Use the fields below to perform an advanced search of jhunewsletter.com - The Johns Hopkins News-Letter's archives. This will return articles, images, and multimedia relevant to your query.
582 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
Disclaimer: This article is an in-joke for a small cohort of about 68 current students. If you are not one of those students, do not fret. At minimal cost to your wallet and your health, you can experience it for yourself at apply.jhu.edu before reading this article.
I. Club volleyball
Dear Dua,
Aug. 20, 2022. 6 p.m.
My first big move was from Taiwan to Baltimore for college.
The weekend before our final day of college classes, my friend Kate and I hopped on a bus to Brooklyn to volunteer at a literary ball. I’d been so excited to hear one of my favorite writers give a keynote speech (and Lauren Groff’s words on the importance of blues and all shades of life to the creative process were, we decided afterward, our perfect commencement speech). We spent the next day catching up with our graduated friend Ruvi, watching The Great Gatsby on Broadway, visiting bookshops and shopping, eating delectable ramen in piled hexagonal cubbies and getting soaked to the bone in spring showers. Though Kate also loves books and writing, I know that she would’ve come to New York with me for anything, ball or not. So, on the bus back to Baltimore, past those lengths of plunging tunnel shadows out of Manhattan, and on some tree-lined highway in New Jersey, I write on friendship.
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.
Before coming to Baltimore, I had no empirical idea of what “seasonal” meant, as I spent my childhood and teenage years in Fuzhou and Los Angeles — two cities that seemed to have only hot days and not-so-hot days. I still remember how deceptive the weather felt during my freshman orientation week, so pleasant and fresh, until the savage winter made me surrender to gloves and ear muffs. Till today, my emotions still follow the weather. One day, the 80-degree temperature, hot air and glaring sunlight make my mood as light as a house music beat, and the other day, rain pours down, and my heart retracts to a bluish, contemplative envelope. But there is something beautiful I’ve learned in living here: to cherish the cherry blossoms and the tulips as they bloom and to feel the softness of snowflakes under my boots before they harden into ice.
Joining the Model United Nations (Model UN) was nowhere in my plans when I came to Hopkins. I did Mock Trial in high school and wanted to continue it in college, but as I was waiting in line for the thrift shop at the end of my freshman orientation week, a girl behind me started chatting and we got onto the topic of HopMUN. She talked about her experience on the Hopkins Model UN (HopMUN) team, hooking me with the perk of free travel. Despite not knowing a thing about what students do in Model UN, I decided to give it a try. I went to their jeopardy information session, where I was overwhelmed with a peculiar mix of students from the STEM, humanities and interdisciplinary fields. But what was shared across this group was a clear sense of community and “hyperactivity” that both intimidated and excited me. Soon, after a unique interview process and a funny welcome to the club, I found myself at weekly trainings with other new freshmen, learning the ins and outs of conferences, General Assembly committees and crisis arcs.
One of the most meaningful parts of my experience at Hopkins has been the opportunity to learn from professors who are not only incredibly knowledgeable but also genuinely invested in their students. Looking back, I realize that the classes I remember most are not just defined by the material, but by the people who taught them and the environments they created.
This show may not be suitable for incoming freshmen. Viewer discretion is advised.
Of the 45 pieces I’ve written for The News-Letter, every single one is written about or with love. Love as in passion to share my opinions; love as in the desire to talk about the science that I fell in love with; love for family, roommates, friends new and old, for moments remembered. What makes it easy is being surrounded by love constantly — I would not have the strength to write so deeply about my life were it not for the sheer capacity for love that can be found in my friends and family. It is this repertoire and the lessons I’ve learned from my loved ones in the past three years that qualify me to write, as my final goodbye to the paper and to the University, my own formal definition for love, in all its forms.
College has given me many things, one of which is a chronic disease. Not one that can be diagnosed or treated with medication, but one that quietly influences how you see yourself: impostor syndrome.
Dear Freshman Gabrielle,
Me: Hi, I’m just letting you know that my parents are staying here one more day, so I’m gonna stay with them in their hotel tonight.
The prompt for this article feels so on the nose for me, as I have had a page on my notes app this semester of all my items to complete before senior year comes to an end. The list was dominated by restaurants, cafes and bakeries I somehow never made it to in the past three and a half years, possibly because I didn’t want to spend the extra money or take a shuttle. However, I’m now realizing that missing out on these Baltimore staples is scarier than losing five dollars on a pastry. When this realization hit, I momentarily freaked out. A whole bucket list to get done in a handful of weeks? After I took a step back, I recognized that the list is supposed to be fun, and that’s all I can really ask for with the dwindling moments left in college. So, here are some ideas I have completed, written down and never got to or heard recommended by others and think could be awesome to help you set up the best senior year ever.
If you had asked me four years ago what my college experience would look like, I never would have imagined 4:30 a.m. wake-ups, jumping out of planes or leading a battalion of 60 people before turning 22. I entered the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) with an open mind and little military background. Within weeks, I realized it was only about 10% tactics and 90% everything else — leadership, interpersonal skills, discipline, organization, public speaking and more.
Let’s start at the beginning.
In celebration of the Hopkins Sesquicentennial Celebration, here are 150 things you should do before you graduate!
When I think about the student organization I am most grateful I joined at Hopkins, I immediately think of Hopkins Sport Taekwondo (HST). I joined during my junior year because I wanted to be part of a sports club that was active, fun and rooted in a genuine community. What I found was much more than a club. I found a family.