It's September 27, which means it's been three weeks since I posted my last blog entry (only? already? I don't even know). Chronologically, things have barely started, though I definitely feel like I've already been thinking about a lot of things in terms of academics and personal goals. But to answer the question posed in this entry's name, I have indeed settled into a routine, one in which I have time to break from it and visit the city, play my ukulele, or do spontaneous non-Harvard related things. My bike is great (if people ask what its name is, I say it's Pikachu because it's yellow and almost always with me), and it takes me where I need to go. I do Zumba at 7:15 am twice a week, I have a couple of friends I regularly meet with at particular meal times, and overall am pleased with the pace of my work.
That being said, I've been thinking a lot about what I want in my future as a student at Harvard, but also afterwards. These past few weeks some of my plans that I thought I was pretty set on have completely changed, and it's taken a lot of self-introspection (more than I normally do, which is weird hahaha) as well as talking with friends and people around me. There's too much to all write in a simple entry, but here are the main points I've come up with.
• I will indeed concentrate in Social Anthropology with a secondary in Ethnicity, Migration, and Rights. That's going to be declared in November, so at least I have that figured out.
• I don't think I'll go back to Bolivia this summer; I'd rather go back the summer after so I could stay a long time, and do thesis research there, for something I don't know yet. (I mean, I know I'll already have lodging.) I really was fascinated getting to know the community I volunteered in; spending time there reminded me of two books I enjoyed reading, Behind the Beautiful Forevers (India) and Death Without Weeping (Brazil), and I definitely see myself writing a thesis along a similar vein. There's too much of Bolivia left for me to see, and I've obviously gotten quite attached to it. I said it was a fulfilling trip, but honestly, I feel like there's more for me to do there, and I like the idea of investing my time into getting to know a place and its people in depth.
• Something feasible for me (but I need to work at still) is to get certification in Spanish and German. I have government issued French certification, and I figure I might as well aim for that in Spanish and German too. As my Spanish is now far better than my German, I hope to go to a German-speaking country the summer after this year, immerse myself more in the language, and get some kind of diploma at the end.
• I still have the goal of going to Africa at some point, and recently realized that I ought to learn an African language so I can speak languages covering all continents (besides Antarctica). The thing that makes the most sense to do is to spend a semester abroad somewhere in Africa, through which I can learn a language intensively. This would be the spring of my junior year.
• Science doesn't appeal to me as much as it once did; ever since entering Harvard and dabbling around different classes and talking to people about their experiences, I've found that I'm not really into spending time in labs for hours and hours every week and the insanely difficult homework that people stay up way too late doing. If I were genuinely interested in it, I don't think I'd mind that time commitment, but I just feel like my heart wants to pursue other things at this point in my life. I'm fine with science and math this semester, though I don't find myself wanting to know more, and when I see my friends' organic chemistry homework, I just have no interest in learning about what they're doing, nor do I ever want to suffer as much as they seem to be suffering.
• Maybe I should go to law school. I've come to find that I really enjoy reading, writing, and public speaking. Lol. Just an idea. (The younger me never wanted to go to law school, but I'm not the younger me, am I? Furthermore, the younger me also never wanted to speak Spanish and actually had something against the language. Now I'm considering using Spanish as part of my thesis research hahaha what is life. That being said, it'd be hilarious if I ended up going to law school.)
I haven't previously written all of this down, though this has been the content of a lot of my conversations with my friends lately. I think it's good to have all of this concretely recorded somewhere. Of course, I acknowledge that there is the possibility of plans changing (again), but I do feel confident about these plans and quite excited about them too. Isn't that what matters?
That being said, I've been thinking a lot about what I want in my future as a student at Harvard, but also afterwards. These past few weeks some of my plans that I thought I was pretty set on have completely changed, and it's taken a lot of self-introspection (more than I normally do, which is weird hahaha) as well as talking with friends and people around me. There's too much to all write in a simple entry, but here are the main points I've come up with.
• I will indeed concentrate in Social Anthropology with a secondary in Ethnicity, Migration, and Rights. That's going to be declared in November, so at least I have that figured out.
• I don't think I'll go back to Bolivia this summer; I'd rather go back the summer after so I could stay a long time, and do thesis research there, for something I don't know yet. (I mean, I know I'll already have lodging.) I really was fascinated getting to know the community I volunteered in; spending time there reminded me of two books I enjoyed reading, Behind the Beautiful Forevers (India) and Death Without Weeping (Brazil), and I definitely see myself writing a thesis along a similar vein. There's too much of Bolivia left for me to see, and I've obviously gotten quite attached to it. I said it was a fulfilling trip, but honestly, I feel like there's more for me to do there, and I like the idea of investing my time into getting to know a place and its people in depth.
• Something feasible for me (but I need to work at still) is to get certification in Spanish and German. I have government issued French certification, and I figure I might as well aim for that in Spanish and German too. As my Spanish is now far better than my German, I hope to go to a German-speaking country the summer after this year, immerse myself more in the language, and get some kind of diploma at the end.
• I still have the goal of going to Africa at some point, and recently realized that I ought to learn an African language so I can speak languages covering all continents (besides Antarctica). The thing that makes the most sense to do is to spend a semester abroad somewhere in Africa, through which I can learn a language intensively. This would be the spring of my junior year.
• Science doesn't appeal to me as much as it once did; ever since entering Harvard and dabbling around different classes and talking to people about their experiences, I've found that I'm not really into spending time in labs for hours and hours every week and the insanely difficult homework that people stay up way too late doing. If I were genuinely interested in it, I don't think I'd mind that time commitment, but I just feel like my heart wants to pursue other things at this point in my life. I'm fine with science and math this semester, though I don't find myself wanting to know more, and when I see my friends' organic chemistry homework, I just have no interest in learning about what they're doing, nor do I ever want to suffer as much as they seem to be suffering.
• Maybe I should go to law school. I've come to find that I really enjoy reading, writing, and public speaking. Lol. Just an idea. (The younger me never wanted to go to law school, but I'm not the younger me, am I? Furthermore, the younger me also never wanted to speak Spanish and actually had something against the language. Now I'm considering using Spanish as part of my thesis research hahaha what is life. That being said, it'd be hilarious if I ended up going to law school.)
I haven't previously written all of this down, though this has been the content of a lot of my conversations with my friends lately. I think it's good to have all of this concretely recorded somewhere. Of course, I acknowledge that there is the possibility of plans changing (again), but I do feel confident about these plans and quite excited about them too. Isn't that what matters?
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