By Brette Stockmaster, JIF '15
I met my best friend, Lindsay Young, through JIF the summer before
senior year. We both went to high school in rural Ohio. We went through the college
application process together, and we ended up at schools in the same athletic
conference. Nevertheless, our college experiences have differed in some ways.
Here is what she has to say about her time at Johns Hopkins University.
How is Hopkins
different and similar compared to what you thought it would be in high school?
When I visited
Hopkins in high school, I had the vision that it was the expansive campus that
overtook all of Baltimore (probably due to the 2 hour long tour they took us
all on). I fell in love with the beauty
of the bricks and marble, and from that day on I was determined to go there. After being at Hopkins for a year and a
semester now, I have realized that Hopkins is really a small culture within a
much larger city. Hopkins is not all
that Baltimore has to offer, and I have loved getting to know the city.
Favorite part:
My favorite part is
the incredible opportunity available at your fingertips. Hopkins provides so many options to do
research in virtually any field you can think of. I started research my freshman spring and was
able to really see what it would mean to be a geneticist in a lab. Before this, I had already taken a lab course
in bacteriophage research and had learned how to compose myself in a more
scientific, professional environment.
This course also gave me the opportunity to attend a Howard Hughes
Medical Institute (HHMI) conference and present my research, which really
brought the meaning of science full circle for me. I have discovered that being a scientist is
about trial and error and consistent curiosity.
This is a lesson I would never have learned without the opportunities I
have had to complete my own research.
Least favorite
part:
Everybody says
that college is a lot harder than high school, but I don't think I ever truly
realized what they meant. While I value
the education I am getting, some of the classes can be incredibly
difficult. I can spend a whole day in
Brody, the campus study spot, and still feel like I have more work to do when I
finally go to bed. College is a huge
adjustment in studying patterns, and it has taken me a while to find one that
works.
Advice for
Midwest women thinking of applying?
All colleges will
hold a lot of weight in your essays, as those are really what differentiate you
from the other test scores and GPAs.
Focus on those, but also do not stress over them. Be authentic, be creative, be clever, and the
school that is right for you will see your personality and commitment shine
through those pieces.
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