Hopkins offers more degrees than a thermometer. It's one of the reasons why I chose to come here, and under severe interrogation, why a friend, dubbed Friend, applied early decision.
So, what happens when you take an arrogant and unfortunately uninformed undergrad and show them that shelf of infinite possible majors and minors in the Academic Advising office?
If she were me, and she was, she would make a disparaging noise and throw out a flippant phrase, and proceed to take whatever classes caught her eye. She thinks she has stuck it to The Man.
She has not.
Registering for classes demands a certain amount of foresight, agreed. But the pressure I've witnessed on the days leading up to that fateful 7 a.m. free-for-all melee, as well as the attitude that causes this type of existential crisis, must be confronted, and at the very least, given a thorough talking-to.
Friend is up at 6:50 the morning of registration, angry at most things in the universe for simply existing and even angrier at nonexistent things for not existing, like say, the non-existence of a server that won't be flogged to near-death by a stampede of 1,000-plus simultaneously clicking fingers.
Friend is freaking out that the class is full. "The class is full!" Friend screams. and in the following weeks, overloads his schedule, partly to make up for the unforeseen derailment, but also because Operation: Graduate Early is looming large on the horizon.
Friend explains, "I shall enjoy the fruits of my soul-devouring workload next next semester, when I shall no longer be chained to the shackles of the Hopkins pursuit, and can do whatever I want."
Friend has at least two semesters to go before this freedom from tyranny can be forever thrown off. And even then, let us wonder why it is that some at Hopkins should feel as though classes are getting in the way of their college experience.
Ruth Aranow, a senior academic advisor and director of study abroad, underlines the relative freedom offered to undergrads regarding the fulfillment of their major requirements.
Distribution requirements alone require at least a toe in the sea outside your major's puddle, and truth be told, your undergraduate years are for enrichment, to prove yourself, yes, but also to challenge yourself.
Why dismiss and waste it as a stepping-stone or holding stage for something better?
The veritable cornucopia of majors is a sign of what Hopkins students have access to, namely, the best and brightest in each field as professors, paid to teach and nurture and have office hours for each and every Hopkins student.
I say to you, go forth next semester, and take a class whose registrar blurb is surprisingly alluring for a two by two snippet of text. Wander into that writing class whose books seem deeply impenetrable.
I say majors be thrown to the winds for at least one class while GPA is placed second to having fun, and to challenging yourself.
So far, this is the oldest we have ever been, and it's high time we struck at the perceptions that keep us locked to what is familiar, to what is safe, to fail to take advantage of the absolute majesty that is Hopkins, that is college, that is undergrad life.
