Reflections on the Year

It’s very common to hear people say that college is/will be the most amazing time of your life. Although clichéd, this reminder is absolutely true. If you are a high school student reading this and are currently feeling feel excluded, overwhelmed, unhappy, or a range of other emotions, just know that the best years of your life are ahead of you!

It’s also very common to hear people say that you are very fortunate if you can afford to go to college and this is also absolutely true. It is important, then to make the most of your college experience. Below, I’ve put together  a list of  things I have learned this year that might help you through your college experience.

I think it’s very important to remember that I neither want or expect you to treat this advice like gospel. Your college experience will be yours alone and you have the autonomy to shape it however you want.  Good luck!

Academic

1) Assess the pedagogy of your  classes and  build individual study systems for the different classes. The lessons you draw at college will vary from class to class.  In some classes, say Spanish, it will be important to just memorize certain things. That doesn’t mean, however, that you have to resort to rote learning to memorize the material. Make note cards, write stories, or use color coding! In other classes, your professors will help you by providing some study guides- take advantage of them but don’t make them your only guide!

2) Your writing can always be improved. Writing is an essential skill that many people unfortunately have trouble with. Even if you’re on the other end of that spectrum and are blessed with excellent writing skills, just know that your professors, mentors and even your peers will always be able to help you improve it. Embrace the constructive criticism they provide and learn from it.

3) Go out of your comfort zone and take classes outside of your prospective major. College is an epistemological experience in and of itself! You will better learn to critically assess the world around you and see things from marginalized perspectives. Therefore, don’t confine yourself to just chemistry/ theater/ creative writing courses. Take a GWS course, a course in environmental studies, or an economics class. Of course you will come across things you may not agree with and that’s perfect! You should be challenged to defend what you believe in. To me, that’s one of the most important things you can get out of college!

Career

1) Take advantage of our Career Center!!! The Career Center at Hollins is one of our biggest assets. You should see Ashley Glenn with whatever questions you have regarding your future goals. She and her team are absolutely awesome with helping you find internships, volunteer opportunities, and jobs.

2) Taking advantage of the CC entails attending and learning from the C3 Conference and vying for J-Term internships. How many other schools give students a chance to make so many awesome connections as first years? Both the C3 Conference and the competitive internships give Hollins students a huge advantage when applying for summer jobs and internships.

3) Have an idea of what you want to do after college and work towards that goal. If you want to go into the workforce, for example, doing internships and learning basic office etiquette skills will be invaluable. If you want to go into grad school, try your best to get involved in undergraduate research. I know it may sound daunting but seek help and get a step ahead of the rest of the crowd!

Personal

1) You won’t click with everyone. And that’s fine. This doesn’t mean, however, that the first impressions you have of the people around you define them or their personality. If someone rubs you the wrong way, there might be half a million reasons why; there’s nothing inherently wrong with you or them. Try to make friends but be genuine. As the saying goes, “to make friends, you have to first be one.”

2) Hollins is unique in the number of female role models you’ll be surrounded by. Befriend the people you look up to. College is very unlike high school in that there are few demarcations among the different class years. You’ll often take classes with upperclass(wo)men and of course interact with them in sports and clubs. You should reach out to these ladies (in an organic way) and let them guide you in your endeavors.

3) Have fun! I started this blog writing about the awesome time you’ll have at college. To make the most of your college experience, you have to attend concerts and parties, visit nearby schools, and go out with friends when you’re invited. These venues let the most natural friend-making happen!

Make sure to have a great summer before you start college! My summer is going awesome so far. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me at HaidariH@Hollins.edu or add me on Facebook!

Selfies with the biffles!

DC chillin with Lincoln.

Holi!

This Saturday, the Global Interest Association (GIA), hosted an awesome Holi celebration in front of Carvin House. Holi is the increasingly popular Hindu celebration of spring. A beautiful array of scented powders were provided by GIA for students to throw at one another.

Before!

GIA members blasted a variety of beautiful international music. Students also played with water guns and had a ton of awesome Indian food to eat. The ice cream was de-lic-ious!

Fewwwd

Desserts and dancing ensued! What an awesome reprieve amidst all the stress-inducing finals and papers!

Nishu and me

Being silly Bivs, Maya, me, and Madchen!

End of the Year

We have only one more week until the last day of classes but I don’t think I want to accept that my first year at Hollins is coming to an end! All around me, there’s this pulsating, vibrant energy as seniors look forward to graduation, we say goodbye to some of our most beloved professors and staff members, and we celebrate end-of-the-year ceremonies.

Reflecting on the year  with mentors and friends can always be a moving event. On Sunday, I attended the Cultural and Community Engagement banquet, which honors students  active in the religious, service-oriented, and global and community life at Hollins. I was representing SHARE and the Sandusky House but there were  members from the various programs at Hollins. Members of the Early Transition Program, participants of the Jamaica Service Project, and representatives of the Diversity Monologue Troupe were some of the many groups present at the banquet. I even had the pleasant opportunity to meet and converse with the host family of study abroad students. The dinner was filled with awesome performances by C&CE members, distribution of senior awards (which were dedicated by the seniors to their mentors), and a speech by President Gray. Attending this banquet was an invaluable experience for me as I rise to the executive positions in both SHARE and Sandusky.

My roommate and I after the C&CE banquet.

Today, I went to another end-of-the-year ceremony: Honors Convocation. This event recognizes high academic achievements by undergraduates, graduates, and Horizon students. Inductees of various honor societies, recipients of departmental honors, and Batten and Hollins Scholars were among the students recognized at the event. In addition, certain departments  gave awards to outstanding achievers in the respective disciplines. I received the David L. Longfellow History Prize given to an “outstanding first-year student or sophomore in history.” (It came with a $50 Amazon gift card–sweeeeeet!)

It was very inspiring to receive the award and to see other friends and upperclassmen accept similar honors. As President Gray noted in her address, Honors Convocation reminds us that academic excellence is the core tenet that Hollins is based upon. As the ceremony drew to a close, the class of 2013  chanted the  same “Go Green” anthem that had welcomed us freshman in the fall–this time, it was in honor of the retiring professors. To our surprise, the faculty and staff reciprocated the act and began singing as well!

Honors Convocation was an awesome way to end bring the academic year to an end. Now I’m looking forward to Spring Cotillion!!! Can’t wait.

Springtime at Hollins

For a while now, I’ve been wondering what to write about since I haven’t been doing much on campus. I guess I’ve been so enveloped in all the changes happening around me that I haven’t even realized they were occurring! Every day for the past half month, the weather would fluctuate between cool and warm but I think it’s safe to say that the spring has finally arrived at Hollins (and achingly so)!

The 19th century American poet, Edgar Guest, wrote, “Spring’s greatest joy beyond a doubt is when it brings the children out.” I would like to extend on that and add that spring is a time when the child in everyone comes out. The ubiquitous flowers, the nurturing sun, and the refreshing breeze all make me come up with excuses to be outside. I even tried to do my homework in our backyard but instead I just laid in the grass and took a nap–oops. As W. Earl Hall once put, “Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day.” (I guess spring also brings out the poet in everyone.)

This picture does no justice to the actual beauty surrounding me right now!

As much as the spring time reminds me of nature’s beauty, it also points out to me the fragility of our world. I often say that the world is full of contradictions. We treasure the beauty nature gives us yet we haphazardly eat away at our fossil fuels and rob far-away people of their natural resources so that we may live more comfortable lives, inadvertently destroying everything we supposedly value. This spring, I am making a pledge to do everything I can to lead a more sustainable life so that this generation is not the last one that can benefit from the bounty of nature.

I recently had a meeting with Jeri Suarez, the Associate Dean of Cultural and Community Engagement here at Hollins, to discuss future service activities the Sandusky House can execute. Inspired by the pleasant arrival of spring, I am now planning ways the Sandusky house can take steps to lead to a more sustainable Hollins community–perhaps through the formation of a green team? The logistics are unclear right now but as I look out the window of the Wyndham Robertson Library onto a beautiful landscape, I realize I have no choice but to be committed to this goal.

To see more pictures of our spring experience, visit “Our Moments” page

Tanja Softic: Migrant Universe

Trying to put a label on Tanja Softic or her artwork is not only a very difficult task, it is one that is irrelevant. Softic emigrated from the former Yugoslavia, which was broken up to form several smaller nations in the Balkan peninsula — one of the most culturally rich yet historically volatile regions in the world. Her work has been displayed in various countries, including Japan, Australia, Poland, and of course the U.S. Yet Softic’s exhibit, Migrant Universe, does not reflect her journey throughout the world. Rather it serves as a poem to help visualize the universal facets of human migration.

Some of the motifs in her work include birds and telephone lines. In this way her work pulsates with movement and communication.

The Heart of the Matter

Yet Softic reminds us that migration can be a source of displacement, confusion, and chaos. The vortices and the presence invasive plants in her work help to convey this message.

Revolution

One of my favorite pieces by Softic is The Story of What Happened, which depicts the prophet Muhammad’s ascent to heaven. The artist is able to include her religio-cultural background in the drawing while always maintaining the universal human element, depicted by the bowl to the figure’s right.

Note: Migrant Universe will be on exhibit at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum on the Hollins University campus until April 20.

Midterms… are finally over!

This past week has been a little stressful for me, as I’m sure it has been for every other Hollins girl. Some of the more memorable midterms I had were for my Revolution in Vietnam, Environmental Studies, and my Globalization and Poverty classes. For my class on the Vietnam war, I wrote a paper in which I had to advise President Lyndon Johnson on what course to take in Southeast Asia after assessing the primary documents available to us. This was probably one of the most intriguing tasks I’ve ever accomplished because I’ve always been interested in policymaking and this project really helped demonstrate the difficult, convoluted nature of the decision-making process. I also worked with an Environmental Studies classmate to put together the Green Fee Proposal, which was tons of fun. We proposed that the school invest in a number of umbrella clotheslines to be used by the on-campus residents. Our proposal was written with an implementation plan, a budget, and estimates of carbon reduction. Although our project was not voted as the most viable one (our classmates thought they were unsightly >__>) I still enjoyed putting the project together. I’ll definitely look into submitting another proposal next year. Finally, for my Globalization and Poverty class, I had a three-essay exam. I absolutely love this class but I’ve been struggling with it a little so I prepared for the midterm very early.

Most of the concepts I learn in my classes are very multifaceted- it helps to create different kinds of study guides.

By Friday, I was finished with all my midterms which was absolutely blissful since the weather was gorgeous and I wanted to spend time outside. I decided to take my roommate out to Nawab Indian Cuisine to congratulate ourselves on surviving the first half of the semester. The food was absolutely dee-lish-ous and I even had some left over for the next day.

I should really get into the habit of taking pictures of my food haha this picture isn’t even mine. xD

Afterwards, I went to my dorm, brewed some tea, opened up a chocolate bar, put on my favorite music, and colored in some mandalas. This relaxation certainly came in handy because I am taking the Greyhound home. Since I had to leave Hollins at noon and my bus doesn’t arrive until two, I hung out in Downtown Roanoke for a while to see the awesome St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It was wonderful! Roanoke’s got a lot of culture, especially for a city its size. Now I’m super excited to be back in the DC area during Spring Break. I hope to take some time to visit a Hollins alum/former teacher and of course see the Cherry Blossom festival. So excited!

So much green :S

#TheGreyhoundstruggle

Sandusky!

This month I finally moved into my new room at the Sandusky Service House, which has been absolutely awesome so far. My wonderful new roommate helped me move in, which was fortunate since Sandusky is a ‘hill house’, making it a mission to climb to every day. (I think I’m getting more of a workout from going to my room in between classes than I am from my Strength and Tone class!) In any case Sandusky is just another one of those things that makes Hollins so unique. I know a lot of people use the world ‘unique’ to describe the broad range of experiences here, but it’s true! Everything about Sandusky disproves the stereotypes many people have of college housing. There are no sketchy, dimly-lit hallways at Sandusky! Instead, the architecture of the building, the magnificent view, and the general sense of community here make the college dorm feel much more like a home. Of course the sense of belonging is furthered by the service that we do as Sandusky members.

Each semester, Sandusky girls have to complete 35 hours of community service. We can complete these hours by taking part in school activities and/or helping out in the Downtown area. Last Monday I volunteered with my roommate at the Rescue Mission’s toddler care, and I have to say that was probably one of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve had here. I am really (really) close with my family so I tend to get homesick and miss my little cousins a lot. Volunteering with toddler care was just what I needed to get past my homesickness and meet some wonderful people in the Roanoke area.

My room… of course I have my Lupe Fiasco and Kid Cudi posters . My wall’s looking a little bare though. Time for new posters?

I’m so glad that I’m at a place where service to others is so valued. Given such difficult economic times, I understand that more and more high school graduates decide to go to college mainly for job security. But at Sandusky (and Hollins in general) we are always reminded that such a pursuit may not be as fulfilling as one in which you actively seek to improve the world around you.

I’m very excited about future volunteer opportunities here at Roanoke. Starting next Saturday I will be volunteering at the Rescue Mission’s thrift store (cue Macklemore) once a week. If I find I have the time I will probably also be volunteering at the Red Cross! Also, the Blue Ridge Marathon is in April, so I am looking forward to helping out with that. There are so many awesome ways to get involved in Roanoke and, as the spring season sneaks up on us, there’s really no reason not to!