Today is the second day of classes; its hard to believe that break's already over and everybody's back into their normal rhythms. Yesterday, I began the classes I'm taking towards my environmental studies minor, Environmental Justice and Global Climate Change. Both seem like they are going to be really interesting and the professors seem very charismatic and excited to be teaching what their teaching. I have the two back to back, so I think they will provide a nice counter to one another...the social/economic/political aspects versus the more scientific approach.

I also am looking forward to the first Habitat for Humanity meeting this week. Hopefully, I'll be able to get involved in this organization, which has always interested me. Ideally I'd love to travel somewhere internationally during the summer, so if I cannot find something through the school at this point, I may try to find a group somewhat local to my hometown. I'd like to take advantage of the long summer break we have with something meaningful.

This semester too, I think I would like to start taking a language through NUCalls, (a student taught class meeting about once a week) in either Spanish, which I took throughout high school, or in Italian. This would be ideal to keep practicing with Spanish or to start something new because its free and doesn't require a large time-commitment.

I'm happy to be back, good luck to everyone with the new semester!

I can't believe it has already been two weeks since my last entry, the time has gone by really fast with the three days weekends from the snow day and MLK day. I'm really enjoying my classes so far. I'm taking two freshman honors inquiry classes to fulfill the required honors program credits. Both are on environmental topics, and both professors seem really knowledgeable and passionate about what they are teaching. I've also started my Co-op introduction course as well this semester, which has already really helped me better understand what I have in store for the next couple years.

I also began the search for possible summer internship positions in architectural firms in or around my hometown. I'm hoping that if I get a jump start on the process I'll be able to find something that works for me. Especially because after those couple classes I've had for my Co-op introduction, it seems that prior experience is a big selling point when applying for jobs during my Middler year.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow night too. Kappa Sigma is hosting BJ Novak, a comedian from "The Office" in Blackman Auditorium, should be a lot of laughs; I've heard great things about his performances.
And thanks for your comment Allison!

The last few weeks have been really busy for me, but mostly with a lot of fun activities. For my roommate's birthday last week, we went out with a group of sixteen or seventeen to the North End for dinner. We ate at Trattoria il Panino-this really, really small one roomed restaurant. It was a very fun time; the food was excellent-maybe the best pasta I've had. And we stopped at Mike's Pastries for desert (which in my opinion can never be a bad thing).

This week I'm starting my new project for my studio. The assignment is to design a museum space, with a focus on natural lighting through windows and a stair to join the rooms, for two paintings: Saint Luke Painting the Virgin and Child and The Daughters of Edward Darley Bolt, which I went to go see at the Museum of Fine Arts. I'm excited to see the end result with all the new computer software we'll be using to render it.

Last night was the Beanpot-which for those of you that don't know is a hockey tournament between Harvard, BC, BU, and Northeastern in the TD Banknorth Garden. It was nice to see how packed the NU section of the stadium was, full of black and red spirit, especially in comparison to the other university's nearly empty sections. And despite our loss to Harvard, it was a very fun time!

It's hard to believe the semester is already about halfway over. I had my first midterm last friday, and I'm moving along on my studio project for digital representation. We actually started using rendering programs on the computer to add light and shadow to the virtual three-dimensional model we made, which is really exciting to see.

(image of my design)

There's been a lot going on for the past few weeks too. For Mardi Gras, Stetson East dining hall was opened late full of traditional foods, dessert, decorations, music, favors, etc. and games that encouraged a lot of student involvement. A lot of students came out to enjoy the festivities.

Next weekend, I'm looking forward to my intramural soccer game; I'm on a co-ed team with students from my building, which is really fun. We play in Cabot gym almost every weekend, and it's nice to just get my feet to a ball once in a while after playing soccer for about thirteen years.

Next Saturday also is my residence hall's dodgeball tournament arranged by the hall President, which should be interesting considering I know very little about how to play.

And soon enough, break will have begun. I'm really excited to go home and see my friends and family. I haven't been home since classes started again at the beginning of January, so it has been at least six weeks. Can't wait!

Hope everyone's semester and midterms are going well!

So it has already been over a week since spring break...hard to believe how fast this semester is going. I really enjoyed my time at home, and I can't wait to go back.

With only about a month left of classes (and some warmer weather coming-hopefully), there's a lot going on. In the next couple weeks, I will be be completing my room selection for the fall. My roommate and I went on the housing tour last week, which I thought was very helpful. For those of you in the selection process that have any questions or uncertainty regarding where you'd want to live next year, it is definitely worth the hour and a half to make next year's living situation the best it can be.

We also have class selection coming up. Luckily for me, the architecture program is very structured and I don't need to worry much about picking any of my classes for next year. The administration groups the students alphabetically into Division A and B, and creates class schedules for them for the five years they will be here. The only choices that need to be made during this time are for your electives or classes for minors.

There are also some fun activities coming up as well. The honors freshman dorms - Kennedy Hall and West Village F - will be putting on a talent show next Monday, which is sure to be a good time. And the Honors Evening is coming up on the 31st, which is a night for upperclass students to present their honors projects and celebrate with a ceremony and dinner.

I am also going to be starting my final project in studio this week. We will be designing a cafe for the area by the Christian Science Center. I'm excited to integrate all the software we've learned in digital representation thus far to create the final product.

As the semester is already drawing to a close, there has been a lot of activities going on around campus in addition to the building of final coursework. On Monday, I attended the 5th Annual Honors evening with many of my fellow honors students. It was very interesting to see all the Junior and Senior projects that NU students have completed. I was impressed with the caliber of research that was presented throughout. The ceremony and dinner was a great time as well. I found Professor Setta's address to be a very intriguing spin on applying traditional religious values from various cultures to modern society.

With the warmer weather coming too, its been nice to get out into the city and explore a little more. Being in my first year, I am still getting to know the city, and it's exciting to visit many new areas.

I've been busy with my studio work for digital representation. I've been developing my concept for a cafe in the Christian Science Center Plaza. We've gone on site visits to see other outdoor seasonal cafes that exist throughout the city. We were able to go to Boston Seaport to explore some beautiful cafes that opened right onto the river. It was inspiring to see how they handled siting within such an urban setting to essentially create a landscape that enforced a sense of "nature."

It's hard to believe that in three days I will be done with my freshman year. There's been so much going on in the past few weeks of the semesters. I've really had to buckle down the past few days on my digital representation project for my presentation on Wednesday. I've probably racked up over fifty or sixty hours on it this week alone, which has been really difficult with the nice weathering luring everybody outside.

Last week I got a little reprieve though; my friends and I went to a Tristan Prettyman concert at the Paradise Rock Club, which is right near BU's campus. So not only did I get to enjoy a great show, but I got to see a little of BU's campus. I hadn't really seen much of their campus before, but I found that it is much different than the Northeastern campus--much more spread out. Seeing this made me appreciate the fact that we have a very centralized campus even more. (I personally didn't like the idea of taking the T to class or having the university spread throughout the city buildings.)

Tomorrow also is the University's Sustainability Forum, which will talk about NU's carbon footprint, sustainable development measures, and future plans for improvement. To me, it is really exciting to see more and more universities around the country making strides to a more environmentally-friendly approach within their infrastructure. After learning so much in my environmental studies classes about how many problems the world's facing in terms of global climate change and how drastic improvements can be made by taking what seem to be such minor steps, it is really encouraging to see such an event taking place.

So I've already been home for break for over a week. It's been really nice to be able to spend time with my family, and couple friends (most aren't home from their schools yet). I've even started my summer job already, so I'll be able to save some for spending money next year. I am already missing school and everyone there though.

I recently got a comment from an accepted student who raised a lot of very good questions that I'm sure are shared by the majority of accepted students, so I thought I'd share them and my answers here.

*"Have you really had to do the famous all nighters for your arch classes?"
I personally have never had to pull an all-nighter, but I'm really disciplined with pacing myself and my workload. I'll sacrifice a lot of my time consistently to successfully finish my projects. I would stay in the studio for manual til 3:00 or 3:30 in the morning some nights (on the weekends too!) cause I had so much to do and it was impossible for me to do a good job and finish it in a night. But, it really is dependent on how long you procrastinate and how quickly you work. The majority of students have been forced to stay up all night to finish some sort of project though, especially before final crits on the final projects.

*"Do you feel like you have really good quality professors?"
Most of them were really really good, and I really enjoyed their classes. My manual representation professor was great looking back, and it's nice in the studios cause you get to spend so a lot of one-on-one time with them that you really build rapport and get really comfortable (you're even on a strictly first-name basis, that's how they introduce and refer to themselves). It makes for a very collaborative environment where you really get a lot out of the courses.
Outside of architecture, I've been talking environmental classes, and I've been impressed with the caliber of the professors. They all have been really active in important research and social movements.

*"I know the arch major is pretty structured - do you have room for electives or a minor?"
Yes, you definitely will have room for electives and a minor, but pick your courses carefully in advance. I'm glad I decided early about my minor cause I've been able to work with my schedule to fit everything I need in. Keep in mind too, the university as a whole has gen. ed. requirements so they have to allow some time in your schedule to fit in those, but if you have a lot of those credits already with transfer credits (from AP or whatever else), then you can pick whichever classes you need for a minor or just what you want to take. You can also pick gen. ed. requirement classes that also fulfill credits towards your minor.

*"I'll be coming in with 30 transfer credits ... did you have/do you know anyone who's had experience with transferring credits? Hard? Easy?"
I actually came in which about 24 transfer credits from AP tests and a college level course I took my senior year. It really wasn't bad, I don't even remember if I had to do anything or if it was done for me. So I guess it couldn't have been too grueling.

*"I'm really interested in sustainability and environmental design.. and I think I read on one of your blog entries that you are too! Is there a class focusing on that? Do you get to sort of do specialized projects to fit your interests?"
As a freshman I haven't really had the opportunity to work on very specialized projects yet, cause I'm still developing my skill sets and learning about the field more generally. But it seems like later, as you progress, you can take more liberty to develop projects in a way that interests you. For now though, we are more focused on general design issues, schemes, and reasoning. I have been learning soo much though in my environmental classes, and have found the links to architecture really common and prominent. As I get farther it seems I will have the opportunities to really take project in directions that I want to go.

*"Could you tell me a little bit about the benefits [of the honors program] and what you really like about it? Also, are there things you don't like about the program?"
Well, housing is the first thing that comes to mind. In the honors programs one of the biggest perks is that honors student get much nicer housing, especially as freshman (also dependent on how much you want to spend). There are also a lot of opportunities in the honors programs to do extra projects, service activities, or cultural activities. This year I have gotten a lot of tickets to a wide range of events through the honors program as a greatly reduced rate.

*"Do kids go into the city a lot, or mostly stay on campus?"
We definitely go into the city all the time. The thing about NU that I love, more than with other city schools, is that we have a very welcoming, comforting campus that we can stay on if we want to escape from the commotion of the city. But we are in such a central location, that really is beautiful...we are walking distance to so many places and just a T ride away from soo many more. You start to realize how small the city is by the end of the year....in the beginning I was so overwhelmed by it all. But our last week here, a couple girlfriends and I went out to dinner in the North End (the Italian part) and bumped into four different groups of friends on the same street corner, definitely a lot smaller than you think at first. But I really love it, cause the cultural and social aspects of the city is really diverse and active. It's nice to just go take a walk and explore a new area, cause there are so many beautiful areas.

*"Being in honors, and doing architecture, do you have time for clubs and just hanging out with friends?"
Time is definitely my biggest hinderance. I'm not involved in nearly as many things as I'd like to be because I devote so much time to my studio work. Some relaxed, stress-free activity is necessary, its just that any free time I do have is usually after 10 or 11 pm, and obviously student groups don't meet that late. Next year I'm definitely going to try to become more involved with at least a couple activities. Also though, I do have work study for 10 hours a week, so if I didn't have that I'd probably have much more time during the day for clubs and stuff.

Hope seeing this can give some student insight to accepted students, or even students thinking about applying in the future. Feel free to ask any other questions, I really enjoy answering them cause I know how the anticipation and uncertainty feels when considering schools...I went through it all just last year.

So it's hard to believe I'm heading back to Boston in about a month. I just received my move-in information in the mail a couple days ago. And for the incoming students that are curious about how the move-in process works...you park in the lot assigned to you where there are plenty of people there to help you move everything. Almost everything can fit inside the wheeled carts that you check out to bring all your stuff from the car to your room. Once you get to your building you wait to get your key and information from your RA's. It all goes pretty smoothly; last year I was very impressed at how easy it was considering we are in a city and there's a lot of people and traffic constantly.

I'm also excited to be volunteering as a team leader for the Honors Outreach Project in September. I participated last year as part of the Honors Welcome Week activities. My group and I spent a day (from about 9 to 3) helping to rehabilitate a youth center in Jamaica Plains where we worked to clear out the backyard area and build a retaining wall from recycled brick. I look forward to find out what I will be working on this year!

I'm really excited to be back for my second year! I moved in Sunday afternoon into a studio double apartment with my roommate from last year. We're in one of the older buildings on campus, but our room is great. It has a lot of character, which makes up for the smaller size in comparison to the majority of upperclassman apartments.

Reuniting with friends over Thai food.

It's been really busy trying to get the apartment in some form of order before classes start. But I'm really looking forward to getting back into somewhat of a routine. My schedule was set by my major, so I'm talking Structures and Statics, Physics, 19th Century Urbanism, and Studio 1.

Unfortunately, I did not receive work-study this year, so I have not found a job. But on the bright side, it should leave me with some more time to participate in some new activities because my schedule last year was a lot busier. I'd like to possibly apply to be a a mentor in the Big Sister program. I am starting off the year with being a team leader for the honors outreach project that I mentioned last time; I'm not sure what my project is yet. Last year, I worked on maintenance outside an after-school center in Jamaica Plains.

It's a few weeks in, and everyone is already back in the swing of things. I have been working steadily on the current studio project, which is designing a boathouse and cafe space for a site on the Fort Point Channel (right next to the Children's Museum). There's been a lot to consider, and it has been slightly overwhelming at times. But I'm excited to try to figure out the logistics and find the right execution of a final product.

(site for which I'm designing a boathouse and cafe)

I've had a lot other events and activities going on as well. There's an honors student council meeting is this evening, where I've joined the events committee. Already students have organized a campus wide game of capture the flag taking place Saturday, which should be a fun break during the weekend.

The AIAS group is also hosting a Design Forum event in the African American Institute Thursday evening. Architecture professors will be bringing in presentations of projects they've worked on to share with students where interaction and questions are encouraged.

I'm also really excited to have a couple friends from home visiting this weekend. We'll get to do all the 'typical tourist' activities and see all the sights and sounds of Boston. (I'm sure there will be some pictures in the next post!)

Please feel free to post and questions or comments about any aspects of NU life. I look forward to reading and responding to them!

My schedule has been pretty crazy for the past couple of weeks. I have my final crit on Monday for my boathouse project, which means a lot of studio time this weekend. I've been trying to pace myself, so as not to get too overwhelmed, but we'll see how it goes. It's nice to actually have the choice as well between digital and manual representation for all aspects of our presentation, meaning we can either draw by hand or on the computer.

I also went home for the holiday weekend, which was nice to see family and friends. I was able to relax and not think about classes too much.

Hopefully I can get out of the studio at some point this weekend and enjoy some of the homecoming festivities. I have tickets to An Evening with John Stewart (in association with NUVotes on Friday in Matthew's Arena, which I'm really excited for! And Saturday is the first home hockey game against BC, which is always a good time.
Hard to believe it's already halfway through October! Time's going by so fast.

Please feel free to leave any comments or questions!

Midterms are officially over (still awaiting grades though!), and there's been a slight lull in my workload for the moment. I'm enjoying the newfound free time immensely; I just have no idea what to do the extra hour I find in my day...I guess that's what architecture does to you.

Everybody I know is really excited for this weekend, being Halloween! And the weather for the weekend is supposed to pretty warm. Over last weekend, my roommate and I ventured into Cambridge near MIT to check out The Garment District to try to find costumes. It was a really pretty area, and a very nice walk in the warm weather.

I also just had an AIAS meeting, where it was announced that the architecture student body would be forming a large group to give a presentation to the architecture department on the issues we have found with the studio and curriculum. It'd be nice to see some of the changes the students think would really help our experience at Northeastern come to fruition (and maybe see some of the rumored 'promises' for the studio, like much needed vending machines when we are in there at 3 am).

I'm already about halfway through with my winter break, and I've been able to relax and celebrate the holidays with my family. I even was snowed in for a few days earlier in the week, giving me the perfect excuse to sleep and watch movies, a luxury much appreciated.

I also celebrated with friends with a small Christmas party, which included all the cliche activities...cookie swaps, secret santa exchanges, and all the classic movies. It was nice way to reunite with all my friends from home that I hadn't seen since Thanksgiving.

I'm still looking for to returning to school though; I should have a lot going on this semester. I will be applying for my first co-op position that I will be starting the spring semester of 2009, which means portfolio and resume preparations. I also will be applying for the study abroad program in Rome for the Fall of next year, an exciting part of the architecture program here at NU. And when I come back, my schedule allows for Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays to be nearly entirely free of classes (all the architecture classes are now on Tuesday/Thursdays for me), so I will be looking to find a part-time job somewhere, most likely off-campus. I also have my Honors seminar to look forward to. So far all my honor courses have been really interesting and exciting and I'm sure this will be no different. It's on a topic I have no real background in: the history of espionage, taught by Professor Burds. But I'm excited to take an elective that's different from anything I've taken at NU thus far; in the past I've focused on environmental science/studies courses.