Languages

Boola! Boola!

Hopefully everybody had a wonderful time a Bulldog Days! Though the rain was threatening at first, the sun managed to break through eventually and we had a couple of glorious days :)

One thing that probably came up during BDDays as you guys were visiting panels and talking with current students, and something I haven't had the chance to talk about yet, is languages.

So all of you probably know by now that Yale requires all of its students to take at least one semester of a language - and that's only if you are already significantly advanced in a second language.... I already hear many of you groaning - "Languages?! I hate foreign languages! Where's my organic chem textbook....". Then of course there are those of you who are already hepta-lingual. Among the incoming class, you will see a wide spectrum of language ability and interest.

Coming into Yale, I was one of those organic chem lovers (well, physics to be exact) and after having taken 2 years of French in High School decided that I was finished with foreign languages forever (I was one of those everyone should just speak English types...)

To Yale's credit, I was forced to start a new language, or continue French, upon entering. My choice: German. Why? It seemed the most like English and I really, really, liked bratwurst. My lack of enthusiasm, however, quickly turned into a burning passion. I loved German. Despite having class everyday at 9:30 I looked forward to getting up and going to class in the morning and seeing my other 7 classmates, something which was never the case for French in High School. Intro language classes at Yale (first 4 semesters) are taught for an hour everyday, and are focused heavily on developing speaking skills through interaction with your classmates and teachers in a small-classroom environment. Compared with the frustrating rate at which I had learned French in High School, I learned German incredibly quickly (it helps that from day 1 no English was ever used in class).

I ended up spending a portion of that Freshman year summer studying on a Yale fellowship in Freiburg, Germany. Furthermore, I began taking French again at Yale through the intensive language program, in which students have 10 hours a week of class time. I also decided to study abroad in Morocco to start learning Arabic while continuing to progress in French. Next year, I plan to take Intensive Spanish, which along with the fact that I have a Colombian suite-mate, should enable me to gain proficiency in Spanish in a year.

All in all, what I'm trying to say is that learning languages at Yale is unlike learning languages in High School and the vast majority of universities. It's fast, intense, and fun - and it changed me from a language hater, to a language lover.

Summer - what, what?

So, I decided to keep with the seasonal theme - and after spring comes summer!

Not that it's summer in New Haven yet - that would be an ambitious statement - but it;s around the time that everyone begins finalizing their summer plans.

It may seem odd, but for most Yalies, Yale doesn't end with the coming of summer. Rather, the vast majority of students, from Freshman to Juniors (Seniors join the real world), do some sort of a Yale affiliated program or internship during the summer.

These summer experiences range from taking art history classes in Paris, to studying Arabic in Jordan, to working for the US Embassy in Cote D'Ivoire or working for Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong. Many students also spend a portion of their summers in New Haven with paid research positions working with Yale professors.

Over 70% of Yalies study abroad at some point during their time at Yale and since most Yalies can't pass up a semester here on campus, the common choice is to study abroad during the summer. Yale offers literally hundreds of programs across the world for students to choose from, and the approval process is relatively easy. Yale employs a team of study abroad advisers to help you with your choices, plan your itinerary and receive in-country support once there.

The second most popular option for Yalies over the summer is internships. Once again, many Yalies choose to work abroad for the summer. These positions range across a variety of fields - from finance, to law, to NGO work in international development, to journalism. Yale is unique that it offers over 400 domestic and international internships that a reserved solely for Yale students. Many summer opportunities are paid, but for those that aren't, Yale offers generous funding through a variety of grants, financial aid, and fellowships.

To give you an example based off my experiences - I worked the past two summers in London through a program called British Bulldogs. Both times I lived in a group of three apartments with 15 other Yale students for the months of June and July. The first summer I worked as a journalist for the Wall Street Journal, and though I wasn't paid, Yale provided me with a $8000 grant for the summer. Last summer I went back to London and worked for a small hedge fund. During my time in London I got the opportunity to visit Parliament several times, go to two Manchester United soccer matches, and see the queen, to name just a few things.

In addition to my two internships, after Freshman year I spent the month of August on a Yale fellowship in Freiburg, Germany taking intensive German classes. Last summer, I spent the month of August working on a farm near Dijon, France - a placement I found through a Yale contact.

What I'm trying to say is that Yalies do anything and everything during their summers. Yale doesn't end during the school year - the resources and opportunities continue into the summer months.

SPRING IS HERE

You heard me - Spring is back - and it's better than ever.

For me, being from Maine (where we inevitably have snow until the end of April) the greatest thing about coming back to Yale is seeing all the snow disappear. Granted, sometimes Yale can play tricks on us (there was a light snow last night) but for the most part, good weather is here to stay.

These last 6 weeks of school are really a race to the finish - they tend to fly by quicker than any other part of the year. The feeling around campus is really great right now, people are starting to flock to the old campus lawn again. You can see people laying out doing reading for class, playing frisbee, football, soccer (sometimes the Yale Live Roleplaying Club is out there hitting each other with fake swords).

Other great things about Spring:

Spring IMs - ARE OUTSIDE! Although I love Payne Whitney, nothing beats the sun.

Spring Fling - the headliner this year is Lupe Fiasco, which was leaked early by his promoter (Goo Goo Dolls are apparently also in the works along with 3 other bands)

Society Tap Night - Every Spring, secret societies at Yale tap Juniors to join their society Senior year. Societies at Yale form a cool aspect of Senior year - they're "secret" but really everyone knows what all of them are. They're a great way to get to know a different, diverse group of people that you wouldn't otherwise meet.

JE WET MONDAY - This one is special to JE. Ever year, a few days before Easter, there is a tradition in JE that at Midnight all the Freshman assault JE college with water guns, water balloons, hoses, whatever water weapons they can find. The other classes defend the college from the invaders :)

The Holidays may be over... but shopping has just begun!

By "shopping", I am of course referring to class shopping. For those of you not familiar with the term, Yale allows all of its students to "shop" classes that they are interested in at the beginning of each semester . Unlike most colleges, you aren't required to finalize a schedule before the semester begins and you don't have to hand in a finished schedule until a few weeks into the semester. This allows you to test out a slew of different classes, get a feel for the professors and the workload, and construct that PERFECT schedule where you only have class on Tuesday and Thursday, etc, etc.

Most students shop between 5-10 classes, though some have been known to shop crazy a number. Even if classes are offered at the same time, professors don't mind if you get up half-way through and leave to visit another class, they understand it's shopping period and that you may be looking at multiple options.

I'm not a super-shopper, so I try to keep my list to around 8 and choose 4 or 5 - here's what I've been looking at this semester, keep in mind that I'm an Economics and International Studies double major.

ECON 474 / INTS 258 - Economic Policy Lessons From Japan (seminar)

ECON 325 / INTS 352 - Economics of Developing Countries

INTS 427 - Social Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries (seminar)

ECON 252 - Financial Markets

HSAR 115 - Intro to History of Art: Renaissance to Present

FREN 170 - Introduction to French Literature (Seminar)

FREN 376 - The Two Congos: Literature and Culture (Seminar)

MGMT 882 - Financial Statement Analysis (Seminar taught in the Business School)

Of these I'll most likely choose 4 or 5 and of those probably 3 seminars. As you can see, what's great about Yale is the number of seminars offered. I usually only take 1 lecture class a semester as I like the more direct student-professor interaction in seminars.

The other great thing about shopping is that the workload is usually pretty light as professors realize that schedules aren't finalized yet. Consequently, there's lots of time to get back into the swing of school after break, hang out with your friends, frolic in the fresh snow, go sledding at the Divinity School Hill, etc. All things considered, some of my best weeks at Yale have been during shopping period.

I hope that gave you a better idea of what beginning of semesters are like at Yale and I want to wish everyone a great beginning of the semester and happy new year!!!!

INTRA-MANIACS

Happy Belated Holidays!

Holidays end - we return to Yale. You know what that means?!?!?

WINTER INTRAMURALS

Men's Basketball (3 Levels)

Women's Basketball

Swimming

Bowling

Ice Hockey

Men's Squash

Women's Squash

Men's Volleyball

Women's Volleyball

Water Polo*

This makes me a happy bulldog.

Intramural spirit and participation varies from college to college and year to year, but in general, Yale takes intramurals very seriously. Thanks to our Harry-Potter esque college system, there's no need to go around organizing your teams - everyone plays for their own college. We battle for the prized Tyng Cup, with an ongoing online scoreboard updated daily, see here: www.yale.edu/intramurals

Take a look, you'll see that the JE Spiders dominate the table. After winning the Tyng last year, we're looking for our repeat this year. In the fall, I captained JE's coed Football team to a 2nd plance finish, and this semester I'm captaining JE's Men's B Hoops team, which is currently 3-0.

I encourage everyone to play IMs - they really are a great break from your daily routine at Yale and provide a great opportunity to meet people in your college, and they're incredibly fun. Athletic ability not required, you just have to be excited to play :)

*This is played in Inter-tubes, ya, inter-tubes, its awesome

Feeling Like a Freshman Again

The last two weeks of any semester at Yale are a ridiculous experience. The second to last week - the last week before finals - is reading period. Reading period is great: no class, no exams, lots of parties etc. The purpose of reading period is to be finishing final papers for certain classes and getting a head-start on studying for your exams taking place in the following week.

Once you reach finals week, the smorgasbord begins. Literally. I've tried to diversify my studying locations this year, which, in turn, has diversified my eating, ie, my study breaks. Study breaks are an integral part of the Yale experience; during finals week each of the colleges and various other groups try their hardest to stuff your face with food. It's supposed to be a small break from studying, but if you're smart like me, you can go to the study breaks, not just in your own college, but your friends' colleges. Hit up JE at 8:00 for Thai Food, head over to Davenport at 9:00 for some falafel and hummus, followed by Saybrook at 10:00 for some pizza. Then I fall into a food-induced coma/nap for two hours (great for studying) before hitting up midnight breakfast in the Silliman dining hall. Whether or not all this eating is beneficial for my studying is questionable.


(Best falafel in the world, brought to your dining hall)


What's my point?

Yale spoils you rotten. I love Yale.

I think this is more apparent to me now than some of my classmates as I spent last semester abroad in Morocco and then worked in London for the summer (quick study abroad plug - DO IT, IT ROCKS). In Morocco my host mom cooked me amazing food, but while living in London I had to fair for myself to satiate my never-ending appetite. Doing so was expensive, it took time, it required cooking skill. This week I stuffed my face with food that was free, prepared, and presented instantly for my immediate gratification. I forgot what being spoiled felt like... I felt like a freshman again, amazed by just how well I was treated by Yale.

Time for a study break.




Me on Camel. In Desert. In Morocco.