spring

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Sunshine, History, and Literature

April 8, 2013 in Caroline T's Blog by carolinetrusty | Permalink

Spring is in the air!

Judging by the warmer temperatures, the sunshine, and the waves of tourists on the sidewalks, spring is well on its way through Harvard Square. Cambridge in the springtime is always wonderful, especially after a winter like the one we’ve had (Nemo, anyone???!!). The air seems lighter, smiles seem brighter, and walking from class to class is increasingly more pleasant. I actually wore flip-flops during a shopping trip earlier this week. I’ll let you know when it’s time to break out the Bermuda shorts.

I haven’t fully be able to enjoy the sunshine, however, because I’ve been working on my History & Literature (H&L) Junior Paper. Last Monday I, along with all of the other juniors studying H&L, was required to hand in a 6,000 word research essay on the topic of my choice. While the last few hours of writing, editing footnotes, and searching frantically for any misplaced commas were nerve racking, the experience as a whole was great! I decided to research the French-Algerian War, and I got to study works by authors like Fanon, Pontecorvo, Bouchareb, Aussaresses, etc. I learned a lot, and if you ever need to know anything about French or Algeria between 1954 and 1962, I’m your go-to girl.

The Barker Center

The beautiful Barker Center is where most of my History & Literature classes, including my tutorial, are held.

This research paper was essentially a culmination of the H&L Junior tutorial. As a modern European H&L concentrator, one of my graduation requirements is the H&L junior tutorial. It is a two-hour meeting between me, my tutor, and two other students (or colleagues, as they are referred to in the department). It may sound daunting: two hours of talking between four people seems like a lot, but honestly, the times flies. The greatest thing about the H&L junior tutorial is that it is student led. We have a great tutor who is a member of the H&L Department and under her guidance we create our own syllabus, complete with secondary and primary source material of our own choosing. Pretty cool, right? Not only are we getting to study history through a literary lens, we’re also getting to choose the history that truly interests us and we’re crafting that lens ourselves.

One of the main purposes of the paper is to prepare us to begin writing our thesis, another requirement for graduation. But more on that next year…with this particular essay behind me, I plan on fully enjoying the rest of Junior Year!

Until next week,

Caroline

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The View from the End of the Road

April 20, 2012 in Alumni Blogs by npadilla | Permalink

 Lowell House Courtyard

Spring has sprung: see the flowers blooming! It was almost 80 degrees and warranting more classes to be outside. Less than a week left of classes, the last official classes of Harvard, and I can’t believe it!

The senior class committee has been sending out impending countdown announcements: 36 as of now. The days are still filled with last minute study, delving into extracurricular, and preparation for graduation. I’ve been attempting to take advantage of the local surroundings while I’m in the area; particularly study breaks in local cafes!

 

 Diesel Cafe, Davis Square, Cambridge

As for extracurricular, it’s been a Food Literacy Project heavy week. This Tuesday FLP hosted our annual Top Chef competition—teams from each of the Harvard houses (and the freshmen) who won a preliminary cooking competition came together in Annenberg (the Harvard freshman dining hall) and were each given thirty minutes to make an entrée and dessert to be judged by the Harvard dining services, including Executive Chef Martin Breslin.

The event was high energy and full of creativity and food passion. Check out some of the great dishes from the event:

 

Adam House Dishes

Leverett House Dishes 

Currier House Dishes [the two kids of a house tutor were the team!]

The winner was Winthrop house with a fattoush salad and apple tart. Check out the winners and their meal below:

 

In the meantime, I’ve been working on sales and marketing with a local company, helping put on events. With that, fellowships for the summer, and an offer to get trained in yoga with a Harvard community program (!), it looks like at least the next few months post-graduation are coming together, the first couple of which will be in Boston.

 The view from a dorm room in the Leverett Towers, featuring the Charles River

~Natalie

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Small Classes, Big Ideas

March 24, 2012 in Alumni Blogs by npadilla | Permalink

If you walked through Harvard Yard this week you would have seen groups upon groups of flip-flop-wearing, sun-dress-adorning college students relaxing on the grass and playing Frisbee in the shade. The 80-degree weather even promoted my Philosophy 97 Tutorial (environmental ethics) to be held outdoors, as many Harvard classes opted for.

 

Debates raged about immigration and the Kyoto treating as we lounged in the shade. This is my favorite time at Harvard, spring, when the stresses of classes are mingled with the soothing warmth of sunlight and playfulness that becomes evoked as students enjoy the moment. There’s a certain comfort in the coming of this season again, and reminds me of years past and the same events.

Students having a “beach party” at the Charles River sans the beach

I found myself relieving memories of academic in particular when I ran into an older teaching fellow from a favorite philosophy class of mine, Philosophy of Psychology. He told me about his dissertation work and I my thesis work, somehow feeling timid all of a sudden about my own work. Perhaps it was because I remember how far my own writing in theory has come since then, or perhaps it was odd realizing I was at the end of the time of academia.

 

As excited as I am for the real world, there’s a certain scary uncertainness to it all. There’s no obvious next step, no ever-expanding choice of options and new options to explore, but just more narrowing and narrowing. I’m in the process now of determining how to choose as I apply to jobs and fellowships. Only a short post for this mid-semester evening, but I’ll keep you updated as it turns out.

 

~Natalie

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The Many Causes for Celebration!

March 9, 2012 in Alumni Blogs by npadilla | 2 comments

FedEx/Kinkos, 12:17am the morning before my thesis is due

It’s official! My thesis has been turned in, despite accidental hole punching, buying the wrong binders, and picking up printouts from FedEx at midnight, it is done! I, luckily, wasn’t feeling as disheveled as I look above once I finally got my print out, but perhaps a bit delirious (though I also just really like that hat). There was even a nice ritual to turning it in, signing your name off, being congratulated, and getting a free Government tote bag.

 

To celebrate, at 5pm the day my thesis was due, the Government Department had a toast with the department staff and other students who had made it through. My only advice at the end of it all, besides choosing an advisor you can talk openly with, is to make sure you really love your topic. I know everyone says that, but it is not that you must just “like “ or “love” your topic, you must “REALLY love” it because you will get sick about reading it and writing it if not (and probably even if you do).

 

And upon finishing my midterm for my “American Food: A Global History” course, Spring break has arrived. In our last section for this course before break, we went over our final research projects for the year. I’ve been looking forward to this project all semester, as it will be the first (and hopefully not last) time I get to really utilize Harvard’s Schlesinger Library. I’ve never seen such an extensive archive on food and women (two academic subjects of my fascination), including everything from old cookbooks aboard military ships from the 1700s to the first U.S. vegetarian magazine.

Leaving my midterm I saw this beautiful ornament near the Religion Department

As I wait for that time, this week at least offers a nice break with some friends visiting and a trip to New York to see my brother. From my “American Food” class, I’ll bring along “The Jungle” (an assigned reading) for some nice company on the bus ride (besides my boyfriend, who just sleeps the whole time anyway). Hope you all are enjoying spring too if you’re near my part of the world!

Oh yeah, and as some of the other bloggers here have already mentioned, this week was housing week where freshman are sorted into their houses for next year (a la Harry Poter style minus the fancy hat) and upperclassmen in each of the houses welcome in their new housemates with social events and awesome videos. I’m in Leverett, but the Quincy Housing Day video for two years has been epic (see if you get the reference)!
~Natalie

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This or That?: Classes for 2012

January 6, 2012 in Alumni Blogs by npadilla | 2 comments

After days of sleeping in, thoughts of school have once again drifted to mind. Perhaps because the upcoming semester is my last, but I find myself eager to begin my pre-term planning for my last set of classes.

 

One of the courses I have to take this semester is a Philosophy Tutorial, the last class I have to take to complete my secondary (aka. minor) in philosophy. The department offers a choice of four subjects courses to complete the tutorial: Environmental Ethic, What is Life?, Rationality & Emotions, and Human Nature. Based on my previous study in political theory and moral philosophy, I’m currently leaning towards the Environmental Ethic course that includes such discussions as obligation to future generations, private property, and factory farming.

 

The other courses I plan to take include Government 99 (the second half of my year long thesis course), International Political Economy (as fulfillment for my Government International Relations requirement), and Accounting. The accounting course is a class I hope to cross-register for at M.I.T, a common occurrence between students of both universities and a class I hope to be useful for any future business endeavor.

 

One of the courses I’m most excited for though is the International Political Economy class, a subject I find quite relatable to my current thesis research on the World Trade Organization. The Harvard student-based review system, the Cue Guide, suggests the class is riveting if not quite challenging.

 

As with each plan we make though, surprise is inevitable and no course is set in stone. I’ll keep you updated on the process as I continue to search and start the semester-based shopping period. From the suburbs of California, I hope the winter months are treating you well!

 

~Natalie

 

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