It Still Hasn't Fully Hit Me...
It is now officially October, the best month of the year! Not only do I turn 18 on October 8th, but it's also the month of Halloween! So much has happened and so much is going to happen, I find it hard to make blog posts. However, I want to do it as often as possible so that I can have a thorough record of my thoughts during the course of this year. I can't wait to look back at my first posts and see how I've changed!
Yesterday, I went to a college fair in Geneva. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was essentially exactly like the college fairs I've been to in Marin: hot, stuffy, and extremely crowded. There were tons of pushy moms and their high-achieving kids pushing through crowds, trying to woo the college reps at the Yale table, etc. etc...
It was definitely interesting to check out different European colleges, though. I talked to a lady from Erasmus, which is a very tiny school located in Rotterdam (in the Netherlands). It's a Liberal Arts and Sciences bachelor program, and it's international! It's definitely too small for my liking, but nonetheless it was intriguing. The lines to talk to the Bristol and St. Andrews reps were ridiculous, so I just ended up grabbing brochures and walking away. One thing that turned me away from Bristol was that I overheard the rep giving advice to a student on filling out her application. She said that in the essays, one shouldn't focus on their diverse talents but rather all of the things they've done to contribute to just one subject area. Hearing those words come out of her mouth sounded so wrong to me. I'm definitely not looking for a college that wants specialists. That's why I'm so interested in getting a liberal arts education. I feel that it's so so important to be broadly educated, rather than trimming it down to just one subject. There are many reasons for this and I could go on and on, but I'll leave it at that for now.
I also visited the U.S. colleges I already know I'm applying to: Boston University and Northwestern. It was a breeze talking to the representatives and coming up with good questions to ask, considering I've already done it a few times and visited some of the campuses!
It was so annoying to hear some of the students in my class brag about their extremely high GPAs and how they're applying to Yale as their backup, but aside from that, I enjoyed the experience!
On a different note, the Krakow trip is coming up next weekend (Oct 9-12)! I'm so excited. Not in like a happy way, but in an intrigued way. Of course I am expecting that the Auschwitz visit will be extremely horrific and moving, but I feel like it's such an important thing to do. All of my studies in history, government, economics, etc. will become much more relevant when I get to see where these horrific things happened in real life. This is such an amazing opportunity I get to have. I'm still sort of in shock that I'm even here right now, studying in Switzerland. Every time I really sit and think about it, I get so excited. I feel so incredibly lucky, and it sounds cheesy but it's true! I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now, and I'm so glad I made the decision to come here instead of going off on the typical, boring university route. It's already been an eye-opening journey, and I've only been here for 3 weeks!!! Oh, and did I mention my French is improving? :) I can understand the basics of what people are conversing about, and I've picked up some vocab and phrases.
In terms of my classes, they are going pretty well. So far I really enjoy economics, because it's a whole new subject for me. The thoughts and ideas from these different economists in their time periods, like Keynes, Malthus, Marx and of course, Smith, all really interest me. I can see how all of their ideas have influenced the way we view the economy today. It's also really interesting for me to hear about the economy from the Canadian perspective. I'm getting an outside look at my own country, and I'm opening my mind to other economic and political ways of thinking that I haven't considered before. I used to just think America's way was the best way. Now that I look more deeply into its issues, I can see how flawed some of our philosophies are. I will say, however, that I still love America, and I don't think that will ever change.
History has been a bit boring for me so far, as we've been looking at the study of history (historiography) rather than actually studying history itself. Today we finally started to take notes on the medieval era and its background. I find history really interesting now, and so I'm sort of upset at myself for not realizing how cool it is in my previous years at school. I used to sort of just blindly memorize facts for the tests and quizzes, only to quickly forget all of the information. Now as Ms. Kleeb teaches me, I feel as though I'm completely being retaught everything. She will ask questions that I surprisingly don't know the answers to. I had forgotten about Napoleon, and other factual things that are extremely important. I've resolved that this year I want to study the history really hard so that I actually remember it, because I now see how important and just plain cool it is!
Writers craft is a bit elementary for me (not to say I'm a writing genius, I just haven't really learned anything new), but I still find it helpful in developing my writing skills. We're currently working on a Hero's Journey piece, which I basically covered in my freshman year of high school. So yes, it's review, (sometimes a bit mundane) but still a good way to practice the art of writing.
And finally, Advanced Functions. Lord how I dislike math. Right now the class is totally easy review, but I'm guessing it'll get harder as the semester progresses. We're going over synthetic division and basic factoring things right now, which I'm good at (yay!). It got a 30/32 on the last quiz, so not too bad. I just hope it'll prepare me for calculus!
I'm slowly but surely falling into the routine of living here. I wake up at 6:30, get dressed and do my makeup, have two pieces of toast (peanut butter and nutella) and a banana, and then briskly walk up a hill in the freezing air to catch the 7:33 train. And yes, it really does show up at EXACTLY 7:33 on dot. Then, I walk from the train station to school (it's like 1 minute away) and go to morning classes. At lunch, I walk to Microcity which is the university café. They have really nice food! I usually go with the vegetarian option or the burger. The burgers are so good, which is weird for me to say since I'm American. Today I opted for broccoli, potato wedges and a tofu-lentil-veggie combo. After school I went to the gym and worked out for a bit, then came home with my friend Chloe! She and I both live in Bevaix, and our Madames are best friends. On Wednesdays, I eat dinner at Chloe's, and she eats here on Thursdays. Tonight, Madame Schaad made this coconut pad thai. It was really delicious! I'm so lucky because she always makes reallllyyyyy good food. I just hope I don't get too fat this year!
On top of going to the gym 1-2 times a week, I also plan on running! I joined the running club, and we meet every Monday to do a nice run through Neuchâtel. This Monday we just did a 5k. I kept up just fine, which I was really proud of :) There's also an option to do yoga on Mondays, but you have to pay 10 franks per class—I think I'd rather spend my money on clothes or cookies.
I also signed up to do model UN! Ms. Kleeb (the head of MUN) said that we now have the option of going to Leiden or PARIS!!!!!!! I obviously want to go to Paris if I can.
Anyway I think that is all for now! I hope to be doing little entries like this more often, just to keep track of my thoughts and what's going on.
Miss you all!
xo
Yesterday, I went to a college fair in Geneva. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was essentially exactly like the college fairs I've been to in Marin: hot, stuffy, and extremely crowded. There were tons of pushy moms and their high-achieving kids pushing through crowds, trying to woo the college reps at the Yale table, etc. etc...
It was definitely interesting to check out different European colleges, though. I talked to a lady from Erasmus, which is a very tiny school located in Rotterdam (in the Netherlands). It's a Liberal Arts and Sciences bachelor program, and it's international! It's definitely too small for my liking, but nonetheless it was intriguing. The lines to talk to the Bristol and St. Andrews reps were ridiculous, so I just ended up grabbing brochures and walking away. One thing that turned me away from Bristol was that I overheard the rep giving advice to a student on filling out her application. She said that in the essays, one shouldn't focus on their diverse talents but rather all of the things they've done to contribute to just one subject area. Hearing those words come out of her mouth sounded so wrong to me. I'm definitely not looking for a college that wants specialists. That's why I'm so interested in getting a liberal arts education. I feel that it's so so important to be broadly educated, rather than trimming it down to just one subject. There are many reasons for this and I could go on and on, but I'll leave it at that for now.
I also visited the U.S. colleges I already know I'm applying to: Boston University and Northwestern. It was a breeze talking to the representatives and coming up with good questions to ask, considering I've already done it a few times and visited some of the campuses!
It was so annoying to hear some of the students in my class brag about their extremely high GPAs and how they're applying to Yale as their backup, but aside from that, I enjoyed the experience!
On a different note, the Krakow trip is coming up next weekend (Oct 9-12)! I'm so excited. Not in like a happy way, but in an intrigued way. Of course I am expecting that the Auschwitz visit will be extremely horrific and moving, but I feel like it's such an important thing to do. All of my studies in history, government, economics, etc. will become much more relevant when I get to see where these horrific things happened in real life. This is such an amazing opportunity I get to have. I'm still sort of in shock that I'm even here right now, studying in Switzerland. Every time I really sit and think about it, I get so excited. I feel so incredibly lucky, and it sounds cheesy but it's true! I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now, and I'm so glad I made the decision to come here instead of going off on the typical, boring university route. It's already been an eye-opening journey, and I've only been here for 3 weeks!!! Oh, and did I mention my French is improving? :) I can understand the basics of what people are conversing about, and I've picked up some vocab and phrases.
In terms of my classes, they are going pretty well. So far I really enjoy economics, because it's a whole new subject for me. The thoughts and ideas from these different economists in their time periods, like Keynes, Malthus, Marx and of course, Smith, all really interest me. I can see how all of their ideas have influenced the way we view the economy today. It's also really interesting for me to hear about the economy from the Canadian perspective. I'm getting an outside look at my own country, and I'm opening my mind to other economic and political ways of thinking that I haven't considered before. I used to just think America's way was the best way. Now that I look more deeply into its issues, I can see how flawed some of our philosophies are. I will say, however, that I still love America, and I don't think that will ever change.
History has been a bit boring for me so far, as we've been looking at the study of history (historiography) rather than actually studying history itself. Today we finally started to take notes on the medieval era and its background. I find history really interesting now, and so I'm sort of upset at myself for not realizing how cool it is in my previous years at school. I used to sort of just blindly memorize facts for the tests and quizzes, only to quickly forget all of the information. Now as Ms. Kleeb teaches me, I feel as though I'm completely being retaught everything. She will ask questions that I surprisingly don't know the answers to. I had forgotten about Napoleon, and other factual things that are extremely important. I've resolved that this year I want to study the history really hard so that I actually remember it, because I now see how important and just plain cool it is!
Writers craft is a bit elementary for me (not to say I'm a writing genius, I just haven't really learned anything new), but I still find it helpful in developing my writing skills. We're currently working on a Hero's Journey piece, which I basically covered in my freshman year of high school. So yes, it's review, (sometimes a bit mundane) but still a good way to practice the art of writing.
And finally, Advanced Functions. Lord how I dislike math. Right now the class is totally easy review, but I'm guessing it'll get harder as the semester progresses. We're going over synthetic division and basic factoring things right now, which I'm good at (yay!). It got a 30/32 on the last quiz, so not too bad. I just hope it'll prepare me for calculus!
I'm slowly but surely falling into the routine of living here. I wake up at 6:30, get dressed and do my makeup, have two pieces of toast (peanut butter and nutella) and a banana, and then briskly walk up a hill in the freezing air to catch the 7:33 train. And yes, it really does show up at EXACTLY 7:33 on dot. Then, I walk from the train station to school (it's like 1 minute away) and go to morning classes. At lunch, I walk to Microcity which is the university café. They have really nice food! I usually go with the vegetarian option or the burger. The burgers are so good, which is weird for me to say since I'm American. Today I opted for broccoli, potato wedges and a tofu-lentil-veggie combo. After school I went to the gym and worked out for a bit, then came home with my friend Chloe! She and I both live in Bevaix, and our Madames are best friends. On Wednesdays, I eat dinner at Chloe's, and she eats here on Thursdays. Tonight, Madame Schaad made this coconut pad thai. It was really delicious! I'm so lucky because she always makes reallllyyyyy good food. I just hope I don't get too fat this year!
On top of going to the gym 1-2 times a week, I also plan on running! I joined the running club, and we meet every Monday to do a nice run through Neuchâtel. This Monday we just did a 5k. I kept up just fine, which I was really proud of :) There's also an option to do yoga on Mondays, but you have to pay 10 franks per class—I think I'd rather spend my money on clothes or cookies.
I also signed up to do model UN! Ms. Kleeb (the head of MUN) said that we now have the option of going to Leiden or PARIS!!!!!!! I obviously want to go to Paris if I can.
Anyway I think that is all for now! I hope to be doing little entries like this more often, just to keep track of my thoughts and what's going on.
Miss you all!
xo
Love this update. Keep 'em coming!
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