Give Me a Break

Fall break!!! I love fall. And it's so awesome up here in the north. The leaves actually cycle through different colors before falling from the trees, unlike in Louisiana, where they change from from green to brown, then hit the ground. Needless to say, I'm greatly enjoying my time here at Hopkins.

First, my follow-up from last weekend. Carmel is married now! It was very exciting business. She is now Carmel Simmons, and her husband, Ryan, is a pretty fly dude. Carmel did such an awesome job planning everything. Each wedding program was on the back of a page of a book, and instead of signing a guest book, we got to type out our message on a typewriter, which was one of the cleverest ideas I've ever seen. After the wedding, I got to spend some time with my family. I had missed them a lot, and it was great to catch up with them. Unfortunately, I did not get to meet up with my friend from UT Austin, but I should get to see him and all of my friends at Thanksgiving!

This weekend was fall break, and we got an extra day added to our weekend, so my friends and I took advantage of it. We couldn't actually even wait for the weekend to start, so our adventures began Thursday morning. Kallie, Will, and I took a trip to Mount Vernon. We heard about an event the library was having where they were giving away aquarium tickets at a toddler book read. Unfortunately, the librarian wouldn't let us in without actually having a toddler. So, instead of scouring the town for a child we could borrow, we headed over to the Walters Art Museum. The museum had a fantastic exhibit set up about Lonni Sue Johnson, an artist who had received brain damage. The exhibit traces the progression of her art before and after her injury, showing how it changes and develops as she recovers more and more. Some more information about her can be found at http://lonnisuejohnson.wordpress.com/.

After our museum adventure, we hit up a hipster cafe, Milk and Honey, for brunch. It was delicious food, and everything was naturally and locally produced. We've decided to definitely visit the venue more often. When we got back to campus, we spotted a filming crew outside of Dominion Ice Cream, an ice cream parlor a block away from my dorm. Kallie and I camped out for about four hours in front of the set, watching the crew move around and some of the actors walk in and out of the ice cream shop. They were filming the new HBO show Veep, and Kallie and I actually got to see Julia Louis-Dreyfus! We also got to try the new Dr. Pepper Ten, which I've decided is much tastier than the original. Later during the day, they filmed a motorcade scene, and there's a slight chance I'll be in the background of the shot. We'll have to wait for the pilot and see...

Julia Louis-Dreyfus! On the phone and in a bathrobe. Classy.

On Friday, we had a much more relaxed day. Lauren and I took a trip over to the yarn shop in Hampden. Mrs. Caldwell is trying to collect 600 hats by Thanksgiving to give to a local elementary school, and I gave her one of the hats I knit! It was hat number 201, so I'm definitely going to knit some more and help them reach that goal. After a quick exploration of the stream in the park between Hampden and Hopkins, we headed back to the dorm and had a music party with all of our friends. I recently invested in a new pair of speakers, and I think we are all enjoying them, though our neighbors may not be.

Saturday morning, Kallie, Lauren, Adam and I went to a book fair they were having a little east of campus. They had rooms filled with books that were free to take, which was really cool and handy. Afterwards, we headed up the street and grabbed a generous amount of pizza from Papa John's. Adam had been craving it, and we were all kind of sick of the fake pizza in the FFC. Four pizzas split between four people was quite a dietary challenge, and we promptly lapsed into food comas when we had finished our pizzas. When we awoke that night, we finished off the day with a momentous movie night by viewing one of the best movies of all time: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! We had fresh popped popcorn and spent hours laughing together. It was a great night.


Sunday morning, we went back to the farmers market and spent our time looking around at all of the produce available. We got more donuts and lemonade, which will most definitely be a ritual now. I also bought some apple cider! I've never had any before, so I look forward to trying it out as the holiday season approaches. 


Yesterday morning, we took a city bus down to the Maryland Zoo so Kishore and Lauren could work on their bio lab project. It's a much nicer zoo than the one near my town, so I really enjoyed getting to see the exhibits. Jasper brought his camera, and he got some amazing pictures of us and the wildlife. He's a very artsy and skilled photographer! And he's Asian, which is irrelevant, but I thought you'd like to know it. Anyway, this weekend is family weekend here at Hopkins, so we're all pretty excited for our parents to come and pamper us with some real food for a change. Also, I turn 18 next Sunday! So, stay tuned in and I'll keep you all updated on the hip happenings at Hopkins. Ciao!

Ahh! I grew twenty feet and turned half-Indian.

Kishore, Susanna, and I!

Study Hard, Party Harder

     Man, it's been a good while since I've posted on here. Time is flying by pretty quickly with everything that has been going on. Here at Hopkins, we're kind of in a testing period, so we've all got tests this week and next. I made it through chemistry and intro to neuro, thank goodness, and I only have to take Spanish and Italian tests now. I've realized how much I didn't learn to study in high school, and I'm really having to work on that.

     The great thing about Hopkins, though, is that they realize how tough schooling is. And so to prevent all the pre-meds from locking themselves down in D-Level in the library and killing themselves, they provide plenty of opportunities for stress relief and all-around fun. Last Tuesday, Jerry Springer came and spoke for us, then Thursday, we got to see Far East Movement in concert! It was so much fun. My friends and I were on the front row, right next to the stage. Proghress, the keyboard player, came right up to us and jumped on the crowd to crowd surf. I got to touch his converse, so I was pretty content. After the concert, because of some confusion, all of the students left the building, thinking that they could meet the band outside of the rec center. My friends and I stuck around, thanks to a tip from our awesome RA. We and about 50 other kids were the only people who got to meet the band. It was such a cool experience to meet someone "famous." I know I'll have many more opportunities like this going to Hopkins.

With Far East Movement!

     We finally got to have our Convocation (Condemnation) ceremony to officially start the school year. It was supposed to be held during Orientation week, but Hurricane Irene kind of messed up our schedule. The class of 2015 banner was presented, and we got to hear speeches from many members of the administration. It was pretty cool to have everyone dressed up sitting in a giant hall together officially beginning our schooling.

We're so fly!

     My friend Kallie and my roommate Will are both from the Baltimore area, so they know their way around town and know about cool things to go see. This past weekend, they took us around Hampden, a nearby town. Hampden has a yarn shop, and I've already been there 4 times. The lady who runs the yarn shop, Mrs. Sue Caldwell, gave me a 15% discount on my next purchase because of how many people I've brought into her shop. I felt so privileged. Will and Kallie also took us to a local farmer's market. It was probably one of the coolest things I've seen here so far. We found some people selling peaches; they were so ripe and juicy and delicious! I'm definitely going to be frequenting that venue. We also had fresh strawberry lemonade, which was absolutely fantastic.

DELICIOUS

  This weekend, I get to head to Texas to see my half-sister Carmel get married! I will also get to see my family for the first time since leaving for college. September 19th marked 1 month of my being away from home. I'm not homesick yet, but I do miss my family and can't wait to see them. My grandparents will also be at the wedding, and I'm pretty excited to see them as well. I may even get to visit my best friend who's going to school at UT Austin! So I'm pretty pumped for this weekend.

     So, there's my update for the time being. I've got to get back to actually paying attention to the rest of this  chemistry lab lecture. But, after this, I get to eat, go bouldering, and go to a knitting club! This is the life.

So boring...

So fun!!!

College Has Begun, Now For Some Fun

Class of 2015!

     Woohoo! I successfully survived my first week of college. I've been busier than I expected to be this week, so I'm taking advantage of our Labor Day break. We've had many orientation events going on, not to mention classes started Monday, so already I've been trying to learn how to balance my social life with my academic one. This semester, I'm taking Chemistry I with a lab, Intermediate Spanish II, Italian I, and Intro to Neuroscience, and I'm pretty pumped about my schedule. We just do so much speaking in our Spanish class, so I really have to practice and catch up. After not taking Spanish last semester, my skills have kind of fallen behind.

     But, onto the fun stuff! Monday night, we had the O-A Capella show, where we got to listen to some of the coolest groups I've ever heard! One group, the Octopodes, made it to the quarter-finals last year in an international competition. They were truly fantastic. Afterwards, we gathered outside for a welcoming ceremony the upperclassmen set up for us called First Night. We were each given a candle and got to light the ever-burning flame of our education. It was a powerful experience to see every student standing on the quad each holding a candle, because we all knew it meant so much more than what it seemed.

First Night

     My friends and I spent the rest of this week studying, playing racquetball, going grocery shopping, learning to belay and rock-climb, studying, dancing at the Blue Jay Ball, attending student plays, sorting out our schedules and finding times to eat together, studying, destroying other teams at the Dorm Wars competition, attending a live showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and watching a hypnotist make my roommate Will and my friend Kishore dance, sing, and speak alien languages on stage. College is so busy, but it is definitely worth the sleep deprivation and hard work. I'm having the best time of my life here at Hopkins.

 Also, I'm famous!

The City of Firsts

    For the past five days, I've been exploring my new home, meeting new people, doing new activities, eating new foods, and adjusting to my new life as a college kid. It's been a bit of an adjustment trying to live on my own. I've really noticed how much money goes toward food and laundry and all these other little expenses. And while I'm not exactly excited about spending more money, I am excited to see how I'll grow and change and learn while having to adjust to this new life.
    I've had the opportunity to do some volunteer work this week during my Pre-orientation for Habitat for Humanity. We've been working in a neighborhood called Sandtown. It's an older part of Baltimore made up of old row houses with marble steps and gorgeous brick fronts. The area has become run down, though. Habitat buys groups of houses and reconstructs the interiors, cleans up the yards, and makes the houses habitable and presentable.

    We were working on some framing in one of the Sandtown houses yesterday after we got back from lunch. My friends, Dylan and Jasper, and I were perched on some joists of the second floor, trying to actually make a floor, when the earthquake hit. The joists wobbled and some small rocks and rubble tumbled down from the ceiling. Dylan and I were kind of shocked, but Jasper (he's from North Cali) just laughed at us. It only lasted five seconds, but it was pretty cool to get to experience my first earthquake.
    And with that anecdote, I'll segue into the explanation of my title. One of Baltimore's nicknames is "The City Of Firsts." I feel like coming to this town for this next chapter of my life is so appropriate. And so, to take advantage of this happenstance, I have decided to make a freshman year bucket list.

 • Get my picture taken in front of Charm City Cakes
 • Find out exactly what lacrosse is, then play it
 • Visit New York City
 • Check out Artscape
 • Eat a Baltimore crab
 • Watch Hairspray (I know, I know, I'm uncultured)
 • Learn to play the banjo
 • Visit PostSecret mailbox
 • See Ke$ha in concert
 • Take a taxi
 • Hit up a Wawa

I know this list is pretty small so far, but I'm sure it will grow as I further explore this city and adjust to college life.

Learn More, See More, B'more

Wow! This has been one crazy week. A lot of things have happened, and it has all worked out to be one of the greatest times I've ever had. For starters, I got my Eagle Scout this week, woohoo! It was a lot of hard work, but I definitely learned so much and gained abundant people skills from having to do this project. I mean, I had to get TWO whole permits processed with the DOTD; if that doesn't deserve a medal, I don't know what does.
I've also spent a good amount of time packing for college. My room looks different, but not near as much as I imagined it would. I didn't bring much more than clothes, a dozen novels, and some mementos I've collected from friends. I feel like this will be a chance for me to start with a clean slate. Unfortunately, I forgot my toothbrush, so the slate's one of the few things that will be clean.
The hardest part of this week has been making my farewells. I am moving away from family and friends and a lot of people who care about me and help me out, and I'm sure I'll realize very soon that they helped out a lot more than I thought. Getting to spend time with these people this past week has really helped me to appreciate them more, though, and I know our friendships will stay strong.

Now, to the exciting part you've all been waiting for! My journey to Baltimore. 
Thursday night, Elliott and I watched Fright Night so we could see David Tennant. He was amazing, per usual (and while this wasn't really part of my quest, I felt it was worth mentioning). Friday morning, we packed up the car and my family drove me to the airport to see me off. It was during that car ride that it really hit me that I was going to be moving 1100 miles away and living on my own. 
After saying my final goodbyes to my family and one of my best friends, I boarded the plane headed for Houston. I successfully navigated the large airport and made it to my terminal, where I then hopped on my flight to Baltimore. From there, I took a shuttle to the Amtrak station, where I bought my MARC train ticket to get me to Penn station - or so I thought. The attendant at the ticket counter had given me a ticket to Union station, in Washington D.C. By the time I realized the mistake, I was already well on my way to the Capitol. Upon arriving, I bought the correct ticket and got back on the train. My 20 minute train ride quickly stretched into almost two hours of travel time. During my detour, I got to see a lot of the state and surrounding area, and I met a really cool scientist who had worked at the Johns Hopkins applied physics Lab in D.C. I definitely don't regret getting on the wrong train, and I plan on doing it much more often.

I finally arrived on campus just in time to join in on some ice breaker activities with the roughly 25 people doing the Habitat for Humanity Pre-orientation with me. Even just sitting on The Beach (the main green) with my new-found friends, I really started to feel like this could be my home for the next four years. This year, my freshman year, is going to be the best, and I look forward to all that I'll learn, all that I'll see, and all that I'll be.

Hello!

Hello there! Welcome to my new blog. From here, avid reader, you'll be able to follow along as I document my adventures to Charm City and beyond!

Next Friday, I will be departing West Monroe, LA, leaving behind my fantastic friends and wonderful family, and hopping on a plane up to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. Although I am extremely nervous to be living on my own and fending for myself, I greatly anticipate starting this new chapter in my life. I am going to meet exciting new people and see exciting new sights and do exciting new things, and I can't wait to share them all with you. Look forward to my next post, in which I will share my last week in Monroe, my farewells, and my journey to the grand city of Baltimore!