The past few days have definitely one of those stereotypical incredibly stressful college workload situations. I have my first organic chem test on Thursday, and all anyone seems to be able to talk about in that class lately is how hard our professor's tests supposedly are (an aside, this kind of semi-paranoid discussion about professors is definitely one of my pet peeves), and I just had an abnormal psychology test last week. This was combined with a series of either unavoidable social obligations, making me quickly fall behind in my neuroscience class. That would have been sort of OK except that we have weekly problem sets, and the one due tomorrow was totally kicking my ass since I hadn't had time to study the material sufficiently. Also, this is definitely the most challenging class I've taken so far - which I love about it, but that makes it a bit less compatible with busy schedules and poor time management.

Consequently I stayed up till 1 last night at then woke up again at 7, and have spent all my time in between classes at the library. On the bright side, work is very quiet at my lab, so i'm now situated in my comfy chair at a nice desk next to a giant window (I think having my own space, albeit off campus since I work at the NYU medical center, is one of the biggest benefits of working in a lab) and preparing to hit the chemistry books again.

- Celine

Fulfillment

As a Macaulay student, I do actually enjoy my academic workload, at least, most of it. Usually, completing an essay or project leaves me with a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment, because I've actually learned something and done something that I feel is valuable to my education (and perhaps to others as well). But it's still nice to have projects outside of my academic life that can bring me fulfillment. Today's a good day, since two projects I've been working on finally got off the ground. First of all, the Macaulay Scholars Council website is up and running: check it out here. Second, the first clues for the Cultural Passport Scavenger Hunt were released. I had the idea for this event before I was even accepted into Macaulay, and I'm so excited that I was actually able to organize and run it. Prospective students can't compete for the prize, and you don't yet have the cultural passport to get in for free, but play along if you wish! More details about the event and the first two clues are posted on the MSC website mentioned above. Happy hunting!

in need of a little ohm.

so despite all the stress that I'm feeling (tests! quizzes! papers! visits to museums to write these papers! homework! catching up on all the homework I missed from the english 220 class I just switched into!) I dragged my butt to yoga yesterday and warrior I, II and III'ed myself into a little more zen. I was having some really crazy thought drifts during saravasana but it's all good. I think that just means I need to get a little more sleep.

my friend lexi dropped by on her way back to philly from RIT, so we spent the day doing brunch, some shopping, relaxing and catching up. definitely what I needed.

oh, note from above: I just switched into an english 220 class (yes. I know what you're thinking: didn't I miss, uh, a THIRD of the semester??? yes. I did. it is fine though, fret not.) and I am LOVING it. even though I only had it once, it seems like it's going to be fantastic. for one, we are reading shakespeare right now and man do I miss that man's writing. I love shakespeare. I have read so much by him (I think like 8 different plays? and I've seen a bunch too.) and I always get so (weirdly) excited when I read him. like, I can't read it without smiling. is that weird? probably. do I care? nope. oh and we're reading WATCHMEN, THE COMIC BOOK for class. please. the professor seems great, he's such a character and I have the silliest people in my class. like the kid who keeps gesticulating as he hears shakespeare being read aloud. and said "that guy is druuuuuunk" while we were discussing the tempest. I can't stop from laughing. anyway, it's great to be out of mindless english 120. I am so glad. so, so, so glad.

I also got really excited during my art history recitation group...as in, my ta said she wouldn't call on me anymore so that other people could get a chance to talk.

I don't know. I'm getting really excited for school again...maybe just these classes but still. I'm glad that my love is back. I love learning. who knows, maybe it's just the shakespeare that's getting me so pumped.

Hello Hell Week

It isn't here yet, but I can already feel the stress peeling at my inner core. Yup, its the first hell week for me this semester. It's actually not that bad for a few reasons: a) its next week; b) its only 2 exams on the same day and a huge homework assignment. I really shouldn't be complaining I guess, but compared to the easy free flowing weeks I've had up until this point, next week is the closest in semblance to a typical stressful, sleep deprived week of college.

And that's pretty weird, because I'm taking extra credits this semester ( more than the allowed amount at least). Maybe I truly did create a comfortable and relaxing semester. I get at least 6 hours of sleep for 6 out of seven days in the week, which is mind boggling in comparison to the 4 hours I would average per day this time last spring. One huge reason I am getting a lot of sleep in: no organic chemistry lab. Hallelujah. But I will have to face that reality sooner or later. Also, my bad procrastinating habit is not as bad as it used to be; instead of procrastinating by going on facebook, let's say, I'll procrastinate now by doing work for another class instead of the class I need to do work for at the moment.

Anyways, enough with the self study habits reflection. I love how Hunter switches up the days of the week for us because we didn't have classes yesterday. My mind is not going to get used to the fact that I have classes tomorrow, a day I normally have off. What's amazing about having a Monday schedule on Wednesday is that I'll have two days of Organic Chem. Back.to.back. Again, life could be worse, but it's definitely something I am not looking forward to.

I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before, but each week, once a week, a few friends and I try a new different restaurant.We feel that after a year of living in the city, we should have already expanded our knowledge of the gastronomical aspects of the city a lot. Sadly, this isn't the case. So to make up for our lack of expertise in all things digestible, we're trying to try different cuisines that won't break the bank at around lunch time once a week. We've already tried Thai and Korean, but we're kinda having a brain fart as to what to try next. If anyone has any suggestions ( if anyone is even reading this!) feel free to leave a comment as to where I should dine at next!

Fun with peer tutoring

Statistics student's have finally started coming to my tutoring office hour the past few times, and it's really been pretty fun. Last Friday's tutoring was really tiring, as I had three students there and they were really stressed and feeling challenged, and I ended up staying an extra half hour. Tonight was smoother; I only had one student there and she we actually had a lot of fun going through her homework questions and solving them. I try to review the material before my office hours each time but often forget to, and there are always little things that I've forgotten, so it's a nice challenge to have to remember the information and how to apply it to all the different types of homework problems people bring in, and then figure out how to explain it to them well.

Tonight also made me think on my own experiences seeking help from peer tutors at Hunter, and I realized that all of them have been quite good (not that they shouldn't be, I'd just never stopped to think about it before). Hunter has a wide variety of centers where, among many other resources, one can get help in specific subject areas. Personally I've been to the biology center once or twice, to the math center a bunch of times, and to the physical sciences (i.e. chemistry, physics, etc) once, and all of those experiences have been very good. What I like is that the tutors are always very approachable, and I've never felt like I should be in any way ashamed of seeking help - which, I think at least, I really shouldn't be, but it can be easy to fell into that. The tutors never try to re-teach me everything or do my work for me, and are happy to hear how I worked on something and what my thoughts are on a problem, and it's great to get someone else's input on a challenging problem.

I also realized that many of the highly successful students I know have worked as tutors in some capacity, be it working in the math center or the reading and writing center, volunteering to work one-on-one with a fellow Macalulay student who needed a bit of extra help, or working as a TA. And now that I'm also tutoring I'm very happy to be a part of this ongoing trend.

-Celine

powerFUL

This is one of those times I'm glad I chose to stay in the city. Macaulay had some tickets for a the Tune-In Festival, a series of contemporary classical concerts. The particular one I attended on Thursday was named "powerFUL", and it certainly lived up to its name. The concert took place at the Park Avenue Armory, something I didn't even know existed until that day. Apparently it is part palace and part industrial shed. Very cool.

Walking into the hall, I was amazed at the size of the venue. Instead of the traditional raised stage, the spectator seats were elevated. The stage was on "ground level" and had over twenty instruments placed there. I was particularly amazed by the size of the pianos. I've seen grand pianos before, but these seemed especially grand. One piano took up a whole corner of the stage. Three bands, about thirty musicians in total, sat on the sidelines and waited for their turn. As each band performed, I was blown away by the acoustics. There was a classical element to each band, mainly due to the instruments they used, such as the piano, violin, and oboe. But there were also unconventional instruments such as a buzzer, metal cans and xylophone. The different characters of each instrument blended together to create a truly unique hearing experience.

I especially liked "Newspeak", a band that aims to mix politics and art. Their singer has a rich and soulful voice that soared through space to instill very tender emotions, especially in their performance of "sweet light crude" that spoke to me as a very intense and passionate relationship that eventually fizzled and ended quite badly. Unlike current music with its constant beat and catchy melody, Newspeak's compositions changed dramatically and rapidly to convey different emotions. The music seemed to have a life of its own and tell a story that the audience could relate to. I think the singer really added to that with her voice, even though at times I couldn't tell if she was singing in English or a gaelic language.

The only thing I didn't enjoy was the last piece. Titled "Worker's Union", it was unnecessarily chaotic and repetitive. I suppose that reflects what the life of a worker is like, but it dragged on for over ten minutes. It started with one musician playing the piano, then one by one, the rest of the musicians join. But the instruments didn't work together because there was a lot of dissonance and it did not sound pretty at all. The only thing I can commend them on was following the rhythm, even when the whole piece sounded like one big mess.

All in all, I think listening to contemporary classic music is no doubt powerful, but sometimes less is more.

tired and just a little sickie.

I am very burnt out. after a week of meetings about transferring (again, I am not sure if this is going to happen but it doesn't hurt to have my options open), trying to stay on schedule with going to the gym/yoga, drama with the man, coming home from california on monday at 1:30am, the job and the internship, I really just want to take a nap. which is totally fine and acceptable...except that I have way too much work to do that.

probably the most frustrating thing on my plate right now is mhc150. yes, it is writing intensive and maybe this is just me whining, but it's literally a 6-7 page (if not more than that) essay due every week along with 90 pages of reading. I don't understand how more work makes a meaningful class. honestly, the conversations in class are dull -- the reading and the writing don't help make the class any more interesting. I have a few problems with this class:
1. each class studies, for the most part, a different section of the city, BUT you don't choose your class based on this and this isn't made public when you're choosing classes. uh, aren't classes usually chosen on content? yeah.
2. relating to point #1, the fact that no one in my class is interested in the material makes it a little difficult to have an interesting, thought-provoking discussion because no one really cares. some people sleep, some people (namely myself) participate out of pity for a professor who is standing at the front of a room looking at a sea of blank stares and some people sit on their laptops for the duration of the 2.5 hours.
3. you're forced to take the class -- which isn't annoying because of the requirement (all colleges have required classes, duh), but because, again, relating to #1, you don't get to choose the class you want to be in and they have you sit there for 2.5 hours which is just bad and makes all the work even more tedious and pointless. also, it makes all the field trips and out of class requirements annoying -- I don't want to spend my day off walking around east harlem, or spend my time going to the tenement museum when I didn't want to take the class in the first place.

okay, I'm done whining. I promise. if you couldn't tell, I am procrastinating writing an essay for this class and have resolved to just not do the required readings simply because I don't have enough time to do them when I'm swamped with a 6-7 page essay that is unrelated to the reading...or anything at all, for that matter. seriously.

and so my long weekend will be spent writing this paper, going to the met to sketch some sculptures for a paper (which, by the way, you do not see me whining about because I opted to take art history and am therefore okay with doing work that it involves), writing transfer applications and reading, reading, reading my textbooks. shouldn't this weekend be enjoyable? alas, I doubt it will be.

The Anti-Advice?

I'm not sure if it's one of those things that everyone feels all the time, or even some of the time, about themselves, but I always get the feeling that I'm being outpaced by everyone around me. Everyone is rushing from classes to work to clubs to internships (and some people to all four at different times), and I wonder if just doing what I'm doing is really good enough. Am I getting the most out of college?

It's easy to second guess yourself, especially when you're surrounded by high-achieving kids who all seem to know exactly what they want. But, this is actually one of the most important things I've learned in college, and it has a backwards logic to it: whatever you happen to be doing is probably just right for your right then. Always comparing and pushing and jabbing at others to get ahead is what we're being trained to do in high school and in college and in graduate and medical, dental, law school, but it isn't the best use of your time. Just do what you can handle with enough breathing room that you can still have that hour to eat or that night to catch up with friends, and you'll find life is much more fulfilling when you look back on this an year from now than if you'd been jealously chasing internships to outdo your peers.

-Cheers

It's a beautiful day in the city, most of which I spent in my lab alternating between working and studying. I've been fortunate enough to have Wednesdays off almost every semester of my undergraduate career, and I really enjoy it; it lends a nice symmetry to my week. Although I've been somewhat in denial about school starting, it's all starting to get very real now that I've actually handed in some homework and have a test coming up next week, and the material being covered in my classes is definitely getting more interesting as well. Both my organic chem lecture and my physiology of the nervous system classes have been really interesting and engaging lately, and I'm definitely enjoying both.

On the other hand, I've spent an unjustified amount of time this week going back in forth in my debate about whether to drop one of my classes; it's a class on education which I was just taking because it sounded fun and interesting, but the class format just isn't a great fit for my personality. I've never dropped a class before though, and I kind of don't want to start now. Tomorrow is the last day to drop a class without getting a W on one's transcript so I'll have to decide soon.

I got my official acceptance letter today from the Goldsmith Scholars program at Macalulay, a workshop type program for sophomores and juniors planning to apply to graduate school and for scholarships/fellowships. I'm looking forward to the four meetings planned for that, most of which I think will focus on personal statement writing. It should be fun, and it's always good to practice these skills. On a related note, just a couple more weeks to go before the winners of the Goldwater Scholarship are announced, and I've been getting increasingly excited. Hunter nominated 4 students this year and I really think all of us are strong candidates, so the chances of another Hunter winner are looking good.

- Celine

Mock Trial (AKA How I Spent My Weekend)

How did I spend my Valentine's Day weekend, you ask? In a room with seven other people in the middle of nowhere: Easton, Pennsylvania. It was Hunter's first Mock Trial competition and I was swept into it by my friend Sam because they needed a timer and I pretty much fit the bill since I had no plans for the weekend. So I embarked on a journey, along with the Mock Trial team, to PA.

The competition lasted from Friday to Sunday. It was intense and exciting, very different from my previous thoughts about the courtroom. Their goal was to argue their case, which was either for the plaintiff or defense, by presenting facts through the testimonies of witnesses. This particular case involved the hypothetical death of a young boy named Joey who passed away after swallowing Princess Beads, manufactured by Happyland Toy Co. At first thought, it seems as if the big company is at fault because the media likes to portray businesses as such. But after hearing from witnesses, it appears that both parties are at fault. Watching the competition and seeing the case unfold was really a great experience. It gave me a chance to see the law at work, albeit a portrayal and not an actual trial.

After the day's festivities, we all retreated to the hotel which was cozy to say the least, because Mock Trial didn't have enough funds to spring for another room. So 8 of us crammed into one room and let's just say, I didn't get much sleep because there was a lot of rehearsing, chatting, and all around tomfoolery going around. That aside, the competition was truly wonderful and I'm glad I got to spend some time with Sam and the rest of Mock Trial, instead of holing up in my room, doing homework, alone.

A response

I unfortunately spent my second four-day weekend of the semester (Mondays and Fridays off, I'm the schedule master!) not getting to most of the work I should have. This time I blame Valentine's Day, which I celebrated on Saturday. It's a lame excuse, since I still had Friday, Sunday and Monday, but oh well.

Since there isn't much new to report besides the mind-numbing amount of reading I have this term (all of my classes, even to some extent Microeconomics, are VERY reading intensive), I'm going to respond to some of the things Sarah brought up in her earlier post about her dissatisfaction with Macaulay. Although Sarah has the right to express her opinions, and provide a realistic idea of what life at Macaulay is like for her, I want to give you readers the other side of the story :)

Macaulay IS different from your typical college campus. The students are spread out at seven different campuses across NYC. Common events are planned on evenings and days off so that the maximum number of people can come (and there are not many mandatory common events scheduled throughout the semester, usually it’s only two or three, so while it may be frustrating, it’s not too often) since they are traveling from all over the city. The dorms at Hunter are all singles, and besides seminars and honors classes, which are the minority in your schedule, you are just one of 16,000 undergrads, making socializing and finding your niche difficult. Hunter College consists of three buildings on 68th street connected by walkways, with some other buildings used for various purposes scattered throughout the rest of the city. Completing General Education Requirements can feel like jumping through hoops and arbitrary requirements and designations can frustrate your plans.

BUT

Having students at all different campuses means that when you do get together at Macaulay, you are with students who’ve had completely different experiences than you, and I think there’s something valuable to be gained from that. In fact, my best friend goes to Macaulay Baruch. I met her at orientation. I love that the dorms are singles, because it means you have your own private space, and you don’t have to worry about a crazy roommate – but you can still see friends from school because they’re in the same building! And most of the people I have met at the dorms have been extremely friendly and open. Though socializing may be difficult, the fact that Macaulay/hunter doesn’t force a group of people down your throat forces you to be more outgoing, and also means you are more likely to find a group of people who are more suited to be your friends (which is another advantage of attending such a big school in such a big city!). Though Hunter itself may not look very green, something that is better than any college quad is just two blocks away – Central Park! (and it’s just a block away from the Macaulay building as well). And while GERs and other related difficulties can seem incredibly frustrating, EVERY college has them. I have friends who go to NYU, Columbia, Harvard – they all complain about dumb requirements or rules regarding their schedules. There are going to be a couple of classes you have to take in college – wherever you go – that you don’t want to. Some of them you will hate. Some of them you may end up loving and being incredibly thankful you were forced to take them. You never know until you try.

I completely respect Sarah’s opinions about Hunter/Macaulay, and if she chose to transfer, I would respect that as well. The important thing about college is not to go to the school with a prestigious name, or the school that’s free and gives you a Macbook, but to go to the school that’s the right fit for you. Macaulay at Hunter is the right fit for me, and hundreds of other students. Use this blog and all resources available to help decide if it’s the right one for you. If it is (and if Macaulay agrees of course) I think you’re in for an amazing college experience.

…Off to do that work I should’ve done this weekend.

Kaitlyn
Kt.ohagan@gmail.com

Another City

My three day weekend would have been a three day weekend regardless, but I still found a way to make it a holiday.

I am writing this blog entry from a Greyhound bus, on my way back from Buffalo. I spent the weekend visiting my boyfriend in at his school.

The bus is pretty comfortable. I took night buses both ways, so travel time is not an issue. When I did stay awake, there was free wifi (for my free Macbook :)

Still in terms of transport, everything went wrong that could have. Only a small small fraction of Greyhound's fleet leaves out of Penn Station instead of Port Authority, and I took a hundred bad directions and got very, very lost, before deciding to go to the main bus transport hum and have my bus changed. When on the bus, a movement caused my main bag to shift and get sent to Canada. The hotline is closed on the weekend and I am still in the process of getting my belongings back.

I learned that I really don't need half a much as I thought I did, not just in terms of clothing. I found life on a dorm-centric campus to be much like living on Hunter. But there was a sense of having limits in choices. What kind of "city" has a Subway system that closes at 11? If my NYC experience was to be duplicated away from the big apple, I might have starved, when confined to meal times.

My boyfriend and his friends seem very content though. This lifestyle seems to suit them more than it does my classmates.

As for me, I was really very happy to spend every waking hour with my boyfriend. All you need is love.

Love can travel across 400 miles without getting misplaced. It is flexible, can handle my unconventional sleeping habits and survive being in a different city.

(Even if the Macaulay Honors College attempts to assert its dominance in rescheduling the Seminar II launch event for Valentine's Day Eve :/ )

Oh, the Joys of the 4-Day Weekend.

Anyone remember back in October when I wrote about the structure to each day of the week, and how I have Thursdays off? In any case, I have that same off day this semester. Which came especially in handy this week when we had Friday off due to Lincoln's Birthday.

I have no idea why CUNY students have Lincoln's Birthday off. President's Day makes sense considering it's a federal holiday, but other schools, libraries, and the post office are open on Lincoln's Birthday. Regardless, we had off this Friday in observance of the day on Saturday (which incidentally is also Charles Darwin's birthday), and because of my Thursday schedule gap, I had a 4-day weekend.

Having the 4-day weekend also gave me some semblance of a goal when I did the reading for my America and the World in the 20th Century course. It's a really compelling and challenging course, and the reading is appropriately but still unfortunately arduous, at about 180 to 200 pages of reading a week. I scheduled the readings well (well, not that well, considering that I did them the night before - not a good idea) and got to bed at a reasonable time. After that class, I have a 4-and-a-half hour break, which this week I spent doing the homework for my currently-horrendously easy Statistics class while watching the Late Late Show on my iPod.

Thursday was reserved as my "do-nothing" day, but Friday threatened to be the same; luckily, I got out of the dorms and returned library books and CD's, which involved a trek from 2nd and 23rd (home to the local Epiphany Library) to lower Manhattan, across the Brooklyn Bridge and into Downtown Brooklyn to the Business Library. While I didn't make it to Brooklyn before the library was closed, there was a book slot which got the job done. Afterwards I took the train to Trader Joe's and then went to Shake Shack for dinner.

Saturday was spent with my friend Kelly at Coney Island, where I took a few pictures that might end up as a contribution to Arts Night. And today, I did my statistics homework (and hope to do some of my reading for Peopling of New York) while watching the interminably long Grammys.

Oh, and here's this week's Macaulay Vlog.

Three Day Weekends Hollaa

I think the most interesting thing I can write for this week is how I switched the language on my MacBook Pro from English to Spanish. Why you might ask? Well, I was: a) bored, b) dared to by someone else, c) miss seeing Spanish all over the place, d) thought it would help me learn a little bit more of Spanish each day.

Its pretty interesting to see my top menu bar in Spanish, and the usual command boxes from iPhoto come in Spanish. Fortunately, or unfortunately ( depending on the situation at hand), most of the commands/ blurbs from websites still come in English. Ironically enough, spell check on facebook, and on this blog, come up in Spanish. So, right now everything I am typing is wrong ( I'm seeing red squiggly lines all over the place. This is definitely keeping me on my toes now).

Anyways, I went to pick up my free copy of The Power Broker last week, and cried in my head as I was being handed the copy because of its sheer size. But I gave the book a go a few nights ago, just to see what was in store, and I must say that it is a pretty good read. I actually might read it for fun (gasp!)

Other than that, my week was unremarkable, except for the fact that it ended with a three day weekend. And what's going to be really interesting about this week? Another three day weekend! Yay for presidents.

I just remembered how I commented in my previous post about having Wednesdays off. I am very glad that I have done so, because my schedule is so much more relaxed compared to the schedules I had for previous semesters. Even though I end up interning in the lab that I work in for the whole day, its really stress relieving to just not be in a lecture class, or mentally bogged down in class. And I still somehow get assignments done and out of the way on Wednesday for Thursdays and Fridays.

One last thing, if I haven't mentioned it already- please, go on a study abroad trip at least once during your undergrad years. Especially since we have our opportunity funds at our disposal. It would be a sin almost to not go on one.

can I freak out for a second?

because the strokes are back together and creating more magic: http://pitchfork.com/news/41371-hear-the-new-strokes-single/

day was good. thursdays are always good. such a productive morning -- returned a coat to bloomingdales, replaced my breaking month old hunter boots (sheesh, $200 and the boots are crap), returned my nutrition textb00k because GLORY HALLELUJAH my textbooks came. shweeeet.

might need to drop an internship this semester...I just don't think I have 15 hours a week to spend blogging/editing/helping etc. right now with the job & the other blog. eek. maybe I can keep it for the summer? that would be i-deal.

leaving for california tomorrow morning at 6:30am so I have to be up in a few hours...guess I'll sleep on the plane. my head's pounding. back for my first kickoff psych test on tuesday & lots more work to do. such an exciting life.

wait but seriously listen to that strokes song. it's amazing.

This semester seem to be shaping up into a rather quirky one for me. On the one hand, I've got a few classes that I'm quite excited about. My Physiology of the Nervous System class is charging ahead at a good clip, and I'm really enjoying it. It's the only biology class I've taken that involves homework - I hand in my first problem set tomorrow, mostly involving circuit analysis and calculating resting membrane potential - and it's very engaging. My organic chemistry lecture is getting started very slowly; we spent a week and a half on the first, introductory chapter. Then today we had a substitute professor because our normal one, and older man, apparently is unwell. Needless to say this set off a flurry of rumors, the gist of which being that it's fairly serious and our sub might become our permanent professor. The upside is that the new professor is much more animated, but apparently his tests are very challenging. Again though, that's just rumor, which I've found is a highly unreliable source of information about teachers.

I also tried yesterday to register for a new class, but the professor wouldn't take me this late. That's perfectly reasonable of course, we are a couple weeks into the semester already, but it was frustrating as it's a class I'll have to take over the summer and I would really rather take a different class or do an internship over the summer. Oh well. I'm also considering dropping one of my classes, an online class offered through Macaulay. I think it's a good class, it's just not quite what I was hoping for.

I'm still really enjoying my statistics tutoring/lab TA position. There are 20 of us TAs, and we all meet once a week with the coordinator of the program, who's also the professor whose lab I TA and was my teacher for stats last semester. It's nice to be part of a smaller group, and everyone seems to be very friendly, and it's really nice to be involved with the students in my lab section. Each TA has to do some kind of presentation during the semester too, so I'm thinking about doing a presentation on statistics in the media and other places in day-to-day life, how they are misunderstood, and more generally on the use of numbers to describe the world around us (something I've been getting steadily more interested in myself; I'm thinking of staying an extra semester, or just packing my semesters as full as possible, to take some more math and physics classes).

For the time being, I've got a lull in my work thanks to Lincoln's birthday, observed, making this a 3-day weekend, so I think I'll actually cook some real food for a change and then take advantage of the extra time to really study the foundations for my bio and chem classes.

- Celine

there's never enough time to do what needs to be done.

and I say this because I am now juggling all of this stupid stuff to do AND the post office has lost my textbooks so I'm borrowing a book from my friend and just rebought a textbook from barnes & nobles today that has to be returned muy rapido (3 days!) to get a full refund. ridiculous! oh and to give you all a sense of how frustrated I am, the people at the mail room at the dorms AND the people at the post office now know me by name. wow. that is a first.

since this is a blog of truth, I am working on transfer applications to a few schools because there are some elements of macaulay that don't work well for me -- for other people, sure, for me, no.

I hate that hunter is a commuter school. I don't feel like I can make friends with people when they're running to their next class and I won't see them around later. it limits my friend base to people in the dorm and even that is a narrow friend base because there are some people here I just don't mesh well with.

I really don't like being on a floor of upper-classmen. or women. whatever. honestly, my side of the floor is unfriendly and it sucks. people don't try to make friends. I wish I had been put on a freshmen only floor.

I don't like english 120 and the fact that there is no alternate way to test out of it short of the ap. there is no reason for anyone in macaulay to take english 120. yes this is a generalization but to future readers, I hope someone does something about this absurd ger. you are in macaulay. you can write an argumentative paper with a thesis that you effectively prove. you are not in 7th grade.

I don't like feeling pressured to stay because it's free. if I were anywhere else at college, my parents would have had to pay. it is not right that I should be unhappy somewhere because it is free.

I hate that seminar events happen on days off and at night. this program encourages us to have internships, jobs, etc. do not then take my days off, days that could be spent doing extra-curriculars (or catching up on sleep) and devote them to more class. we do not have class for a reason. there is no reason seminars for macaulay should take precedence over a day of school that is closed.

why is it that one cannot take nutrition to fulfill the science requirement? that just makes absolutely no sense. nutrition or food science are NOT social sciences. psychology, fair, that can be a social science. NUTRITION? not so.

I want a campus. I want some green. or at least something more than a set of escalators and a set of seats by the subway that are overcrowded by people smoking.

there are probable more offenses but I will stop here for the sake of macaulay and it's posterity.
the end. back to work. lots more reading to do because, god for-freaking-bid, the usps get me my textbooks on time.

Back in the saddle again...

I've officially had my first full week of school, and although I should be in that mindset, I apparently still think I'm on break, judging from my conduct this weekend. Rather than tackling the enormous amount of reading and writing I have, I hung out with friends, slept alot, and went to a Superbowl party last night! Although it was alot of fun, I'm regretting it today. Thankfully, no Monday class means I do have some time to play catch up. My schedule is pretty sweet this semester - I have a four day weekend (Fridays off as well!) and two classes each on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but they're all fairly intense classes, with the possible exception of Microeconomics (it's an introductory class required for Public Policy minors). My Macaulay online class is certainly much more work intensive than I thought it would be; I've probably already written ten pages of posts! Luckily, it's definitely a topic I'm interested in. Check out the website for the class here.

Although it has been a couple of weeks since the interviews took place, good luck to all the candidates I helped interview for Macaulay Hunter. I thought most of the students I interviewed would make fabulous additions to the Macaulay community. As always, if you have questions or just want to know about college life at Macaulay Hunter, shoot me an email: kt.ohagan@gmail.com.

-Kaitlyn

attention span of a goldfish.

I'm not quite sure how it got to be 12:20am. I'm more than sure that I got out of class today at 1 (I only started at 12:10). I had two things I needed to get done today: finish reading the tenants of east harlem for mhc and read/notate for art history. what did I do to waste so much time?

oh, that's right, my boyfriend has left the cornell campus in ithaca, new york and has relocated for the semester to the cornell campus in new york, new york. awesome, I officially am going to have infinity less time to work now. yes, I am thrilled that I can see the man every day if I so choose, but not at the expense of school. so after going home and reading for a little bit, we did lunch & visited a few galleries in chelsea. oh, and I met my friend at nyu for a hillel thing because she asked me to. oh, and my friends stormed my room and took pictures/hung out for an hour. wow, super productive...not.

but, I did finish that book and that was really the thing sitting on my head the most so I'm proud of myself. I did not, however, anticipate art history to take so much time but it's a lot of reading & notating, not going to lie. I didn't end up going to the gym today which I'm slightly frustrated about but I'll just go tomorrow.

oh, and guess who now has 2 internships, a job and is taking 5 classes? oh, that'd be me. I guess that's what happens when you e-mail out your resume to about 20 different places. so now I get to blog 8 times a week for one internship, not sure what I have to do yet for this other internship (but it's with yoga-wear and it's in the fashion world so I am super excited), go to work once (or twice, depending how frequently they need subs) a week and take class monday-friday. my semester just got very busy very quickly. so long, social life, for now at least. well, at least the gym is open until 11pm and they have yoga class at 9pm. not all hope is lost.

and I still have art history reading to do...oy vavoy.

Having no textbook confuses me

I'm taking Stat113 right now and I must say, having no textbook takes some getting used to. Instead, we use ActivStats, an ancient looking packet that has a CD and access code for online use. On one hand, this is a nice break from all the intense reading I'm getting from my other classes. On the other hand, it takes twice as much work to get all the information down. I have to put in the CD, find the lesson, watch the videos, and take notes. On top of that, I'm not a very tech savvy person so I'm definitely not enjoying the heavily computer based aspect of this class.

Kind of excited for Spring Semester!

I know its February, but this is a habit of mine, and since this is my first post for the Spring Semester, I want to say: Happy New Year!!

I haven't written anything for the past winter break because *drum roll please* I was in Argentina! It was an exciting, amazing, and unforgettable winter semester in Mar del Plata, where I met amazing people, learned many new things about Argentine culture, had a great time, and of course, learned spanish ( and fulfilled my foreign language requirement). I have so much to say about that trip, and most of it, if you guys want to see how that month was, is on my travel blog website : http://macaulay.cuny.edu/eportfolios/agrentinastudyabroad/

I still have to update it, even though I've been back for about 2 weeks now ( internet at the hotel we were staying at wasn't the best).

A word of advice to everyone reading this: study abroad for one semester if you can. It's worth it, its fun, you really learn, you meet great people, and your passport booklet comes back looking a lot more interesting.

Anyways, its back to reality. Spring Semester has finally begun, and I'm pretty excited for it to be honest. I have a really eclectic mix of classes. Well, at least they are eclectic for me, because for the last few terms, I've been focused on taking courses for the Pre-Dental track/ Biology Major. Now, I'm also looking into Environmental Science, so I'm taking Environmental Conservation and Resource Management, Cell Bio 2, Organic Chemistry, Stat, MHC, and a Bio Honors Class.

Instead of scheduling to have Fridays off, which I had done for the past year, I scheduled for Wdnesdays off. I realized that having Fridays off jumpstarts your weekend a day earlier, which always made me feel as if I had all the time in the world to study, and therefore my procrastinating capabilities multiplied, making me a pretty unproductive person over the weekend. As I observed other people's schedules, I saw that having Monday's off forced you to do work, but also gave you a relaxed weekend. But sadly I couldn't get Mondays off, so I settled on Wednesday, the next best bet. And although its only been a week, I have used this Wednesday very productively already.

Now I'm off to getting ready to go to Organic Chemistry Lecture. Until next time!

Settling into a groove

First off, it was really exciting to meet some of you (hopefully prospective students ARE reading!) at the Macaulay Class of 2015 interviews last week! To those of you to whom I didn't speak, good luck with all of your applications and your senior year!

I haven't posted in about 2 months, but to be honest, there hasn't been much that I feel anyone would be interested in reading. Basically, I spent all of winter break knitting, reading, and playing with my twin nieces in California. Although, I can recommend a novel! It's called The Fool on the Hill, by Matt Ruff, and it takes place at a magical version of Cornell, complete with telepathic cats and dogs, an author who can talk to the wind, fairies that are named after Shakespearean characters, and an evil, once-fairy who has the power to build armies of rats and to animate inanimate objects. (If you've ever found department store mannequins eerie, as I have, Ruff capitalizes on this by bringing one to life. Yikes!)

Right now, I'm comfortably situated in my bed, sipping my second cup of coffee before my busiest day of the week. My schedule is light Monday through Wednesday, but Thursday features a whopping 5 classes; that's class from noon until 7:00! But I don't have class Fridays, so I suppose that's the price to pay.

My classes are going really well so far. I'm taking Survey of American Literature from the Origins to the Civil War with Professor Knip, who is really laid back. We've started with Native Americans and Explorers, and next week we're starting on the Puritans, which should be...interesting. Then I'm taking German Short Story and Novelle with the lovely Professor Anderson. I know this class is going to be excellent, but right now we're in the middle of assessments to see where everyone's German is, so we haven't started reading yet. I'm also taking German Literature from 1945 to 1995, which is the literature from the divided Germany, Literary Theory, about which I'm still apprehensive, and Workshop in Poetry 2, which will prove to be enjoyable.

Other things: I'm trying to find out how to apply for an internship with Vogue Knitting, and am planning on taking a trip to London this summer to study theater. Yay!

Happy Thursday, everyone.

- Katharine