Ordinary Moments

Though I have become well accustomed to the University (the life, work and environment) by this time in my studies, there remains a short list of things that continue to stand out and surprise me again and again about this place. Some of those things are mundane; others, peculiar or regrettable, yet most noteworthy are those wonderful moments I have had on campus that remind me of the joys of being here.

With that description, you may think I’m referring to the outstanding opportunities that are accessible at Princeton. Indeed, it seems as if students here are always participating in events led by influential officials, prize-winners and others; attending spectacular plays, concerts, and productions; or most excitingly, venturing into other cities and countries as part of a class, performing group or other University-sponsored program.

Certainly, those opportunities represent a very special aspect of Princeton. But the things I mentioned earlier, those wonderful moments that define my experience here, are quite ordinary. They’re the chance meetings with friends in Murray-Dodge Café as we wait together for fresh cookies; the last few stories and laughs shared with my roommate in our dorm as we set our alarms and prepare for tomorrow; the resolution I feel when I get up after finishing a book or essay to pace the quiet floors of Firestone Library. These things are all so plain, yet I have found an extraordinary appreciation for them, and they are some of the best things I’ve experienced here at Princeton.

It’s important to say that this isn’t just some way of looking at things with rose-tinted glasses, a strategy for convincing myself that “everything is awesome.” I’ve had the chance to appreciate standout events (like moderated conversations with Gustavo Dudamel and Joyce Carol Oates or trips to see Broadway plays and hear Supreme Court oral arguments), but those are only a few moments of my time as a student. The rest of that time is spent doing normal, everyday things, and it is a simple appreciation for those things that really makes my Princeton experience noteworthy.

English Language Program

This year, I’ve had the opportunity to take part in an exciting program that operates somewhat under the radar in the Princeton community -- the English Language Program (ELP). The ELP, which works mostly with graduate students, aims to help non-native English speaking Princeton students become more comfortable within the Princeton community. By pairing them with an undergraduate student for a weekly get-together, non-native English speaking Princeton students are able to gain confidence in their English language skills. Those meetings provide an opportunity for casual conversations about student life, holidays, sports, food or whatever seems relevant that week.

When I joined the program, I was paired with two STEM graduate students from China, Hui and Hauxi. Hui studies Molecular Biology and Hauxi studies Electrical Engineering. I’ve enjoyed getting to know them over the course of a semester. We’ve explored the various dining halls on campus, gone hiking on the towpath, discussed the major cultural differences between the United States and China and toured my dorm room (which didn’t take long).

We’ve had some fun meetings, talking about the “holiday season” in the United States and the various ways in which people at Princeton celebrate different holidays. As part of our discussion, we made and decorated delicious Christmas cookies, which we shared with friends. Then, we went to the Center for Jewish Life where we braided Challah bread for a local charity and lit Hanukkah candles.

I look forward to my Thursday afternoon meetings with two amazing people who I may not have had the opportunity to meet outside of the ELP, a program that reinforces the powerful diversity of the Princeton community.

A Trip to the New York Jewish Film Festival

On a winter afternoon, I set out with my friends, Hannah and Jake, for an impromptu visit to New York City. Our primary objective was to attend the 2019 New York Jewish Film Festival, though our chosen film, “Autonomies,” was already sold out. So, as we boarded the train, our excitement for the trip was tempered by the knowledge that our plan to try for standby tickets might not work, and we’d have to find something else to do in the Big Apple. Our excursion was funded by Princeton's Center for Jewish Life (CJL), which is always looking for ways to give students new opportunities to connect to their Jewish identities.

Our train ride featured plenty of laughter, including each person telling the story of their first concert (mine was Taylor Swift, Jake’s was Zusha and Hannah’s was A Great Big World). Before we knew it, we’d reached the city and Jake, the native New Yorker, expertly guided us to the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, where the movie was set to take place.

As we waited, we marveled over the beauty of the Lincoln Center at night, popped into the Metropolitan Opera for a look, and talked about our next adventure. After scoring the standby seats, we went inside. The mini-series was directed by Yehonatan Indursky, producer of the show “Shtisel,” which I had recently binge-watched with my little brother over winter break. Indursky was in New York for a Q&A session after the movie, so we settled in for what was sure to be an exciting night.

“Autonomies” has a plot so incredibly complex, nuanced and dramatic that no summary can do it justice. It tells the story of an alternate reality in Israel, which is depicted as a country literally divided in two by a barrier. We left the theater energized, drained and full of questions. We marveled over the plot and its complexities and lamented the ways in which we saw connections between this terrifying dystopian reality and current events. It made us realize how much division and violence have become an expected part of our reality today.

Although initially exhilarated by the excitement of the night, we were all soon taking turns dosing off on our train ride back to campus, dreaming about New York adventures and dystopian worlds.

Our adventure was in the middle of finals week at a time that we absolutely could have been spending every waking moment studying. That said, the fact that a Princeton group (the CJL) gave us the funding and means to take a break and try something new shows that despite Princeton’s intensity, there are more than enough opportunities (and resources) to live life and make friends.

What's in a Dorm? That Which We Call a Home

My first stay inside a Princeton dorm was so-so. As a recently admitted high school senior, I was on campus attending Princeton Preview, a one-and-a-half-day program that included an overnight stay for admitted students. I lodged with my host and his roommates in Little Hall, one of several beautiful, Gothic buildings that make up Mathey Residential College.

To be clear, the accommodations were not uncomfortable in any way. I only felt that the dorm did not seem quite like a home or a homey place you could happily return to after a long day of studying. The place was slightly untidy and sparsely decorated, as if its occupants had moved in only yesterday, and not eight months ago. It was not at all like what I had seen on college websites and video tours of dorms. Still, my host seemed pleased with it and I soon forgot about its deficiencies.

The experience came to mind a few months later, when I moved into my dorm as a first-year student. The place was bare except for the same basic furnishings I had found in my host’s room. Weeks later, it would still have empty walls, though textbooks, shoes and papers would spot the floor. My roommates and I did clean fairly often with our Swiffer and vacuum, and we did consider purchasing some decor, but for the most part the place resembled my host’s messy and undecorated room.

There was one difference, though. In my host’s room, I was a visitor, only there for a night. My own dorm, however, was familiar to me, and I was its resident. I knew its dimensions. I knew there was a small dent in the wall from the time I swung the closet door too quickly. I knew where one of my roommates stored his chocolate, and also that we’d have some later while laughing about something funny. I knew the missing water bottle on the mini-fridge meant my second roommate was at the gym, while my third roommate’s strident whistling meant he was working on math problems. I knew this and more about our room, which had become our home.

This past spring, my roommates and I hosted six admitted high school students for the Princeton Preview program. They probably did not think much of our room, but one day they might have a home just like it.

She Roars: U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan

"Learning is a lifelong endeavor," reflected U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Class of 1976, during a conversation with Justice Elena Kagan, Class of 1981. The conversation, moderated by Heather Gerken ’91, the Dean of Yale Law School was part of a conference, “She Roars: Celebrating Women,” at Princeton that celebrated the 50th year of coeducation at Princeton.

As I waited in line for hours to get a ticket for the event earlier that week, I sat beside several of my classmates, watching the live confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh on my laptop. Yet as soon as I arrived to the event, the anxiety of the week was forgotten. Kagan and Sotomayor took the air out of the room.

Kagan and Sotomayor reflected on their time at Princeton—from classes and grades and their senior thesis advisors, to the mentors that they found here. “Find people who are doing things that you admire that you don’t think you can do,” urged Justice Sotomayor.

In many ways, these are parts of the Princeton Experience that are universal; the entire room of alumni and undergraduate attendees could relate to the kind of intellectual development that is earned by making mistakes and learning from them. However, as Sotomayor cautioned, "You can make a mistake once but you shouldn't make it twice."

Kagan and Sotomayor later reflected on the challenge of confronting difficult conversations with frankness and objectivity. They agreed that as members of the highest court in the country, they have never mistaken the minority of women on the court for an impoverishment of their individual authority and power of opinion. Speaking of the women on the Supreme Court, Kagan added, “None of us are shrinking violets.”

In many ways, part of what Princeton seeks to instill in its students are the fledgling roots of this kind of intellectual confidence. In classrooms, in precepts and in conversations with faculty and fellow students, it is instilled in us that our voices matter and that because our voices matter, we must speak up, but we must do so with care.

In the shadow of a tense week, Kagan and Sotomayor demonstrated optimism and hope. As alumnae of the University, they are notable examples of impact and power that women have at Princeton University.

Picking my Last Classes at Princeton

For many of my friends and classmates in the Class of 2019, next semester—our last semester—unlike previous ones filled with distribution requirements and departmentals, is an opportunity to explore new, exciting courses, disciplines and departments. For the first time since first-year fall, I have no pressing requirements to fulfill or prerequisites to complete. Having completed all of the requirements for my department, certificates and Princeton’s distribution requirements, I had the opportunity to take literally whatever I wanted—and I had no idea what I wanted to take.

The fact that I will only take three more classes at Princeton (EVER) made my course selection choices feel incredibly urgent and incredibly important. The seven other semesters of classes that I have taken at Princeton have undoubtedly contributed equally to my overall sense of intellectual fulfillment here. However, as I selected my classes this semester, I felt a pressure to look for classes that would somehow encapsulate my "Princeton Experience" or capture the spirit of my time here. Due to the thesis requirement, seniors in most departments are only required to take six classes throughout their last year—students can choose to take four courses in the fall and two courses in the spring or three courses each semester.

As many of my senior friends and I perused course offerings, we turned to each other, seeking recommendations for classes that could provide us with a sense of fulfillment in our last semester. For some, this meant seeking relatively stress-free classes that could enable them to enjoy all of parts of Princeton outside academics: dance classes like “Introduction to Hip-Hop Dance” or “Stillness”, art and art-making classes like “Digital Photography” or “Drawing I”, or truly unique, fun-spirited classes like “Radioactive: Wakka Wakka,” which offers students an opportunity to study “puppetry, live animation, and optical illusions,” offered by the Princeton Atelier program. Others sought classes in uncharted territory, signing up for ones far outside of their disciplines and areas of study—classes that they had always been interested in, but had never had the chance to take.

I asked my friends about their favorite classes and professors, I reached out to friends who have graduated recently to hear about classes they regretted not taking and I listened to my first-year advisees discuss the classes they were most excited about, before passing on my own recommendations to them.

My senior fall semester was one of my favorites at Princeton. I was challenged by my courses but also exposed to wonderfully interesting material and amazing opportunities (like going to see Hamilton with one of my classes!). I appreciated the balance and intellectual fulfillment I found. However, the semester also set a high standard for my final days at Princeton. Seeking to maximize a similar combination of interesting but challenging material, new disciplines and amazing faculty for my final semester while still leaving ample time to complete my thesis, I decided on four classes that I will “shop” in spring to decide on the three classes I’ll ultimately take: "Supply-side Aesthetics: American Art in the Age of Reagan", "US Foreign Policy and the Middle East since 1979", "The Arab-Israeli Conflict", and "Communism and Beyond: China and Russia".

Princeton Sponsored Self-Reflection

Coming back from the summer is always an adjustment, but an exciting time nonetheless. One of the more fun parts of returning to Old Nassau is hearing about all the incredible things friends have done during the summer months. It is also a great chance to hear more about the experiences offered to undergraduates here. In fact, that is what led me to how I spent my summer.

After hearing about some of my upperclassmen friends discuss their experiences, I ended up pursuing the Martin A. Dale ’53 Summer Award. Every year, the Office of the Dean of the College selects 12-15 sophomore applicants to spend the summer working on their proposed projects. The unique aspect of the award is that all of the proposed projects must be non-academic and focused on self-growth. By accepting the award, students are encouraged to take at least eight weeks away from the rigorous sphere of academia and structured internships to interact with the world in various ways and make space for self-reflection.

Some of the successful projects this year include a friend of mine working to gain his family’s citizenship of the Cherokee nation, reaching the summit of Mt. Denali in Alaska and exploring what queer parenting looks like around the globe. My project was focused on exploring the cuisine of the French-African diaspora. Coming from an African American background, food has long been a way for me to understand my family’s history. With my six years of French education, I went off to explore how other groups relate their food to their cultural cuisine.

I learned that the Martiniquais cuisine carried heavily elements of traditional French cooking such as the use of creams and meats. However, some key differences I noticed was the heavy reliance upon seafood, use of seasonings and incorporating side dishes. Moroccan food had similar differences, but with a greater usage of non-bovine livestock as opposed to seafood. Meanwhile, traditional French food capitalizes on France's plentiful grazing space to embrace cuts of beef and foul in the cuisine.

The project took me to Martinique, the South of France and Morocco. All throughout, I ate some incredible foods- learning a multitude of family recipes, spoke with a variety of individuals about identity and engaged in some incredible personal reflection. At the end of my summer, I was left grappling with questions on patriotism and racial identity and a plethora of memories.

Princeton offers an inordinate amount of summer opportunities to us undergraduates, often with opportunities for funding to reduce financial hardship. But, this awards embodies a special part of the Princeton community, an emphasis on growing together and encouragement to have new experiences.

Being Independent at Princeton

An iconic part of the Princeton experience is the illustrious eating club, or rather, 11 eating clubs. Usually, if someone outside of the "Orange Bubble" is asking me about Princeton, they’ll mention an eating club. However, what many people tend to forget is that there are other systems in place so students can eat: staying on the dining hall plan, joining a co-op or being independent (currently the system I am using). Choosing the independent dining option at Princeton means that you have the ability to arrange your own dining. This means that you can cook on your own, eat at other campus dining places or eat at local resaturants.

Before starting my junior year, I was nervous about being independent. I never had to cook for myself, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready for such a big step. My sister teased me and said I would starve, so it wasn’t looking great on the homefront in regards to support, either. Nevertheless, I packed the car with the bare minimum of kitchen supplies I thought I would need; I knew I would be using a hall kitchen, so I couldn’t bring everything I was using at home.

My parents brought me to the grocery store on move-in day, and I stocked up for the week. Very quickly, I realized I was going to have a hard time; I had never even been to the grocery store by myself, and now I had to become celebrity chef Rachael Ray overnight! I knew I had to learn, and fast. Here are a few things I have found useful during my short time dining as an independent student thus far:

If you have a friend with a car on campus, bribe them with snacks and see if they will drive you to the store. If not...
The Weekend Shopper, a campus shuttle, that runs every Saturday and Sunday takes you to a variety of places, including Whole Foods, Wegmans, Walmart and Trader Joe’s. It’s free and easy to figure out!
Join the Free Food listserv. Princeton has free food everywhere, all the time. Sometimes you can even find full meals through it! Other times, you can find a nice snack. Either way, it’s definitely something to make use of!
Independent students get two dining hall meal swipes per week, so make use of them!
There are a few quick, relatively affordable options on Nassau Street if you’re looking to treat yourself (i.e., Tacoria, Jammin’ Crepes, Olives, Panera, Qdoba and more). Use this option sparingly; the costs add up!
If you have friends in eating clubs, they get a few guest swipes per semester!

I am sure I will learn more as the days go by!

What Does an "Average Student" at Princeton Look Like?

As a tour guide, prospective students often ask me to describe an “average Princeton student.” It is a difficult question to answer not only because my experience and my perspective on this question cannot be considered representative of the multitude of experiences and perspectives of students on this campus but also because I have found that there are very few characteristics that all students here share.

While I do not believe that there is an “average Princeton student,” I do believe one characteristic that many Princeton students share is intellectual passion and curiosity. We are all curious about different things but we are all passionately curious about SOMETHING.

While I am incredibly passionate about the history of political thought, Cold War history, art and The Odyssey, some of my closest friends are passionate and curious about other things. For instance, some are interested in the impact of educational levels and socioeconomic status during childhood on future investment decisions, the history and promotion of authoritarian regimes, sociology and architecture or Very Large-Scale Integrated (VLSI) Systems.

While we learn from professors and scholars in the classes that we take here, we also have the opportunity to learn from each other. From students who grew up in the town of Princeton to students from all across the world—Lesotho, Syria, Turkey, the Netherlands or South Africa. Then there are students studying molecular biology with passions for dance and choreography, and Computer Science students who are also members of the Princeton University Orchestra or students studying Religion and also pursuing certificates in Statistics and Machine Learning. Some students are the first member of their family to attend college and others grew up attending Reunions at Princeton as children of alumni. Diversity looks like a lot of different things, but it is precisely these forms of diversity that makes Princeton such a vibrant community for students to learn.

This diversity of thought and experience contributes to Princeton’s vibrant culture of intellectual curiosity. Everyone I meet here is passionately curious about SOMETHING, but the diversity of our experiences and interests means that there is always something to learn from each other.

Vote100!

Over the summer and into the 2018-2019 school year, the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students teamed up with the Undergraduate Student Government and our resident political organization, the Whig-Cliosophic Society to launch an exciting voter engagement campaign. Vote100 became the name of the initiative, referencing the goal to have 100% undergraduate student engagement in the 2018 midterm elections and all future elections for which students are available. The initiative encourages students to take an online pledge to engage in the voting process which is to increase the likelihood that students vote. With our informal motto of “…service of humanity,” there’s a calling for Princetonians to engage with our basic tool, voting, in the democratic process. In fact, the University hosts an on-campus polling location on election days.

The campaign also encourages international students and non-New Jersey natives to vote in their home country elections, encourage their eligible peers to vote, or vote in their home state via absentee ballot. To kick off the initiative, Vote100 hosted “Stand Up and Vote,” a comedy special on the first day of classes. Former host of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart, even showed up as a surprise for the students!

The campaign has been the embodiment of campus engagement. Every week of the semester so far, students from all walks of campus life and political ideologies have come together to help students pledge and register to vote in Frist Campus Center. Regardless of who people vote for, there is a community recognition of our obligation to give back as Princeton students and to become active participants of civil society.

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