Hey again y’all,
I figured it’s been long enough since my last update that I’ll finally have enough interesting things to say now.
Midterm season 1 ended recently, and this week marks the start of our second set of midterms. For those that don’t know, since Hopkins runs on a semester system, we have at least two midterm seasons per semester (one of my classes has 3), with finals in December. I did fairly well this time around, my lowest score was in a class I had just recently switched into, so I’m not too hard on myself about it. It was stressful, but we just finished fall break and I was able to get a lot of sleep, so I think I’m ready to hop back into the groove of things.
We’re supposed to find out whether or not we’ll be on campus for the spring by Thanksgiving, but all students are a bit unsure about whether or not they’ll stick to this deadline. We also had class registration pushed back, so we’ve got about another month now until that occurs.
I’m still doing good, I’ve been reading a lot lately (currently reading the Kyoshi series) and getting the hang of making free time for myself. I had been playing Persona 4 in my free time, but I got myself into a sticky situation where my laptop crashes every time I reach a certain point, so I’ve got to troubleshoot that soon.
I saw my psychiatrist recently – for those who don’t know, I do have anxiety and ADHD. I’m pretty excited because we switched my medication, so I think I’ll be able to focus better during lectures and hopefully sleep less during the day (I’ve been racking up 14 hours lately…). I think I’m going to get a cat next semester and get it registered as an emotional support animal. I’ve also got some events this week involving administration that I’m kinda nervous for, and I find out whether or not I got a paid internship sometime in the next few days.
Socially, I’m still making a lot of new friends both online and in person, and I’d like to say that I still don’t think the stereotype that Hopkins students are cutthroat is true. There are a few students that are more competitive than others, but pretty much all of my classes have established study groups where we discuss homework and work on practice midterms together – we all kind of think of it as suffering together, instead of alone. That being said, the coursework here is very difficult and if you don’t know how to ask for help, you will struggle (piazza boards can be very useful for this too, since you have the option to anonymously ask for help).
We’ve had a lot of online events recently, mostly revolving around Minecraft and Among Us, but I will be honest and say that I am not very good with games like this. I’ve found my niche by watching random anime or playing board games (I’m very new to this!) with my friends.
I hope early applications are going well for prospective students! The current freshmen are very excited to be able to meet yall and help guide you through Hopkins, just like the current sophomores did for us. I highly recommend making a groupchat once acceptances start coming in, since that’s how my class was able to socialize through covid. There’s also a significant amount of gap-year class of 2025 students who you’ll meet soon, and knowing them, I’m sure they also want to show yall the ropes