corner in terms of knowing what we want to do, having specific goals, going off on our own paths, and the like. One really neat thing about taking upper level classes is meeting all these different people with all kinds of interesting goals ranging from entering the foreign service to attending graduate school in creative writing to becoming physical therapists. Of course, there are still plenty of people who don't know what their next step or their long term plans are - including myself at least 25% of the time - and that's fine too. But the general climate of the people I spend time with has certainly changed.
For me one of the biggest changes is that grad school is now staring me right in the face, and it's way scarier than I thought it would be. I've been talking the talk since I was in my mid-teens - going into neuroscience research was always the big plan for me - but now... all of a sudden it's all so real. The horizon is full of big decisions; am I really ready to commit myself to spending 5 or 6 years in grad school? Am I sure enough about my field to take that plunge? And if so how do I decide where to go? Should I say close to family? Try to end up close to my boyfriend? All of these things seemed so simple and obvious just a year ago...
Ah well, these are choices for another day. In the meantime I've got tests to worry about.
I cannot believe I haven't posted for a few weeks. How inexcusable of me as a writer for the Macblog. Forgive me, but in order to compensate for the lack of entries, this will be a pretty long one.
What has happened to me the last few weeks that is noteworthy? Hmm, with my mind rolling and flipping through memories, here are just some of the highlights:
I have finally, FINALLY gone to Trader Joe's! This might not seem at all relevant to Honors life at Hunter, but having such an amazing grocery near the dorms makes eating fun and healthier, which leads to better studying periods for me. Its not necessarily near the dorms (its on 6th ave and 22nd, whereas the dorms are on 25th and 1st ave) as everyone who goes there knows, but its walkable, and as an avid consumer of milk, the prices are pretty good ( $1.79 for a half gallon in Manhattan is the cheapest I've seen thus far). When I bought all my groceries and went to the cashier, I was trying to figure out how to word my first experience at Trader Joe's, and he said it perfectly, " Trader Joe's is like the Disneyland of grocery stores". If anything, its the Disney World. Hopefully, this view of Trader Joe's doesn't grow any dimmer as time passes on.
Other than of course purchasing milk at Trader Joe's, I bought a very delicious gingerbread mix. I was thinking of baking a gingerbread cake, but alas, I forgot I had a 8''x8'' deep dish pan for it. So instead, I made a very holiday-like collection of gingerbread cookies- gingerbread men and women, triangles that were supposed to look like trees, stars ( one looked like Patrick Star from Spongebob), as well as regular cookies- with friends at the dorms. That's a huge plus side at living at the dorms- if you're too bored to make food for yourself by yourself, you can always just meet up with people and make meals together. Mini potlucks at the dorms are oh so efficient and enjoyable.
Although its not as epic as a shopping at Trader Joe's, I did enjoy the Indian Spice Drinking Chocolate twice at the Whole Foods in Union Square with my fellow MHC poster group members. ( If you haven't had it yet, try it. With hints of cinnamon and cardamom in this thick hot chocolate, it puts regular hot chocolate to shame). Its a great place to sit back , relax and unwind after a long week with friends, especially when you consider the view of uptown , and the view of the holiday fair in the park below from the large windows. The holiday fair at Union Square is worth a visit, but don't go during the evenings on weekends, because it gets very crowded with shoppers and tourists. But still a definite must on the holiday to-do list.
Enough with the food memories ( my stomach is violently growling now). Going back to that MHC poster I briefly mentioned, we presented it at the Macaulay poster session on Sunday. Although making the poster was an absolute pain in the butt, and having to trek to the Macaulay building on a Sunday morning was just as annoying, it really did reinforce the fact that there are other honors students at different colleges, and that Macaulay is a cross campus community. Without such events or cross campus honors and MHC classes, this simple fact is forgotten, which is a huge loss. At Hunter, the only way I know and meet people in the Honors college is through the honors classes. Sure, the MHC classes themselves are called to be a waste of time sometimes by students, but they are equally interesting, and introduce a different way of viewing the city. Most importantly, those classes bring together Honors students that wouldn't necessarily have met each other,because of how we all take different classes for different majors and tracks. Of course we have the honors lounge, but I feel that having such classes was and is the only way I have met some amazing people at the Honors college at Hunter.
Things have picked up lately with finals and final projects due in these few weeks, so I haven't had much time to do other things. I think this is one thing that is good about the Honors Seminar. My professor does her best to keep us out of the classroom. Today for class we went to see a tour of Alvin Alley Dance studios and tomorrow we will be going to City Center to see a performance by the Alley dance crews. Last week our teacher, Professor Weinroth, was actually able to get us an Q and A with an opera singer, which turned out to be awesome. Danielle De'Nase, who played Despina in Cosi Fan Tutte at Lincoln Center, was so open and friendly which was really a pleasant surprise since we were told stories about the vanity that some opera singers have.
Tomorrow will also be the last time we get to go out for a class, at least until next semester. I really wished we were able to get tickets to see a Broadway musical like the years before, but we still did a lot this year in seminar.
Anyways, as for me, I can't wait for finals to be over. I am planning a big group dinner for 17 friends who all hang out pretty often on the ninth floor. After that I am hoping to really take a month off and just get a normal sleep schedule. Arg just a few more days...
I probably shouldn't refer to finals as games. They're not fun, but compared to what I've been putting my self through, they might as well be. I was not well prepared for the end-of-semester last project-fest that has made the days that followed a rather joyous Thanksgiving Break, SUPER BUSY. (Sorry for not blogging in a while.)
I admit it hasn't all been projects. Hannukah came on the early side this year (ending yesterday) and brought with it quite a few Jewish seasonal commitments. I spent a fair share of time traveling from LI to the city.
But that's behind me, now... I think. My final schedule consists of three finals in three weeks. This should give me time to rest, reflect, run around the city doing interesting things, and study.
Technically, I have two exams. I took my first final today during my English 220 class period. Timed essays are still not my strong suit. I loved the readings, but this might be my last English class for quite a while. My inner-scholar probably hates me, but I miss the days when my English tests were multiple choice.
so, last week of classes. kind of freaking out? half in the good wow-this-semester-is-over-it-went-by-so-quickly way and half in the oh-finals-are-in-two-weeks-cool way. so, while I'm stressed (anthro professor just wants us to finish books and articles, no big deal, of course. it's like anthropology is the only class I'm taking! or does she not realize that other teachers assign work too?), I have zero motivation to do anything (all my work that's left is anthropology)...and yes, that can be attributed to the fact that anthropology is BORING and annoying at this point and my professor is an egoist who just wants to talk about her stupid book that I don't enjoy reading! she is a very nice little old lady but I really didn't take anthro101 to just learn about the indians in mexico. it is taking all of my efforts to sit down and read that stupid freaking book.
on the plus side...I did my LAST reading for political theory which made me a little sad because I love my professor and the class and everything is wonderful. even though it's a reading intensive course, it's so enjoyable and the subject matter is so interesting and funny at times. psychology is pretty much done -- last class on thursday and non-cumulative final test next monday (thank the lord it isn't cumulative, I'd be killing myself). working on my mhc final project which is (surprisingly) going very very smoothly. pretty impressed about that.
the only down side of the psych test being on monday is that saturday I have plans to go holiday shopping with my friends and then decorate my friend's tree/bake cookies (the plus side to having a christian friend!) and sunday is the opening of the snapshot exhibit which I've been helping to curate all semester. hopefully that won't take too long and I can devote friday afternoon & sunday to doing that. definitely, definitely not a party weekend.
and now...back to anthropology. I'm crying inside.
My best friend wrote this on my facebook wall this morning:
"I hope you don't explode due to stress overload"
This essentially sums up my feelings at the moment, so you'll have to excuse me for not having posted in awhile. On my plate at the moment: my term paper for HIST 356, (History of the Early American Republic), which is already 18 pages long, and will probably be close to 25 when finished, my MHC 200 (the third Macaulay Seminar: Science and Technology in New York) oral presentation, which is about 2/3 done, and my Seminar 3 poster presentation: the poster is done, and the bare bones outline of the power point is done, so it just needs an hour spent spicing it up with pictures and rehearsing with my group. Of course, all of these things are due/taking place on Thursday, and it's not like my STAT 213 (Intro to Statsitics) or HIST 276.5 (History of the Middle East to 1800) have just stopped assigning homework.
The good news is, after Thursday, I'm FREE! Well not completely: there's still class on Monday, and finals next week, but since the last homework and assignments are all due Thursday, I have the whole weekend to study and Monday's classes are all review for above mentioned finals.
So this weekend, I'm looking forward to seeing the play my boyfriend is stage managing at NYU and then heading to my house in Brooklyn to help my family trim the tree with my best friend.
I've sat in the same place for the past four hours doing nothing but work... Oh, why did I have to leave it all for this day?! Who made the nature of procrastinating so addictive... I am swamped with so much work, I don't know which way to turn. I need to schedule my time better - this is what I tell myself. Nonetheless, as it is said, the road to hell is paved with good intentions; and boy did I promise myself to do work all this weekend. hmmm, maybe next time?
With that said, I was just dropping by to leave my mark once again. It has been a while. Kudos to those who have been regularly posting - it does take dedication!
Best of luck with the upcoming finals. Can't wait for winter break! Oh, wait. I think I'm taking a class...
Frankly, I can't at all believe that finals is already upon us. My first semester of freshman year has gone by with a speed unrivaled by any of my terms in high school. (It should be noted that my semesters in high school were each a month longer. Even when I had my classes at Queens College, though, it felt a bit longer - which I can attribute largely to having other high school classes that met every day, &c.)
In any case as to the length of the semester, I have two finals this term: one for First Amendment Law (which my professor has said will be open-book), and one for Expository Writing (an essay which will be written over the course of two 75-minute sessions). In addition, I have a group presentation to complete (and, frankly, begin) for MHC and papers to polish for Dreyfus Affair (the topic of which I had already presented on with flying colors on Tuesday) and Expository Writing.
But the last few weeks have not been, and the next few will not be, solely studying (though they have involved and will involve a good deal of writing and studying combined). Thursday my fellow MacBlogger, Danielle, and I went to a free Goo Goo Dolls concert (which I wasn't 100% sure was free - hence why I didn't tell you, Betsy; sorry) at the Apple Store in SoHo, which was really great (even though they stopped on about 4 occasions, because they were recording the concert live for iTunes). On Friday, I attended the first meeting with my fellow Macaulay Vloggers; it was great to hammer out the next month of themes and finally meet the people I had only known on the Internet. On Saturday, I went to the Brooklyn Museum, because it was the final Target First Saturday of the year; along with seeing the new exhibit on Norman Rockwell's use of photography (which was very comprehensive, of which I was glad) I heard a performance by Canadian musician Carole Pope (heard being the operative term, as I was in the line for bag check at the time) and saw a screening of Julie Taymor's film, Frida.
Next week, I'll be attending a performance by the Alvin Ailey dance troupe with my Arts in New York class, and the week after that (when finals will be over for me), I'll be attending the final free concert at BargeMusic for the year!
Think going to a CUNY is going to be easy? Think again. Macaulay is actually a really challenging program, especially if you're considering Pre-Med. I met with my advisor today and she told me a startling statistic. Most freshmen on probation failed Bio 100. Even students who took AP science courses in high school aren't guaranteed A+. That class requires so much of your time and is so stressful. So to take some time for myself, I decided to start working on my MHC final project. That's right. I take a break from Bio by doing something for another. My friend and I are working together on a performance piece for the final and we're having so much fun trying to do a cover of a pop song. Don't get me wrong. It's still grueling work to hit the right notes, keep the beat, and produce an instrumental track. But it's just far more enjoyable.
Friday, December 3, 2010
I never really used to think that having priority registration as an honors student made much difference, but this year I really came to appreciate it. Now that I'm an upperclassman and thus not fighting with all the other Macaulay students for seminar spots, the whole registration process was extremely calm this semester. During my first few semesters it was crazy, and I still have a huge conditioned stress response to the entire thing, but this time everything worked exactly as it should. Moreover, I've since spoken to many other Hunter students who are being closed out of classes, and we honors students essentially have our pick. Unless you happen to want to register for a class that all the students on sports teams, with disabilities, and or in other special programs happen to want as well...
Only two more weeks of school left before finals, meaning I'll be done in three weeks! This semester has been so hectic, I don't remember October or November except for a few nights out. Between classes and my internship, everything has blurred together. Advice for all other highly/overly motivated students; if you're going to take 5 classes AND do an internship, be prepared for precious little free time. I feel like my social life has collapsed.
I'm looking forward to next semester, though! Norton can't extend my internship since they're getting quite a few applications, and I took that as a sign to take it easy next semester, lest I work myself into premature hypertension. So I'm taking five classes next semester, virtually finishing my two majors, without the added pressure of a professional commitment. In other news, Hunter thinks I'm graduating next semester - I have to make sure they know I'm just a junior!
Registration went super smooth on Tuesday - that tends to happen after one finishes the MHC seminars. So I'm registered for Workshop in Fiction 2, Literary Theory (with Professor Davis for the third time!), Survey of American Literature from Origins to the Civil War (which should be fun except for Puritanical prose...yuck), German Short Stories and Novelles, and German Literature from 1945-1995. I'm excited to just be a student next semester!
Till then, it's a constant drive to the end, although my work load seems to have decreased since Thanksgiving. But I get to see the nieces tomorrow and next weekend! And the building where I work is decorated beautifully for Christmas, complete with a 10 foot tall Christmas tree. I can smell freedom, and it smells like pine needles.
Well it has been a long time since I last posted. Been pretty busy over the vacation since my entire family was sick. Probably need to go back this weekend to help out. Anyways today is our first chance to register our own schedule. I am hoping to get a better schedule this time like not having a seven hour break between classes. Though sometimes I actually think it is nice to have such a long break, because sometimes I just want to sleep so badly. It really is a personal choice. I think by the end of the first semester you really figure out what works best. I know some people prefer night classes and don't finish their classes until 10 P.M. Some people like clustering their classes together so they can extra days with no classes or some like to spread it out and have a light load each day. But sometimes you truly can't get what you wanted because of classes conflicting or that you really want a teacher over another but the schedule doesn't fit. For example, I would prefer Professor McGregor for chemistry over any other teacher. She teaches honors chem and is one of the nicest but also helpful teacher I have met.
As for the dorms, my friends and I on the ninth floor and the mezz are planning to film a horror movie for the holidays. I really wish finals, especially the biology final, can be over already so we can start. We have already started looking at ways of making fake blood and guts. So eager to start!
so I thought that thanksgiving would get me energized and pumped for the last two weeks of the semester -- a little resting period that would get me through the next two tedious weeks. well, I was wrong. and maybe it's because I'm still feeling the thanksgiving slump, but I am not happy with myself. I feel like I'm at a low-point in motivation. I can feel myself on the verge of saying "nah, this assignment isn't important" which NEVER has happened for me before. so, I am scared for myself. so, I am going to push myself.
last night I e-mailed the promotional director for the hunter radio station to start helping out with that like I promised myself I would do (2 months ago) so I'm going to help table tomorrow (not that I know what that is) and register for classes (with my embarrassingly late registration time) and go to my snapshot meeting (which I'm kind of over) and I will not whine about any of this.
my biggest thing is not to let fear stand in my way of doing something that I want to do (as in, no, I am not one of those girls who asks another girl to come pee with her) so I need to just keep pushing on and if I don't like something then I'll stop doing it but class-wise and out-of-class-wise, I am going to try and stay motivated.
It's that time of year again! And I'm not talking about the holidays, sadly. Finals are approaching and that means having final projects, papers, and reports being thrown at you. Right now, I'm worrying about my Biology lab report because it's so tedious with the graphs and so vague with the questions. Later, I'll probably obsess about my English paper and Seminar project. But that's for another all-nighter to worry about. Peace out.
Last week I was really fed up with my college career thus far. I felt like my undergrad education has been a series of poor choices and a continuous search for that special subject that would I would so passionate about I would no longer have any doubts, which has not been forthcoming. And I just felt that I simply wasn't where I would like to be, in my academic, career, or personal development.
There is a point to all the above complaints, namely, that they were mostly unfounded, or if not then they were at least reparable. Throughout my education, both at MHC Hunter and certainly before college, my guiding principle has been to seek out what I want - people to learn from, opportunities, stimulating environments, etc. The problems always arise when I get complacent and stop seeking things out, and I think my angst in the past weeks - my dissatisfaction with my education, my unrest in my lab, where I felt unproductive and discouraged - has been due to that. I had had a few less-than-great experiences with some advisors and faculty members, got discouraged, and just stopped putting in the effort. And, not surprisingly, I stopped getting results I was happy with.
So today I did exactly what I would recommend that you, readers and potential MHC Hunter students, also do in tackling your education: I went after the things I wanted. Today I approached my calculus professor about auditing calc II next semester (my class schedule is booked straight through graduation, but I'm enjoying calc I so much that I want to fit II in somehow or other), organized myself to apply for an intensive undergrad neuroscience pre-research program here at Hunter, and started lining up recommenders for a scholarship application, then I came to lab and sat down with my boss to see how I can be more efficient and productive about working on my project.
The moral of this blog post, if you'll excuse the pedantry, is that school will only meet you in the middle, and it's up to you to make it at least halfway. College is a pool of resources and, sometimes, not much more - sometimes it is more, sometimes opportunities do pop out at you, but often times it takes some looking and a lot of work. And if you don't do that work 100% of the time, that's fine of course, but you will get very different results.
Cheers and happy thanksgiving to those who celebrate it.
My internship at the Rubin Museum of Art has just started to take off. I lead my first tour for second graders on Wednesday and on Friday I co-lead a tour with a fellow Macaulay student, Irene. It was very intimidating and nerve-wracking but afterwards I was relieved that I had gotten valuable experience and also valuable critique from my supervisor. Giving tours of art is an art in it of itself. There is such an immense amount of theory and previous scholarship behind current museum education methods and incorporating that knowledge on a one hour tour of two to three pieces in the galleries is challenging to say the least. But it is also immensely rewarding. But perhaps even more rewarding is working with the Teen Guide Council who on Friday also gave their first tours of pieces as a team to fellow teens from the Whitney Museum of Art and the Bronx Museum. Having been in the program for two years, yesterday was an important day for them; a graduation of sorts. They are starting to take over the program that my supervisor has worked so hard to create and are becoming young leaders and professionals. They inspire me every time I work with them and they will continue to do so.
On the classes front, this semester has not been that great. I am not that interested in two of my classes and the other two are quite difficult. Actually, they are all pretty difficult. Chinese and Japanese Art is extremely tough because the time periods and context for the art is presented in a very confusing and disorganized manner. My other course I am not crazy about is an honors course where the readings do not interest me. My grades will be pretty good for all of them hopefully; nothing below A- is what I'm pulling for. I have four final papers to write and a cumulative final exam so I will have to work hard in the next three weeks. I am really looking forward to next semester because I think the classes will be better and I will be much more focused.
Sociology Club has not really gotten off the ground since I am the only one working on it and have not heard back about a meeting I wanted to arrange to reinstitute it. I am currently looking over paperwork and praying we can maintain its club status and have some event before the holidays or at least over January. By this upcoming May, I hope everything will come together so that in my senior year the club can be much more active. I also am looking forward to getting back into volunteering. I have been too busy lately and also suffered from several bouts of the cold or flu. This semester has been blegh so far... But I am not giving up! Hopefully, I can turn it around by next month! =)
something that was very clearly wrong with my high school was the lack of people who wanted to take any responsibility for anything. that is, unless it was the musical or a sports team. the lit mag, the yearbook, debate, model UN mock trial, newspaper, etc. kind of all fell to the sidelines with an invested teacher and one single, solitary invested student. it got to be a pain in the ass. so, it's really nice to be curating the snapshot exhibit (for dec. 12, so soonsies!) with other people who care, who are involved, who want to make it great. that's something that I never really got at high school. it's wonderful to have people to thinktank with and, consequently, have awesome ideas that a single person couldn't have had alone. that's just something that I couldn't have gotten at high school.
and now, let me just say how excited I am for thanksgiving: so much food. so much family. so much pie backing & delicious-dish cooking. so much love.
No Rodgers and Hammerstein here, as my seminar seems to have been putting a strong focus on traditional orchestral productions. I've decided that I like the concept and history of classical music much more than I do its actual performance.
Ironically, I left my primary source of contemporary music/I-Pod Touch in the Honors Lounge Friday afternoon. No one stole it or made me feel guilty for misplacing something valuable. I really love my classmates and the staff here!
That evening, after independently seeing a Hunter sponsored presentation by performance artist/architect Vito Acconci, I met up with my classmates to go to Carnegie Hall. We saw a sold out New York Philharmonic Performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D Major and John Adams' Harmonielehre. The pre-show lecture with Juilliard's Thomas Cabaniss provided a rare opportunity to sit in the front row and helped to explain why these two pieces of work were selected and paired together. Minimalism and parody fascinate me, but I lack the ear and the focus that would allow me to hear this in action. I spent much of my hour and forty minutes daydreaming.
Thus I really had to study for this morning's seminar quiz, which was announced yesterday afternoon via email. I think I did well, but am not 100% sure on everything. I did not want to give my all into the subject, especially when other things, like CUNY Foodfest, were so much fresher and more exciting in my mind.
After we took our quiz, we returned to Carnegie Hall. I found my second trip there to be more exciting than the first one. Carnegie Hall Archivist Gino Francesconi took us on a tour of the numerous theaters and told us stories involving music and his job. I found it interesting that a classically trained and well educated conductor would find his passion as a historian. This passion was obvious when he showed us around the site. I was most envious of his encounters with the rich and famous, and the creativity that in 30 years has built the massive Carnegie Hall Archives from almost nothing. I would not mind immersing myself more in this kind of music-world.
Perhaps the Macaulay Honors College's attempts to foster live music appreciation is not failing completely. I look forward to shows that are more lyric and visual oriented, such as the Sound of Music or American Idiot-- the latter of which I'm seeing next Monday.
A few weeks ago - October 20th, in fact - I got the call to appear as a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. (For those of you who don't remember the show, here you go.) I was called to show up two Thursdays ago, November 8th.
I woke up at 5:30 to prepare for my 7:30 arrival to the ABC studios on the West Side (across the street from the Macaulay Building. I had set up multiple reminders to wake me up - my usual clock radio, my cell phone (which I gave a full charge the night before, so the battery wouldn't die while I was sleeping), and a call from my mother, all within about 15 minutes. I walked to the R train, changed to the 1, and went to Starbucks for breakfast (My thought process for that was, if I'm going to play for a million bucks, I might as well eat well.)
The morning portion of the day moved very quickly and covered quite a bit - discussions with the producers and assistant producers (including a delightful discussion with the assistant producer assigned to me, Shane, in which we discussed unicorns), a walk-through on the set (which is actually really small), a taking of my picture for the show, and pep talks and information from the executive producer of the show, along with the publicist and the lawyer.
After that's getting to game play, right? Wrong. We all had makeup done (the first time I've ever worn makeup) and had lunch (they had some great roast beef sandwiches - I think I had four).
And then came the holdover contestants from the day before! Six in all, to go along with the seven people, including myself. They being holdovers, they had priority in terms of getting to play first, so I had to wait, and wait, and wait...
...And then the day was over. Seriously, all I did on Thursday was wait to play, and I didn't get to play. I didn't get to do much while waiting - just eat, and talk, and pace the floor. Couldn't do reading because it was trivia. Crosswords? Ditto. We couldn't have anything in our pockets because it could contain facts.
So I ended Thursday annoyed and exhausted, but also sort of ready to come back on Monday. (You can read about Monday on my blog on Friday.)
I should note, by the way, that Betsy and her husband were in the audience on Thursday, which was cool, because they got to meet my aunt and grandmother, who were in from San Diego the last couple of weeks. -----
The last couple of weeks have gone pretty well, too. On Thursday, I went to a Meet the Artist event, a poetry reading, which was quite interesting. There were four different poets who read some of their works, which provided a lot of really great styles of writing and performance to the table. Probably the best of the night, in my opinion, was Latasha Nevada-Diggs, who had a series of performances which were supplemented by multimedia presentations beside her. On Friday, I got my second Take-Home essay back for Expository Writing, and got an A-. (So far it's been, A, A-, A- - not bad at all.) My draft for my paper for the Dreyfus Affair class (a comparison of Edouard Drumont to Glenn Beck) went over well with my partner on Friday, as well.
On Saturday evening I went to the Quidditch World Cup, seeing four games, a scrimmage, a break-dancing performance, and a scrimmage that sort of devolved into a dodgeball game. Yesterday, fellow MacBlogger Danielle Gold and I went to CUNY FoodFest, a day-long discussion of food justice and sustainability. I learned quite a bit from the panel discussions, cooking lesson, film screenings and even the opening puppet show, and Danielle and I ate pretty well that day, too (the butternut squash soup my group made was pretty great, I must say).
Tonight was and is mainly grocery shopping and homework. Tomorrow after class I'm going to Cold Stone Creamery for their sampling of eight-layer ice cream cake. On Wednesday I get to go to the Metropolitan Opera for Arts in New York to see Cosi Fan Tutti; Friday, I'm heading back to Townsend Harris to judge the first night of SING!, and Saturday I'm going to a BargeMusic concert in Brooklyn and to the Brookdale trip to see the seventh Harry Potter movie! It should be a really great week in store for me!
Oh, and here's my first entry in the Macaulay Vlog.
So the week of testing and essays are finally done. My weekend was alright. I went home this weekend to help take care of my baby sis. She has been sick and had an ear infection. She is better now, as a matter of fact when my family went out to eat this weekend, she ate a small bowl's worth of food and she is only 2.
It is also past early decisions for a lot of colleges and I been talking to some friends from class of '11 at Stuy and checking up on how they are doing. I was reminded of the argument that being this close to home isn't the best idea during that period of your life when you should be venturing out and exploring. I really think it is striking a balance. Though it is true I been living in the city for close to ten years (as a matter of fact November of 2000 was when I moved here from China), and I would love to see what other people are doing and what else the world has to offer, but I actually never heard anyone here complaining they are too close to home.
It is a stressful time for the class of '15 and I hope that they will find that balance between what they want and what is demanded of them by reality.
Besides that heavy stuff, a friend's bday is coming up soon! We were thinking about taking the "family" out to dinner. I like calling my friends here my "other family" cause everyone knows each other and will always chill together.
Wow it is late now and I got bio at 8 tomorrow. Gotta go sleep!
since my aunt was driving up to cornell this weekend I figured I might as well hitch a ride and enjoy ithaca one last time until, well, a really long time. I expected the cold...nope. it was a gorgeous weekend in ithaca (as, I'm assuming, it was in the city too). with thanksgiving around the corner -- literally only 2 weeks away I cannot wait -- and not much work to be done this weekend I was more than happy to kick out of town despite friends' complaints. visiting cornell always reminds me of how different it is to go to macaulay. #1., we really have a lot less work (or maybe that's just me?) than cornellians. I'm not complaining. #2., not having a campus seriously changes things #3., it's weird that if there isn't a frat party going on or another organized event, there isn't much going on in ithaca, ny, and #4., the social life starts so EARLY there. I guess they all need to get to bed early to wake up and study? seriously, not very much like macaulay.
being there definitely makes me appreciate having the city & betsy's weekly list of freebies. we don't have frat parties, silly (but that doesn't mean that other colleges don't!) so we make our own fun. much better. real college is nice for a visit, but not for actual attendance. and if I had as much work as the cornellians, I would not be a happy camper.
and now coming home to real life -- studying on the bus for my psych test tomorrow, reading some anthro, working on somethin' small for the snapshot exhibit, maybe writing a review for mhc and napping. I definitely just took a mini nap and drooled a little bit in public. embarrassing.
really really excited for thanksgiving (if you didn't quite catch that from earlier)...not quite sure why we have class the day before thanksgiving but whatever (might be skippin' out, I don't think I'll miss too much or be the only one missing) and now, to find the perfect pie to bake...
You would expect that by the time fall/winter came along, studying indoors would be just a tad bit easier, because you wouldn't feel guilty about missing out on the awesome weather. But noooooo, mother nature/ climate change had to have an amazing and unseasonably warm Saturday ( geez, my dashboard on my Macaulay provided Macbook [woo hoo] says its SIXETY FIVE DEGREES OUTSIDE. !@#$%), making studying indoors almost a sin- how can I let pass a wonderful day that might not come back until spring? Either way, I am battling the temptation of just bumming in nearby Madison Park or any patch of green with a study buddy ( definitely need one if you don't have one yet!) in the almost equally gorgeous Baruch Library. Maybe, and just maybe if we stick to our study plans, we can enjoy the day at around 5pm ( which kind of sucks, because it gets dark pretty fast).
Anyways, I realized last week that I didn't post, which is quite uncharacteristic of me because I have always posted a post once a week :( my apologies to would be readers. But what to update you on, other than the usual midterms?
Well, this Monday was the last "Meet the Scientist" Event, where we were honored to have Dr. Monique Scott, an anthropologist from AMNH at the Macaulay Building. It's been a while since I went to the building, and it reminded me of how gorgeous the architecture and location is. Hopefully next term I'll be taking a class there, orin the area more in general, so that I can use the reading room ( which looks like it came right out of a chic IKEA catalogue picture) to study for whatever comes my way. Suggestion: Take at least one MHC or one honors course at the brownstone, so this way not only do you experience the building on a daily basis, but also get to meet awesome Macaulay kids from other campuses.
I came into the "Meet the Scientist" event with the misconception that it would be long and boring. It was anything but long and boring- instead of it stretching from 6-8, we got out at 7, armed with a greater sense of appreciation and knowledge on how visitors to museums react and interact with displays in museums.
With Thanksgiving around the corner, it automatically brings to mind how registration for next term's classes is also nearing. What sucks with the honors catalogue is the lack of options, especially for a pre-med/pre-dental student who would like to take honors classes in Biology, Chemistry ( solutions chemistry is sort of unnecessary as its an extra class in addition to our hell of a load organic chem and gen chem classes), physics or environmental sciences. And what about those MHC( I still call them CHC, has a nicer ring) classes? Only about 4 options leaves one with barely any movement or choice for possible spring semester schedules.
But with that aside, yesterday night was a departure from the usual, with a nice walk on the Brooklyn Bridge at night ( my first time ever!) and the best pizza EVER from Grimaldi's. My friend and I had also wanted to see that "hidden" subway station near the Brooklyn Bridge (http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_newsroom/20101109/od_yblog_newsroom/a-secret-subway-stop). I was extremely excited to see the gleaming and well lit architecture of the station from the past, but instead, we only saw random train traffic lights underground, despite us both craning our necks and having our eyes peeled for the station ( if anyone else has done this, can you tell me how and when you saw it ? We went at around 9pm- maybe the lights of the underground hidden station were off, so it was hard to differentiate that between the 6 train tunnel and the hidden station tunnel).
After such an awesome Friday night, here we are back to the Saturday stuck inside a library rather than free outside. Hopefully the clouds I'm seeing on my dashboard for Sunday are inaccurate, because I would love to be able to frolic and enjoy the great green expanses of a city park tomorrow under a bright and warm sun.
Ahhh... relaxation. I had anticipated this being a killer weekend full of homework and studying, but then two particularly large math homework assignments got pushed back all the way to next Thursday! I'm very fond of my math professor at the moment. This gives me a great opportunity to actually get ahead in my work, rather than just getting by, and now that we've entered the nearly unnavigable zone between midterms and finals, that extra time will be a huge help. And the chance to sit back and breath is great; I took our two dogs for a nice walk this morning (the dogs are one of my main incentives for living at home rather than the dorm), and actually read for fun last night. For my birthday my boyfriend gave me a beautiful gold-edged, leather bound, autographed copy of Catch-22, my all time favorite book, so I have a lot of re-reading to do!
it seems like every monday there's so much to get done and so little time in which to do it. I guess if I was at home still I could sit in my room and just do it and be done but friends are coming over right & left and we all had such a nice dinner cooking session after hannah & I went to the grocery store! we made such a healthy dinner it was wonderful. it's so nice to know what's going into your mouth (no "that's what she said"s please) and to know that it's healthy and tasty and wonderful.
so now that I've finished the political theory reading (is that really all I've gotten done over the past 4 hours tonight? 20 pages of reading?), it's on to half of chapter 10 in psych, test on monday. not that this one counts -- she counts 2 of the first 3 tests (the ones you do best on) and I have a 93 & a 98 so even if I bomb this one I'm still looking at a pretty solid A in the class (especially with homeworks and quizzes).
tomorrow is going to be the busiest day ever. political theory 9:45-11, gym, work 1-4, do some studying in starbucks, snapshot curator meeting 6-8, opera for mhc 8:30-11:30. remind me when I'm going to eat? and do that hundred pages of reading for political theory due on friday? (lucky for me I'm skippin' out to head up to cornell...god bless notes from friends. seriously.)
and now time to quit procrastinating and do work like a real college student...
I've just finished my Economics homework, and now have the rare opportunity to spend the rest of my evening pushing forward so that, for once, I'm not scrambling on Tuesday or Wednesday night. Having classes 3 times a week is a life saver in some ways, though being at a desk in the windowless intern room at W.W. Norton & Company at 9:00 AM isn't too easy either. But tomorrow I get to go to the biannual (I think?) Norton Sales Conference, where the editors pitch their books to sales people, who will in turn pitch the books to booksellers. It should be really neat, and I get free lunch out of it!
In other news, a mere 6 days until I turn 20! I'm looking forward to a great birthday weekend with my family. AND I get to do laundry for free in my house. And possibly knit. !!!
My schedule of the Spring is pretty set - the only thing I'm not exactly pleased about is a 9:00 AM class on Wednesdays, but it's an intensive Religion course on Islam, so it's bound to be very interesting. I've never been to Hunter so early though. Na ja...
It seems strange that even though I've mastered the art of getting out of bed at 7:20, leaving my dorm at 7:42, and arriving to my 8:10 statistics class just before the professor begins the lecture (aka a 28 minute commute, I dare someone to break that record), I have vowed to never again take a class this early. Though I seem to be able to handle a 9:45 start just fine, apparently, 8:10 is just too early.
It's a good thing to keep in mind as I work on figuring out my Spring schedule. I remember how easy and fun picking my schedule for fall of last year was - as an undecided major and minor, a freshman with a seemingly infinite amount of courses to take, finding a schedule I liked was easy.
Those days are no more...now planning my schedule and preparing for registration is nerve-wracking and stressful. For example, no less than THREE classes that I want and/or need to take are being offered at the same time. And of course, there is only one section of each of them being offered in the Spring. There's also the little problem of my science requirement, the only major requirement I have left out of my GERs (General Education Requirements) besides the P/D (Pluralism and Diversity) requirements...which I will almost definitely be putting off until junior year. I have a week until my meeting with my wonderful adviser Fran, who I'm sure will help me wade through the muck of course scheduling, for now, I have plenty of studying to do for my second (!) midterms in History of the Middle East until 1500 and Statistics, not to mention projects for the Macaulay Scholars Council (though we had a wonderful and productive meeting yesterday). But more on those later.
Let's hope by the next time I post, I have a tentative course plan for you, my readers (although more importantly, for myself).
So one of the dangers of a busy busy week is that your immune system seems to think it's just about had enough of you not eating and eating well. Somehow, last week, although packed with tests, papers, group projects that actually weren't due until later which we had to do anyways because we weren't given an alternative, and odd job offers, came to a successful close until I found myself suffering from a intense migraine, slight fever, body pains, and general exhaustion that a weekend of oversleeping couldn't alleviate.
Only about two weeks until the next time every class decides to have a deadline. Enough time to recover. Yay!
So a week of tests have past. Attended an eight hour orientation for volunteers at Cornell Medical Center on Saturday and went to the Dean's Lunch today. And now another week of tests and projects and essays coming up. As you can probably tell, I'm pretty tired. Thankfully, the lounge is quiet and I'm sitting here with a couple of friends studying and of course writing this blog. I love cold weekend nights like this. So relaxing and easy. Of course there are all those responsibilities breathing down my back, but the room is comfortable enough to wear shorts and it is simply so relaxing to sit down and help each other study.
College is all about balancing things. So I've figured out 6 days are for work while I set aside one day just for myself with TV, buying groceries, cleaning my room, and laundry. Granted some of those things are not traditionally fun, but it gives me some time away from the hectic workload of pre-med. But after this, it's back to studying for Bio!
naturally when the chill set into new york, I headed up northwest to ithaca for some worse chill (because I love feeling like my fingers are going to fall off). goodbye macaulay, hello cornell! lucky for me, I convinced mom to pitch in half the bus fare because I'm going to help out with grandma when she's in madrid with dad...the cornell bus is ever so pricey (but so worth it). lucky for me, class ends at 4pm on thursdays and the campus to campus bus leaves at 5:40pm from 71st & york, giving me all of an hour and forty minutes to shimmy shake down to the mid-manhattan library to pick up a book and boogie back up to 71st & york with 3 large bags on my back & 2 elbows. could I do it?
well, one nasty librarian, one near-arm-loss-in-subway-door, multiple jaywalks, one dinner pickup, two subway rides, one misaddressed building and six flights of stairs later...I am on the bus in the seat that I wanted. my nice little single sear where I don't have to sit next to anyone, move when they have to pee, request them to move when I have to pee, constantly worry about kneeing them when I sit indian style or let them overhear my eclectic taste in music. I am a happy camper.
just saying, some people really do not know how to be polite on a bus. guidelines to being a polite bus-rider: 1. do not talk on your cell phone! no one wants to hear you! 2. keep your music down. 3. keep your damn socks on. 4. don't be larger than the seat allows. otherwise, book 2 seats. (seriously, airplanes make you do it!) 5. if you fall asleep... a. do not fall asleep on the passenger next to you. b. do not freaking snore. seriously. 6. don't bring your animal on the bus. snakes/dogs/cats/birds/rabbits...leave 'em home.
all that being said, there is a huge violation of numbers 1 & 6 going on right now. I wish I could upload a picture of the puppy laying on the floor of the back of the bus. what if I have to pee? I have to wake the sleeping pup? bad news, bears! also, seriously half the bus was in major violation of #1 earlier. as soon as we got on the bus, every had these thirty minute conversations that were clearly life or death matters. yeah, I think not. text it out. or e-mail -- you're all talking on blackberries anyway!
so that's my bus-rider analysis. I've been procrastinating this anthropology paper since 5:40pm when I got on the bus. le sigh. I guess it's time to start. happy weekending all, I'll be busy seeing kid cudi on saturday night. don't be too jealous please!
I went to a party a few nights ago at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with my friend Kanushree, which was really fun. The Met has these great parties about once or twice a year, usually when a new exhibit opens, where any college students is invited, and they're really cool. The food is good and a nice crowd shows up, plus it's really really nice to get to see some art without crowds of tourists everywhere! Here are a few pictures:
me looking a bit like a tour guide
cool projected palm tree in the entrance hall
and college students enjoying free food and drinks (it got a lot more crowded later)
As Kunwal mentioned a few days ago, Hunter parties tend to be a bit boring, at least in my experience. But the Met parties are always great, and the museum is so close to Hunter! Definitely something to keep in mind.
Hey guys! Obviously I've been terrible at posting regularly but I promise I'll say hi every week. I've gotten too caught up in my own life to pull my head out of the mundane.
I am sooooo glad that tomorrow is one of those days that all classes are canceled before 4PM (in order to even out with a day earlier in the year when all classes after 4PM were canceled supposedly for some Jewish holiday but I forget the details) because this week is hectic. So, of course all my professors who until now have been super lax with work decide to pile on the paper, group presentation, and test into this week. It wouldn't even be worth complaining about if it wasn't for the fact that we had two weeks to do it and for about half of one she isn't even available for questions.
Oh well, es la vida del estudiante (pardon the bad Spanish but if I could fit a Spanish language course into my schedule, I would!). Halloween weekend was pretty homey for me; we tried going to a Hunter party Friday and after experiencing how dull it was, decided staying in was a better option.
after a nice long weekend of revelry, camaraderie, dancing and fun (also known as halloweekend) the mondays have set in. I did student admissions for all 4 years of high school and was asked a while back to come in and help out in a panel for parents of prospective 8th graders. the e-mail said, "can you come in at 8:30?" so naturally I'm thinking "8:30pm because all open houses are at night." nope. I got a follow up e-mail this week going "sounds great! see you at 8:30am on Nov. 1st, the panel will begin at 9am & will be done by 9:25am." hold up. 8:30am? that means leaving by, like, 7:35am. I was not a happy camper. I haven't been up that early for anything since college started. bad news bears. naturally I overslept and was surprisingly on schedule until I didn't take the m31 because I thought it would take me the wrong place. eh, wrong. it would have taken me to very much the right place. rats. so I stumbled into my high school at 8:57am and bolted for the elevators to the library. luckily, I made it just in time and all was well. panel went very well (I miss student admissions!) and I saw all my teacher friends that I miss all the time. I even saw my little brother for a few minutes just to say hi.
then, presentation in anthro. went very well! I like presentations -- they're easy to steer and people usually participate if there are interesting questions posed. after a lot of really bad presentations this year (it mainly felt like people were talking with the professor one-on-one in front of the class. awkward.) this one went well and the professor told others to use our discussion as a model for the rest of the presentations. nice.
lunch date with the crew which was nice because eric wasn't around for the parties this weekend. then bought bus tickets to cornell for this weekend to visit the boy and the brother (uh, it's snowing at cornell, hello winter coat.) and psych until 4. hit the gym for a little bit afterwards and now home in my nice toasty warm bed wearing all flannel clothing. the only thing better would be a little heat. goodbye october (which really felt like it never happened), hello november (month of thanksgiving and cold). it is time for a new chunky knit winter hat and scarf. I can't wait.
The title says it all. Been editing essays, studying for my tests next week, and doing research for my research paper. Also I been trying to readjust my sleep schedule ever since my trip to Boston. I was there visiting some college friends at MIT and BU and yeah I know it is in the same time zone, so you may be wondering why I would ever need to readjust my sleep schedule.
The night I arrive at MIT, my friend takes me to a frat party. I also saw a friend from Wellesley as well as a friend Harvard. As you would expect at any college frat party, there was a great deal of drinking and some people getting seriously high. I had a few drinks with my friend and his friends. But after having school and then lab and then a 5 hour bus ride where the bus driver was tap dancing with the breaks, I decided that I really wanted to go back to his dorm and call it a night. My friend told me nicely that he had to stay for his frat until 2 a.m. so not knowing my way around I decided to stay with him. 2 a.m. finally comes and when I looked for him in the frat house, I found him helping out a friend who had a bit too much to drink. This isn't the first time I saw someone having to throw up because he/she had too but seeing the bad condition he was in I decided to help out. I was seriously afraid that the dude had alcohol poising since all he did was throw up and not respond. It wasn't until 5:00 a.m. that I got out of the frat house after the paramedics came to pick him up.
This isn't meant to discourage anyone from going to MIT or saying that all MIT kids are the same (there are some seriously nice and responsible ones I met that night) but on the way back my friend and I had a talk. He told me more about the drama that he had seen between his newly made friends. I think all college students have this need to be bigger and take on new things and responsibilities, but through the people I met that night and the words of my friend, I began to realize how it was badly misconstrued in the midst of needing to prove yourself to others. My friend and I both went to Stuyvesant and we both know what is like to be in the circles of the most competitive students in one of the most competitive schools. It is not to say Macaulay is not competitive, because it is. Maintaining a 3.5 GPA unless you want to be kicked out, and meeting people who have the credentials for top schools such as Columbia and Dartmouth, who also wants to get to the same med or law schools, means competition as well. However, as my friend told me how he was disgusted at the fact that most of the drunk kid's "friends," who claimed to care about him, simply sat on the side gossiping with one and another while me, a stranger, helped and watched over him, I began to miss my school.
To sum up this week: stressful. With about six weeks of school left and the massive to-do list of things to get done before then running through my head I was even having trouble enjoying watching Mad Men with my best friend on Thursday night. Luckily, the Macaulay Halloween Party last night was a blast and helped me de-stress a little. And today I went to the Macaulay open house and got to spend a couple hours of talking to prospective students and parents about how amazing Macaulay Hunter is. It reminded me of how appreciative and grateful I am for all that I've gotten out of college so far, and helped to re-invigorate me somewhat. So back to work for now, and looking forward to a Halloween Party later.
Enjoy the weekend! As always, feel free to contact me with questions at kt.ohagan@gmail.com
Fridays are always a great time to let loose and forget about the troubles of school...at least until Sunday, that is. I'm excited for the Macaulay Halloween Party because so many people have been making their costumes and planing to hit the dance floor hard (just like that dog!). Can't wait!
This week seems like a blur, even though not much had happened. Monday, simply another hellish orgo midterm, tuesday lab and lecture, wednesday lecture and interning, thursday was a typical 5 class day. But what made this week sweeter than the last 3 was how I finally came home from the dorms- got to see my mom, dad and brother after such a long time. Its funny how I used to think I would never get homesick much- heck, I thought I would love to be far from home for as long as possible. But as they say, home is where the heart is, and I actually do go a bit crazy if not at home at least once a month.
Today, I'm kickin' it in the lab ( my internship)- a pretty relaxing yet productive way to spend my Friday off, because in between lab responsibilities, I get to finish up work. Lessens the work I have for the weekend, making it much more enjoyable.
By the way, if you happen to read my post ( which you must be haha because you're up to here already) scroll down to Katharine's post. Her "shameless advertising" is the cutest thing ever, hands down!
so even though I got to sleep until 10:45am this morning (god bless 12:10 classes) it was a long day. in retrospect, I have no clue how I got through high school, going to class from 8:00am-4:45pm every day (eekers)!
anthropology in the morning wasn't bad. I had to pay extra attention because I'm giving a presentation on this week's readings & lectures with a friend next monday. just my luck, the professor sped through the lecture (which involved many numbers and dates and some math. I am not a math and numbers person -- if I were, I would be taking a math and numbers class!) and, naturally, the lecture was only minimally related to the reading. lucky me.
then came the majors fair. seriously, if there's anything scary out there it isn't a weird halloween costume -- it's thinking about what I'm going to major in. yep. chances of me just having ONE major? slim to none. I'm far too indecisive and interested in many things to have one major. but, I did meet with my anthropology professor about the presentation and, after many really bad presentations, I think mine will be refreshing and just what she wants.
headed over to the met with friends for mhc seminar and saw a really awesome, kick-ass exhibit on john baldessari. it was awesome. especially interesting because it was a modern exhibit at the met. hm. anyway, I was scoping it all out and my excitement was definitely showing because my professor came over and asked if I was enjoying myself (she knew, from my love of this type of modern art, that I would say yes. that and I was practically bouncing through the exhibit.). I told her that I loved, loved, loved it and she said that I should, 1. look in becoming an art historian based on the class discussions we've had & my eportfolio posts, and; 2. look at an internship at a museum this summer or year. she even told me she would gladly write me a recommendation letter. please, I was (and still am a little bit) glowing.
then it was back to hunter for a psych research credit. and why isn't psych a lab science again? psych research credits are kind of stupid though, not going to lie. I get why we have to do them, but some of the stuff I had to answer was pretty dumb. that and I was in a dark room for like 40 minutes staring at a computer screen. lame.
scored matt & kim tickets from a friend (who couldn't use them and said I only had to pay for them if I used them) and couldn't go, I just felt too jittery and tired. I didn't even have a lot of work tonight but I was just pooped. so, I wrote another mhc review and watched the new glee (which was AWESOME in case someone hasn't seen it). tomorrow will bring anthropology, psych and another long snapshot curator's meeting, but at least those are fun and will look good if I actually try for an internship at a museum or gallery. thinking about it now, it seems like a pretty sweet deal...
Now that I've suckered you in with a picture of Rosie, one of my darling nieces, I'm inviting all MacBlog writers and readers to visit my mother's Etsy website, where she sells her handknit baby hats. http://www.etsy.com/shop/PixiesnPeanuts?ref=pr_profile
This would be an especially good opportunity to buy a certain Honors Adviser a little something ;).
Aside from being excited for my mom, I'm thrilled to have finished my last midterm today (German Children's and Adolescent Literature). Now onto homework...
Today I took my last midterm (for now.) My Media Studies Exam, like the History one I took on Monday, was significantly easier than my first test in English. I probably shouldn't make such statements before I get graded, but I truly regret spending so much of my weekend studying. I studied in my discussion class and with my classmates in the library in between discussion and the text. Those two hours of studying would have been adequate. The material for 100-level midterms could easily be what I absorb from notetaking in class. It's not that I was planning on taking 100-level classes forever, but after this afternoon, I probably could. (I did not expect to like my 100-level classes, because they're basic and cover a large body of information, but I'm finding that that's what I enjoy about them.) I'll be done with my GERs at the end of the semester and was looking forward to focusing on Media and Psychology. But the media fair made things alot more complicated. There are so many courses and I things I want to study, including departments that I've never heard of. If I take intro courses from every department with which I had a interesting discussion with a representative, it will take me through semesters of midterms to come=(
Just as Halloween approaches, so do my exams/projects/essays. That can only mean no dressing up and going trick-or-treating on the weekend. Why yes, I do enjoy partaking in that even though I'm 18. I feel like Halloween really brings out the kid in everyone and it's just a great way to get creative with your outfits, which is always fun, especially in a place like New York City.
Hope your weekend is much more fun filled than mine!
Right now, I am strongly reminded of something my chemistry professor said to the class last spring. We were talking about studying, probably in the context of a tests, and he said something along the lines of: you know, people will tell you that learning is fun. But it's not really that fun, or at least not all the time. The actual process of learning is frustrating and confusing and difficult. But if you feel like that you know that you really are learning, and the rewards are worth it.
That's exactly how I feel right now, as I'm fighting with complicated math homework. Especially so because I really want to understand this, seen as math is incredibly important for the fields I'm interested in, and it's like taking a hike through jello right now - I can't see where I'm going and there's a lot of resistance.
But yes - the rewards really are worth it, especially when it's a subject you honestly want to know. My midterm looming less than a week away, and the fact that I have another test to study for as well, are adding to the stress. But it does feel good to sit down and grapple with this stuff. Studying is often like that, for me at least; I don't want to do it, but when I finally do it actually makes me feel better.
so it's 12:17am on, technically, monday. hello week, welcome back. luckily it's a little less hectic of a week. my take home exam in modern political theory is done (well, almost. finishing edits.) and my anthro midterm is over and I did well on my second psych test. all is well in the world -- until I get my tests/papers back.
and this weekend we ventured out to the countryside for some air & foliage (and a really hardcore game of ultimate where I was called the secret weapon -- uh, what? come again?). it was really nice, very chill, very relaxing. then I went home for dinner tonight -- I was craving home cooked food and mom & dad so back home to riverdale it was for dinner and a flu shot.
and now it's the week again. luckily weeks go quickly around here and then it's halloween...
My birthday came and went this Thursday into Friday. It came after a day when I only had 2 hours of sleep after working on a CHC play ( got an A+ for all that effort so its all good), but going to Pacha ( for free on top of that- yay for USG!) started off my year on an amazing note. Friday was a day of chores, with many failed attempts at studying for my organic chemistry test. But I headed out to dinner later that night on my actual birthday, which ended up draining a lot of precious studying time for me.
Which brings me to something almost everyone tackles while in college- what's the perfect balance between work and play? I say "Jemi, you'll only stay out for an hour" but that turns into 3 or 4 hours out. Leading to piles of work on a Sunday, and cram sessions I won't even remember when I need to. Either way, I have learned priceless time management lessons ( not yet skills- I'm still on my way to getting to a perfect schedule that I will actually stick to).
I've once again neglected the Mac blog, but I suppose that just means I have plenty to write about now. The past few weeks have been outrageously hectic, but now that midterms have come around, there's a lack of written assignments, which leaves me with the rare luxury of free time. I slept for 9 hours last night!
My poetry professor wasn't lying when she said she assigns a lot of work. In the past 3 weeks, I've written 3 poems and have done 2 or 3 "log" assignments, which involve reading and responding to poems in one page journal entries. We're also getting around to critiquing each other's poems and recitations (I recited "somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond" by e.e. cummings and "Der König in Thule" by Goethe). Although now, having a lot to hand in means the professor is behind on grading, so there's a current lack of assigned work for that class besides revisions.
My reading load has been heavy as well; a German kids book called "Taco und Kaninchen," which I'm glad to have finished because it was pretty idiotic. We finished discussing "Their Eyes Were Watching God" a couple of weeks ago, and I got an A+ on the paper I wrote about Zora Neale Hurston's use of animalism in the book (!), and next week we'll be finishing up our discussion of "Invisible Man," and will be starting Richard Wright's "Eight Men."
Aside from this, I have a German Radio Plays midterm on Monday and had my Econ midterm on Thursday, which I think I did pretty well on considering I'm terrible at math. Things are Norton are steadily busy - reading, evaluating, declining, mailing. I get to go to the sales conference next month and see what that's all about, and I've actually made it my ambition to become a freelance copywriter or proofreader. NYU has a certificate program that's really cheap and would qualify me for either, as well as giving me a leg up in the publishing industry by way of formal training.
In all, things are great. Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone!
Sorry I missed doing my posting last week. I was elected to the Macaulay Scholars Council, had the first meeting on Friday, was working on a take-home midterm over the weekend (which I'm still working on, as it's due Monday) and had a midterm yesterday.
Since being elected to the MSC, I've actually been pretty busy working on getting some of my ideas implemented, such as SING! at Macaulay, a Cultural Passport Scavenger Hunt, and an expanded and improved MSC website. Plus I'll be helping out at the next MSC event, the annual Halloween party at Macaulay next Friday, which I've heard is a ton of fun.
At this point I still have three midterms left (STAT and HIST 276.5 both have 2 midterms, and see the next paragraph) and I've gotten two back (just took my first STAT midterm yesterday) - both 90%+, and I was pretty happy with both grades.
The take-home midterm for HIST 356 is kicking my butt at the moment because I didn't really do as much work on it as I should've last weekend (decided to party with friends instead) and I'm also fighting off a killer cold/sinus infection/something that is just making me feel awful. I'm paying my dues though - my Friday night spent at my desk at work and hopefully in bed in not too long.
I did get to go out last night however, at Hunter's annual free night at Pacha. I took my best friend from Macaulay Baruch and we had a good time, leaving a little early to watch the season 2 finale of True Blood at her place (and Season 3 isn't out yet! what are we going to do?!?! I might try to get her into Mad Men).
Back to the growth of political parties in the Early American Republic!
so I never had midterms in high school -- nope, just didn't have them. and now I am getting kicked in the butt. I'm totally down with my psych class (4 tests over the course of the semester, nothing too cumuluative -- as in no more than 4 chapters of material on one test) and I'm doing well because I'm studying the way I know how to study.
and then comes anthropology which, not only is the lecture about 10x bigger than ANY class I took in high school but it's just a ton of information mishmashed into a very sad heap on the floor. so, I'm trying to study (really, I am.) but it almost seems futile. how many more times can I explain "cultural relativism" and give examples of it from the readings we've done & lectures we've heard...over the past EIGHT weeks. please, as if I'm supposed to remember all the lectures? let me just explain that -- the lectures haven't made any sense. like really, none. it's a joke. really. so studying for this thing (by the way, it's not only honors kids in the class and I sound like an elitist jerk saying this but the kids who aren't honors ask really dumb questions. like REALLY dumb.) seems pointless. no matter what, I'm still going to know more about this stuff than other people are.
and then, due monday, is my polisci take-home exam. granted, it's definitely not the hardest it could have been but it's certainly not easy. so, while I'm not particularly excited to write 3 short essays interpreting, contextualizing & refuting quotations from locke, hobbes, rousseau & descartes (that's a lie, I'm a little excited) I'm definitely procrastinating writing it...and using "studying for anthropology" as an excuse. psh.
and now...off to more anthropology (just a little review before bed!) & beginning to write poli sci (maybe outlining my 3 essays). and bed. lots of bed!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
I've just finished - or mostly finished - studying for my Ethics midterm on Friday. The next two weeks are full of tests, including two next Monday that are just 40 minutes apart. Things are getting rather overwhelming. I don't even think I'm taking very hard classes, it just that taking 15 to 17 credits every semester gets tiring after a while. Plus I'm in my lab about 12 to 15 hours a week which means even more mental energy consumed, and even less time to study. But it's definitely worth it; I've come to enjoy being at lab far far more than being in class. For that matter I'm getting pretty tired of being in school in general... sigh.
This fall is also busy because I have some applications to prepare; I'm applying for three scholarships this fall. One is the Goldwater, a pretty prestigious science fellowship. Another is the NIH undergraduate scholarship, a program for disadvantaged (i.e. poor) science student; that one has less prestige but is a good deal, they give you money, training over the summer, and a job after graduation. Then I'm applying for another smaller program through Hunter, the BP-ENDURE program, a similar stipend and summer program specifically for neuroscience students.
This fall is also stressful because it involves a ton of thinking about the future, and not in a pleasant daydreamy way. I've been putting a lot of time and effort planning out my last 3 semesters, deciding when to take my GRE, figuring out when to apply to graduate school and starting to consider where I'm going to apply. My next step will be to pick the brain of the principle investigator at my lab and see what he has to say on the matter. At the moment the top contenders are NYU, Princeton, Columbia, Brown, MIT and Johns Hopkins... but I'm sure that list will get longer.
