Moving On Up!

Hello Readers!

It's been some time since I last posted, but I just wanted to report back with what's been going on with me lately. I've just started my junior year here at Hopkins, which means I've moved on up, out of university housing and into my own apartment close by! I'm getting settled in for what will be my new home for the next two years, and getting accustomed to my new schedule of pretty small classes. This semester, I'm taking a variety of classes like Youth and Youth Movements in 19th and 20th Century and Early Modern China in the History department, Housing and Homelessness in the United States in the Sociology department, and Fundamentals of Epidemiology and Foundations of Healthcare Management and Leadership in the Public Health Studies program. I'm really looking forward to learning a lot from my incredibly knowledgeable professors.

Some of you might have noticed that I wasn't at Homewood this past Summer. I was actually not too far away, in Washington, DC doing a congressional internship. While I missed the Charm City a lot while I was gone, I got to meet a lot of cool people and see the inner workings of Congress for 8 weeks, which is pretty exciting (I was actually walking a few feet behind John McCain once when I was on the Senate side of the Capitol). Here's a quick shoutout to the awesome program that placed me in my internship, the Taiwanese American Citizens League(TACL) - Political Internship Program. It's an awesome program that places interns in the office of an elected official for 8 weeks, teaches about the legislative process through an advocacy project, and provides much needed mentorship. I even got to talk about my experience at the TACL National Convention over Labor Day weekend. I'm so glad I got to be a part of this, even though I missed out on some of Baltimore's summer festivities.

Nevertheless, now that I'm back, I'm looking forward to another great year of learning, laughing, and excitement here at Homewood. This year I'm serving as the Executive President of the Inter-Asian Council, the Chief Advisor of Taiwanese American Students Association, and the National Programs Director of the Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association (ITASA). When I find some free time, I'm definitely going to check out the great lineup of speakers hosted by the Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium and the Foreign Affairs Symposium, and other fun events put on by The HOP or SGA. I'll try to post a little bit every now and then, I'd like to introduce a new contributor to our Hopkins Summer Blog, Sherry! Sherry is also a Pre-College alumnus, so stay tuned for updates from her!

Trips with DH: Abnormal Psych

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Hopefully everyone's weeks have been off to a good start and DH students are enjoying their field trips. The trips are an integral part of Discover Hopkins courses and were some of my most memorable experiences from my time in DH.
This summer, I'm fortunate to have the opportunity to be a field trip TA for Abnormal Psych in Forensic Cases (I really wanted to take this class too, back in the day). So far, the class has gotten to go to a lot of interesting places, meeting many intelligent people of different fields. Yesterday, the students were able to meet with a psychiatrist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry. We kept up a really good discussion about the various effects of mental illness on different aspects on a person's life.

Today, students were able to visit the Maryland State Police Forensic Science Lab and go own a tour of the facilities and hear about many different cases that the State Police has handled. The lab has many experts in chemistry, biology, firearms, and trace evidence like fingerprints.

Aftee taking a quick lunch break, we headed right over to the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center's Sleep Disorders to learn more about how sleeping really affects humans. Dr. Schwartz who spoke to us also gave the class a a quick tour of the center as well as the observation rooms. They're pretty much like hotel rooms where you have wires hooked up and have to go to sleep by around 9!

So how does sleep really affect us?

Some students ready to learn about sleep disorders!

I'm excited for the rest of the trips, some of them include sitting in on Drug Court and Juvenille Court in Carroll County, MD and I'm expecting good things.

Welcome DH Session 1!

I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the Discover Hopkins Session 1 students who moved into their dorms yesterday. To the SU students, the OSIP staff and I hope you're having a good start to your second week of classes. Hopefully everyone is enjoying dorm life and all the activities that are being offered! Be sure to get to know your RCs, they are valuable mentors and are there to help you if there is ever anything wrong duing your stay here.

Discover Hopkins students are in for an exciting two weeks, exploring the Baltimore area on field trips that allow for a hands-on approach to learning. Term 1 Discover Hopkins classes include, Abnormal Psych in Forensic Cases, The Hospital, Intro to Lab Research, Nanoparticles in Drug Delivery, and Fostering Healthy Communities. Students in the last two classes get to have their lectures in the Johns Hopkins Medical Campus! Enjoy your trips and maybe you'll see me and the other OSIP workers tagging along.

And So It Begins...

So after spending a week at home to unwind with my family, I've come back to Baltimore to get back to work in the Summer Programs Office and take Elements of Macroeconomics in Term I. Now, while Macroeconomics is not required for my major, the reason I'm taking this course is because this fall, I'll be taking the new Intro to Social Policy course for JHU's new minor in Social Policy.

This minor is a new interdisplinary program at Hopkins and I'm really excited to be one of the first people to take the new class. Social Policy basically encompasses the study of social problems facing a city such as Baltimore and finding policy solutions to these problems. Hopefully, this summer I can increase my understanding of the economy in general in preparation for the class.

For more information on the program: krieger.jhu.edu/socialpolicy, http://krieger.jhu.edu/socialpolicy/2013/04/26/new-program/

I hope I can manage to wake up in time... I've been able to avoid 9 AM classes until now.

Just a reminder that Term I starts tomorrow! Good luck to everyone taking classes this term. Hopefully everyone had a great Memorial Day Weekend!