Best Year Yet
Junior year was finally it. Past the awkward adjustments of freshman year and the soul-crushing slump that is being a sophomore, and before the real-world worries of being an almost-adult that are coming up for us seniors (!), this year was when I felt like I finally "hit my stride" in school.
This spring semester, I took some of the best classes I've had at Harvard. I sang a lot. I learned things and had some of the best conversations of my life.
I also live with all of my best friends. Not a moment can be dull: wading through hours of requisite writing becomes a celebration when it's done overnight in a library that has a piano. Reviewing pages miles long of information is an adventure when you take breaks to clear your mind and enjoy the sunshine. The most daunting of weeks seem laughable when coffee, music, and words exist.
I'll enumerate an arbitrary list of stand-out moments below, knowing full well that the most enjoyable ones could be neither photographed nor articulated.
☀️ Snow: This winter was the snowiest one Boston has ever seen in history! Campus became this dreamlike place impenetrable by cars for the first weeks of the semester, which left lots of time to celebrate friendship, watch Frozen, go sledding, etc. before the reality of classes set in. Once this happened, I took the time to soak in that hilarity, featuring a Shakespeare class taken with my two brothers (pictured below), a Latin class reading the complete corpus of my favorite author (Catullus), a Public Health Economics tutorial that became my favorite class of college (awesome), and an intermediate macroeconomics class (I don't want to talk about it).
☀️ Family: One of the most frenzied and enjoyable weekends of the semester was Junior Parents' Weekend, when the folks came up from Virginia, and the other folks came down from West Newbury, to get a taste of my life as a junior, and also see me perform in Ghungroo, Harvard's South Asian dance showcase! This was the weekend of Priya's birthday, and it was amazing to share the energy of campus with so many people whom I love so much.
☀️ Community: I came to appreciate my community, within Lowell House and across campus, more than ever this year. From working on the Lowell Housing Day video to having a group of people to kick back with for three-hour dinner chats, this house finally feels very much like home, and the community we have forged makes me beyond thrilled to see what senior year has in store.
☀️ Music: Finding new ways and venues to perform always lights up a semester. Putting together sets with Dylan for Coffeehouse and the Arts Café at the Barker Center was a blast, and lent us some of our favorite musical moments of the year.
☀️ Words: Talking and writing will always be my favorite parts of any semester, and this one had no shortage of either. At some point in the year I picked up writing in verse as an aimless hobby, and friends did not hesitate to dare me to churn out sonnets, limericks, and the like on a host of occasions. Below, find pictured my Happy Wall, home to the words from friends that help to brighten up any dingy day!
☀️ Sun: The first hints of spring after this year's long winter sent us all clamoring for frappuccinos and the river. The last few weeks were idyllic, and impaired all hopes of productivity once again. Schoolwork was relegated to nights as we basked in the sun by day, to finish off a gorgeous semester in fitting fashion.
Overcaffeinated and underslept, this year was overflowing with love and underrepresented by this post.
Back at home in DC now, I'm amped for the summer! Starting in June, I'll be working with the Business Outreach Center of New York, which provides micro-loans and direct service support to small business-owners in the city, focusing on women, immigrants, and refugees. I can't wait to be in the Big Apple with some of my best friends, before diving into (when did this happen?) my last year of college!
This spring semester, I took some of the best classes I've had at Harvard. I sang a lot. I learned things and had some of the best conversations of my life.
I also live with all of my best friends. Not a moment can be dull: wading through hours of requisite writing becomes a celebration when it's done overnight in a library that has a piano. Reviewing pages miles long of information is an adventure when you take breaks to clear your mind and enjoy the sunshine. The most daunting of weeks seem laughable when coffee, music, and words exist.
I'll enumerate an arbitrary list of stand-out moments below, knowing full well that the most enjoyable ones could be neither photographed nor articulated.
☀️ Snow: This winter was the snowiest one Boston has ever seen in history! Campus became this dreamlike place impenetrable by cars for the first weeks of the semester, which left lots of time to celebrate friendship, watch Frozen, go sledding, etc. before the reality of classes set in. Once this happened, I took the time to soak in that hilarity, featuring a Shakespeare class taken with my two brothers (pictured below), a Latin class reading the complete corpus of my favorite author (Catullus), a Public Health Economics tutorial that became my favorite class of college (awesome), and an intermediate macroeconomics class (I don't want to talk about it).
☀️ Family: One of the most frenzied and enjoyable weekends of the semester was Junior Parents' Weekend, when the folks came up from Virginia, and the other folks came down from West Newbury, to get a taste of my life as a junior, and also see me perform in Ghungroo, Harvard's South Asian dance showcase! This was the weekend of Priya's birthday, and it was amazing to share the energy of campus with so many people whom I love so much.
☀️ Community: I came to appreciate my community, within Lowell House and across campus, more than ever this year. From working on the Lowell Housing Day video to having a group of people to kick back with for three-hour dinner chats, this house finally feels very much like home, and the community we have forged makes me beyond thrilled to see what senior year has in store.
☀️ Music: Finding new ways and venues to perform always lights up a semester. Putting together sets with Dylan for Coffeehouse and the Arts Café at the Barker Center was a blast, and lent us some of our favorite musical moments of the year.
☀️ Words: Talking and writing will always be my favorite parts of any semester, and this one had no shortage of either. At some point in the year I picked up writing in verse as an aimless hobby, and friends did not hesitate to dare me to churn out sonnets, limericks, and the like on a host of occasions. Below, find pictured my Happy Wall, home to the words from friends that help to brighten up any dingy day!
☀️ Sun: The first hints of spring after this year's long winter sent us all clamoring for frappuccinos and the river. The last few weeks were idyllic, and impaired all hopes of productivity once again. Schoolwork was relegated to nights as we basked in the sun by day, to finish off a gorgeous semester in fitting fashion.
Overcaffeinated and underslept, this year was overflowing with love and underrepresented by this post.
Back at home in DC now, I'm amped for the summer! Starting in June, I'll be working with the Business Outreach Center of New York, which provides micro-loans and direct service support to small business-owners in the city, focusing on women, immigrants, and refugees. I can't wait to be in the Big Apple with some of my best friends, before diving into (when did this happen?) my last year of college!
You make college sound so much fun or I guess it's more about the perspective! So much out of the bucket list in an year seems near impossible for a normal human being or at least for the less fortunate ones like me, stuck in the medical school.
ReplyDeleteOnce again,a big congratulations on the extraordinary work you have been doing at Gyaan Ghar.On a trip home, I came across one of the lucky kids who has really improved under the aegis of your organization. He spoke highly of you and your grandmother. I believe the zeal you have in you to improve the lives of the not-so-fortunate-people, helps you enjoy the work at an organization like BOC.
Your blogs are the only writings, I believe, you have put out for the people to read.Your friends are lucky,to have got the chance to be the critics to your literature. It would be wonderful if you publish your sonnets, limericks birthed from your pen,for strangers to read.
Since you have painted the picture of Boston during winters so beautifully,even though I initially dreaded the harsh winter of the city, but now I am really looking forward to my stint at the Harvard Medical School starting later this year.