Articles by Jeanie Nguyen

Harvard College Junior, Mather House

Full Time Student

January 30, 2013 in Jeanie's Blog by Jeanie Nguyen | 3 comments

I made a joke over the weekend about how I couldn’t make my bed because I’m really busy as a full time student. My snide elicited pity laughter at the very least, but it got me thinking about how being a student has been my job day in and day out for the last 15 years of my life…and I’m not at all sick of it! Wouldn’t it be the best if students got pensions??

My peers and I are truly full time students – even on weekends and during vacations. When we’re not in class, we may be working to save money to invest in our education, or we may be in labs building both fundamental and advanced skills to directly apply to classes, or we may be eagerly awaiting highly intellectual conversations so we can casually bring up the coolest concept from our recent lecture. Regardless of our extra-curriculars,  we’re full time students. Personally, one of the most thrilling yet high-pressure aspects of attending Harvard is that I represent Harvard when I meet people. I feel like if people aren’t familiar with the institution, their impressions of me will either positively or negatively influence their perceptions of Harvard…scary!

Fellow blogger, Jesse, was at the event too!

My last post ended with how excited I was to attend the Harvard Club of San Diego’s Early Admit celebration. The undergraduate college has recently reinstated Early Action and a bunch of high school students are taking advantage of it! I sure wish there was Early Action when I was applying! Anyway, I was rightfully excited about the event as it was cool to finally meet people behind all the local club’s emails and also see how eager-nervous the newly admitted students are. It was a great event where newbies could ask questions to both current students and alumni, as well as have current students share with each other about their current experiences. I met and caught up with a lot of great people and had so much fun that I went to another event later that week! It was a Happy Hour get together for alum in the area and the turnout was super diverse! There were people who were in school while I was in school, but we had just never met. There were people who were the high school teacher of my current friends in college. I was essentially drooling over everyone’s cool stories. Since I was the only current student present at the event, there was a lot of interest in discussing how the university is in its current day – there wasn’t always OWAW (Optional Winter Activities Week, explained further below) or finals before winter break!

This past winter break, I dedicated a fair amount of my time studying for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) – basically a standardized test that all students who want to pursue medical school must take. When I originally tried registering for the test, there were no open spots in Boston or California for the January dates, so I figured I’d have to take the test after Spring Break, which definitely wouldn’t have been an ideal situation. Yet, the MCAT decided to give me an early birthday present this past December, meaning when I checked the MCAT registration site again, there were open testing spots at a test site just 3 miles away from my dorm room! Winter break was the only time I spent preparing for the test, although I’ve technically been preparing my whole life while taking all these classes and whatnot. I’m not an advocate of spending tons of money to prepare for standardized tests – this includes SATs, ACTs, AP tests, etc. as well. My plan of attack included reading some review books and practicing questions. Yet there’s something about being home that makes me extremely lazy and unproductive. The comforts of home is definitely not conducive to productivity, but it was especially nice for my parents to see me study hard so they know I’m actually working hard at school across the country.

Harvard has this week called OWAW (Optional Winter Activities Week, pronounced “Oh, wow!”) which is the week right before the spring semester starts. Students are allowed to return to campus early with most meals provided. Although I didn’t participate in any of the planned activities, I was able to utilize my quiet room and the Harvard libraries to catalyze my MCAT studies. T-day (test day) finally came and my nerves were way worse than the test!! I’ve never been so freaking nervous. Hopefully, when the scores come out in a month, I’ll be pleasantly surprised :)

Being a premedical student at Harvard is … interesting to say the least. I feel like there are pros and cons with this decision at every university, but the extremes of these factors are dramatically emphasized alongside the brand of Harvard. I think I feel a lot more pressure to attend a top medical school and be successful due to the fact that my bachelors degree comes from Harvard; yet I sometimes rationalize this concomitant, heightened pressure with the fact that I am so lucky to have tons of resources at my fingertips – this goes from amazing faculty and graduate students, as well as friendly and knowledgeable advisers! There’s also this (mis?)conception that Harvard students are more intense – we stab each other in the back and are just obnoxiously competitive. I can’t say that all of the above isn’t true, but I really, truly, deeply don’t think that we’re evil. Whenever I seek advice about a class or need help understanding a concept, my friends are always willing to sit down with me, even when I’m impatient, rude, and using a mean voice! We’re a community, and a community that I’m proud and happy to be a part of!

As junior spring begins (snowy!), I have the majority of my requirements finished. The weird thing is I haven’t taken a lot of intro classes like genetics and physical science, so I’m creepily excited to make a lot of freshman friends this semester. Let’s just hope that I’m not being presumptuous by assuming that freshmen want to be my friend in the first place…

My next post will be a list of the classes I’ll be taking this spring. I’m currently driving myself crazy because enrolling in 6 classes currently seems both a possible and desirable option…

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Study Break

January 13, 2013 in Jeanie's Blog by Jeanie Nguyen | 2 comments

Junior year of college has been all about future planning. It’s been pretty hard for me to live junior year in the present.

 

Freshman year, you have the total right and responsibility to be a wide-eyed, deer-in-headlights type of student who explores classes, student organizations, perhaps even jobs and (dorm) entryways, and maybe even persuade some initially unwilling strangers to be your new best friend.

Sophomore year, you have a better handle on campus life as you really begin leaving your mark – you’ve narrowed your potential concentrations (majors), acclimated to the hectic schedule, reached an ideal (burping) comfort level among your friends, and not only have grown accustom to but also miss your school routine and campus duties while you’re away. You’re no longer lost around campus – or at least have the online and peer resources to reach out to when in need. You have your head on a little straighter and the whole small fish in a big pond feeling is (hopefully!) fading away.

I don’t really have a generic (cheesy? overly expected?) summary of junior year (yet!), but I do feel like I’ve definitely spent a larger amount of my time thinking about senior year and beyond. Maybe it’s because half of my (older) friends have graduated, entering graduate school or the real (scary) world of jobs, and by keeping in touch with them and listening to their current priorities, there’s a strong influence for me to put myself in their shoes and project what my concerns will be like in a few years. Or maybe my futuristic mindset stems from how the summer of 2012 (shadowing at a clinic in Peru through DRCLAS – David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies) has catalyzed both my desire and certainty to pursue medical school.

Thinking about medical school, for me, is super intimidating. As I follow the steps to try and set myself up for a bright future in medical school and beyond, I feel like I’m walking through the darkest haunted hallway where I’m scared of everything whether I should be or not.

I was pretty hesitant to prance along and identify myself as a premed student. And if I were being completely honest, I’d have to admit that I sometimes revert back to that annoying hesitation. Especially right now during winter break (J-term, January term) as I study for the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test). I sit here staring at the mitosis chapter wondering what other careers that could possibly interest me even the slightest. Brainstorming to no avail, I continue on with my cell division review.

Thankfully, tons of my worries and questions regarding medical school and its application process has been addressed by multiple premed tutors (advisers) – some of them even live like 21 stair steps from me! After freshman year, students are assigned to an upperclassman house for their remaining time as an undergraduate. Each upperclassman house has both resident and non-resident tutors specializing in popular career areas (i.e. medicine, business, law, etc.). The best part is that these tutors advise from not books and movies, but rather from their personal experiences. For example, pretty much all the premed tutors are students at Harvard Medical School so I often feel like I’m in the best hands. Yet this doesn’t mean that it completely prevents my hands from trembling when I think about the future!

Perhaps my world has a little blast-to-the-future flavor because I fast-forwarded my life a year or two. Initially, I planned on taking at least one gap year between undergrad and med school so I could live out the whole young-adult-seeks-identity chapter of my life. However, as any great outline thrives on a little flexibility, I found myself editing that chapter out after this past summer. Thus, I began my junior year moving forward with plans to apply to medical school straight through which means thinking about serious things like the MCAT! Eeeek! T minus 11 days. Oh man, I definitely should not have just counted the days. The looming of this test has been such a heavy weight on my shoulders, but with my studying and practice, I hope to train so that it’ll soon dissolve!!! Just think in 11 and a half days, I can breathe effortlessly again, that is if I’m not crying from the cruelties of the test.

So as I sit at home with my nose in a review book, my friends are traveling the world, tanning, and catching up on some quality television. Just kidding…well kind of kidding; I’ve made some time to live a little too:

Today, the Harvard Club on San Diego is hosting a celebratory dim sum brunch for the early admits in the area. I’m crazy excited…and not just for the free food. Ever since the spring of 2010, I swear the Club has only held events when I’m out of town!! So this will be my first time meeting some locals. More about this brunch soon! I’ll check back in once the spring semester starts :)

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And that’s a wrap!

December 28, 2012 in Jeanie's Blog by Jeanie Nguyen | Comments closed

It’s officially been seven days into winter break (aka J-term) and it’s been a beautiful string of seven days! After surviving/conquering another semester of college, everyone truly deserves a relaxing break – the sad part is I’m already kind of itching to get back … SLIGHTLY.

Last Friday (Dec. 21st) was the last day of final exams. I had a final in the morning despite it being my 21st birthday. Although this has been my #1 complaint since the Final Exam schedule was published from the registrar, the brightest side is that it forced me to stay on campus until my birthday which granted me the pleasure of celebrating with my college friends!

The way finals work at Harvard is that the majority of classes will hold exams in the span of one week and on any given day, there are 2 exam slots (1 exam at 9 am and another exam at 2 pm). Therefore you can have a maximum of 2 finals per day. Exams are not proctored on Sundays and some classes may not have final exams but rather a final paper/project instead (these final-alternatives tend to be due during Reading Period, the week before official Final Exams, also known as Dead Week at other universities). Some classes also may proctor a final test earlier than the university’s official exam week (this most commonly happens for language classes…I think). One of my ultimate goals is to never have 2 finals on one day. I’ve been successful so far, but some of my friends have had 4 finals (one for every class) on the last 2 Final Exam days – pretty much as cruel as academic torture gets.

Home is not just where the heart is, but it’s also where I can take a postcard picture with my phone. SUP SAN DIEGO

My birthday final went pretty well and my friends super skillfully utilized the 4 hours between the end of my final and my flight home to celebrate my birthday. I flew to back home to California, regaining the 3 hours of my birthday I had lost from the final. My family received me better than I could ever ask for and I definitely milked my birthday for every free item I could :) I literally kept this 21st birthday celebration so strong that I think my birthday was a bigger deal than Christmas. I have tons of family in Vegas so I’m spending the holidays here.

HEY VEGAS, you look better with the lights off

At school, I definitely feel like my circle of friends has easily become like a new family to me. Some people say you’ll never make friends like your college friends, while others simply say you’ll never make friends after college. Although I can not personally definitively confirm any statements, I can contest to the intensity of my college friendships in terms of their strength and pace! I’m lucky to say that my friends at school have definitely hindered me from feeling homesick often. As terrible as this sounds, it makes it hard to remember what being around family feels like – especially since I was only with my family for less than 2 weeks this past summer! Being home now, for the entirety of J-term feels so, SO great! There’s nothing like family and the instant connection I feel with them. I’m cherishing the time I’m spending with my 18 month old niece and the hours of algebra and Spanish tutoring with my cousin who’s a freshman in high school. I’ll be spending the rest of break studying for the MCAT and running like a wannabe beast in preparation for the Boston Marathon.

More on my MCAT preparation and premed lifestyle in my next post!

I’ve been vacationing so hard this past week that I’m itching to get into a routine. Sleeping cycle-lessly and eating nonstop may or may not be taking its toll on me :p I guess moral of the story is that you’ll make great friends in college but the relationships you’ll leave behind will be met again! So to all you high school seniors nervous about moving away for college, try to leverage your anxiety and use this time to enjoy the holidays!! Yes, this is easier said than done. I know my senior year of high school was probably the most emotional year of my life with my future so close yet profoundly unknown – but once all your applications are in, then it’s out of your hands so there’s no use in worrying. Good luck to all you still working on those applications too! The process sucks, but it’s an investment worth making for your near future! I’m keeping my fingers crossed for all of you!

Cheers from Vegas!

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“Next to Normal”

December 18, 2012 in Jeanie's Blog by Jeanie Nguyen | 1 comment

Today marks Day 5 (of 8) of Exam Week. Eeek! I wish everyone the best of luck with exams regardless of where you are in your education! It can definitely be more of a high-stress time, but find comfort in the fact that you’ve technically been preparing for these exams for months on months!!

With one more academic semester coming to a close, nothing on campus is normal this time of year. For example, despite my life science concentration (major), I’ve been cranking out almost as many papers as my English counterparts! (Key word: almost) I’m blogging right now in a the most peaceful mindset that I’ve had in almost a week. My two most important papers, culminating everything I’ve learned in half a year (!), were due this past Tuesday/Wednesday. As Reid mentioned in her last blog, a lot of papers/final projects are due during Reading Period – a week when no classes are held so we have unstructured time to prep for examinations! Yet keep in mind that a lot of language classes will still meet. My Spanish class served as a paper-writing break for me!

Here’s how I’ve spent some of my unstructured time:

MCB 145: Neuroperception & Decision Making

Hands down favorite class of the semester. The material is so riveting, the teaching staff is super approachable and admirably knowledgeable! (swoon here) I’ve just really loved this class because like MCB 115 (Cellular Basis of Neuronal Function), it’s done a phenomenal job at fostering our creative thinking juices within a scientific environment. In addition to the standard lectures, all our readings are scientific articles on currently accepted/widely accepted theories. Even I am cognizant of my progress as a scientific thinker: I use to just passively read and accept information and analysis, but now, I’m actively engaged in their methods and interpretations as well as constantly demanding the authors to genuinely win me over with their hypotheses. Ah, my nerd juices are happily fizzling.

Our last class was a miracle berry party! This was my 2nd time going on a “taste-trip” because Annenberg (the freshman dining hall) offered it as a study break when I was a freshman. You ingest this fruit or tablet and it makes everything – from pickles to grapefruit – taste sweeter! There are some videos on YouTube if you’re interested in living vicariously. Not completely suggesting it, but I’m pretty sure my professor bought tablets exactly like this on Amazon. I love food and I love parties, so it was a great way to end my favorite class!

Our final project mirrored a research proposal that would be submitted to the NIH (National Institute of Health). This paper made me a little paranoid for all my other assignments because the suggested page length was 4-5 pages … little did I know they meant singled-spaced! Was hardly aware people still counted that way! But I think my affections for this class stem from the growth of a potential senior thesis idea.

Slight explanatory tangent: I believe every concentration (aka major) either requires a senior thesis or has it as an option. I’m at the very beginning of thinking about pursuing a senior thesis so I’m not super knowledgeable, but from what I imagine, a thesis is essentially your first ever 80 page baby. You hate it because it keeps you up at night and makes you cry. Yet you love it because you’ve invested your mind, heart, and time into the thing! For my neurobiology concentration, it’s not required. However for my Global Health & Health Policy secondary (minor), either a separate mini thesis is required or a chapter in the thesis.

Anyways, during MCB 145, I developed a personal interest in preferences and am sort of on a quest to explain how and why people (or animals like mice) play favorites using neuronal activity. Depending on the feedback I receive, I may want to pursue this topic for my senior thesis. That means, I’ll be looking for a wet lab to start in the spring and most likely dedicate my summer there too! All this future planning, GAH

24 hours after my MCB paper was due, my final paper for Aesthetic & Interpretive Understanding 50: Literature & Medicine was due. I used 2 books we’ve read in the 2nd half of the semester to show how one’s understanding of the temporality of death results in his/her understanding of one’s self identity. Some pretty deep and depressing material, so I was beyond elated to submit the paper! This class, fulfilling a general education requirement as well as a requirement for my Global Health & Health Policy secondary) was a lot better than I expected! With one 2-hour lecture a week (in addition to a weekly 1-hr discussion section), it wasn’t super time consuming and the synergistic perspective of literature and medicine was a refreshing way to be introduced to a patient’s (and not only a doctor’s) point of view.

As classes end, students are typically bombarded with reminder emails for review sessions from their current TFs (Teaching Fellow, typically graduate student course assistants). However, one of the best surprises from the semester happened when I got an email from my LS1a (Life Sciences 1a, a huge introductory science class) TF. I was enrolled in this course my freshman fall (omg, 2 years ago!) and LS1a still remains one of my favorite classes! Probably because I had the coolest TF! This past semester marks his fourth year TF-ing LS1a and he emailed all his past students for a reunion. He reserved a classroom in the Science Center and brought us snacks! I was so impressed by his memory because he remembered where our section was held and pretty much seems to be aware of everything going on in my life. There’s definitely not only a high correlation, but a causation between how much I like my TFs and how much I like the class overall.

 

Like Scott & Reid who took some time to enjoy RENT, I too wanted to soak up some performing arts and watched Next to Normal. Some of the characters were familiar from last spring’s Legally Blonde student production, but the tone of the musical was completely different. I was basically sobbing which doesn’t really say too much but sniffles were heard throughout the theater!! I applaud and applaud for these kids who are going through pretty stressful finals and a week of performances on top of that! I don’t like giving away too much of the plot, but Next to Normal did get good reviews!

Lastly, before I enter finals mode perpetually, another Congratulations to the Class of 2017 is in order!! You all are major rockstars. Soak in and enjoy these well-deserved, precious times. I’ll certainly remember my moment of acceptance for eternity, but I also remember the wild wave of questions that came soon after. The Admissions Office and us bloggers are all rooting for you! Don’t be too shy and join your class group on Facebook!

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Seasonal Readings

December 8, 2012 in Jeanie's Blog by Jeanie Nguyen | 2 comments

The annual Harvard-Yale football game not only lifts our school spirits, but also flags the end of the semester. After this game quickly comes Thanksgiving, Reading Period and Finals Exam week. Then BAM, our grand prize of a month long winter break (J-term/January term) for successfully finishing another semester of college.

We are currently in the midst of Reading Period: seven days without official classes (although unofficial classes/review sessions/language classes usually take place during this week) where we can prep for our finals. This time of the year can be pretty stressful with multiple final papers and projects due at the end of Reading Period. Regardless of the stress level, I am constantly reminded that I should be grateful for this week – imagine if we had to accomplish all of our immense assignments on top of class! This is actually what most college students have to do.

When I first learned of Reading Period, I thought it’d be the chillest week ever – a week of catching up on my favorite television series and sleeeeeep. However, the relaxation has definitely never been this extreme although the week’s flexibility does allow for normal sleeping hours and longer meals with friends. Reading Period can easily get a bad rep due to the high levels of associated stress, but when I talk to my non-Harvard friends, at MIT and Californian universities, my love for Reading Period is automatically rekindled!

This fall semester, I have 4 papers due within this coming week and then 1 math final on the last day of finals. I’m feeling some pressure, but this hasn’t hindered my holiday cheer!

He may look small but sure knew how to work the dance floor!!!!!

Last weekend, PBHA (Phillips Brooks House Association) – our volunteer program umbrella – hosted an end-of-the-semester Holiday Party where there was tons of sugar (cookie decoration, gingerbread house-making, etc.), dancing (dance offs, limbo!), and Santa even made an appearance with presents for all! It was tons of fun seeing all the hard work we put in these term time programs culminate into some of the happiest faces on these kids! It’s also heart warming to see students take a few hours from their busy studying schedules to make joyous events like these happen, especially because they only come once a year!

The high holiday spirits definitely emanate off campus as well.

Boston Commons Park

In the middle of Boston Common, there’s a seasonal ice rink called Frog Pond. My friends and I rung in Reading Period with an ice skating celebration. The park is also beautifully decorated with holiday lights and an enormous tree (someone in the park told us the tree was imported internationally too!)

Some of us ice skated while others hung on for dear life…

What is a holiday season without delicious food??

Good thing that’s something I don’t have to answer since (I think) each individual upperclassman house (dorm) puts on a holiday feast. Each dining hall also puts up a well decorated Christmas tree and menorah. It’s like the school does everything possible to make this time of year less stressful and more cheerful!

All my roommates after dinner

My upperclassman house, Mather, had a wonderful dinner – some highlights were artichoke poppers, roast beef, apple stuffing, broccoli rabe, cheesecake, egg nog and mulled apple cider! YUM

Mather also has an annual game of Assassins since we’re not in class and usually studying around Mather. Students organize the entire game – this year, they passed out water guns (whereas last year, our provided weapons were nerf guns). We have 24 hours for each round and the end of the round comes with an emailed list of obituaries filled with (black) humor.

My favorite laugh from yesterday was reading these obituaries. Here’s my favorite:

 

Theresa & Jonathan

Both victims of the most casual of killers:

“Hey,
I killed Theresa and Jonathan yesterday.”

…as if this were the most natural thing in the world to send per email. Sends chills down my veteran spine. 
Theresa’s dying word was ” =( “ 
I was killed yesterday morning at the lab I work at. I thought I was safe being a good 15 minute walk from Mather but apparently my assassin was super dedicated and was waiting for me to come in for 40 minutes! Also uncool how her roommates are my co-workers…

Maybe it was a good thing I was killed during an early round so that I can work on my papers! AH

 

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Gobble Gobble

November 29, 2012 in Jeanie's Blog by Jeanie Nguyen | Comments closed

We’re in the last few weeks of the semester – (unlucky) week number 13 (according to my Spanish class syllabus) to be exact. While sweet, sweet winter break is on the tip of our tongues, we all know that taking a bite into our well deserved vacation is like taking a bite into a plum – the skin sucks but it’s so deliciously juicy inside! Probably the weirdest metaphor ever used in my writing career, but y’all get the picture…and if you don’t:

Final psets (problem sets), papers, and projects (the P-trinity) are trickling in and as our minds wear down, we try to at least protect our bodies from the violent winds. Although winter solstice (my 21st birthday!!) hasn’t passed, it’s undeniably cold. It’s that time of year when Pandora/Songza not only reads our minds, but looks into our souls to play the Go-Go’s Vacation (All I Ever Wanted).

Thank goodness for Thanksgiving Break.

Harvard doesn’t hold class Wednesday-Friday of Thanksgiving week. (Yale has a full on one week vacation whereas a lot of California schools have only Thursday-Friday off, so I’ll take what I can get!) Harvard’s calendar has slightly changed during my time as an undergraduate student. We use to only have 2 days off at the end of the week, making it harder to travel and really wind down (read: catch up on TV). The whole Wednesday vacation business began last year and often encourages students to leave campus early (skipping Monday and Tuesday – this is college freedom!). Break is always the best because it gives your schedule more flexibility – whether you have tons of work to do or not. (Hats off to you if you’re actually academically productive during break!)

My freshman year, I went to my best friend’s house in Connecticut where I witnessed my first real snow fall and practically gained a beloved extended family. During my sophomore Thanksgiving, my roommate and I immersed our-little-Southern-Californian-selves in the pleasures of New York City: The Lion King on Broadway, ice skating in Central Park, FOOD and etc. This Thanksgiving was the first time I’ve been on campus.

I feel like staying on campus solicits a lot of pity, but this was a choice I made and I don’t regret it! I thought about going home, but I’ll be home all of winter break (J term/January term). A few friends invited me over – heck, my boss did too – but I really wanted a selfish break where I could do whatever I want, whenever I wanted – and that I did. My days off were filled with some quality friend time, quiet reading, ultra long distance running, cable television, and careless sleeping. I was living the dream. And this Thanksgiving, I’m so thankful that I live a dream-like life! I’m thankful for the time I have with others and I’m thankful for the time I have with myself. I normally find time as the enemy since it always passes too quickly without my consent, but I do appreciate how consistent – as well as how consistently kind – it’s been with me.

Quite a number of students stay on campus too – things definitely get quieter, but don’t imagine a ghost town! The college also does an amazingly phenomenal job at ensuring our stay is not only comfortable, but also nutritious! That’s if you consider over-eating as nutritious…

At least one dhall (dining hall) is always open at any given meal time and HUDS (Harvard University Dining Services) even provides a traditional Thanksgiving feast! I wish I had pictures, but I was too busy stuffing myself…

On the Thanksgiving menu was: turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, fruit salad, New England clam chowder, cheese & crackers, dried fruit (apricots, pineapple), and pumpkin/apple pie a la mode! (note: not an exhaustive list) We were eating for literally 3 hours, helping ourselves to multiple entrees :)

Some tutors (typically graduate students or faculty who live with us undergraduate students to help us keep the peace and the sanity / just to be confusing, these amazing people are called “proctors” if the undergraduates are freshman) stayed on campus as well and hosted a late night “study break” (always more break than study) where there was sushi, fried dumplings, naan + dip, chips + salsa, etc.! Study breaks are the best. I’ll miss these so much when I’m in the real world and expected to fend for myself.

After dinner (and post-dinner eating), I enjoyed the football game with some Charlie Brown, and planned to go shopping with one of my blockmates for Black Friday. (Blockmates are a group of friends that you form during your freshman spring semester in order to tell the college that you all want to live in the same upperclassman house/dorm for your remaining time as an undergraduate. For all you commitment-phobes out there, students can transfer from house to house if we wish to do so). From Scott’s blog, I guess Black Friday is a normal blockmate activity :)

My blockmate is a Boston local and took us to Wrenthem Outlets, about an hour outside of campus. We left school around 2 am, avoided the traffic jam and most of the lines to enter the store and checkout. It was the most ideal time. Sales were insane!! I found myself a little sleepy around 5 am until I was instantly energized by 50% off with a 15% student discount on top of that. I’m still feeling the happiness buzz from my purchases. We ended up coming back to campus by 7 am. Sadly, I set my alarm for 8:45 am because I checked out a library book and it was due at 9 am. Not to worry though because I was back in bed from 9:03 am to 5:58 pm. At which time, I went to dinner, watched a few episodes of dramatic TV, read a few chapters of The Bell Jar and was in bed by 10:30 pm until noon ish the next day. Yeah, I’m pretty impressed with myself too.

Let’s all hope that I can keep impressing myself academically…woohoo 1.5 more weeks of class!! Reading Period (the time when classes officially end, the prelude to Final Exam week) begins Dec. 5 and lasts until the 12th. Giving everything a date just now was a really scary thing – so many mixed emotions! I can’t wait to go home, see my family who I haven’t been with since Memorial Day, catch up with friends, and celebrate my birthday! Things I can wait for: final paper deadlines, math exam, being more than halfway done with college…EEEK

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I <3 HY

November 22, 2012 in Jeanie's Blog by Jeanie Nguyen | 5 comments

Some heavily anticipate their Sunday cartoons; others excitedly wait for their monthly shopping catalogs. One day that unites all us Harvard students is the day of The Game. Once a year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, the old Harvard-Yale (HY) rivalry blooms into friendship(ish) since the football game location alternates between the two campuses every year and students typically find a floor/futon host with friends or friends of friends (of friends).

I can personally guarantee you that any student with a 9 am class here complains. Yet HY Game day is so epic that we’ll all wake up super early as to not waste any beautiful daylight! I’m knocking on wood as I type this, but since I’ve been a freshman, the weather has been absolutely spectacular on this particular Saturday – I’m talking about long sleeve/light jacket apparel!!

This year, my fun festivities began on Friday because the Yalie I hosted arrived Friday afternoon for his HLS interview. He’s the only person I know at Yale and we met the summer of 2007 at science camp. You’d be surprised that I keep in touch with quite a few people from this camp – my best friend there is a senior at MIT and my sorority sister! Anyways, when my Yalie arrived, we went to Grendel’s Den for lunch. It was a pretty selfish suggestion on my part because I’ve heard good things, haven’t been yet and have always wanted to go (semi-because it can be recognized in the movie The Town!). Most places in Harvard Square can be pretty pricey due to the constant tourism, but Grendel’s has an awesome lunch special! It was really nice to catch up with an old friend who’s known me since my embarrassing awkward teenager days when I dance-party’d to Ashlee Simpson.

Can’t believe we met 5 years ago at UC Irvine!

Most Yale kids arrive Saturday morning just for the tailgating and football game so I was a little nervous about my Yalie arriving a little early because I had a jam packed weekend. That afternoon, the Harvard Decision Science Lab, where I’m a research assistant, was hosting the last presentation of a semester long series for the Institute of Quantitative Social Sciences. I was looking for something for my Yalie to do while I presented on the study I’ve been involved with, but he was totally stoaked to watch my presentation and even seemed like he enjoyed it with his inquisitive questions. I always enjoy giving these end-of-the-semester presentations because it gives you a chance to reflect on where you started so you can see how far you’ve gone / how far you need to go; these reflection points are great transitions to cross off goals and add on new ones to refuel and (re)motivate you for the final stretch of the semester.

Italian dinner

After my presentation, we rushed off to the North End in Boston where there’s a heavenly strip of Italian restaurants. I was pretty good at going off campus towards the beginning of the semester, but with classes and extracurricular activities picking up, I knew there was an end to my off campus excursions. Guests are always the best excuse to escape campus for a few hours, especially if there’s good food involved! The nearby Boston skyline is beautiful and we couldn’t gasp enough at its beauty as we walked through Faneuil Hall (which is already decorated for the holiday season!) towards the harbor.

Heavy coats mean CHRISTMAS (music!)

As glorious as my Friday sounds, I was up to the challenge of having the perfect Saturday. I woke up early because my sorority (Kappa Alpha Theta) has a chapter at Yale and we always have a joint brunch on Game Day. Then I was off with my best friends to the tailgate area where undergrads, graduate students and alumni all come together and rally before kickoff. Enjoying great company on a gorgeous day is something I’ll always be thankful for. There were so many moments where I was just in awe of my surroundings.

My photography skills may be lackluster, but you still have to admit this is a beautiful sight!

Storming the field after victory!

Harvard won (expected) and continued our winning streak! I know part of the fun comes from the rivalry but I find greater joy in convincing the other team how lovely Harvard is. It’s even better when they go through this process without my help though: since my Yalie is applying to HLS, he already loves the campus and couldn’t stop raving about the magnificent Charles River.

Don’t get me wrong – HY weekend doesn’t unite everyone. Some may choose not to participate and some may have scheduling conflicts i.e. Rhodes Scholar interviews, casual. Last year around HY, there was a controversy about the Yale quarterback not being able to play because his Rhodes Scholar interview was the same time as the Game (but he was later retracted from the scholarship award). This year, things were much less dramatic and much more celebratory as six Harvard seniors were granted this once in a lifetime slash life changing opportunity!! I literally take my hats off for them!

I’m telling you all: HY weekend is magical! It’s the classic time stamp of the semester. It’s the trigger of the end. It’s the sign notifying you of how much time you have left. By HY, the majority of midterms are over (so sorry to those that must endure a third midterm in these upcoming weeks). HY flags the much needed turkey-induced sleep and relaxation – as well as the end of the semester! When Thanksgiving hits and ends, Reading Period is just around the corner and Final Exams marks the end of my 5th semester as an undergraduate. Say it isn’t so!

I’ll be staying on campus for the first time ever this Thanksgiving – update soon! Hope everyone is taking advantage of their breaks wherever you may be! Stay safe and eat like you’re going to die young ;)

 

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A week in the life of…

November 11, 2012 in Jeanie's Blog by Jeanie Nguyen | 4 comments

As I was mentally reliving my week, trying to pick the most exciting/memorable aspects of my week to blog about, nothing in particular stood out to me. I thought harder and tried to persuade myself to accept that maybe I just had a normal week.

Then I remembered today is the eleventh of November – that’s 11/11 and for whatever reason, this series of numbers is lucky (I tried to Google it but couldn’t find any good explanation articles). Three years ago on this day, I submitted my Common Application to Harvard College, knowing I needed all the luck in the world on my side. By putting myself out there, applying, and magically getting accepted, I officially made my life as not-normal as it can ever get.

So I scrolled back on the dimly colored events of my Google Calendar and realized my week was a string of randomly awesome events!

My week kicked off with hosting a high school student for a night. The Admissions Office is wonderfully personal here and finds current-student hosts for prospective students. Although she slept on my floor, I hope she had a great time roaming the campus, coming into the Harvard Decision Science Lab with me where I’m a research assistant, eating in a few of our dining halls, and attending classes with my friends and me. Harvard was her last stop on her college visit itinerary so she seemed to have the whole college-tour-sampling thing down.

I remember being a high school student and being concerned with college visits: why is everyone visiting colleges before being accepted? what can I actually learn about being on campus for such a short period of time? I was pretty skeptical about wasting time and money on visiting colleges before I was accepted because it seemed like I was maybe getting my hopes up on a dream that would never be realized. However, talking to my friends who avidly visited colleges, they really enjoyed their time on college campuses which helped them narrow down their list of schools to apply to. So I guess I don’t really have an opinion or advice on whether to invest the time and resources in college visits – I’m just trying to reassure all you prospective students out there that it’s not a big deal if you can or can’t! There are more important things to worry about ;)

The week continued with great excitement as Election Day rolled in. I’m definitely not a super politically knowledgeable person, but no one could deny that the entire campus was charged with immense political energy! Students planned their homework and meetings around the day – my math teacher even reduced our pset (problem set) due the day after to accommodate – and gathered around televisions in common rooms across campus to watch as each state turned blue/red.

It’s pretty surreal to not only be in this environment, but also to take a step back and observe. I vividly remember being in middle/high school when tons of celebrities promoted voting because of the great apathy among the youth. However, it’s so hard to believe this when the elections were on everyone’s mind that night.

The American Presidential elections may be over, but the Undergraduate Council‘s (UC) elections are now in full swing!! They even had a debate Thursday night about pressing student issues such as having the shuttle run more freqently during nights/weekends. I’m pretty sure this debate was the first ever candidate debate in history, but I really like the concept and hope that it continues! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend, which gives me more reason to hope that it happens again in the future!

This seemingly normal week was also the first snowfall of the season!! I remember seeing rain in the predicted forecast so when my coworker and I were walking home, she failed to convince me that it was snowing rather than lightly raining. The snow soon began to stick and it was like Christmas swept the entire yard. The beauty was just as breathtaking as the persistent winds slapping me in the face. As I walked home from the yard semi-late at night, freshman gathered around outside throwing snowballs with nonstop laughter. I have yet to make many freshman friends so it’s rare that I think in terms of their perspective; however, I can’t believe they’re well into their third month of living independently in college and for a lot of them, this was their first snowfall ever! I was definitely beyond guilty of being a wide-eyed freshman who could not stop touching the powdery snow. I’m a huge fan of snowboarding, but being from Southern California really limits my access to “fresh powder” (does this phrase make me sound legit?), and I was super incredulous that snow was so white, pure, and fluffy!!!! But I also hate being cold…so I can’t wait to return to consistently 70 degree weather for Jterm (winter break)!

In the midst of the snow, I attended a talk by Steven Pinker who is a huge name on campus. I’m terrible with names, but his is mentioned frequently enough that it has stuck. A handful of my friends advocated for his talks and his great ability at public speaking that I couldn’t resist to give up some homework time to hear about “The Sense of Style: Writing in the 21st Century.” This talk was presented as a part of the Work Lecture Series by the Harvard Writers and here was the blurb passed around about the event:

**

Why do we find it so hard to convey our ideas when we write? And how can we learn to do it better?  Harvard College Professor and award-winning author Steven Pinker suggests answers from the modern sciences of mind and language.

Steven Pinker is an experimental psychologist and one of the world’s foremost writers on language, mind, and human nature. His research on visual cognition and the psychology of language has won prizes from the National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, and the American Psychological Association. He writes regularly for The New York Times, The New Republic, and other publications, and is the author of the books The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, and The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature.  Chair of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary, he has been named one of  Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World Today.”  His latest book is The Better Angels of Our Nature:  Why Violence Has Declined.

About the Series

The Harvard Writers at Work Lecture Series is co-sponsored by the Harvard College Writing Program, the Harvard Extension School Master’s Degree Program in Journalism, Harvard Review, the Nieman Foundation for Journalism, and the Harvard College Program in General Education. The Series seeks to bring together students, faculty, and others in the Harvard community and the public to consider the transformational power of writing in people’s lives and in the world.

**

It was a very well attended event; this could be due to the fact that it was open to the public. But I’m looking forward to attending more of his talks if given the chance!

The ludicrous weather has taken a step back, and as temperatures climb up so do the corners of our mouths. So many exciting things are imminent! This coming weekend is Harvard-Yale, only the biggest, best, and most important football game of the year!! Then right after comes Thanksgiving, a much needed/deserved time to relax and rejoice. The end of Thanksgiving holiday also brings the end of classes and the semester…canNOT believe how quickly time passes!

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When the night NEVER ends…

November 3, 2012 in Jeanie's Blog by Jeanie Nguyen | 7 comments

It’s not that I like pressure per se – it’s more like I’ve gotten pretty good at leveraging pressure into a source of active motivation.

I’m a little hesitant to tell this story because 1) I can see my mom shaking her head and deeply sighing; and 2) it’s not my typical lifestyle! But I feel like it’s a common part of #college.

On Sunday/Monday/Tuesday (it’s all a blur) I pulled my first academic all-nighter of junior fall. I had to specify “academic” because sometimes all nighters happen for fun i.e. tv series marathon, video games (Mario Kart, Tetris, Diner Dash!), etc. I knew this day was coming because I had my Aesthetic & Interpretive Understanding: Literature & Medicine Midterm Paper due Tuesday at 1pm and my Math 18: Multivariable Calculus for Economics Tuesday at 6pm. I was mentally prepared, but perhaps I should have prepped physically by spending the previous days sleeping.

However, it was the weekend before Halloween AKA a national holiday that needed to be celebrated by quadrupling my calorie intake via pure sugary coated dark chocolate. My sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, also had our annual blind date event called KAT in the Hat where a sister sets you up with a friend, gets their hat, you wear the hat and they find you in the hat, and BAM you find love. Maybe. Except not really. As intimidatingly awkward as a blind date is already, we dressed up in costumes in the spirit of Halloween! It was a SUPER fun event with awesome music, food, and of course people <3

Also a great excuse for red tights…

One of the most memorable events of this Halloween season was my sighting of the most awesome boy dressed as Mario scurrying in the Yard. I’m sure he was late for another class/meeting or something, but I like to think he just was incredible at being in character at all times. I’m literally chuckling to myself as I’m recalling this. The scenario almost seems like it’s too good to be true but my friend witnessed it too! And we discussed how it’s kind of sad that more college kids don’t dress up in costumes for class like how we use to in high school/middle school/elementary. Celebrating Halloween is pretty necessary because its a general celebration of youth (and candy)!

The fun Halloween spirit definitely kept my spirits uplifted even when I knew I had so much work to do for school. I trudged along in the library (multiple people were getting suspicious that I was living there) and worked calmly throughout the night. Classes were cancelled this past Monday due to Hurricane Sandy – and my thoughts and prayers definitely go out to all those affected! – and I used that day to continue working.

What kept me going was my interesting paper topic. I think the first time I was ever genuinely interested in writing a paper was junior year of high school when I realized the complexity of my thesis excited me: gathering and analyzing evidence to support my claim (something along the lines of: murder is a kind of love / love inevitably leads to murder) was a challenge that I found thrilling. It was during this paper that I promised to myself that I would never write a paper with a thesis I didn’t like.

I had met with my Literature & Medicine TF (teaching fellow) to discuss my thesis because I didn’t want her to hate my idea or find something obviously inherently fallible that I somehow missed. She gave me a hesitant green light and doubted that I could cover everything in 5-7 pages, but I reassured her that all my ideas naturally come to an end in 6 pages.

My Literature & Medicine Midterm Paper centered around challenging/extending an argument of another author we read who claimed that pain is inexpressible. I tried to make the convincing claim that pain is indeed expressible when in a single-person context because groups of people actively prohibit pain’s expressibility. Yet pain is “inevitably inexpressible” (title of my paper) because humans are naturally drawn towards group settings. Overall, I tried to articulate my opinion that pain experiences an evolution of inexpressibility rather than beginning as an inexpressible concept.

Although creating paper topics is deemed a not-so-enticing task, I dread the process of actually eloquently gluing the paper together with well thought out sentences. I vented about this at dinner tonight, saying how I don’t prioritize the importance of writing the paper over the importance of expressing ideas. I think it’s more important to logically explain your thought process rather than eloquently explaining; however, I tend to find the latter about 13 times more time consuming!

It wasn’t a great experience (but it also wasn’t a horrible experience) staying up forever to write my midterm paper and practice for my math test, but at the end of the day, I’m just glad I had a place to do it! That may sound like a strange appreciation, but I remember not knowing where to go for a quiet place to study for the finals at the end of my freshman spring semester.

It always seems like math/science people have the latest finals (since paper based classes have earlier deadlines). I usually always have a final on the last day of exams and at the end of my freshman year, one of my blockmates and I were stuck studying for the last of the last exam. We were studiously re-watching lectures in Lamont Library until around 1-2 am, we got kicked out because the library was closing even though it is notorious for being open 24 hours Sunday-Thursday. I just figured libraries would be open 24/7 during Reading Period and Exam Week and thought that would be a safe assumption. I ended up going to bed and waking up extra early to fit in more studying.

I won’t ever run into this problem again though! In a recent email, students were notified that:

Lamont Library will be open 24/7 during reading and exam periods this year.  For more information, see the announcement in the Harvard Gazette.  Our decision to make Lamont available for late night study during this time follows a successful trial run of 24-hour operations at the end of the spring semester.

We want to thank everyone who made this possible, particularly the Harvard Library Access Services staff and the Undergraduate Council.  Working together, we are pleased we could once again make this space available to you after normal business hours.

 

Sincerely,

Evelynn M. Hammonds

Dean of Harvard College

–

It’s beyond spectacular that Harvard faculty and staff are constantly seeking ways to improve our undergraduate experiences! Perhaps that’s why not sleeping wasn’t as awful as it sounded…

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Weeks & Weekends

October 27, 2012 in Jeanie's Blog by Jeanie Nguyen | 2 comments

Rough  /rəf/ the most common adjective used by Harvard students lately

Midterms have the snowball effect – once they start, they don’t stop and continue growing aggressively. We’re smack dab in the middle of the semester at this point which actually means the second wave of midterms have come/are here/are lurking closer than we want them to be. For classes with only two midterms, it’s a great thing because it’s your last midterm until the final exam! Yet for classes with three midterms, it’s just another wave you have to paddle out for and hope that you catch its drift.

The middle of the semester also means mid-semester evaluations. All classes and course instructors have evaluations forms either in class or online where students can anonymously and honestly describe their feelings towards the class. Anything from lecture pace, homework lengths, to course website formats are open for discussion/critique. After student input has been reviewed and considered, professors usually announce popular concerns and how the staff will go about tackling our concerns. It’s always a beautiful thing to both have a voice and be heard, especially when the listener has your best interest in mind.

I just got a new phone and number which means I have no contacts, but it’s the best way to receive creepy-awesome texts!

I feel like as an entire student body, we’ve been working really hard, really diligently, and really long hours trying to reach (and exceed?) our potential. Libraries have gotten more crowded and coffee consumption has sky rocketed.

All this talk about perpetual midterms and caffeine addictions can easily depict a gloomy backdrop here at Harvard BUT I’m beyond happy to not only tell you, but show you how beautiful it is here!

Our rough weeks are all broken up by amazing weekends.

When I think of “amazing weekends” there are a few obvious ones that come to mind: Harvard-Yale, Yardfest and Head of the Charles.

As Caroline mentioned in her blog, Head of the Charles is this huge 3 mile crew race (as opposed to its counterpart Foot of the Charles). A big portion of the race takes place on the part of the Charles River right next to a bunch of the upperclassman houses (dorms). Tons of people gather along the river to watch, cheer, and collect all the free goodies being passed out (I got a flash drive my freshman year!). It’s a really exciting event, especially when the weather is beautiful!!

That’s Harvard Business School in the background!

Rather than just spectating this year, I decided to volunteer at the Head of the Charles. Volunteers have to sign up months in advance! I also had to arrive at 7 am with my estimated leaving time at 6 pm. A lot of mental preparation for this event!

I was positioned on Weld (Harvard Women’s boathouse) balcony where I had the best view of boats passing the Business School! The team of volunteers I was with was responsible for gathering split times. We had this fancy camera connected to a computer and we would snap pictures of boats passing by and mark their split times on the computer and send this information to the central manager – some pretty official business I’d say!

Me, spotting with my fancy binoculars!

Spotters were also present to tell us when boats were coming so we could snap accurate pictures. The spotters would also describe the boats passing and there was a scribe who wrote down boat numbers with their respective descriptions (i.e. black boat, white hats). I think this served as back up information just in case of future disputes about split times, people can look back at both the picture and the description.

I was the Men’s Heavyweight Coxswain my freshman year so being in a boathouse and watching good old feathering was all around a great day.

It may look like I’m hardly working, but I came up with my midterm paper thesis right then!

 

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