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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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The Insider’s Guide to Exams

December 14, 2010 in Caroline B's Blog by Caroline Burke | Permalink

December at Harvard means one thing: finals. For the last three weeks of the semester, students spend the majority of their time writing final papers, finishing final projects, and studying for their impending final exams. We’re lucky in that we have a full week of “reading period,” during which there are no formal classes or exams and students are given time to crunch down.

If that sounds stressful…it’s because it is. It’s hard to deny that finals period is the most intense part of the semester – the libraries fill up, Houses have a “zero-parties” policy, and the line for coffee at Starbucks is consistently 15 minutes long. Luckily, though, I’ve spent (er, wasted) much of my reading period testing out different study spots, coffee shops, and snack stops in an attempt to find my perfect combination. Given my extensive research (glad to see reading period was good for something!), I’ve developed a list of my favorite exam period standbys. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I am a non-library, coffee shop studier who loves Dunkin’ Donuts and pizza from Noch’s. Hopefully my bias doesn’t come through too strongly, though!

Best Libraries:

  1. Widener – Great for the “I go to Harvard” feeling. The main study room is really official looking, with long tables and lots of students doing seemingly important things. Plus, the silent study rule makes it a great place to crank out some work.
  2. Lamont – While it gets really packed over reading period, Lamont being open 24 hours makes it a convenient spot for late-night cramming. Misery loves company!
  3. Law School library – Conveniently right off the Yard, and stocked with free coffee! Hard to beat, but few undergrads.

Best Non-Library Study Spots:

  1. Starbucks in the Garage – While there are two Starbucks locations in the Square, the one in the Garage is much larger and has big tables and booths. Constant supply and coffee and snacks if you need them! Downside is that if you stay more than an hour, you start hearing their holiday playlist on repeat.
  2. Crema Café – A small, local coffee and sandwich shop with a great upstairs seating area. Again, delicious snacks at the ready! There’s no wifi, though, which can be good or bad, depending on the type of work you need to get done.
  3. Quincy Dining Hall – The Houses leave their dining halls open at night so students can hang out and study. Quincy’s is the best for serious work – big tables, good lighting, and comfortable chairs.

Best Coffee and Tea (for you caffeine-addicted readers…)

  1. Dunkin’ Donuts – Ok, ok. Dunkin’ Donuts doesn’t actually have the best coffee, if you’re looking for quality of bean or any sort of real measure of quality. Being from New England, though, I’m biased! The guy at the DD up the street knows my order.
  2. Crema Café – Great home brews and cute coffee cups! They make the drinks to order, so everything’s really fresh.
  3. Starbucks – I hate to admit it, but it’s true. It’s hard to beat Starbucks in terms of convenience, tastiness, and options.
  4. Burdick’s – Admittedly, Burdick’s is known for it’s hot chocolate, not it’s coffee, but their mochas are delicious. The dark hot chocolate is especially tasty, as well! Small tables, but they have wifi – good place to check your email or edit a paper.

Best Brain-Boosting Snacks

  1. Slice of pizza from Noch’s – Make sure you ask for Sicilian! Cheesy and delicious, and made even better when used as a break from studying. My recommendation is to get a slice of whatever’s coming out of the oven.
  2. Smoothie from Boloco – One of the three burrito places in the Square, but this one has a plethora of smoothie options that are both sweet and filling.
  3. Bagel from Au Bon Pain – Best part about ABP is that it’s open til 2 am. Anything with sugar and carbs is going to be super helpful getting through that late night of studying!

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Beware the LAMONSTERS!

December 13, 2010 in Kate's Blog by Kate Meakem | 1 comment

Finals time has arrived, and this being Harvard, EVERYONE is hitting the books.  Luckily, Harvard has anticipated our crazed desire to study 24 hrs/7days a week and has scheduled a ten day Reading Period in which classes are canceled, meals are plentiful, and the campus is abuzz with chapter reviews.

It is during this time of year that the colloquial term “Lamonster” takes on added meaning.  Lamont is the College’s 24-hour library used by undergraduates looking to overdose on work.  It provides every work environment imaginable.

On the first floor, you will find a café operational until 2 a.m. where students can purchase sandwiches, cappuccinos, pastries, and sushi, or can grab any assortment of snacks from the vending machines.  The Café is a social work area where students are welcome to talk about work, complain about work, or chit-chat about everything BUT work, while sitting in lounge chairs and throwing their feet up.

Because pictures are not allowed in Lamont during Reading Period, here is a picture I grabbed off of Google Images. This is the Lamont Cafe, but imagine it packed to the brim with students.

Need to get some real work done?  No problem, just head back a little further on the first floor to the quiet study section, where you will find an open workspace filled with more lounge chairs and cubicles.  There you can still feel part of the world as you shoot silent glances across the room to your roommate or watch your friend from Life Sci receive your Facebook chat asking about the third question on the problem set.

But find even that much interaction too distracting to be productive?  Try the second floor where there are desks set up among the stacks or the third floor where there is another quiet study room with more cubicles and fewer lounge chairs.

Ahhh!  You just got a text from your Spanish partner reminding you that you need to finish up that group project tonight, and Lamont Café is too full!  Not a problem, there is a large group-study space in the basement with plenty of large desks to spread your stuff out, and swivel chairs.

Right now, you might be thinking, “Gee… Lamont Library really has everything a person might need… food, comfortable chairs for naps, study space, books, computers, friends to talk to, and it NEVER closes.”  And you would be right.  Thus, the Lamonster.  The Lamonster is the terrifying creature within us all that lurks the bookshelves late into the night and doesn’t ever leave.  The Lamonster eats, sleeps, and works all in the same building, only glimpsing the sun through the windows and only venturing outdoors to go to class.  The Lamonster is very, very real.  And no time is more conducive to Lamonster behavior than Reading Period.

As I sit in one of Lamont’s first-floor lounge chairs, I can hear the pitter-patter of fingers on keyboards, the scratch of pages being turned, and the faint tin of various types of music blasting through earphones.  I have not become a Lamonster today.  Soon I will pack up my studying and head home to Pennypacker.  But last week was a different story.

I have a very strange exam schedule.  I had my two-part Spanish exam last week during Reading Period (I know, I thought this strange too) and my 15-page final paper in Celtic History due last Friday.  While this was a completely manageable amount of work, I spent quite a few hours in Lamont.  Because I am easily distracted and find that I cannot help but talk to every single person I recognize when work is the other option, I worked on the third floor… for a looooooonnnnngg time.  As I am not guaranteed that my teachers (or my mom) will not read this, I will not tell you just HOW late I was up the night before my Celtic paper was due, but let’s just say, that it was very, very late… or should I say early?

But even I have to admit, it’s kind of cool to have a place to go when you’re uber-stressed about a test, a paper, a presentation, and find a community of equally hard-working students!  It can be depressing to see the light of the early morn in you room by yourself after a night of work, but in Lamont, you are always guaranteed to have company.  I should also note here that not everyone at Harvard becomes a Lamonster.  If you have even half-decent time management skills and place even a little value on sleep, you will be a perfectly healthy and happy student with good study habits.  But if you happen to be like me and have no ability to manage time and a propensity to put assignments off, just know, you will never be alone in Lamont!

UPDATE:  Upon seeing this blog post, my roommate referred me to this new website called Sleeping in Lamont, which I find to be HILARIOUS and very relevant.  Enjoy!

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