One of the top things to do before graduation is to take a trip with a class or club. I’ve known people who have traveled over breaks to South Africa or London to sing or to Venice or China to research. During this past intersession, the period between fall and spring semester, I went to Paris with L’Avant-Scène, the French theater group on campus. We perform plays in French from the traditional French repertoire such as Molière, Feydeau and new classics like Wajdi Mouawad and Jean-Luc Lagarce.

Florent Masse, the French professor in charge of this troupe, has been taking newcomers to the troupe to Paris since 2004. Normally, there are about five or six people on this trip, but this year there were only three of us. So, we invited a few students studying abroad in Paris to join us at some of our activities. The schedule for the week consisted of drama instruction, activities for cultural enrichment and a play every night.

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We spent some time walking around Paris, visiting the Louvre and enjoying macarons, hot chocolate and crêpes. Most of our days, however, were spent at the Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique (CNSAD). There, we interacted with aspiring thespians and famous professors who helped us delve more deeply into our work. We had the pleasure of participating in a 3-hour dance class and several other theater classes that focused on character development and movement on stage. In the middle of the trip, we were able to watch a class on masks. It was quite an invigorating experience to perform alongside these energetic French actors.

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Every night, we went to plays at some of the best theaters in Paris such as La Comédie Française. We saw a total of eight plays. Our group preferred Molière’s hysterical Les Fourberies de Scapin at La Comédie Française and the heart-wrenching Saigon performed at the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe. After the play, we chatted with the actors. We met some stars of French theater: Loic Corbery, Claude Mathieu and even Xavier Gallais. All of them, despite being extremely accomplished and talented, were extremely humble and excited to interact with us and answer our questions.

I could not have made this voyage without the support of Florent Masse and Princeton. It’s often said here that Princeton opens doors. This was certainly true of this week.

As you may or may not already know, Princeton has a bit of a different system for dining once you become an upperclassman. The one that probably draws the most intrigue from prospective students is what is known as an "eating club." There are 11 of these clubs, and each one serves as a form of social and dining scenes for upperclassmen, should they choose to be in one. Certain clubs are "sign-in," where one simply has to write their name down in order to join. Others require students to go through a process called "bicker," where students are chosen by current club members to be a part of a club.

Sophomores go through the bicker and sign-in process for the various clubs in the spring semester. The bicker process usually involves playing games and doing mini interviews with various members of the club for a few hours in the evening. This allows you to get a feel for if the club is right for you and provides an opportunity to learn more about the club as a whole. It lasts two days and on "pickup day," students who bickered are notified of their status in the club; if accepted, they proceed to their new club and are warmly welcomed by other club members. Because sophomores aren't upperclassmen, they are allowed to have a couple of meals at the club per week and will then have full member privileges once their junior year starts.

Eating clubs are a great way not only to eat and socialize with your current friends but also provide a great opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. It's just one of the upperclassmen dining plan options, but worth giving it a shot if you're even the slightest bit curious.

Over my four years at Princeton, I’ve had the honor of attending public lectures given by everyone from Nobel laureates to undercover journalists (including one who reported from North Korea). Among these lectures, here are three of my very favorites:

“The Art and Science of Pixar” with Danielle Feinberg, Director of Photography for Lighting at Pixar Animation Studios

While working on Pixar’s “Coco,” Danielle Feinberg was directed to “create a world like no one has seen before.” Sitting in the audience in Maeder Hall, I couldn’t help but be struck by these words. Neither coder nor artist, I share the same mission nonetheless. Each day, we all strive towards it in our own personal way—imagining, aspiring, defying odds, creating a world like no one has seen before.

I left this lecture more inspired than ever: by the creativity that transforms both worlds and lives, by the dedication to do good work, and moreover, to do meaningful work. Because, as Danielle said, “It wouldn’t be a Pixar movie without imbuing the whole thing with heart.”

“Princeton and The Other ‘F’ Word: a Conversation on Failure” with John Danner, Fortune 500 advisor & UC Berkeley business professor

Go into your garage and pick up a can of WD-40. Look closely at the number on the bottle; thirty-nine failures preceded this product. Henry Ford went through 19 letters of the alphabet before arriving at the Model T. Ever heard of Chanel No. 4? Didn’t think so. But everyone knows what came next.

John Danner’s lecture reminded me that failure is the foundation for growth. The following morning, I awakened to a rejection in my inbox. As I dragged the message into my “Rejection” folder, I couldn’t help but smile. I am so grateful for the place that has taught me to see, in failure, the reaffirmation of character, the beauty of surroundings and the overwhelming opportunity that awaits.

“The Hidden Worlds of Narrative Nonfiction” with Richard Preston, New Yorker writer & bestselling author

On a warm, spring night in California’s Palomar Mountains, a young man named Richard Preston stood beneath a sky full of stars. Slowly, he wandered toward a small white dome that stood out against the night’s cloak of darkness, lured by a combination of curiosity, elevator music and laughter. Pausing in front of the astronomy dome, Preston knocked once, waited a few moments and then knocked again, louder this time, as to be heard over the music. After a few moments, a voice emerged from inside the dome. “Hey, somebody’s knocking!” Preston stood still. “Aw shitsky, Carolyn,” the voice continued. “What do they want?”

With that, the door opened, and out of the dome stepped Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker, astronomers who were searching the night sky for asteroids and comets that could slam into the Earth—or, as per Preston, “the only astronomers whose work could have a real impact.”

That night, as Preston sat beneath the brilliant spring sky, he realized: somebody has to write about this. Standing behind a Princeton University podium on Dec. 1, 2016, reflecting on a science writing career that has taken him all the way from Ebola labs to redwood treetops, Preston referred to this moment in the mountains as his “calling.”

And, sitting in the audience that winter afternoon, I was reminded of mine.

From the title of this post, you might be saying to yourself: "The first semester is finally over. Why would I want to take any sort of 'course' during my week of rest?" However, these aren't like your normal academic courses; they're called Wintersession courses.

For those of you who may not know, Wintersession is the week between the end of the first semester in late January and the start of the second semester in February. During this time, there are no official classes in session, so it basically serves as a week-long break to rest and get ready for the new semester. Very often, students will plan trips to various locations during this time or simply go home, but of course there are some students who decide to remain on campus. Thankfully, Princeton provides fun activities for these students to do. These Wintersession courses are typically student-led classes or workshops where you can learn and do all sorts of things, from learning about lucid dreams, making your own homemade pizza, and doing magic tricks, all the way to doing dance workshops with one of the various dance groups on campus such as BAC (Black Arts Company: Dance). These "courses" take place in a very relaxed and friendly setting where you can simply learn or do things you might have thought about doing - or perhaps never thought of doing!

If you're on campus still, you definitely should check them out and see what interests you the most. Also, if you feel inspired, you can teach one as well. This year there's even a course on how to correctly peel an orange, so, as you can see, the possibilities are endless. These courses are offered every Wintersession and are definitely a mini highlight of people's time here at Princeton, so definitely give them a try! Here's the link to the website for this year's offerings.

“Want to grab a meal?” I can’t tell you how many times a week I hear this question. It is probably one of the most common questions thrown around here at Princeton. Since everyone needs to eat, grabbing a meal is one of the easiest ways to chat with people. Whether you recently met someone and want to get to know them better, or you want to catch up with an old friend, a meal is always a good option.

If you were to ask a Princeton student on average how long he or she spends in a dining hall in a given week, I bet the number would surprise you. This is largely because the conversations in a dining hall are special. Time tends to stop and one becomes immersed in the conversation.  Sure, there are those days that you have to grab a quick meal in between class, but on average, Princeton students tend to spend their mealtime enjoying the company of others and having intellectual conversations.

I think this is because students enjoy engaging with one another. You never know what interesting thing someone is going to mention that launches into a long discussion. It could be politics, something one just learned in class, an interesting tidbit about one’s past or even what food is being served that day. It doesn’t really matter what the conversation starts with. It just matters where it goes.

Additionally, there are many lectures and conversations with faculty that occur over meal times that further add to the opportunities for interesting discussion over food. For example, over the past two weeks, I have attended a lecture about zebras in Kenya, a pre-vet guidance session, a Spanish table (where students in Spanish classes get together to practice their Spanish), a Hebrew learning session, as well as meetings for various clubs and departments I am part of.

When I was looking at colleges, it was my dinner conversation with my host at Princeton that made me realize Princeton was the school for me. We must have sat in the dining hall for almost two hours going through everything from research opportunities to campus sport culture. My conversation with my host made me realize how incredible people are at Princeton, and how much I wanted to engage with them all. I wanted more meaningful discussions, and I can honestly say now after being on campus for three years, that is exactly what I have gotten. I am still friends with my host today (I actually just got a meal with her last week), and I am constantly making new friends over meals.

So next time you’re looking to make some new friends or catch up with old ones, you know you can always rely on the handy phrase “want to get a meal?”

It was the end of frosh week, which is the first week of the academic year where student organizations will have open houses to gain interest from students, and I knew the auditions had started at 7 p.m. I really wanted to go but my first-year self was not even sure of how to get to that dance studio and still needed a bit more confidence to show up alone to the auditions of a South Asian dance company. I went instead to the Triangle Show with some friends I had just met, but during the performance I kept thinking how sad it would be not to join such a cool dance group just because of my frosh week shyness. When the show ended I convinced one of the friends to run over to the rest of the auditions with me. When we arrived they just finished learning the classical piece for auditions. They were going to perform it in groups and then we would learn a Bollywood piece. My friend and I watched as the auditionees performed the classical choreography they had just learnt. I became both scared and excited, the choreography was so beautiful yet so different to anything I had danced before, it was indeed difficult! But once they filmed all the auditionees, the company members stood up and performed the Bollywood section we would be learning—Balam Pichkari! The fear immediately went away and the excitement multiplied; this is why I had wanted to auditions! That same night I received an email inviting me to callbacks, and the day after I was suddenly part of a crazy, welcoming student-run dance company called Naacho. 

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People on campus often ask me how I ended up joining a South Asian dance group and being so involved in it. The short answer is my roommate in high school was from India and she taught me some Bollywood choreographies, and I thought they were a lot of fun. The longer answer also includes how I have been trained in flamenco my whole life and the dance styles are similiar. This is due to the Roma ethnic group that developed the flamenco dance form in Southern Spain, which originated from India. Bollywood was the only South East Asian dance style to which I had been exposed but, through Naacho I have also learnt Raas, Bhangra, Hip-hop, classical and many more styles. Naacho late night rehearsals have been some of my favorite moments on campus and the weeks preceding the shows have been the most packed weeks in my whole time at Princeton. The “Naacho bonding nights” are the main reason I have not been able to get enough sleep.

Being in Naacho has been incredibly fun and it has also allowed me to better understand and reflect on the world around me, which has in turn helped me to better understand the Princeton community and the ways in which we can make it grow. Being the co-president of such a diverse dance company with dancers that come from all over the world, and which presents a wide variety of traditional and contemporary South Asian dance styles, is really an amazing privilege. Working with more than 40 students and leading a dance company that promotes the beauty of South Asian dance has been a very gratifying experience, but it is also a never-ending learning process. It takes time to understand how one can appreciate other cultures, and aim to do a just representation of often underrepresented communities to which one does not necessarily belong. While Naacho seems like an obvious choice to many of our dancers of South Asian descent, it becomes home for all the company, including people who had no previous exposure to South Asian culture. The student groups at Princeton are really a great way of exposing oneself to new cultures, communities and ideas. It is hard to figure out your identity in a new environment, but the process will help you grow in so many ways. I hope to see you all at auditions in the future!

I am a first-generation American and a first-generation college student. Coming to college was not an easy process; while my parents offered me unconditional support, they could not advise me based on previous experience. All of my friends’ parents had gone to college and were therefore able to give their children detailed accounts of what it was like, providing them with an easier transition to their new lives. I started noticing my friends pulling away as they adjusted faster to the college atmosphere; meanwhile, I found myself unable to be as independent as everyone else. I hadn’t realized that growing up with only my sister and parents in America had made me incredibly dependent on them.

I am sure each first-gen student has a unique experience; I can tell you a little bit about my own. Going off to college is a huge shock for most people, and it’s even more of a shock if you’re unprepared and alone. One of the most interesting parts of being a first-generation college student is that my parents are along for the ride, but from a different perspective. They are fascinated with anything and everything to do with the American collegiate system, because they’ve never been through it themselves; thus they are completely invested in my experience.

Since my parents aren’t able to give me experience-based advice, I was a little worried coming into my first year that I would be at a complete disadvantage. To my delight, I found that Princeton has so many resources for students like me! I joined a group on campus called Scholars Institute Fellows Program (SIFP), which provides me with a weekly mentorship group to talk about my life as a Princeton student. Through this, I’ve gained access to wonderful students and faculty that have been able to open many doors for me that I wouldn’t have even known existed.

My first year with SIFP was so valuable that I decided to pay it forward by joining the Princeton University Mentoring Program (PUMP). Only this time, I am the mentor, not the mentee. This has been such an incredible program so far, and it has enabled me to meet other first-generation and/or low-income students and provide a helping hand.

When I got to Princeton last year, I was pleasantly overwhelmed at the idea of finding new activities and organizations that I would grow to love. I was intrigued by the chaotic activities fair that featured hundreds of club members shouting at me, trying to explain the premise of their group in the three seconds I had before being whisked away by a different club. I became so involved that I started worrying if “in with the new” really meant “out with the old,” or if I could potentially do both; there were a few activities from high school that I just wasn’t ready to part with yet.

So I decided to keep the old, too. Aside from joining new groups like Spoon University, Princeton Hidden Minority Council, Princeton University Peer Mentoring Program, Princeton Latinos y Amigos and more, I looked for ways to keep doing what I had been so involved with before Princeton: music.

Joining the Princeton University Orchestra (PUO) as a double bass player was the start of what has been an incredible journey thus far. Not only has it been a springboard for many close friendships, but it has also given me the opportunity to travel to and tour new countries every other year. For example, last year PUO toured through Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna and Prague during break. Here’s a sneak peak of the bass section at the top of a bell tour in Prague:

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Amazingly, the Princeton music experience is about to get even better. This year marks the opening of the new Lewis Arts Complex, a humongous building complete with performance and rehearsal spaces, additional instrument lockers, and numerous practice rooms and studios with advanced acoustic systems. Early this fall the music department put on a performance featuring several of the major performing groups on campus, such as PUO, to commemorate the opening of this new, fantastic building. I was completely blown away by the impressive array of talents on display the entire night, ranging from the Glee Club, percussion, the Chamber Choir, to jazz, classical music, and everything in between. The purpose of the concert was to have nonstop music; in other words, when one group finished, another would immediately start playing. The groups were spread out around the performance hall, and colorful spotlights illuminated the musicians while they played.

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For me, the most beautiful part of the evening was the coming together of many musicians from different disciplines of music. The various genres and styles formed part of the face of the music department, and they reaffirmed my belief that music really is a universal language.