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My Weekend…WAS AMAZING!

November 17, 2011 in Reid's Blog by Reid | 7 comments

Normally, I have pretty good weekends. Sometimes it rains, which I like (but not whilst parading around Cambridge); sometimes I have a huge exam at 8:30 AM on Monday (cough cough…LPSA); and frequently there are fun fiestas to be attended. However, this was the best weekend I have had in a long time. Why, you may ask? Read on!

 

Thursday Night:

We didn’t have school on Friday, due to Veteran’s Day. So, I didn’t have to wake up for my 9 AM class!  (Fun fact: you may think waking up at 8 is fantastic in high school, as I did, but in college it seems that nobody goes to bed until 3 and everyone wakes up at 10 and I am cursed. Though most people [my roommates] do follow that schedule [as I do on Tues/Thurs mornings], I am pretty lucky to wake up at 9 so I’ll stop whining.) Also, it was FACULTY DINNER, which is an incredible experience. Da ‘Berg is officially transformed into The Great Hall and HUDS prepares an extravagant meal to impress our profs, TAs, proctors, and the like. Although I like Annenberg a lot, I hold no deep feelings of love for it except for during Faculty Dinner! My lab partner and I invited our lab TF, Greg, and dressed to impress before gorging ourselves on mushroom ravioli, some meat thing (is it obvious that I’m a vegetarian?), roasted root veggies, and cake. Carrot cake, chocolate raspberry cake, cheese cake…. Yummmm. Knowing the food would never again be this exquisite, I ate way too much and stumbled out of Memorial Hall with a rather large stomach. It was worth it, by the way.

After that, I went to the IRC semiformal with my roommate, Rachel, as her plus-one. She is some spiffy chair for H-MUN (Harvard Model United Nations), whereas I know nothing about this political smorgasbord. Luckily, we mostly danced. After going to the penthouse of the Cambridge Hyatt (here’s a lovely image) via taxi, we danced the night away until the wee hours of the morning. (Actually, I ended up splitting a cab with some people and leaving at 10:30, in preparation for Friday.) When I thought it couldn’t get any better, along came Friday.

 

Friday in the Lighter Hours

After parting ways with my cozy, cozy bed at 10:30 on Friday morning, I suddenly remembered that my AWESOME band (The Nostalgics) was scheduled to record our Holiday album from noon to six that day. Really, my email alerted me about this, in addition to telling me about a sweet deal at B. Good, this incredible burger joint near the Holyoke Center. UC Restaurants offers great savings on restaurants on some Fridays, so I went down and got 20% off of my mango shake and West-side veggie burger. After eating my second great meal of the weekend with three of my bandmates, I walked to the Quad and entered my favorite building on campus, the SOCH. (I’m not really sure if it’s my favorite building, but it’s very underused and underrepresented, so I have adopted it.) Some fancy event was happening, which is a rarity at this unfrequented 50,000 square feet of space, so we went up to the PentHouse where the recording studio is. Due to a recording malfunction, our recording session soon morphed into a practice session, with some fantastic originals coming together, as well as “All I Want For Christmas,” everyone’s favorite x-mas song. After figuring out some rippin’ horn lines and baller vocal backgrounds, we felt satisfied and packed up to go. Sadly, we got locked into the Emergency Stairwell, which we did not know was alarmed until we were inside. However, one guitarist had left early and saved us from a sure death, and we celebrated life at Pfoho dining hall, eating another fantastic meal, though I soon learned this was not good Chinese food. Expecting to not eat again, my chipmunk-storage complex switched on and I filled up on tofu and mini-corn. Little did I know, this was not the end of my Asian experience.

 

Friday Night

On the shuttle back to the yard, one of my band-mates asked me to go to Chinatown with him in celebration of a friend’s birthday. Although I was full and had little desire to eat, the draw of novelty appealed to me, so I immediately accepted. After taking the T to Park Street, we made our way to Hot Pot Buffet, whose two floors were, to our dismay, completely full. The walk was in vain, I feared. However, my friend was a lot more innovative, and decided we’d go to the Harvard Club of Boston. It’s really lovely, I soon found out, and is full of history, much like its namesake. In the Library, there’s a gorgeous pool table and loads of reunion books, dating back to 1900. My grandfather, whom I never had the chance to meet, went to Harvard for undergraduate and medical school (I think). I quickly (slowly) calculated his year of graduation, found the 10th anniversary book, and read about his life. My mom was just two years old when he wrote the report! This discovery really threw me for a turn, and I was flooded with thanks; perhaps a little premature, but we’re all really lucky to be studying here, and to be part of this history that, for me, binds me to my unknown ancestors.

 

Saturday Day

After again having a tearful departure from my bed, I set out on another lovely escapade. I walked down to Blodgett pool, which is across the river, and took pictures of our men’s swimming and diving team for the Crimson. My freshman class really shone, with Michael Mosca setting a school record in diving in his first meet and the freshman swimmers securing 1st place for Harvard. Here’s a photo:

Blodgett

Then, what did I do? More photo!!!! (FUN) I claimed a really amazing pitch (story) for FM, which is the Crimson’s magazine. What is this amazing pitch? Is the suspense killing you? Well, I will ruin the surprise– I GOT TO TAKE PICTURES OF GUACAMOLE!! Yes, that is right, I spent my entire afternoon sampling and photographing the delicious mush. More good food! My writer and I went to Chipotle, Qdoba, Boloco, Felipe’s, and Border Cafe. The last two were by far the best, which is good, because they are local restaurants, unlike the 3 other chains. Here’s a picture:

¡Guacamole Olé!

 

 

 

Saturday Night:

I continued in the spirit of photography as the sun set, presenting my photo essay to other compers (comp=competitor, but it’s no longer competitive, just an anachronism) at The Crimson.

Then, I sprinted to Holden Chapel, which is a beautiful and tiny space hidden in the Yard. The Speak Out Loud club was hosting a Poetry Slam, which is basically a spoken-word competition. (Think rap battle minus the hip-hop tracks, plus scores.) Eleven poets slammed their AMAZING poems, and I was lucky enough to compete against them. The place was totally humming with energy, as the crowd really participates in poetry through pounding their feet, clapping, and encouraging the poets as they perform. The first round, we slammed a 3 minute poem each, and mine was a story about a cabin I love in Vermont. The next round was the lightning round, where we’d slam a 1 minute poem, and I slammed about my love for poetry. Our scores were added up, and the top 8 moved on to the final round after a brief intermission. My jaw dropped as I found out I’d moved on; I thought those incredible poets had me beat for sure. We had another 3 minutes to get the highest score we could (which is a 30); the top 5 scoring poets became Harvard’s Poetry Slam Team! I slammed about coffee (as a metaphor for something else), and LOVED it, because the packed audience was awesome. At the end, we all lined up and five names were read. I’ll be competing in April at CUPSI along with my four other team-mates! More updates on this soon, and if you want to know more about poetry slams, here’s a great link. (To hear some awesome slam, here’s another.)

I went out and celebrated with my friends afterwards, and caught up on all my work on Sunday.

 

This weekend, I’m not going to Harvard-Yale; instead, I’m going to visit my grandparents and have a pre-Thanksgiving with them! Then, I’m covering the Tail of the Charles (men’s crew invitational) on Saturday, so I’m really excited to see what this new weekend brings!

 

All the best,

-Reid

 

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It Hurts so Good!

October 27, 2011 in Jeanie's Blog by Jeanie Nguyen | Permalink

Picture a rowdy protester in the #OccupyMovement laying face down and helpless because he/she is getting arrested.

This was me – but without the handcuffs and the protest.

Yes, I was just laying face down in the hallway of my upperclassmen duplex suite. As my roommate (former member of Harvard’s Cross Country team) used a rolling pin to flatten my calves, I winced from this beautifully painful experience. I had been limping around for a few days now, but was still determined to continue my Boston Half Marathon training.

I am not a runner. I’ll never identify myself as a runner. If anything, all of my athletic glory stems from my high school swimming career. To many people, college serves as the pinnacle time to redefine themselves academically. I agree, but being such a passionate math and science person (probably since the womb), I’ve found that much of my personal exploration has been in the athletic arena.

One of the best decisions I made freshman year (and life in general) was to attend the Women’s Crew informational meeting. From here, I was directed to a boathouse across the Charles River. This sounded like standard procedure until I walked in and my line of vision was filled with three dozen men on ergs. Apparently my 5’2” build fits the profile for a men’s heavyweight coxswain.

My boys and I in action during our first race! (Same day as Harvard-Yale 2010)

I eagerly agreed to steer the boat, itching for the physically challenging, team environment I had once thrived in while swimming in high school. However, I felt like the responsibilities of coxswains were limited to administrative matters when we weren’t in the boat. I was fed up with holding the clipboard after eight and a half minutes. I asked to participate in the boys’ conditioning drills and my thighs soon wanted to violently murder me as I ran stadiums. Even though we all quit crew at the end of the semester, we’ll forever be united through the pain we endured.

The whole gang!

 

I checked “crew” off on my “East Coast To-Do” list and considered other athletic opportunities such as Kickboxing classes at Harvard’s gym and Harvard club sports teams. It’s undeniable that the opportunities at Harvard are limitless, but the university’s location also makes them seem boundless. Does the Boston Marathon ring a bell? Well, I registered for the 2011 half marathon after listening to my realistic side and considering my personal athleticism. I encountered super difficult problems during training such as estimating the probability of serious danger when running late at night after lab, and being fireman-carried down 2 flights of stairs by a good friend because each step caused shooting, unbearable pain…no big deal.

I can casually describe all the stress and strain in retrospect because the overwhelming feeling of accomplishment far outweighs the agonizing discomfort I experienced limping to the Science Center.

Beyonce should sing "Run the Half (Harvard Girls)"

 

Crossing the finish line with the cheers of my best friends and sorority sisters will be a memory that will never grow hazy. Being able to set a personally lofty goal and achieve it will never become overrated.

 

 

Academia will (hopefully) be challenging at whatever university you attend; so, stop limiting yourself to academic pain and perhaps run out of your comfort zone, literally.

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Top 10 Things To Do When Touring Harvard

March 26, 2011 in Kate's Blog by Kate Meakem | 4 comments

In response to Stephanie’s comment about her upcoming visit to Harvard, I thought I would post a list of the Top 10 Things To Do When Visiting Harvard.  As I began writing, however, my roommate reminded me that admissions letters would be coming out SOON, and that new prospective students would be looking for things to do on their visits (by the way, we’re SOOOOOOOOO excited to meet you guys)!!!!

As a result, I took it upon myself to compile TWO lists – one for anyone who just wants to take a look around and one for prospective students!  I will include the list of top To Do’s in my next post.

But for now…

THE TOP 10 THINGS TO DO AS A TOURIST AT HARVARD

1.)  DO NOT under any circumstances touch John Harvard’s foot.

As you walk into Harvard Yard, take in its classic beauty, and reflect upon the centuries of history it has witnessed, you may find yourself drawn to a rather iconic statue of John Harvard, also known as the ‘Statue of Three Lies.’  Lest you be unprepared I shall verse you in these lies: 1) John Harvard was NOT the founder of Harvard, he was merely a donor,  2) Harvard was NOT founded in 1638, it was founded in 1636,  3) the man portrayed in the statue is NOT John Harvard… its some rando.  All things considered, I personally feel that a fourth lie needs to be added to the list.  This lie would be  4) touching John Harvard’s foot is NOT a good idea.  I mean, go ahead and rub it for good luck…. Just don’t ask me to shake your hand afterward.

2.)  Go on a Crimson Key Tour

It’s easy to say, “Go to Memorial Hall!” or “Go to Widener Library!” but really, the Crimson Key tour covers it all, and they do a GREAT job!  Seriously, do yourself a favor and go on their tours.  They leave from the Information Center in the Holyoke Center (next to the Au Bon Pan in Harvard Square) at 10:00 am, 12:00 pm, and 2:00 pm Monday- Saturday.

3.)  Stand outside of the Science Center between 12:00 -12:07

It is said that no Harvard student can go all four years without taking at least one class in the Science Center.  No, this isn’t because all students are brainiacs – it’s because SO many classes are offered in that huge, ugly building (every college campus has one… even Harvard).  As a result, during class transition time – also known as ‘Harvard Time’ – a CRAZY number of students pass through the area right outside (I’ve heard stats saying up to 50% of the undergraduate student body)!  If you want a taste of student academic life, go hang out there.

4.)  Mr. Bartley’s Burgers

Have you seen The Social Network or Good Will Hunting?!?!  If so, you may have noticed a lovely place featured called Bartley’s.  This is because they have THE BEST burgers OF ALL TIME!  I’m not joking.  This dive has been around for a loooooonnnnggg time, and for good reason.  It doesn’t matter if you’re watching your cholesterol, if you’re at risk of terrible food-induced ailments, take the gross caloric hit and GO FOR IT!  You won’t regret it.

5.)  Check out the Greenhouse Cafe

After you get swept away by the wave of students outside of the Science Center, head on inside and grab a snack (or Starbucks) at the Greenhouse Café!  This is a major hang out spot for students in between classes, and it’s just a generally cool place to check out.

6.)  Stop by the COOP

Why visit Harvard if you don’t have something to show for it?  The COOP has a plethora of Harvard paraphernalia to offer, PLUS if you’re curious, you can take a trip to the top floor and look at the textbooks students buy for class!

7.)  Walk along the Charles River

If it’s a nice day, take a walk along the Charles River!  It is honestly one of the most beautiful strolls ever, and you can see the River Houses, where sophomores, juniors, and seniors live.

8.)  Watch the Crew team practice on the river

While you’re on the river, if it’s Fall or Spring, you might be fortunate enough to witness the Crew team practicing (or racing) on the river!  Crew is a BIG DEAL at Harvard, so it’s always a good thing to see.

9.)  Visit Radcliffe Quad

One of the least appreciated spots on campus, Radcliffe Quad is home to three upperclassmen houses (Currier, Cabot, and Pfoho), and is where the women of Radcliffe College used to live!  The Quad is less than a mile up Garden Street and has a unique history.

10.)  Walk along Mt. Auburn street late Saturday night

If you want a taste for what Harvard nightlife is like, I would suggest walking down Mt. Auburn street between 11:00 pm – 2:00 am on Saturday night and seeing all of the final clubs.  I’m not suggesting you try to go in, but you’ll get the sense that Harvard students play just as hard as they work.

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