What did you do this summer (2009)?

Hopkins Students:
I know that you all are doing some amazing things this summer. I think the visitors to these Hopkins Forums would like to hear about the myriad of things Hopkins students do during summer break.

Please share your stories here ... and definitely link to any blog entries you have written about your summer 2009 experiences.

Thanks!!!

This summer I was disappointed that I wasn't going to be able to stay in Baltimore and came home and sulked for a couple of weeks. (Okay, so by that I mean I slept in late, watched movies, semi-unpacked, etc. Not exactly sulking, but not at all productive, by any stretch of the imagination). When I realized I was going to go crazy if I did that all summer, I got more aggressive in seeking an internship/job. I decided I wanted to try to get some experience in a law firm, hopefully to help me figure out if this whole law school thing was right for me, and despite several failed attempts, I was finally able to find a position in the Public Defender's Office for my county. It has been an amazing experience (I actually just finished today and would've stayed up until the day I leave for Baltimore if I didn't have SO much packing to do).

My first blog entry for the summer describes how I came into the position and the early stages of it. My second entry for the summer goes into a little more detail about what kinds of things I did, etc.

I met some incredible people and had some very meaningful experiences this summer. It definitely gave me a more solid interest in applying to law school and a deep appreciation for public interest work.

I too was disappointed that I couldn't find a Pub Health internship, so I decided I would spend the summer working and doing other things, like preparing for school, vacation, and random excursions. I ended up with a job in the Baltimore city school system, which was interesting to say the least. Read about it here!

I was planning on working all summer with one of my professors shooting his second feature length film. Unfortunately, because of the economy, the feature wasn't able to get enough financial backing in time to shoot this summer. Instead, I spend the first part of the summer relaxing by reading, writing, and watching movies, as well as, hanging out with friends at home.

In July, I moved down to Baltimore and have been working and giving tours along with the aforementioned leisure activities.

Starting Monday, I'm off to 12 hour work days for the next 2 weeks as a grip on the same professors short film, one that will form the basis for the feature length he was planning on filming. I'm nervous and excited about it. My August blog will fill you in on all the details.
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This post has been edited by JHU_Josh on Aug 1 2009, 11:15 AM

For the first part of the summer, my weeks were completely unpredictable. I was home, then up in North Jersey hanging out with Josh, then in New York interviewing for my internship, then home again hanging out with friends, then down in Baltimore moving things into my apartment, then Philly for a day, then back with Josh, etc. etc. It was a whirlwind.

By the middle of July, though, things settled down a bit. Generally, my schedule looks like this: Mondays, I relax and work from home for Hopkins Admissions, hang out with friends, visit with my grandparents, etc. Tuesdays, I babysit my 3 year old cousin. Wednesdays, I go to my great aunt's house, swim in her pool, and hang out with all my cousins. Thursdays and Fridays, I work at my internship {in the PR department at a small fashion company, Twinkle by Wenlan}. Saturdays and Sundays are for relaxing or other traveling around, and Sunday nights I have dinner with my grandparents, parents, and uncle.

{Read about my internship HERE and HERE!}

I've also gotten a ridiculous amount of reading done {the almost-3-hour commute to New York has been great for that} and gone shopping to furnish my new apartment.

It's been an incredible summer...I almost feel like I need a vacation from it though, with all the traveling I've been doing just along the Northeast Corridor alone lol. That will be what the last couple weeks of August will be for though

My summer started off with a family vacation to Alaska. It's really hard to believe that this really unique, beautiful landscape is right in our own country. I wrote a blog about it here: Three Very Different Things

Then we went to Mexico for my uncle's wedding, which was a lot of fun, but also totally different. I blogged about it just recently: Wedding Bells

And a week after we got back from the wedding, I started my summer class back home in New Jersey. I'm taking Calc 3 at Rutgers, and while it's not exactly a recipe for an awesome summer, I will be glad to have it out of the way.

Looking forward, I'll have about ten days after I finish up with the class to rest up and really enjoy my shore house. Then its time to get packed up for Hopkins, as I'll be back on campus early to help out with Orientation!

This post has been edited by JHU_Brian on Aug 3 2009, 01:30 PM

Mid-May: I went home for a week.

Late May: My family and I visited our relatives and family friends in California.

June and July: I was in Baltimore working in my research lab at the medical school and also taking a class.

August: I'm at home in Connecticut!

Aaaaand during all four months, I've been (1) gnoshing on lots of delicious food, from home-cooked meals to deli food to food from various restaurants in Baltimore, California, and Connecticut/NYC; (2) finding time to catch up on the news whether it's online/on TV/in the newspapers; (3) doing my best to stay in shape dance-wise; and (4) keeping in touch with my family and friends.

This summer has been dominated by my internship at the Social and Behavioral Research Branch within the National Human Genome Institute at the NIH. I have spent eleven weeks at this intership, and it has been extremely fascinating to be part of several studies and to interact with numerous individuals from Branch Chiefs to Staff Scientists, Post-docs, Post-bacs, Genetic Counselors, and other summer students.

I wrote about my internship at the NIH in two blog entrys, one in June and the other in July. Check them out for a more in-depth look at what I've been doing, and my opinions on all things NIH-related.

In addition to my internship, I've also made it to Portland, Maine for a few days in June and took several day trips to places around Washington DC including Harpers Ferry, the Shenandoah National Park, and countless visits to museums in DC.

My internship has really given me an insider's perspective of the qualitative science process, which is immeasurable. I am, however, looking forward to two weeks of relaxation before heading back to Hopkins.

This summer has been like pretty much any summer on the North Shore of Massachusetts. In May, I got home, unpacked a bit (at this point I'm still unpacked), and pretty much just relaxed with my friends. I also started back up at my job that I've held for 2 years and 2 months, working as a cook in a restaurant. It's no internship, but I love working there so I preferred to actually enjoy some work this summer rather than just work in a cubicle and hate it.

When June came around the weather got nice for a bit and I was able to go to the beach, hang out, and just relax. Then some friends came up from school, and I took them around Boston. It was nice to see them seeing as they live 4+ hours away (with the exception of my friend Bri). Then it was back to work, and as soon as I could tell it was July. The 4th went by like that, and as soon as I knew it it was the end of July, and time for my vacation.

I went to Nova Scotia on vacation to visit family, as well as to hang out with my immediate family. It was nice to get away, seeing as I had barely any cell phone reception, barely any internet (I only got it while I was running, go figure), and no cable. So yeah, I was in the middle of nowhere, but luckily we found stuff to do, and it was nice to be up there after a few years absence. I don't think I'll go up next year, but I'll definitely want to go back in a few years.

But yeah, now its about 2 weeks until I go back to school, and the summer is coming to an end. It went by way too fast. Of course I'm moving in early as well to help with Orientation as a Peer Ambassador, so that definitely adds to the abruptness as well. haha

So you can read about my summer herehere. I must apologize for not speaking about the job really, but I'm overly cautious. I have secret security clearance and get to do a lot of cool things but can't really talk about specifics. I'm working for the state department in the US Embassy at The Hague in the office of Political and Economic Affairs. In general, I'm expected to perform the full range of duties performed by a Junior Foreign Service Officer in an Embassy Political/Economic Section. This includes

-- representing the Embassy at official functions,

-- establishing contacts with host country officials and other diplomats,

-- analyzing and reporting on internal/external political and economic developments, political-military issues and economic trends,

-- conveying demarches or other U.S. messages to the government of the Netherlands,

-- assisting with official visits and events

-- assisting post in coordinating and updating post’s biographic reporting program, and

-- assisting with office management duties on ad-hoc basis and backing-up reporting officers as needed.


I really love it and have gotten to meet many interesting individual---the Prime Minister even! I think it's something I will want to do it eventually after I havehad experience in other areas first. Other than that I"m enjoying every last moment in the Netherlands--biking to work, going to the beach, and shopping at Albert Heijn (the best grocery store ever).

This summer, I have been involved in a variety of activities. After exams, I came home and relaxed for a bit. Then, I filmed the International Night performance at my brother's high school and created a DVD using Adobe Premiere and After Effects. It was a nice use of the skills I picked up at the Digital Media Center this past year, working as Student Staff.

Since then, I have spent the summer doing research on biomedical assays. The work has been very rewarding - my final presentation was today. Other than that, I went to San Francisco during 4th of July weekend for the 2009 North American Bengali Conference (NABC). On August 16th, I am planning to attend that Fall American Chemical Society Conference in Washington DC, because my mentors will be there.

Other than that, I have been relaxing a lot, sightseeing, and also learning how to salsa dance! Look for a blog soon on my summer activities!

Great question!

I decided to start looking for summer opportunities over intersession last year. I applied to two competitive internships and applied for a grant through the public health studies program (MERCK Summer Scholars in Global Health). I ended up not being accepted to the two internships and receiving the grant, so I consider it fate that the decision was made for me to head across the equator for two months of public health research in Brazil. Applying for the grant in the first place was a learning experience. I partnered with a professor whose research interested me and was willing to help me with the grant, write my first ever grant proposal, and wait eagerly for an acceptance. Even after all of that it was a lot of independently figuring things out from planning my budget, getting tickets, figuring out what apartment to live in, waiting for IRB approval, etc. I just got back from two month adventure, where the majority of the time I was working at a local university in the infectious disease office on analyzing and writing the research paper. The paper is on the epidemiological profile of tuberculosis/HIV co-infection in the state of Espirito Santos, Brazil. I'm really proud of myself and think I grew from this experience. Academically I'm proud of myself for getting my name on a paper and for finding a new growing interest in tuberculosis. I'm also personally proud of myself for being away from home for two months with no native English speakers. I really had to embrace a complete cultural change without the comforts of other Americans with me.

Now I am home! And getting myself back on track before I move back to Hopkins. This includes everything from applying to study abroad programs to wisdom tooth surgery. Life was really at a slow-pace in Brazil and Hopkins life is on anything but a slow-pace. I am also going on a week-long vacation to South Carolina which should be a blast. Overall, I had a great summer and couldn't have asked for more. I re-confirmed my interest for international health, got better acquainted with professors at JHSPH (who were even sending me other work to do while I was in Brazil), and definitely was able to leisurely enjoy some Yankees games. Oh how I love summer time.

Read more about my time here: http://hopkins.typepad.com/shared/2009/06/aventura.html and http://hopkins.typepad.com/shared/2009/07/...parte-dois.html

This post has been edited by JHU_Jessica on Aug 8 2009, 09:49 AM

That's always an interesting question, i've been busy enjoying everyone else's responses!

I've had a busy, travel filled summer. When school ended i spent a week or so organizing the new house we were renting. We spent a day in a U-haul traveling around Baltimore and the surrounding area picking up furniture from people on Craigslist. We now have a great collection of sofas, and very comfy chairs that we're all fighting over for when we leave the house.
After that i went back to England for a couple weeks to visit my parents and friends. It was a nice break from school and work, but when i came back to the States i was glad to be back.

Once i came back to the states i came to Seattle where i spent the summer doing an internship with the bioethical research department of the University of Washington Medical Center. I had my last day yesterday, and was actually pretty sad to leave. I had far to fun a time inputting data and calling people. Now i have a new line of work i'd be interested in doing.

I also spent the summer doing an online summer class with Hopkins in positive psychology, it lasted from the beginning of june until the end of july. It was an interesting class to take, but i am now definitely glad it's over. I am glad i took it though, and i wish the school offered more online classes because i find them to be much easier to do the work for because there's no class i have to get up at 9am for!

Now i am just packing up in Seattle to leave for Las Vegas tomorrow. It's not a gambling holiday though because my grandparents live in Vegas, so i'll be spending the week seeing family.
And then i'm back to Baltimore. I have to say that i have missed it, and i'm looking forward to getting to my newly furnished house!

My summer's been alternately the super-relaxing and ridiculously busy. I spent the first half of my summer catching up with high school friends, wandering around my hometown, bumming out at home, and enjoying much-needed relaxation time after a whirlwind freshman year. I started learning how to cook as well! So far it's been successful: no one's died yet and everything turns out more or less edible in the end. Check out this blog on my lazy first few weeks.

In July I headed off to Thailand and Bhutan with my parents. Check out my blog entry on my fantastic trip here. I had an amazing time, but two and a half weeks of traveling really wore me out.

This past week I visited my lovely roommate Molly at her home in Maine. After suffering through hellish temperatures and unbearable humidity here in Virginia, the 70˚ weather and beautiful scenery of Maine were fantastic. I did the requisite Maine tourist activities: eating lobster and whoopie pies, admiring the lighthouses on the coast, going to the beach. We even saw Guster perform live on a wharf.

Right now I'm helping my parents pack up our home for their big move to Tanzania. On top of that, I'm busy prepping for sophomore year and getting myself amped for a new year at Hopkins!

This post has been edited by JHU_Saznin on Aug 12 2009, 02:40 PM

Wow, looks like everyone else has been having an amazing summer too!

I spent the majority of my summer in England--a week in the Lake District, hiking with my Dad, and then six weeks in London, working for a small head-hunting firm. The Lake District really was fun, even if it involved 10 mile walks every day. It's such a lovely part of England, and I really enjoyed spending all that time with my Dad. My internship was amazing and everyone there was so nice, but a head-hunting firm isn't really the place to be during a recession. There weren't too many jobs to be had, but I did get to learn a lot anyway, and it was so nice to be back in London again.

Since I returned to the states I've been catching up with old friends and spending time with my family. I just got back last night from an amazing trip to Mustique, in the Caribbean. It was so beautiful and relaxing, the only problem now is that I have just over a week to prepare for my sophomore year at Hopkins! I'll be going back to school early to help with Orientation because I'm a Peer Ambassador this year.

I can't believe how fast this summer's gone!