Two Weeks for Tulane

As I write this blog, I realize there are about two weeks left in this semester. It’s now the home stretch–third exams and final assignments come into play, with final exams right on their heels. I have a couple of Bs that need to be brought up to As. Luckily, most of my professors and TAs are lenient enough to let me do that. I always have this to do list that always has studying somewhere on there but somehow it never becomes a priority.

Until finals.

Now I won’t lie to you and say that I’m an unusual student, and that most kids are on top of things. I’d say the overwhelming majority of college students, especially freshman, save their studying to the very last minute. In this case, its the two last weeks of classes. Everyone then starts struggling to yank up those grades in the final few days before exams, because of course, no one wants their entire fate to depend on final exams. Final exams tend to be way too stressful to do that.

Last semester at UT, I was doing the same exact thing–studying like crazy the last few weeks of school. But at UT, I had to approach my professors and TAs to ask for help where I needed it. I had to convince them that I was indeed a hardworking student. Most of them didn’t know me at all . . . .some didn’t even know my name. When I applied to UT last year, I thought I wanted to go to a HUGE school to be a part of that vast network. Now I’m starting to realize the advantages of a smaller school.

As of now, I have a B in chem lab and in chemistry. My chemistry TA I see every week in Bruff, and sometimes we eat together. My chemistry professor is a Senior Fellow for Wall Residential College of which I am the president. Both of these people know me well enough to realize that I am capable of doing whatever it takes to get my A. Pulling up my grades is a lot easier when I have the support of people who already know me and like me, and want me to do well. I feel like at UT, some of the freshman courses I was in were designed to “weed out” science majors who weren’t really suited to be science majors, and in that respect the professors weren’t super compassionate about individual students.

So I’ll be cracking the books for the next two weeks . . . the library is going to be my new home.

Check out our lovely library at http://www.library.tulane.edu/!

But right now I got other stuff to do. Studying . . . I can just do that later, right? =)

Homecoming

Whoever said home is where the heart is was definitely right. Coming home for me is like a purging of all the things I have to do and places I have to be . . . . . its freedom all over again.

<<(In my living room in my house in Friendswood, Texas )

I noticed it today while driving on the streets of my small town of Friendswood, Texas. The town is small and there’s literally nothing to do here. It’s very southern, conservative and certainly not the most exciting place, but its a place I call home. I’ve lived a lot of places, but this is where my roots have been for the past ten years.

Today my best friend and I went to our old haunts–super target, the mall, Starbucks, etc. We had a ball doing all those things we did to relieve our boredom during long Texas summers. We always got tired of shopping and hanging out at Target and Walmart and driving around in search of entertainment but today we didn’t mind.

I guess our lives are so busy now in college that sometimes its a great feeling to just chill.Today we shopped for a dress for various semiformals I have to attend. It was like our usual routine but this time it had a purpose. So even when we weren’t really doing anything productive we still had a goal!

New Orleans is a great city, but going to Tulane definitely is not like living in a small southern town. It’s a big city, and full of adventures just waiting to happen between Bourbon street, the French Quarter and off campus night scenes. Here in Friendswood, you have to dig for it. Spending a day at the town mall is kind of exciting as it gets!

Homecoming–its the periodic trip back home to a boring place where you are more than happy to dig a little!

Airport Fun

So here I am, sitting in New Orleans International Aiport, contemplating life itself.

Ok not really. What I am doing is downloading music, talking to people online, and of course, writing this blog.

My plans were: read for anthropology, read for english, and review my notes for genetics. And here I am, doing everything but. I think its because studying is just so boring that any distraction ultimately finds a way to supersede the pressing homework I have. I’m on my way to Houston, and as I sit here contemplating, I realize that this life is slowly coming to an end.

At Tulane, most of my friends are freshmen, meaning that the second they can go home, they usually do. I too am one of them . . this will be my third trip to Houston this semester alone. I usually use these trips to stock up on food, medicine, and any other essentials that I’m too lazy to pursue in New Orleans. These are the trips for haircuts and waxing, shopping and eating “real” food, and of course, enjoying the spoils of one’s parents as though one is a hero returned from war. I definitely fit this freshman mold–I love going home and realizing I have a fridge just stocked with food and that if I don’t want any of it, my mother is more than willing to take me to one of my favorite restaurants. I just spoke to one of my friends who proceeded to inform me that he was on a mountain skiing with his father and he couldn’t talk because reception is bad on mountains. And he has been home for not even 24 hours! It’s a pretty sweet life, really.

But what I also realize as I’m sitting here is that this life definitely has its end. Upperclassmen I know don’t go home at every chance. Why? They start establishing various ties in the community that keep them there. Jobs, friends, and studies start to eat away at this war hero existence we all crave. Eventually we realize that the most important part of these trips home is maintaining relationships with the people there, and if the relationship isn’t superficial then that will happen no matter how often we return. Many of our high school friends we stop seeing, and the ones that matter are there regardless of that fact. My best friend will be picking me up from the airport today and its bittersweet. From spending all our free time together, now we see each other every few months if we happen to have the chance.

(Eman and me being models! What a way to end my high school world. ) >>

Masala 2006

So Masala was yesterday. What is Masala, many of you may ask? It’s a big dance program which showcases types of Indian dancing and culture at the end of the year. We had several Bollywood dances, a garba/raas (that was our dance), several solos, traditional Bharat Natyam dancing, and a very cheesy skit plus corny emcees.

I ended up with a painful back injury, sores on both feet, and an extreme dislike towards all forms of Indian dancing. Cool, right?

At the very last minute, I was pulled into a dance for the Masala program that India Assoc. at Tulane puts on annually. Since I’m on the board, it was not only my obligation but actually my duty to jump in as a backup dancer. Unfortunately, that meant I was learning this dance in two days, practicing non stop, and making a hurt back even worse.

But the results were amazing. I know I missed a lot of steps, but people said we looked good on stage. All the dances were great . . . . . it was such a transition from dress rehersal when nothing quite came together. The most amazing part was the dancers themselves . . . India Association’s program but many of the dancers weren’t even Indian. There were lots of members of IATU participating that were not of Indian background, and lots more observing. It just proved the point that though Tulane is no NYC in terms of diversity, there is definitely diversity and cultural awareness here.

It was a lot of fun, overall. There were so many people there for dinner who congratulated us on our dancing success. I even saw one of my chemistry TAs, and let me tell you–that was one of my favorite experiences this year.

Tulane does diversity New Orleans style . . . . . . slow n easy, but its definitely there.

Jacob and me being too cool


















Our dance troupe- me, Chandni, Puja, Jennie, Rita, Roshni













Doing the Raas














Me pretending that I know what I’m doing . . . .














Look at Chandni smiling while I struggle to remember the next step!

BLOG CHAT!!!

Hi guys!!!

I know you guys have all been religiously reading my blogs . . j/k. But even if you’ve seen one, two, or even none, here’s an opportunity to learn more about Tulane University. I myself had MANY doubts before I came here, so I can understand what its like perfectly. I’m really excited, because what I’m about to share with you is an opportunity for me to meet some of the future class of 2010.

We are having a LIVE CHAT. All of the bloggers will be there. If you have any questions at all about Tulane and life here, please come join us online. We’ll be able to interact one on one and hopefully help you out with any concerns you might have. I’m really looking forward to this, so y’all please do join us!!!

Monday 4/10, 9-10pm Central time.

http://www.interactionsoftware.com/openhouse/default.asp?SchoolId=1000162584

Talk to you SOOOON!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Orleans Civilization

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “The true test of a civilization is not its census, nor the size of its cities, but the kind of man it turns out.” No city but New Orleans knows that better, for its denizens now represent its former glory all over the country. New Orleans itself however, is not a place that can turn out good types of men anymore.

The reason why? Post Katrina, the population is not even half of what it was. And when one drives down the streets, one sees trash and debris piled into mountains on curbs . . . . hills of waste that are never carted away. Today I assisted in a neighborhood cleanup and I was deeply saddened by what I saw. There were beer bottles and paper bags everywhere. There was plastic covering and batteries, bottles of detergent and food . . . . obviously people had stocked up for the hurricane. The worst part by far though was people’s memorabilia that they had tried to protect. I found personal letters that someone had saved and a large icon of Mary that had miraculously remained unscathed. But all that too was thrown away. It was like we were throwing away parts of these folks’ past and we wouldn’t be able to fill in the holes when they came back and realized everything was gone.

The neighborhood itself was mostly abandoned but for a few people that lived in one of the houses in the area we cleaned. The people that drove by either waved or gave us strange looks. It’s a helpless feeling knowing that someone else is taking care of your neighborhood because they think you can’t do it yourself.

And then we saw two children walking down the street. It occured to us that they have to grow up on these streets we clean.

What will happen to these kids? Can New Orleans still pass the true test of a civilization?
With kids from Tulane and other colleges dragging themselves out of bed in the morning for a couple of hours, maybe it is in fact possible. When we left, we looked back on our work, at streets that were a lot cleaner. New Orleans needs a fresh start, and it needs fresh faces to give it just that. So to all of you– there are always opportunities to help out! Please do, because New Orleans needs us to absolve it of Hurricane Katrina’s still horrific effects.

New Orleans is a civilization not lost yet.

I love my roommate

You never really appreciate someone until you realize they aren’t going to be around you forever.

I know that’s a feeling I certainly am getting in regards to my roommate Puja. We met each other with the online roommate search that many upperclassmen call online dating. Except its like one step beyond that, because you’re asking the other person to live with you. At first, I totally lied on my profile, claiming that I went to bed at 11 and was extremely neat. One of my best friends caught me and made me fix it, and then Puja’s profile was a perfect match to mine. Turns out that we lived in the same city and had mutual friends. It was the beginning of a great friendship!

Now we have an extremely unique relationship. We’re both pre meds and involved in some of the same organizations, so we always have common things to do. There are times when we sit next to each other in chemistry class and make a very long To Do list of things we have to get done . . . . . and then later that day our friends come over to do homework and they get their homework done while we’re too busy entertaining them to do our own!

Last semester, just spending time in the room was entertaining because of the sheer volume of people always in it. I had about 7 roommates at UT, 3 official and 4 regular unofficial ones. I actually worried that this semester would be lonely for us since it was just the two of us.
But all of this just proves two things: that the online roommate search works, and that a lot of times, roommate situations turn into friendships you’ll always cherish. I know I was worried at the start of my freshman year, but now, I can hardly imagine living in a single room again likeduring the pre-college days. Roommates are going to have an impact, and most of the time, its for the better.

The moments when we’re singing loudly to Indian music, the moments when we’re cleaning our room and pretending it’s like that all the time when our parents come, the moments when we’re feeding our friends while not doing our own work . . . these are the moments I’ll miss.

But hey, I’m fortunate in that I got a friend out of it. And if any of you know my roommate Puja, you’d know that I’m pretty lucky.