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What I’ve Learned This Semester!

December 2, 2011 in Reid's Blog by Reid | 3 comments

Although I have yet to begin my final exams, I’ve finished the first semester as of two hours ago! Now I can dig into studying, Christmas music, and second-semester planning. Before I do that, though, there’s some reflection of the first semester that needs to happen, focusing mainly on what I’ve learned so far in my 3 months at Harvard! Check out my list below to see just what Freshman Fall has taught me, in no particular order.

 

1. Dorm Crew is a great pre-orientation program, but not for reasons you may think.

Cleaning bathrooms is not everyone’s top priority. However, Fall Clean Up (FCU or Dorm Crew pre-orientation) includes very little bathroom cleaning! The majority of my time was spent mopping and sweeping Leverett Towers, alongside my eight other d.crew members, from 9-5 every day. This is, by no means, ‘fun.’ What is fun is making friends, impressing other freshmen with your knowledge about campus, making money instead of paying money, and getting an upper-body workout. Having upwards of $400 dollars in my pocket before I even started school gave me a little bit of a cushion as I set out in the World of Harvard, to which I was accustomed due to the extra week on campus. Also, all dorm crew groups have a secret “theme” that you’re supposed to figure out by the end of the week. Ours was pretty obvious; all of us were going to live in Canaday! Now, I have friends in different entryways (as well as in mine) which really helps to foster dorm spirit; I also have an automatic (and lucrative) on-campus job which took care of some of my financial aid. Moral: Dorm Crew is GREAT, and you make a small group of good friends right off the bat!

 

2. Rent, don’t buy, Textbooks!

After researching the prices of my Chemistry, Biology, and Psychology textbooks, I wanted to either rob a bank or drop those classes. Instead, I discovered some great book-renting sites, such as e-campus and Chegg, whose rental prices prevented me from performing criminal acts in the name of Academia. I ended up paying a third as much as if I’d bought the books, and they were brand-new! (One of them even came with a Schick Razor, which was really weird but useful, I guess…hey, it was free!) Anyways, search around, because the Coop (pronounced ‘coop,’ not ‘co-op’) is MAD expensive, and there are a ton of online options that will save you precious dinero!

 

3. Talk with your deans, advisors (PAFs included), and proctor!

Harvard has a lot of great resources on campus. Unfortunately, they’re not readily-accessible unless you know where to search; it’s very different from high school where everyone is proactive for you, instead of you representing yourself. I found this out the hard way, which caused more than a few points to be knocked off one of my course’s final grade. You have a Peer Advising Fellow, who is a totally Harvard-savvy upperclassman to whom you can ask questions you’d rather not ask your Advisor. Go to them first! They have a big budget to take you out to coffee, which is always high on my list. Your advisor is the next up, and normally they’ve majored in a subject that you’re interested in. (If you’re considering pre-med, there are even advisors for that!) They can help you plan your schedule, work out problems with roommates (luckily, I have had none of those because my roommates are THE BEST), and decide on a plan of action if anything goes awry. However, you need to be very proactive about your problems; if there are even just the faintest sensations of difficulties, meet with your advisor! It takes only a few minutes and can save you a lot of stress in the future. Finally, if things get a little whacky, your Resident Dean is there for you; their job is to help you (along with lots of other stuff), so don’t worry about meeting with them. Also, lots of people have a hard time with courses their freshman fall (and beyond), so there’s no need to freak out if you feel like an idiot. (Because, really, you’re not.)

 

4. Never go to Annenberg at 6:30.

There is a slight problem with Annenberg’s hours: they are really short and really early. Annenberg opens at 4:45 (or something) and closes at 7:15, so everyone ends up going around 6:30, which means you’ll have difficulty finding a seat, getting food, and hearing the person across from you. (Exaggeration. But not really.) You don’t need a tray, either! Freshman fifteen probably exists, and if so, I have found the cure: go trayless. There are a million choices of food and lots of fun containers, which can be tempting, but with one plate of healthy food and a glass of whatever, you’re set! (Just make sure you’re eating properly…I am not a nutritionist, but there are a lot of them at Health Services.)

 

5. Comp the Crimson…if you’re Crazy

Okay so that might have sounded bad. But The Crimson is amazing, and everyone there is a little bit crazier than other Harvard students, which is a good thing. Especially crazy boards to comp (comping is the first step to becoming an editor, where you get to write articles or take photo/video) are FM, photo/video, and Arts. You get to hang out in the crazy basement after having waited crazy hours to get let into the crazy Crimson (no swipe access=long nights), go to crazy formals, cover crazy events, and sprint around like a crazy person while you should really be doing something else! (Post Scriptum: Other boards are also crazy, if you’re interested in crazy economics or crazy no-shave november hockey players, or like sharing your crazy opinions.)

 

6. Get a Mac!

No, not because you miss Steve Jobs. Harvard IT has HUGE deals on Macs, and you really need a fast computer while you’re here. Also, you get a free printer, $100 dollar iTunes Store Giftcard (or whatever Apple decides to do next season), and a great warranty. Go Apple!

 

7. Icing Shots are Disgusting, but Sweet is Great.

Sweet is this incredible cupcake store that makes the best cupcakes in the world, and also the most horrendous invention in the world. They sell these big trays of teeny cups full of icing. Blegh. If you don’t like frosting, don’t ever eat it.

7.b) Good food places include Flat Patties (get the grilled cheese), Crema Cafe (they have legit wraps), Burdick’s (deliciously expensive hot chocolate), Starbuck’s (…sorry…), and Cardullo’s (they have EVERYTHING YOU COULD EVER DESIRE IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE.)

 

8. PSYCHOLOGY (SLS-20)

If you take this course, you will maybe regret it. You will come away from it knowing too much about how your mind works (joke), potentially much more wealthy/exhausted (psych studies pay 15 or 10 dollars an hour!), and a weakened sense of self-esteem (everyone, except for those terrible smart people, perform poorly on the exams…they’re multiple-choice deathtraps). So…take it, or don’t. Your choice! (Or is it?)

 

9. You learn so much….

TOO MANY THINGS IN MY MIND TO FINISH MY SENTENCE BECAUSE*

 

That’s all, folks!

 

Happy 2nd Day of December! © S. Reid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*this is college, where you learn things. but this is also harvard, where you learn more!

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Round Two… ding!

September 27, 2011 in Kate's Blog by Kate Meakem | 6 comments

So here begins my second year at Harvard, but the great thing is that I’m even more excited than I was to start my first year!  After much shopping around (shopping is the term we use to describe the process of choosing classes), I have found four classes that I am super psyched about.

The first one is History 1224: Britain Since 1760, a class taught by the very popular Harvard professor Maya Jasanoff.  Her teaching style is fantastic (she’s all about telling the story), and so far I feel like I’m learning a lot.  What I know about British history, I either know from the American perspective (think French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, etc.), or I know from AP Euro, which had a greater focus on Continental Europe.  So it has been really fascinating to learn specifically about a country whose legacy has extended into so much of our world today!  Plus, I’m a huge History geek (and potential History concentrator), so I’m all about this class.

My second class is Science of the Living Systems 20, which is an introductory Psychology course that also fulfills a Gen Ed.  [Just a quick blurb to catch you up to speed, “Gen Ed’s,” or General Education Requirements, are part of the liberal arts education at Harvard College.  There are eight categories of classes across a range of subjects that must be fulfilled in order to graduate.  The system is set up to give you a more broad education.  So far, I’ve really enjoyed it.]  This course is offered every semester, but the teacher changes depending on which semester you take the class.  This semester Professor Daniel Gilbert, who is an amazing lecturer, is teaching the class!  As if the inner workings of the mind weren’t already super interesting, Gilbert makes you really appreciate all of the complexities of the brain and how they are linked to our behavior.  Also, sections (which are small classes that are broken up from the larger lecturers to provide more individualized learning) are fun experiments like tasting different foods!  What more could you want?  The only thing is that I’ve heard the exams are hard… so I’ll have to keep you all posted.

My third class is Math 1a, which is the equivalent to AP Calculus AB.  While I took that class in high school, that was a whole two years ago, and my non-math oriented brain just has not retained the information.  To remedy this situation, I figured I would retake the class in hopes of expanding my knowledge of Calculus… whoooo (not).  Anyway, it hasn’t been too bad… I’m just really not a math person.  If anyone would like to help me (especially if you happen to be cute, smart, handsome, and funny), please let me know! 😉

Sanders Theater — home of English 154 and many of the other large classes at Harvard. Just picture it minus the adults, plus a lot of college kids. (Picture courtesy of Google Images)

My final class is English 154: Literature and Sexuality, taught by Professor Matthew Kaiser, the most snarky and hilarious professor that I have had the privilege of taking a class under.  His lectures cannot be beat.  We meet in Sanders Theater (featured above), sort of the bastion Harvard intellectualism, and talk about the history of sexual thought and attitudes as it is portrayed through literature.  Interpret that how you will.  As you can imagine the literature ranges from Freud and Foucault to de Sade and everything in between.  To say the class is provocative would be an understatement, but it is certainly fun!

And that’s about all for me right now.  We’re moving into the first round of midterms here at Harvard, which means paper, paper, paper, exam.  Yay!  To add to my stress levels, Theta Fall Formal is coming up, and I need to find a date.  GAHHH! #ranting.  Hope everyone is doing well!

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