Parade Fun

So here are some pictures of my Mardi Gras-- these are of Endymion and Bacchus. The girl with me in most of them is Asha, my Office of Multicultural Affairs. The other girl is Rachel, a sister in my sorority and the current Membership Chair. Below are some pictures of our experiences-- how we wormed our way up to the front of the police barricades, how we fought people on the ladders for beads, and how we were triumphant in the end!

Here I am chastising Asha for picking up beads from the ground though I will admit she got some awesome ones in this effort!
Below are some pictures of us in between floats during Bacchus (L) and Endymion (R)

Mardi Gras

So it is now the weekend after Mardi Gras and I am spending some time recovering from all the fun and digesting the fact that I'm about to turn 21, I can't party like I used to, and that I am about to legally be an adult in every way.

Last year during Mardi Gras I went down to Bourbon Street almost every night (except for the one night I was on Frenchman) and had a ridiculously good time. I partied hard, especially on my twentieth birthday, which fell on Mardi Gras day itself. It was a very exciting time of the year and it was the first and only Mardi Gras where I partied like that. It probably will be the only Mardi Gras I'll celebrate like that.

This year, I took it easy. I showed off the parades to my Office of Multicultural Affairs little sister Asha and shared all my beads with her. I picked up the cool beads and we actually cut two strands of them and made really neat bracelets out of them. My Mardi Gras this year was a lot more low key and a LOT more relaxing. I realized for the first time since coming to college that I am getting too old to want to spend every night fighting crowds in the French Quarter for a good time.

It makes me sad to think that I only have one Mardi Gras left. It's ten days shy of my 21st birthday and I also realize that though next year's birthday falls the Friday before Mardi Gras, its still not going to be as monumental as this birthday.

But even though I'm getting older, New Orleans has plenty to offer. I think this is a great place to continue having fun while I'm in college. When I saw all ages of people at the parades it made me feel like while I'm here, I still fit in just fine.

Sophia Lauren once said, "There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age."

This Mardi Gras, I have learned that the parade goers and the people who still have fun no matter what their age are the ones who have learned this secret.

T2 and Tulane

So one thing that's certainly exciting about this time of year is the programs that are developing on campus. As an RA, I particularly pay attention to the ones near me, in the residence hall in which I live and nearby. One such program is called T2.

This program began this year as an effort to involve sophomore students with more leadership opportunities, such as the chance to find an internship, work for someone whose career interests them, or even simply find a job that both respects their education and pays well. The Career Services offices have been moved inside Mayer Residence Hall just so the sophomores have immediate access to career coaches, help with their resume, and constant advice on public service and internships and how to best access them.

The illustrious Mayer Residence Hall with its Career Services addition is pictured above!

At first, I'll admit I thought the program was not going to be successful. I thought that while the idea of specifically interactive freshmen halls was a good idea, the enthusiasm might wear off when the students became sophomores. And at first, the resident advisors, many of whom are good friends of mine, did not know what to expect.

But after a few months, this semester, things are really beginning to pick up. I'm the RA in a residence hall called Leadership Village, where juniors and seniors who are student leaders are encouraged to live in our loft-style rooms furnished with spiral staircases and balconies. One of our biggest groups of potential residents for next year is a result of the T2 program-- it is what they call the Leadership Class at T2. I was thoroughly impressed to see that not only had sophomores taken advantage of the opportunities presented by Career Services, but that they had embraced them and taken chances to excel.

According to Robert Hutchins, education is not to reform students or amuse them or to make them expert technicians. It is to unsettle their minds, widen their horizons, inflame their intellects, teach them to think straight, if possible.

It occured to me that at Tulane, these sophomores have gotten to put themselves out there-- in the risky job market, in the competitive world of exclusive internships, and in a group of students all trying to be leaders. This program has managed to take them out of their comfort zones and teach them to fly as high as they can without falling down.

I've never heard of another program like T2 . . . and though I was skeptical at first, I must say I'm now a believer. I think that our students have the capability to accept any challenge and succeed and I'm certainly hoping that these are the kinds of residents I'll have in Leadership Village next year!

Back To School Blunders

So today it's January 17th which means I've been at Tulane exactly four days since Winter Break ended. But my life has already gotten busier than ever.

This week I find myself without a computer. Though my computer has been acting up since the summer, I decided I just couldn't live without it and refused to take it to Tech Services here at Tulane, where I have an impressive four year warranty. Finally, two days ago, during a momentary burst of inspiration, I hauled it to my farthest class and back just to make sure it got to the IT people here at Tulane . . . only to realize today that it contains my grant applications, my roster of residents, my resume, and many other documents I need to turn in, use to get recommendations, and require to start the medical school admissions process. Because of my lack of foresight, now I don't have all the forms for my advisors or my resume to submit. And while trying to solve this set of problems (rewriting my resume and getting more forms), I hardly had any time for the bulletin board, which is the only arts and crafts I really have to do as a junior and unfortunately the activity I look forward to LEAST at the end of my To-Do list.

Luckily for me, I'm not the only student trying to get it right in the busiest semester of her college career. I know that all my advisors have seen many other students who find themselves running around though the semester has just begun, that Tech Services makes allowances for students who don't plan ahead, and that my residents are too busy to notice their bulletin board isn't up just yet.

This is really the time of year to hit the ground running. The second semester junior year is so important for so many decisions, like where you're going to grad school, if you're adding a minor, where you're going to get this thing called "Experience" that almost every graduate program requires, and more. Tulane happens to have amazing advisors-- you get one for every major and I happen to have three, pre-professional and academic advisors who meet with you one-on-one whenever you need it and send you the forms you need even if you lose the first set, and an entire office dedicated to resumes, internships, and getting students the experiences they need for their future careers.

So for those of you still thinking about your college options, do what I didn't do with my laptop issue-- plan for the future. Your life is going to get very busy at the time when you realize that college is only four years long and you have a whole lifetime ahead of that. When you get there, you will want a supportive faculty and staff who are there to guide you every step of the way-- I know I'm pretty grateful for everyone I have at Tulane.


Only at Tulane . . .

Who Are You?

This particular Christmas holiday has me doing some soul searching. My mother underwent major surgery and for the first time in almost two years, I'm staying in my hometown the entire break with no fancy vacation planned.


And that really got me thinking about all the opportunities I have when I'm at Tulane. I can definitely say that I'm not the same person I was when I left Friendswood for Tulane exactly two Christmases ago-- I think I've grown up.


At Tulane I've gotten to find out who I am without any pressure to be a certain way. When I was in high school, being a liberal arts major for example was highly frowned upon for the "bright" students. Yet now I find English as my passion and certainly my favorite major. When I was in high school, there were only a certain number of organizations I could join. Even at the University of Texas in the Indian Association I was one of a thousand students and had no significant role. But at Tulane I got to dance on stage, help plan functions, and be as involved as I wanted. Finally, in high school I made friends with people with very different personalities and backgrounds but none similar to my own. At Tulane I've found friends with whom I have cultural, religious, personality, ideals, and value similarities. I've even found a guy who meets both mine and the people close to me's criteria of a good match--he's Indian and Hindu and laid back in contrast to my go-getter attitude.

So now that I'm back here I'm thinking . . . . I've really found out who I am at Tulane because of all the people I've met, clubs I've joined, and classes I've taken. Tulane offers such a diversity of options that every single person can find his or her niche here.


So for those of you still applying over Winter Break please think about it . . . . who are you? And if you don't yet know, which is totally normal, then come to Tulane and find out!


This is me and one of my best friends representin'- I so would have never pulled this off in high school!

Hornets Game

So last weekend I was fortunate enough to attend a New Orleans Hornets game. A friend of mine won tickets when we were out to eat at a famous restaurant where the Honeybees, the Hornets dance team, was signing autographs. The seats weren't great but the experience certainly made up for it.















There is so much tradition associated with every event here in New Orleans-- Mardi Gras, jazz, the streetcar, and even sporting events. At the Hornets game, the tradition was to stand until our team made its first basket. Even if this meant standing for five or six minutes all of the fans all the way up into the third tier of stands were on their feet. Additionally, the Star Spangled Banner wasn't sung like everywhere else- it was played on a saxophone, truly representing the city. I didn't realize a basketball game could instill such New Orleans pride in me but by the end of the game I found myself screaming and cheering like everyone else.

The game was a close one as the Hornets were against the Dallas Mavericks, a team with a very strong season so far. The odds were against the Hornets but a few moments of truly impressive playing and the rallying of the fans pulled New Orleans through. At the very end of the fourth quarter with 5 seconds left, New Orleans tied the score when one of the players sank a 3 pointer from nearly the sidelines. The game went into an exciting overtime in which the Hornets really scored, making them the ultimately winning team. When the colorful confetti and balloons poured from the ceiling of the New Orleans Arena the cheers were deafening and it seemed like the entire city was celebrating the incredible win.

The last time I'd been to a basketball game before that was a Comets WNBA game with my father. We had gotten box seats and I was about 12 years old. I was excited about the food and paid no attention to the game whatsoever. Eight years later, I can honestly profess that I enjoyed watching basketball and the Hornets game was an experience that I would certainly repeat!





Only in New Orleans . . . .

An RA Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was the first I've ever spent away from my home and family. Part of the job of Resident Advisor requires half of us to remain on campus for Thanksgiving and Mardi Gras while the other half stays for Spring and Easter Break. I chose Thanksgiving, thinking I could go back to Russia with the longer springtime break and hence, I'm here.

I thought at first that my Thanksgiving was going to be very lonely. I was worried that without my friends here, I'd really have no place to go. I was invited to friends' houses off campus but because of desk shifts and duty, it was much more convenient to just stay on campus. As part of our programming duties, some of the RAs had decided to have a dinner for ourselves and all of our residents that were staying for the week and we would each contribute a different dish.

I didn't really understand how much time this would take until we actually started shopping and cooking. Three Winn Dixie and one Walmart trip and four hours later, I realized how long I'd spent with my fellow RAs and how much I had enjoyed their company. We spent so much time giggling and laughing over little things as we prepared for our feast.

We ended up having an awesome day together. The guys you see in the pictures- David, an RA in upperclassmen Aron Apartments, Corrina, an RA in Modular Housing, Jenny, also an RA in Aron, and I spent time on Thanksgiving cooking, going to a Housing and Res Life party, and finally, just hanging out.

We ended the night at Corrina's place, where she made us excellent soy milk chocolate espressos. We spent hours chatting, sharing pictures of our families, and discussing books we all wanted to read and borrow from Corrina, an English major with a diverse collection of literature. After that David had a shift at the desk and we all trooped in after him to watch a movie, even though the desk might not have the same comforts as someone's room. The point was we were a band for this one day and we all flowed wherever one of our members wanted to go.

George Burns once said, "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city."

All I can say is it was a happy Thanksgiving for me after all.