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5 Things I Love About You [Harvard]

May 31, 2013 in Reid's Blog by Reid | 1 comment

Wowwww, hey guys…it’s been a long time. I have TOTALLY been shirking away from my duties as a blogger, but just you wait – this post is bringin’ the HEAT, and I’ll be here allllll summer. (Also, this post keeps being unable to save and losing EVERYTHING I’ve written, so I hope it doesn’t do it again… because if it does, I am outta here.)

So. I guess it’s that time of year again. School is OUT, I’m in Pennsylvania enjoying the fresh air and the food, and June is just around the river bend. Should I choose the smoothest course, steady as the beating drum? NO!* In fact, this entire semester has been about choosing the course that I most desire; in college, you have a say, you have a great amount of choice. Going to Harvard is preparing me for when I have to make crucial decisions, ones that will change my life – or perhaps I’ve already started to make those! On second thought…I definitely have. Here goes: the top 5 choices of sophomore year!

 

5. Nostalgic for The Nostalgics… 

Me singin’ at our last gig. (SamRichmanPhoto)

I had to take off time from The Nostalgics to deal with my vocal issues…this was not a decision I wanted to make. It was, however, life-changing. I suppose, if I look at it in a warm light, it was a good method of ensuring that I didn’t become too involved with my music and ignore the other things in my life that have so much weight. I definitely got to spend quite a good bit of time with my photo ladies instead of gigging and rehearsing, giving my voice a rest while testing my eye. It also really saved my voice – as much as I love soul and Motown, it really pains me – so I will always be grateful that I am taking the time now to work through a spot of trouble. Also, being apart from the group made me realize how much it means to me, and I know that the music will always have a special place in my heart. We had our last gig the night before Commencement [graduation], right in Brattle Square, and it was fantastic. It’s something I’ll never forget, and something I wouldn’t have loved so much if I didn’t have to suffer for it. (No I am not kidding nor am I in ROTC.)

4. Arts + School = LUV

Paine Hall, location of Music 167r and my heart

First semester, I took an intensive studio course in printmaking and etching, committing eight hours of my Tuesday to the class. Although I had class straight from 10am to 8pm, followed by rehearsals until midnight, giving myself the opportunity to really devote myself to the arts was awesome. I suddenly prioritized arts in my academics, something I’d never really done before, and found myself able to synthesize the subject material I was learning in studio with what I was learning in other classes. This semester, it was even more pronounced; Music 167r, a course on sound stories and Electroacoustic music, was basically the fusion of all that I’m interested in: storytelling, music, engineering, and CREATION. Making something that I am proud of is the best experience, and I crafted and performed a seven-minute piece that I’d never expected to compose in my life. This year has been all about expanding my interests…it’s as if I’m in this malleable casing that I just keep pushing out to explore another aspect of Harvard (and myself) that I never knew existed.

 

3. The Opps: Risks and Leadership 

Grad Jam for the Opps…saying bye 🙁

Auditioning for the Opportunes was a huge risk for me. I was very unsure of whether or not I wanted to try out, mostly because I was afraid of rejection. However, I decided to suck it up and push through the audition process, surprising everyone involved – even me! I am so glad I took that step into Lowell Lecture Hall and joined my acafamily, working hard all year long to perform at my personal best. Yesterday, my mom was surprised by my voice, saying it sounded really beautiful; this year has changed it so much, and for the better, from focus and vocal discipline in the Opps and in therapy. I’m psyched to continue to craft my instrument and incorporate it into my academics, meshing all aspects of my life into a melange of strange awesomeness. (Also…my career! Now I can manage business as business manager and do music AT THE SAME TIME!)

 

2. Dropping Acid…No, Not That Kind.

I AM ONE GIANT PILL!

After being diagnosed with vocal nodules and severe acid reflux, I had to make a great deal of changes in my life. The most obnoxious alteration? My diet. I was eating really well, in the normal sense of things – mostly salad, no meat, occasional carbs, protein, and Tabasco or Shriracha to spice things up. Then, I quickly learned that my diet was the reason I couldn’t speak in the morning or sing through a set with The Nostalgics. I had to remove the tomatoes from my salad, skip the balsamic, cut the spice, avoid anything fried or fatty, and still maintain a healthy diet. Unfortunately, I found myself always hungry and eventually started adding meat to my meals. I’m still not sure how thrilled I am with this compromise, but I will do anything to preserve my voice and stop the painful acid reflux I used to experience after each meal. In addition to these changes, I had to start poppin’ pillz (Zantac and Prilosec) half an hour before I ate anything, and had to wait 3 hours after eating to go to bed – no more late night Brain Break from the d-hall! Also a lot of meals planned in advance. (Luckily for me, my blockmates in Currier always eat dinner at 6pm sharp, without fail.) Finally, I had to stop going out as much, and found myself enjoying parties even more, as I could rarely attend them! Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say ; )

 

1. Concentration! 

Fair Harvard…Our fight song, apparently.

Choosing my concentration was by far the most important decision I’ve made at Harvard. Luckily for me, my sophomore advisor was extremely helpful, talking with me for a good hour and a half three days before I had to declare! Choosing a concentration [our word for major] is important,  so having tons of help from my various advisors made the decision a little bit clearer and easier. Although I drew out of a hat in the end, I had discussed the pros and cons of each option in depth and knew with my gut that Music and Anthro was the way to go, providing me with the perfect balance of structure and freedom in my studies.

 

OKAY THAT’S ALL.
I don’t want this post to expire before I publish it. I am sorry if it isn’t up to par, but I promise to make it up to you!

Until next time,

Reid

*if you didn’t understand that blatant reference, please relive your childhood and include Disney.

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Spring Has Sprung!

April 5, 2013 in Reid's Blog by Reid | 2 comments

Hello everyone!

While I apologize for not updating you on my life sooner, I must admit I’ve been so busy having fun that I’ve just had no time! It’s been quite the whirlwind semester. When I last updated you, I was enjoying the amazing snowstorm that we experienced on campus. Since then, all the snow has melted, spring break has come and past, many important events were performed and attended, and summer plans were decided. Life at Harvard is always dynamic, so I’ve had to stay on my toes to make sure I can catch what’s thrown at me…or at least dodge it. Let’s take a look back and a glance forward, shall we?

March was a big month for me, as it brought my Spring Jam for a cappella and my birthday, two events that were strangely comparable. Jam is our only on-campus event that’s specifically for our peers/parents/friends, and so it takes a lot of rehearsal (think 5 hours a night for two weeks) to prepare. As some of you might recall, I was diagnosed with vocal nodules in December – they’re basically calluses on the important part of your voicebox – so I wasn’t sure how this semester would pan out for me, as far as singing went. I had to stop singing for The Nostalgics, my Motown band, but was able to sing with The Opportunes, as long as I continued taking my medications and attending vocal therapy at Mass Eye and Ear. Both treatments have been going very well for me, and so I was able to have an amazing jam with the people I love; I even got to solo on one of my favorite songs, which was far beyond my expectations for the semester! Check it out below.

Jam day brings most of my family into the area. My dad and I had a great lunch at Clover, one of my favorite restaurants in the square (and my definite recommendation for cheap eats if you come to visit) and watched the Men’s Lacrosse team beat Georgetown in an incredible game. As a photographer for The Harvard Crimson, I had the opportunity to cover the game, and although I’ve been doing it for a whole year and a half now, the thrill of snapping photos never gets old.

Sick shot. Check out that action!

My mom, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, and cousins all came to see me as well! It was really awesome to have such deep support from my family, as well as from my friends, who came out to listen to the music and take some pics as well. The next morning we had brunch with the Opportunes alumni, which was a great way to experience the community and dedication to the group, even after you’ve graduated. I feel very lucky to have such a tight-knit group of friends on campus 🙂

Yay Opps!

 

If I didn’t get enough of the Opps from rehearsing and performing at Jam, a week later we were on our way to the Dominican Republic for our Spring Break Tour, which I had set up as tour manager. We hopped on the plane at Boston Logan and spent a week singing, swimming, and most importantly, relaxing and having fun with one another. I was surprised to find myself not sick of the Opps by the end of the week, which is quite an accomplishment; we are an overwhelming group of large personalities! It was definitely one of the most fun times I’ve had in my life, and definitely at Harvard. We even went SNORKELING and made up a song to sing to the fish, which was pretty bizarre but also hilarious. Check out a few photos below!

Opps on the Beach!

 

Me and My Friend Brian!

 

Pirate Night!

 

Once we returned to Cambridge, it was time to start working again. Three of my classes require a research project of some sort, so I had to start interviewing and taking field notes on slam poetry culture, Celtic music in Boston, and the Vermont dairy farm crisis – not too shabby a schedule if you ask me! The subjects are incredibly interesting (I mean, I chose them for myself), but they happen to require a lot of time, so I’ve been very overwhelmed with coursework for the past month, and I will continue to be until the semester wraps up. I’m studying such a wide variety of subject material and have a lot of flexibility in my coursework, which is something I really appreciate about the Anthropology and Music departments, and especially the joint concentrations! Joint concentrations are Harvard’s [dare I say, superior] version of the Double Major; basically, instead of fulfilling two disjoint majors’ requirements, I am taking a slightly reduced course load in each department (16 courses instead of 20) and will have to write a thesis that combines the two fields in a very comprehensive product. I am SUPER excited to write my thesis, but luckily I have a ways to go before I have to start thinking about that.

The summer before senior year will be full of research for my thesis, last summer was full of Parisian culture, and this summer will be oh-so-close to home: I’ll be working at Harvard’s Admissions Office as the tour and info-session Coordinator! I am really pumped to work and stay on campus (yes, I get free room and board!), as I have yet to be in Cambridge during the summer months, and I hear it is lovely. I’ll have about a week to go home between recording for the Opps and starting work, but I can take a bus ride up for a quick weekend here and there…or so I hope. It might be challenging staying on campus for a whole year without pause, but I suppose I will let you know about that once Junior year starts. (Ahh, I am getting so old!) Speaking of which, I had my birthday at the end of March! I had a cider and pancakes party in my room, and required everyone to wear flannel in the Vermont fashion. It was actually really fun and very successful, so I was pretty pleased.

Okay, I am off to lunch with my friend Ned, I will catch you all later! I promise to update about the rest of my life soon, and maybe I’ll run into you, readers, at Visitas or at an information session (this summer? this year?).

À Bientôt!

-Reid

 

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First Impressions, Second Semester

February 2, 2013 in Reid's Blog by Reid | 6 comments

HELLOOOO EVERYONE!

Second semester has officially started! My study card is signed, I’ve already passed in a paper, and I can’t see my floor underneath all of my books and coats. I couldn’t be more excited. I was really worried about pulling together my joint concentration (similar to a double major) and having a good fit, or seeing if it was the right choice, but I am confident that Music and Social Anthropology was the way to go. (Let’s see if I feel the same after the semester is over…I sure hope so!) So now I present to you my First Impressions of the four courses I’ll be taking in the next few months.

Anthropology 1610: Ethnographic Research Methods

Ah, William James Hall. We meet again. Furthest building from the quad (or any of the upperclassman houses, for that matter). Shaped like a giant white cheese grater. Luckily, there’s the most beautiful room on the first floor, with a rounded riser system and glowing wood paneling. The acoustics must be amazing. I don’t recognize anyone in this classroom, and the professor looks like he’d be teaching something more related to psychology. There are a lot of people in here, also. Okay wrong room! Up four flights and back to the little, poorly-lit seminar room where I spent last semester in Ethnographies of Food. And now I will share a direct quotation from my notebook, “omg, I love accents.” There are more than 5 people who are Tibetan, including my TF, my professor is Jamaican and just called method courses “unsexy.” The girl to my right is Nigerian, he’s Ethiopian, Turkish, Jamaican, Thai, Dutch, Indian…all in a class of less than 20 people! Anthropology is amazing. Wait, my professor just said that he studied Cape Verdean music “many moons ago.” This was the right decision. WE GET TO WATCH AVATAR?! Sold.

 Music 97c: Ethnomusicology

Seriously, what is it with me and being in the wrong classroom? I swear that I wrote down Music 6, and nobody is here. It is 10am, however…combined with the fact that these are music concentrators and the time of day, perhaps I should stick around. Here comes the professor, I think. Yup. There are three people now, and it’s 10 past. The room is well ventilated and well lit, and the chairs are uncomfortable; even if I didn’t sleep the night before, I’ll definitely stay awake during class. Let’s see if lecture is interesting; okay, so does discussing the meaning of music after listening to a computer-created composition in the style of Vivaldi and James Kenning’s stamp cancelling recording in Uganda count as lecture? Yes. Yes, it does. I suppose comparing a reading from the Qu’ran and a call to prayer whilst discussing the concept of haram (banned) music in Somalia is an incredibly interesting way to start off my day. I can groove to this.

Anthropology 97z: Sophomore Tutorial

Back in room 105! Alright, the curved walls. They are so beautiful. My professor wants to talk about witches for a large section of this tutorial. That’s okay, too.

Music 167r: Electroacoustic Composition

Me: Is there any room left in your class? I’m obsessed with it! Hans: Fill out this form. Can you come to section from 4-6? And commit 7 hours outside of class to working on your recordings? Me: Yes. (Anything to get my hands on that amazing studio on the top floor of Paine Hall. Anything for that.)

 

 

Now that I am all settled in with my classes, I can talk a bit about my extracurriculars. Although I had a really bad doctor’s appointment about my vocal nodes, showing very little sign of improvement (the pictures are really graphic, so I won’t show them), I will be singing in my a cappella group, The Opportunes, alongside our two newest members, Madeleine and Sara! After an abridged version of our normal audition cycle, we decided on these talented ladies, and I couldn’t be more excited. I went to bed around 2 after our deliberations and set my alarm for 6:30, actually forcing myself out of bed and down to Harvard Yard to pound on our new baby Opportunes’ doors and congratulate their sleepy selves. We let them go back to sleep and/or enjoy their donuts and set off for Lowell house, where we ate breakfast together until around 8 am.

 

I marched back to the Quad underneath a blazingly blue sky, wind whipping my cheeks bright red, and settled in to my room to apply for a summer proctoring position at Harvard this summer. I’ll have to be doing vocal therapy, as I am completely unable to sing in my band (The Nostalgics), so I have to be in the Boston area, and proctoring means free room and board, plus a free class on top. You know what that means? One less class in the fall! (Or, more likely, an elective, knowing me.) Check out the courses at this link, including the one I’m super interested in (Anthro and Film).

Then I read for a bit, listened to Fleetwood Mac in preparation for a concert mid-April with my two awesome friends, Jess and Parul, and started writing a new poem for the CUPSI slam poetry competition. The competition is next week, and it determines the team who will be representing Harvard at the National Poetry Slam, which will be at Barnard College in NYC this year! Remember my post from last year? All systems, go!

I’m off to clean the mess my room’s become and have dinner with the newest Opps! Happy February everyone, and here’s to a great second semester.

Peace.

-Reid

 

 

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“Ohhhh We’re Halfway There”

June 28, 2012 in Kate's Blog by Kate Meakem | Permalink

Hello friends!

Yes, it is I, after a very long sabbatical from writing, back to report to you about my life.

So wow, a lot has happened, but rather than bore you with a drawn-out narrative of the stressful end to my sophomore year (papers, papers, papers, Finals, Finals, Finals, PACK UP, MOVE OUT, OMG STORAGE IS CLOSING IN 30 MIN! AHHHHHH), I will share with you a few vignettes from my summer so far.  I have had some incredible experiences – some big and some small and meaningful.  But they foreshadow what I hope to be an amazing summer!

Before I launch into it, I’d just like to say that finishing my sophomore year has been a strange experience — I’M HALFWAY THROUGH COLLEGE!  What is this supposed to mean?  Do I even know what I want to do in life?  Am I ready to graduate in another two years?  Did I do enough with the two I just had?

As I contemplate all of these feelings, Bon Jovi’s song “Living On a Prayer” Living on a Prayer comes to mind, and that’s where I got the name of this post.

 

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

In celebration of being done with all of our final exams, my roommates and I treated ourselves to buying tickets to a RedSox game.  I had never been to a RedSox game before and one of my roommates had never been to any baseball game before so this was a big event.

It was a wonderfully warm summer night, and the Boston fans were out in full force.  The Sox were playing the Indians, but not a single Cleveland fan could be spotted (I mean, they would have to be pretty brave).  My roommates and I arrived at a packed T-station, sporting all of the RedSox paraphernalia we could find.  Thrilled by the combined sentiments of being done with finals, of being at a Sox game, and of finding great seats even though we had paid for standing room-only tickets, we were giddy as we dug into our cracker jacks and hot dogs.

One of my roommates and me at the RedSox Game!

But in the moments after the ballpark had stood up to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” I admit, the happy feelings began to falter a bit.  Our sophomore year was over!  We were now halfway through our college experience.  We weren’t going to see each other for an entire three months.  And in just another two years, we would be separated by wherever life took us.  Everything just seemed so scary!

And so, embarrassingly, we had one of those girly, sentimental moments – right there, in the middle of Fenway Park.  A few tears may or may not have been shed.  And I don’t regret it one bit.  In fact, I think it’ll be one of the moments I remember most fondly when I do eventually graduate and look back at my college experience.  Because I was there, surrounded by my closest friends. Together we had grown to be new people, together we would continue to change during the next two years, and eventually together we would face the world.  And it wouldn’t be so scary so long as we had each other.

And that might be the corniest thing I have ever written.

But I mean it.

 

So freaking Patriotic

I went home for a week around Memorial Day, which is a big deal in the town of Sewickley, PA.  We host a huge parade in which every pee-wee baseball team, every Girl Scout troop, every high school band member from every high school around, every greyhound dog owner (don’t ask…), every vintage car owner, and every firefighter troop and its trucks, not to mention every veteran from every war (including reenactments of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars) march, jog, trot, play, and drive through the town.  In addition, the middle school’s Clown Club always provides alternative modes of transportation to its members such as unicycles and pogo sticks.

Not only is Memorial Day a big deal to our town, but it’s also a big deal to my family.  My dad is a Gulf War I veteran and we’re all very proud of it.  My dad will usually organize a group or fellow-vets to march in the parade and host a barbecue at our house afterward.  This year, the town asked my dad to give the public address at the post-parade commemorative ceremony.

As my dad stood in his dress blue speaking about the heroism of those who fight to defend our freedom, I felt so proud and so loved surrounded by my family and my community.   It’s a feeling that I sometimes forget when I’m at Harvard, hustling and bustling from one activity to another.

My sister, my dad, and me after my dad’s speech on Memorial Day!

But as I watched the parade march by, the same parade I had been watching every Memorial Day since I can remember, and as I was feeling this great sense of family and community, I couldn’t help but also feel a sense of separation.  Less and less do I feel like Sewickley is my home, and more and more do I feel like its part of a very loving past.  It wasn’t a sad feeling, just a different feeling, one that I accepted.  I had been living at Harvard the past two years, Harvard was my home now.  And well, I guess that’s what you get after you finish your sophomore year.

My sides hurt from Cartwheels and Laughing

During the summer, when most Harvard students are off campus exploring the world, the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) suspends its normal programming and starts up twelve summer camps for low-income kids around Cambridge and Boston.  These twelve camps constitute PBHA’s Summer Urban Program (SUP).  Like everything else at PBHA, SUP is student-run, so I am working this summer on what we call Fulltime SUPport (get it?).  I like to tell people that the job is a combination of administrative work and manual labor.

We hauled 60 chairs from the Harvard Recycling Center to our Mission Hill Summer Program camp site for their classrooms. It was a 97 degree day. In the background is one of my friends cheering when we finished!

SUP is a great community of awesome students working together to change the lives of elementary and middle school students.  But beyond that, it’s a great community of friends.  We live in the Radcliffe Quad in Cabot House, and in the evenings, after camp is done for the day, we use the Quad to play soccer, run around and have fun.

This summer, I have compiled a short bucket list of things I would like to accomplish.  One of these things is to be able to do a cartwheel.  Now, I know this is a basic part of many people’s growing up, but somehow between my never-ending stages of gangly awkwardness, I never could quite get there.  I remember when I was probably three or so, my mother signed me up for a Gymnastics course, and at the end of the class while all the kids performed cartwheels and summersaults to the “Ooooo”s and “Ahhhh”s of their parents, my only contribution to the performance was a Donkey-kick… in which my teacher had to grab my legs and kick them up for me.

Yes, clearly I am gymnastically-talented.  So finally, at the age of 20, I am determined to accomplish this great feat.

With the help of a few good SUP friends, I practiced on the Quad Lawn for about an hour, slowly progressing, but never quite getting it.  By the time it started getting dark, I was sore all over from trying to propel my legs through the air (don’t laugh…) and from laughing with my friends at each of my awkward crashes to the ground.

I haven’t accomplished a full cartwheel yet, but it was a great evening, one I shared with close friends as we looked forward to what the summer would offer us.

And that’s all I have for now!  As you can see, I have some pretty mixed feelings about beginning the second half of my college experience.  A large part of me is screaming, “I don’t want to grow up!!!” while all the while, I keep looking around and seeing the ways I already have.  It’s a funny thing.  But you guys get to witness the whole process.  Should be interesting to look back and read all of these entries in two years.

Cheers!

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