As I sit here drinking tea…

What a great week! There was so much going on these last couple days so it feels indescribably nice to sit at my computer, drink tea, and blog. What’s more it was a balmy 60(!??!) degrees this afternoon. I went outside around noon and was completely blown away by the warmth of the sun. Perhaps Global Warming isn’t such a bad thing ..?

To be honest, the beginning of this week was stressful. I had two midterms (English and Econ) and a Community Health paper due. While in high school tests were important they didn’t hold the same significance as midterms hold in college where one test is 25-30% of a final grade. It can begin to be unnerving, and a little scary.

As someone who is very conscience of grades, I have had a difficult transition coming from a high school environment where getting good grades is substantially easier. In college, and especially at Tufts, everyone is smart. Everyone works hard and wants the better grade. While Tufts is definitely not a cut-throat atmosphere, there is certainly competition. I’ve recently been reminded of a short story/essay by Anna Quindlen called “Being Perfect.” She says something along the lines of that trying to be perfect and do everything is analogous to carrying a backpack filled with bricks day after day. In short, “perfection” is a silly goal. In college, I have felt some pressure to do everything and live up to my own expectations for myself. But, I have realized that college is about a lot more than good grades it’s completely ok to mess up sometimes.

So, to balance the bursts midterm stress, I have been doing two yoga classes a week and a Pilates class. They are excellent and a great release from school work. I paid $35 for a semester of yoga and I think it was money well spent. The instructor is very chill and always says really calming, and almost corny, things like “you are your own pillar while your daily stresses are just oscillating winds.” I definitely recommend the class if you’re up for trying something new/you’re into yoga at Tufts.

Now that the semester is drawing to a close, I’ve been trying to select my favorite activities at Tufts and what clubs/extracurriculars I really want to get involved in during my next 3.5 years here. At the end of September, I began volunteering for this non-profit organization called LIFT. For this non-profit, I’ve been taking the T(the Boston subway) into Central Square, Cambridge every week to meet with various individuals across the Boston area who have recently been evicted, fired, or simply need help applying for health car. I go in to the office for 3 hours and have already met with a wide range of clients. This volunteer work has been so interesting and really has forced me to get into Boston. Not only do I feel like I am helping others improve their livelihood somewhat but I am also slowly learning about the complexities of insurance, taxes, and resume writing! This experience is a great non-academic education that I have been able to take advantage of

Also, I successfully registered for classes next semester!! Even though my registration was an ok-time (12:15pm) it right, smack in the middle of my Econ midterm. Great timing, right? But, nevertheless, I ended up getting most of the classes I wanted. I wrote this in my previous post but I’m taking Reinaissance and Reformation (I’m taking this because I heard the professor is excellent and I wanted to take a history class this semester), Jane Austin Novels and Films (I heard we read all of Austin’s novels and then watch Clueless and Pride and Prejuduce. I’m very excited), Intro to International Relations (I’m excited to take this class because I’m thinking of majoring in IR but I’ve heard very mixed reviews about the professor. Apparently he gives out a lot of sub-satisfactory grades), Spanish 22 (Another good teacher and I’ll get 3/4 of the IR language requirement done after this class), and then a class called Engagement for Active Citizenship (or E4AC; it’s a program through the Tisch College and meets for 3 hours on Fridays…this will be a change from no-class fridays this semester).

Lastly, somewhat shamefully, I went to the midnight screening of New Moon last night with two friends. While I do confess to reading all the books and seeing the first movie, I would not classify the Twilight series as “literature” However, it was great fun going to the midnight screening at the Boston Commons with low expecations for the quality of the acting/screenplay. It was also entertaining to see the HOARDS of adolescent girls who made the pilgrimage from all locals of Boston to congregate for this pop-culture sensation. Midnight movies are a freshman-year must. To read more about the screening, check out Carolyn Pruitt’s blog called “The Freshman Perspective.”

I have some work to get done this weekend so I can enjoy Thanksgiving at home next week!!! Happy Weekend!

A

Courses Chosen :)

I chose my spring semester courses this afternoon! I’ll be taking Renaissance and Reformation, Spanish 22, Intro to International Relations, Jane Austin Novels & Film, and a class on active citizenship (E4AC).

Almost Thanksgiving?

I am currently sitting in the Mayer Campus Student Center writing a very belated blog post. So much has happened so I will try to condense my last few weeks into a comprehendable post. Time has just been flying by over the past few weeks with activities and schoolwork….it’s impossible to beleive that it’s almost time for Thanksgiving!

This Tuesday I’m going to be registering for my spring semester classes! I’m so excited to start thinking about new topics. But I still need to finalize and prioritize my class list – I think I’m down to 10 classes that I’m consdering?Right now I’m considering Intro to International Relations, Western Political Thought, Spanish 22 (the class I dropped this semester), Jane Austin Novels & Film, American Fiction since 1900, The French Revolution, Modern China, Community Health 2, Nutrition, AND Creative Writing. As I said before, I need to figure out what I’m going to do!! But I’m pretty confident that all the classes would be great. There are just too many choices!

Last weekend I went to this really cool symposium at Boston College called Soldiers and Citizens with some other freshman. We went as members of the IGL’s ALLIES club that deals with civil-military relations. The symposium lasted for about 4 hours on Saturday and the day was broken down into three different series of panels. The panels dealt with issues ranging from diversity in the military to civilian involvment/awareness of military issues. One of the most interesting members on the panels was a man from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. He spoke all about the current problem concerning the lack of religious freedom in the military and he breifly mentioned the recent shooting at Fort Hood/the backlash that a lot of Muslims have received. I truly doubt that I would have given religious freedom in the military much thought otherwise…not for a lack of interest but just that I live a life so disconnected from military life. So, I really enjoyed spending a whole day becoming enlightened on a new subject! It sounds a little cliche to say, but it was truly one of the “college experiences” where I was interested in a completely random topic that I never would have really contemplated before. Also, on a bit of a side note, we managed to fit in a celebrity sighting as Rachel Maddow (the news show host) sat right in front of our Tufts group!

Last night I went to a dinner with some friends called “Another Option” at the campus center which brought a bunch of students together for some delicious Greek food to have “another option” on a weekend instead of to a Frat House. Afterwards, we went to go see Children of Men that the Tufts Film Series was showing. It was one of the most intense/emotionally draining movies I have ever seen but it was super facsinating and very well done.

It’s very rainy today in Somerville so I’m trying to encourage myself to stay inside and get some work done!

Pumpkin Pictures

Here are some pictures of the pumpkins outside of Metcalf Hall!

Rain: Please go away.

So it is truly a bizarre week in Somerville/Medford for weather. As I’d mentioned before we had a snow blizzard (ok, more of a flurry) last weekend and this week was sunny&warm. While the weather was decently nice today – I just got caught in the pouring rain down in Davis Square. And now I’m drenched!

Last night I got to go into Boston! It was really great to escape into the “real world” for a night. My friend’s dad was visiting Boston and took some of us out to a comedy show (it was the two guys from Who’s Line is it Anyway, Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood). It was really entertaining and cool to see another part of Boston. Afterwards, we went to an AMAZING dessert place called Finale. I think I may have to go back there to reward myself after finals Anyway, after going it inspired me to try and go into Boston a bit more because it’s so easy to forget that there’s a city right there!

This morning I had a yoga class. I do love yoga on Saturday mornings because it is SUCH a great way to start the weekend. It always puts me in a positive mindset. Right near the yoga studio (which is on the Tufts campus in the fitness center) there is a coffee place called the Danish Pastry House. So I found a comfy chair there and  had some coffee while making a dent in my English readings…

I must admit that my readings/work have piled up over the past few weeks. All of my professors will assign me a substantial amount of reading that we are supposed to have read for that day of the class, but the problem is that it’s almost too easy to tell yourself you’ll do it later, and then never actually get to it. So, as a result, I now have a lot of textbook reading to catch up in! I’m going to need to force myself to become more diligent with readings because the work is SO independent and there are so many other activities going on that it’s often I do less work than I should! However, college is about finding the right balance between everything and developing sustainable study habits. Overall, for me, managing productive study time (not procrastinating) is probably the most difficult aspect about college.

On another note…

What’s really cool about living in Metcalf Hall (besides the ideal proximity to everything and midhill – you’ll understand once you live at Tufts) is that there are a lot of dorm social activities. This afternoon, the RAs baked some pumpkin baked goods and we all got to carve pumpkins! The pumpkins are now decorating the outside the building. I’ll try to take a picture when it’s not downpouring rain…Although I haven’t carved a pumpkin in a good number of years, it was a great festive/New England/relaxing activity for the afternoon.

My dormmate and I decided that we wanted some variety from Dewick dinners tonight so we headed down to Davis (before the rain) to get some Sushi. We went to a restaurant called Snappy Sushi and it was great sushi, I was really impressed with my edamame & salmon roll. But what would a dinner in Davis Square be without some JP Licks Ice Cream?

Tomorrow is my study day! That’s all for now!

Is it time for summer again?

It’s been a busy week with both inclement and beautiful weather. We’ve had snow and 70 degree afternoons in the past few days. The sun is making it hard to spend copious amounts of time in the library…

Yesterday I had Community Health and we watched a really interesting film about Tobacco Influence in the Movie Industry. Professor Balbach – my CH1 teacher – really knows her stuff about the history/research about tobacco and it is awesome to sit in her lectures because her passion/emminence in the field is so apparent. Later, I walked down to the Farmer’s Market in Davis Square! I really love going to the farmer’s market because it’s forces me to get off campus and get some really yummy food. One of the vendors sells these delicious baked goods and sells this one French item called Pain d’espice and it is SO good. It’s just a really fun fall activity/break from studying.

Yesterday evening I went to a Pilates class that is run by the TSR (Tufts Student Resources) and went to a meeting for a group called ALLIES (it’s another program through the Institute for Global Leadership that deals with civil-military relations). Then, I walked down to Somerville with some of my dormmates to see Where the Wild Things Are. It was really well done and I actually bought the soundtrack (it’s really great rainy day music).

Today I’m going to go enjoy the weather! Here are some pictures so you can savor the beauty of the campus now

Michelle Kwan Sighting!

As some of you may know, Michelle Kwan (yes, the figure skater) is studying at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy that is adjoint to the undergraduate campus.

So, yesterday evening, as I was coming out of a lecture by Irene Khan (Secretary General for Amnesty International), I did a double take as I saw Kwan studying with a group of Fletcher Students. It was so unexpected and the funny thing was was that she really just looked liked a Tufts student! Now I have some claim to fame

Needless to say that it was a pretty exciting moment of the week.

Sun after Snow

It’s SO pretty here today on the Tufts campus. The leaves are orange, the air is brisk, and the sun is out! I can’t help but feel collegiate. What is so strange was that it was literally snowing yesterday afternoon. It was quite enjoyable to find a half-melted snowmen outside my dorm this morning… I have a pretty solid feeling that that was not the last of the snow for this year.

Today was a busy day. I had my American Politics class and then right afterward my Community Health Midterm. The Midterm was not too hard and asked very reasonable questions but it was just difficult to synthesize all of the material we’ve covered in the past 1.5 months into 15 questions  (4 of them Multiple Choice!). BUT what was very nice of the professor was that she didn’t have a time limit on the exam so there wasn’t the usually frantic rushing to get through every question. Then I had my Nonwestern Women Writers Class which I’m still really, really loving. I’m starting to contemplate an English minor?

After my English class I met a prospective student from my old school in England, TASIS. It was really nice showing them all my favorite spots of the school and acting as an unofficial tour guide. I’ve come to the realization (for you prospective students reading this) that there is absolutely no way to fully understand the workings of a school environment until you actually live in that environment. Tufts is a completely different place than the place that I visited on my tours/learned about in my information sessions  - but in a good way! Tufts has developed into a home for me, embodying different elements to fit my needs/interests. What I’m trying to say is don’t over-think the college process. In my opinion, there is no way to find the perfect “fit” school because the college will represent a different place once you actually live there. Each person makes the “college experience” unique to themselves.

Anyway…what was daunting about today was that I got an email notifying me of my registering time for next semester! It seems like I just got adjusted to my class schedule! There are too many cool classes to choose from.

I’m going to conclude my day with a yoga class @ Jackson Hall. Namaste!

Parents Weekend and Power Outage…

On this chilly October afternoon, the Tufts campus is flooded with students and parents who are nostalgic for their college days. …And the power is out across campus. Apparently there was a Manhole Fire (I’m not really even sure what that is in Medford. So Tufts students are learning how to live without electricity for a day! Even though it seems unfeasible to live without power, it is kind of exciting having to navigate through the dark halls and only making sandwiches in the dining halls.

That’s all there is to report on the hill!

Also, for prospective tufts students, feel free to write me about any questions! I’d be ecstatic to answer any of your questions and hopefully allay application anxieties…

Roundtable Article

Hi All!

I’ve been getting involved with a new, non-partisan Tufts publication called the Roundtable. It has a really cool website (just google tufts roundtable) and is a great source to learn about happenings on campus and student views on national/international issues.

I just wrote an article about the Whole Foods Health Care debacle if you want to check it out:

http://tuftsroundtable.org/magazine/articles/national/495-whole-right-to-health-care

On another note, it’s getting chilly here in Boston! 45 Degrees today but there was a beautiful, clear sky. October is a great month to visit the campus