College is Livin’ Up to Expectations

Good morning!

Reporting here, from Wellesley College, your usual announcer Monica Gates… this would work much better if I actually watched TV and knew the lingo. Ah well!

I’ve just finished my first full week of spring semester, first year! I love being a first-year—there are so many choices, and so few expectations. I can take whatever classes I want right now, and pick whatever major I choose.  That said, I do have a grand plan, because I apparently like working towards goals that will manifest themselves in 15 years or so. My plan to become a science professor at a major research institution is still up and running, and shows through my finalized class list:

Biology 112 (Advanced Introductory Molecular Biology) with Lab

Biology 113 (Advanced Introductory Organismal Biology) with Lab

Neuroscience 101 (Introduction to Neuroscience) with Practicum

CAMS 105 (Introduction to Cinematic Studies)

I kind of forgot when I was planning this that labs are classes in themselves (they meet 3 ½ hours a week, and have quite a bit of homework), so I actually have around 7 classes right now (this is why I gave up on forcing Psychology 101 into my schedule.) On the other hand, I have made the delightful discovery that Practicum is hardly a lab at all! All you need to do is prepare for the practicum by reading the practicum manual—no homework required. Plus, it’s only two hours… Practicum is officially my easiest class :).

Neuroscience 101, Practicum’s parent, is lots of fun as well. While I already took AP Biology, and so the concepts that we are covering in those classes are mostly review, Neuroscience is completely new to me. Not that I don’t have a background in a lot of the information—Neuroscience is “interdisciplinary,” which means that all my work in AP Physics, Chem, Bio, and other classes are paying off. However, all of this previous knowledge is being applied in new ways, and Neuro has its own information independent of other disciplines. All of this means that I’m quite enjoying delving into my Neuroscience 101 textbook, Bear’s Neuroscience 3^rd edition, with the requisite Facebook posts describing particularly sumptuous quotes :).

Biology 112 and 113 look to be fun as well. They are both seminars, and a bit different from normal introductory Biology courses. To enter the class, you are expected to have a 4 or a 5 on the AP Biology class, since unlike Biology 110 and 111, these are not lecture courses based on a textbook. In Bio 112 and 113, our primary reading is published research papers, which delve into the intricacies and exceptions to biological findings, often contradicting what we learned in our introductory AP Biology class. They are also great because they are capped at 16 people, and we’re all expected to talk, so I hope to make a bunch of new friends :). However, what’s really amusing is that last semester I took Chemistry 120 with 31 other students, and had lab with 15 other students. Of those 15 other students who were in Professor Reisberg’s lab with me, at least two to three are in each of my biology classes and labs. So I actually have friends to start out with in these classes, which is a new thing, and makes me very happy to be settled in at college :).

CAMS (Cinema And Media Studies) is also fun as well. Every Monday, we get to watch a movie, which is wonderful after I eat a crazy-fast dinner and run to class at 6:30pm from swim practice. This week, we watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which happily is kind of like Memento in temporality. I am also referring Memento because our professor references at least 10 movies a class, all of which I’ve never heard of, but I knew what he was talking about when he mentioned this one. I can see that CAMS 105 is going to be great in terms of furthering my education, as I’m finding that an important part of being “educated” is being able to understand innumerable and varied references!

So those are my classes! I’m not sure how it’s going to work out in terms of time, as right now I’m just ahead of the homework, getting things done the night before class. Then again, a lot of this week and the previous I spent organizing myself, because with everything I have going on I can’t really afford to forget something and then have to make it up. In high school, I was very organized, but it was easier because everything had a set schedule. Then during first semester at college, I missed a few of my obligations, and it encouraged me to work out what I was doing, fast. So far, I’m good to go, though I’m still a little worried about keeping on top of assignments. You should see the wall above my desk right now—I’ve got eights sheets of paper taped up, one for each class, detailing the assignments (the last one is a calendar marking when all my big exams/assignments are due, so I know when my crazy weeks are.)

And of course, there are other things to keep track of :). There’s swim practice, swimming lessons (a fundraiser for swimming), swim meets (we’re going to Bates this weekend!), singing class/practice, work (blogging/research), normal classes/homework, prepping for track season (I’m trying; if I don’t build up I’ll get shin splints/a stress fracture—swimmers are notorious for them), sleeping (ug, come on, try to get 8 hours a day), eating (and if I can spend more than 15 minutes eating, that’s a victory—even better if I’m not eating by myself), summer applications (I’m trying for the U of MN’s LSSURP program; I really want to get in), scholarships for next year (uh… haven’t really started), lectures, miscellaneous meeting with professors (get-to-know-yous, or I-need-help-on-my-writing-please-help-me-Professor-Johnson-because-I-had-you-last-semester), and other things that are slipping my mind right now. Oh yes, making friends is up there too. I sometimes wonder if everyone else is as busy as I am… the answer actually seems to be “no” for most people, but they make up for it by spending more time in the “making/hanging out with friends” category, which is a pretty significant category and a valid pursuit. That said, I kind of wish I can just curl up with my textbooks once in a while and study by myself in a silent room… as the recent TIME article detailed, I’m still an introvert even though I enjoy all of this activity :).

Nevertheless, I’ve started a practice of going over my day right before I go to sleep, and I can safely say that I am very happy right now. I love that I’m learning so much, have so much to do, have a network to support me (swim team!), have opportunities presented to me, am looking forward to meeting new people (new classes, track team!), have food that’s cooked for me, have my primary job as studying, have great people around me, have so many choices, am swimming and am in shape, doing well in terms of health and organization, and have such a bright future. I really love that all of the work I’m putting in right now in all my various activities will benefit me in the future, because that future is vague enough that everything I experience will build me into a better applicant and person, but concrete enough that I have the motivation to work for it. And while that isn’t really clear, I know I’ll be able to express it better in a few years; that I will keep on improving myself, and that thought makes me happy.

So there we have it ;). That’s the core of my experience right now, though I have a few details to share!

My roommate is trying out for Phi Sigma, which is the lecture society (basically a sorority without the house). Except that since I’m not talking about sports, I can’t say “trying out”—the term is “tea-ing” here, which means you attend teas with the members of the society, and you socialize, and they decide which students to let in. I’m kind of living vicariously here though her, since I’ve stayed away from the societies until this point. Apparently it’s a very competitive process, but also fun, so there’s your bit of Wellesley tradition for the day!

Swim team is going awesome. I just came back from lift (weight training), where I was told I had excellent defensive squatting. Well, our instructor called it “defensive position,” but the exercise is basically doing a crab walk—squatting, with a resistance band tied around your knees. I had to inform her that I didn’t, sadly, do a sport that required defensive squatting, but she said it was a transferrable skill. … I’ll let you sit on that one— my visuals all involve dreaded physical contact sports and dancing crabs.

We’re also on taper for swimming! YEAHH! I love taper—it basically means we do more sprint stuff and less yardage. Well, we’re not quite down to less yardage yet (we’re still doing more than three miles a day, which is a lot in the water), but it’s the concept that counts. We’re preparing for our final meet of the season, NEWMACs, which will mark the end of this really, really long swim season. Including preseason, we’ve gone from August until February. My teammates who don’t do anything but swim the entire year (Tiffany, for example, hates land sports with a passion) seem to be intent on joining waterpolo, joining the triathlon club (created by Annie and Ika, two swim team members, and as of right now not involving anyone outside the swim team), or swimming on their own. I’m very excited to join track—I have from report from other members that I’ll most likely get in!

Also, a note on swim lessons—they are a lot of fun. I didn’t realize I’d like teaching lessons so much, but I find it very enjoyable and educational. For one of my lessons, I don’t even have to get in the water (I can instruct from the side, like a real coach), which is even better because I can go and teach without worrying that it’s the 3^rd time I’ve been in the water that day and my skin and hair are going to be chlorine-encrusted forever. I like getting in the water though, plus teaching has made me more aware of my own stroke and the techniques of teaching in general. For example, my singing teacher uses many of the same methods that I do to teach lessons (pick three points to focus on, drill, drill, occasional talking breaks, try for equal compliments and corrections), which I like because it means I’m getting better at teaching. I used to tutor at home, and I didn’t realize until now how much I missed the experience…

And that’ll be all for the day ;). I have to go do research with Professor A.! Last time, Karen, Audrey and I were taking apart the vacuum chamber to install the electron gun (ooh, it sounds so official), so there was much screwing in of bolts (a lot of “What are washers again? How about screws?” as well) during the four-hour time span. I’m excited to see what we do today!

Have a wonderful Friday, and as always, SEND ME QUESTIONS! 🙂

Monica

I’m not sure if I’m allowed to take this picture from his website without his permission, so follow the link to see a picture of Professor A.’s machine we’re working on!