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.