Somehow senior year is already coming upon me, so here is a list of a few things I want to do before I leave Princeton:

1. See the stars at Peyton Observatory. I actually wrote about wanting to learn how to identify constellations at the Peyton Observatory in my application to Princeton and even made it to a public observing a while back, but just as I was making my way up the steps to the telescope, it became cloudy. It looks like the next public observing is in a few weeks, so maybe I can cross this off the list this summer! Another event I hope to attend is a Stargazing Night, held every semester in the Forbes backyard by the Princeton Astronomy Club.

2. Climb up the Grad College Tower. The Grad College is across the golf course behind Forbes, about a 10-minute walk from the rest of campus. You can see the beautiful tower, which I just learned is called Cleveland Tower, from a distance and hear the bells every Sunday. The Grad College, in my opinion, is by far the best dining hall on campus, and I think most undergraduate students have never gone! I have been wanting to climb the tower since freshman year and even spontaneously joined some senior friends who wanted to climb it before they left in May, but it sounds like you need to go when the Porter’s Lodge (the main office) is open to get a key. It looks like you can even request songs to be played on the carillon and get a free carillon lesson if you go on a Sunday afternoon!

3. Swim at DeNunzio Pool. This one isn’t anything too special, but I brought a swimsuit freshman year and still haven’t gotten around to using it. We have two pools: Dillon Pool, which is in Dillon Gym and reopened this past semester, and DeNunzio, which is further from the center of campus but a really nice facility used by the Swimming & Diving and Water Polo teams. Hopefully I can make it to a recreational swim or two!

4. Try aerial silks with Princeton Aerial Arts. The theme of this list seems to be things I’ve been wanting to do since freshman year. I got really excited when I found out about the Aerial Arts Club when looking through the clubs at Princeton but I wasn’t sure how to join. Hopefully I can try it out next year but if not, I’d love to attend one of their performances!

5. Walk across the Swinging Bridge in the Institute Woods. I often run down Mercer St which leads to the Institute for Advanced Study (where much of Oppenheimer was filmed) and the Institute Woods (which even have their own Lonely Planet page!). I haven’t yet made it to the Swinging Bridge because the woods are sometimes muddy and I’ve been too lazy to figure out precisely how to get there, but this is another one I could try to cross off the list this summer.

6. Run the Princeton half marathon. If you told me freshman year that in two years, I would be running half marathons, I probably would’ve laughed in disbelief. I plan on writing a blog about starting to run recreationally (and celebrating my birthday this past May by running the Brooklyn Half Marathon in New York City!) but long story short, now I’m the one trying to convince my friends to run the Princeton half with me. I just registered for the race in November and I’m excited to run some familiar routes and celebrate with my friends afterward!

7. Visit illy Coffee At Earth’s End. I’ve seen this little cafe a couple of times but haven’t gone in yet. After hearing good reviews from my friend who met a woman from church there and reading Odette’s blog, I’m inspired to check it out when I’m looking for a warm drink or a pastry.

8. Sled down the Whitman hill. Elementary schools back home in Alberta, Canada have stores of carpet sleds that we used every recess in the winter. I was surprised when my friends here couldn’t relate, but I guess that makes sense in a place that doesn’t see much snow. Hopefully this winter we’ll get enough to sled down the hill by Whitman College, whether it be on carpet sleds or cardboard boxes.

I look forward to reporting back on how many of these I’m able to finish by the end of senior year!

Dear Reader,

When one thinks about Princeton, academics, internships, classes, and pre-professional extracurricular activities often come to mind—serious stuff. However, I have been on many side quests, aka. casual things that I enjoy doing just for the sake of them. I hope this first side quest blog will provide a glimpse into something new that I tried for fun, amigurumi, which is a Japanese art form of crocheting small, stuffed yarn creatures.

I’d never crocheted before Princeton. I always saw it as a tedious, difficult chore to secure each even, endless stitches. Last fall, I joined the Crochet Club with the encouragement of a friend who already knew how to crochet, and secured two free bee crochet kits from the club’s giveaway. It was quite difficult: my fingers cramped, my stitches were loose, and I had a hard time with the “magic loop:” the first few stitches to begin the first row. Fortunately equipped with my patient friend’s help, I began to improve and gradually inched through each row, barely keeping track of the number of stitches (which is not good, since you are supposed to count the stitches in each row). I fell into the comforting pattern of single stitches, and as academic life became more stressful, I gratefully turned to my bee, even just a few stitches a day. After a few weeks, my initially lopsided stitches became more tidy, and I successfully created my first pink bee.

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The week before winter break, the Princeton Student Events Committee (PSEC) hosted a finals event and gave out free Woobles kits, which are self-guided crochet kits with yarn, stitch markers, hooks, needles, and an instruction packet. Eager to practice more, I continued my hobby and created a rainbow narwhal. With more time on my hands, I found many free crochet patterns of cute amigurumi online and embarked on larger projects, like a medium-sized tiger to keep me company on campus! The Crochet Club also has a GroupMe chat for members to share recent creations, yarn recommendations, and more general advice. It was a warm community for us to geek out about one another’s cute projects. Thanks to the club and my peers, I pushed myself to learn something new and am now able to create cute creatures, which make great gifts for my friends and family!

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This summer, I have been giving out yarn and hooks to my new friends and teaching them how to crochet, starting with the “magic circle” and single crochets. The crochet circle is only growing!

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Almost a year ago today, I flew from Dallas (DFW) to London Heathrow (LHR) for my summer study abroad. I was bound for Cambridge University to study for six weeks. I did not know anyone in Cambridge. Abroad and alone, I was ecstatic. 

Prior to learning I had the opportunity to study at Cambridge, I was new to Princeton’s culture—one where students hustle to secure summer plans—and was extremely intimidated. I felt, at times, a stressful expectation to fill my summer with internships or other opportunities. Despite these feelings, I ended up with a summer filled with wild, wet, English adventures. Trust me, it was the right choice. 

July 6th, 2023: DFW -> LHR 

I remember clearly the butterflies I felt traveling internationally by myself. Touching down in London, my curious eyes peeked down from the plane, spotting little red dots commuting to and from. I had no idea what England had in store for me, but it turned out to be everything from iconic red buses to spontaneous trips. Arriving in Cambridge, I immediately was in awe of the old, historic town. Cambridge University is situated within the beautifully bustling town of Cambridge. The university has no central campus and is instead split into 31 different colleges, each of which has its own “campus” or courtyard dispersed throughout town. Walking around town, you’ll occasionally run into one of these colleges. Each is nestled between historic buildings and is visible through the small openings of its old wooden gates. 

For an artist, Cambridge is an extremely inspiring city. I drew constantly during my trip. The image above is one of my favorite sketches I did during my time there. It’s a drawing of the Kings College Chapel, which (fun fact) inspired the architecture of Princeton’s chapel. Several of Princeton’s buildings were inspired by Cambridge, actually, and I would argue that Princeton feels like a smaller, quainter version of Cambridge. 

August 19th, 2023: LHR -> DFW 

By the end of my trip, I had made unforgettable memories at Cambridge. Situating myself in a new town and making new friends, my 6 weeks felt electric. My day-to-day schedule consisted of a few classes and lots of biking around town. The weather was, well let's just say, English. It rained quite often but this rarely dented my excitement. I would recommend all students participate in a summer study abroad. Summer at Princeton can look like whatever you want it to. I learned a lot from this study abroad, and I wouldn’t trade my experience in Cambridge for anything in the world.

Lastly, I wanted to touch on a bit of the nuts and bolts of the program in case anyone is interested. I studied at Pembroke College and I took 3 classes during the 6 weeks: Jane Austen, Sustainability, and an independent study done with a professor. Princeton also has scholarships to provide financial aid for summer activities like these. Academically, Cambridge was certainly different from Princeton. We had far less hours of class time, and the only deliverables for students were two dissertations: each class required two very long essays.

This past fall semester of my junior year, I was able to take my first ever class in the Visual Arts (VIS, for short) Department. Two of my best friends at Princeton are pursuing the VIS certificate and always raved about their classes. As someone interested in the arts, I knew I just had to take at least one VIS course before I graduated.

Now, VIS classes are infamously known for being hard to get a spot in. They tend to be capped at only 10 to 12 students each in order to ensure an intimate learning environment. Luckily, I was able to snag a spot in VIS216: Graphic Design: Visual Form!

Taught by Professor David Reinfurt, the course was absolutely everything I wanted and more. It was so refreshing to have a class that was hands-on and project-based, especially to balance out my very reading and writing-intensive curriculum for my concentration.

One of my favorite assignments was when we were tasked with coming up with two new symbols that were meant to represent “stop” and “go.” We had to think outside of the box and figure out how we could communicate these definitions, without relying on the usual colors of red and green or the octagonal shape of a stop sign. I ultimately came up with the two symbols below:

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Can you tell which is which? I hope so! I genuinely enjoyed creating these and seeing what else my peers came up with. Throughout the semester, we also got to learn the basics of using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, how to make animated GIFs, as well as how to present our ideas during class critiques.

Our final project was to reimagine the recycling symbol and system. Over the course of four weeks or so, we each brainstormed solutions to the recycling crisis, graphically or otherwise. I especially appreciated how open the project prompt was because it didn’t tie us to any one medium. I ended up designing an incentivized app similar to Fetch, where you could scan a QR code on recyclables to earn points and redeem rewards! I was really excited about my idea, and during our final critique, Professor Reinfurt brought in several of his colleagues to listen to our presentations and offer us feedback. Their insight and advice were invaluable.

Reflecting back now that the semester has ended, VIS216 was an incredible experience! Even though I wouldn’t consider myself to be the most artistically inclined person, I’m super grateful that I had the opportunity to take this class. I’d highly encourage anyone with even an inkling of interest in art to try a VIS course. The department is made up of renowned faculty, there are tons of facilities and resources available to students, and it’s ultimately fun to have a class that lets you think a little differently than classes for your concentration. Take advantage of all that VIS has to offer!

As an engineering student with a passion for artcraft, I've always found joy in creating things with my own hands, exploring various methods and techniques to bring my ideas to life. So, when I arrived at Princeton and discovered the wealth of resources available for creative exploration, I was absolutely amazed. From the moment I stepped into the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) Machine Shop to the countless hours spent in the Studio Lab and makerspace, my journey with Princeton's creative spaces has been nothing short of transformative.

My first experience in the MAE Machine Shop was the MAE 321 Engineering Design course. In the course’s labs, we delved into the art of design and manufacturing, utilizing advanced machinery like milling machines and CNC machines to craft intricate designs. From engineering a flywheel cart and bottle opener, to creating an airplane wing from scratch, the MAE Machine Shop is where imagination meets precision, providing students with hands-on experience and technical expertise.

Another vibrant hub of creativity is the Studio Lab, home of the Council of Science and Technology and a playground for artistic expression and experimentation. Here, students can explore a diverse array of mediums, from traditional embroidery to cutting-edge video game design. Equipped with incredible tools such as 3D printers and laser cutters, the Studio Lab empowers students to turn their ideas into reality. Workshops ranging from cryo painting tote bags to origami engineering foster a culture of collaboration and innovation, inspiring students to push the boundaries of their creativity.

Finally, Princeton's makerspace offers students the chance to delve into a multitude of crafts and technologies. From designing custom stickers to crafting intricate bead jewelry, the makerspace provides a hands-on learning environment where creativity knows no bounds. Students can also rent a variety of tech gadgets, from projectors to VR sets, allowing us to bring their visions to life with professional-grade equipment.

If you're someone who loves getting their hands dirty and bringing ideas to life from scratch, Princeton is the place for you. And for those who've yet to dip their toes into the waters of creation, who knows? Maybe Princeton will be the place where you uncover a newfound hobby.

“I wish Princeton felt like this.”

A comment from my fellow classmate after my short film (shown above) was screened for my digital animation class.

I think it’s fair to say my animation has quite a calming undertone. I wanted to capture the monotonous yet beautiful moments of my days here at Princeton - the simplicity of studying in Firestone Library during the early mornings, my bike rides across campus, and the much needed coffee breaks at Coffee Club. 

While I love to honor these small moments, I think many students, like my classmate, often experience a very different day in the life of Princeton. What I see at Princeton, which is often a love for these small moments, is not what everyone sees. But what I’ve learned during my time here is that Princeton can be so many things - too much to sum up in a day. 

Incoming freshmen often want a description of what a “day in the life” looks like at Princeton. Of course I could generalize my experience as stressful and overwhelming while simultaneously everything I could ask for in a college experience. It’s hard to describe the beautiful stressors, challenging moments, and new experiences that go on here. Ultimately, Princeton is a very unique college experience inside the “orange bubble” - an almost alternative universe on campus where you're swept up and time passes in odd ways.

But there are so many nuances in an experience. The description above, and further my own animation, fall short of describing so many aspects of Princeton: days where you’re in Firestone from sun up till sun down studying, memory making late night chats with roommates, or even how campus comes alive in spring as students flock to Cannon Green for picnics and frisbee games.

Princeton is too large to sum up in one day or one animation. Further, I think it’s important for incoming students to realize that Princeton is not a “day in the life”. No experience is. Despite being in the same academic and physical environment, everyone experiences college differently - hence the disparity between how I view Princeton through my animation and my classmate’s reaction.
But with this comes an important lesson; the reason we experience things differently is partly due to how we choose to perceive life around us. Our own experiences are ultimately what we make of them. At the end of the day, Princeton is what you make of it. So how do I answer the question: “what is a day in the life like at Princeton University?” It’s up to you to tell that story - my only advice, remember the sky's the limit.

I thought I would share what a day in my life looks like when I have a packed schedule of extracurriculars, socializing and schoolwork! 

7:45 a.m.

I don’t normally wake up this early, but I have a lot of morning classes this semester so I take the time to get breakfast and study for my Japanese quiz!

8:30 a.m.

My first class of the day is “Introduction  to Digital Humanities,” which is the class I am taking for my Quantitative and Computational Reasoning distribution requirement, even though it’s an English class! We’re learning about the intersection of digital media and the humanities, and I love how I am able to take a wide range of non-conventional classes to fulfill my distribution requirements.

10:00 a.m.

My second class is Japanese, of which I am in my second year. Starting a new language at Princeton is undoubtedly a challenge, as classes meet every day, but each class is structured around time for grammar, speaking, and writing practice, which makes all the hours you have to put in worth it. 

11:00 a.m.

I then head over to do work in the eating club I’m a member of, where I am supposed to meet a friend for lunch and study together after. As a sophomore, we get two meals per week at our eating club, which is a great way to integrate ourselves into a community we will soon be fully immersed in next semester. Each eating club at Princeton has its own library, so I just did readings for my seminar later today there. 

1:30 p.m.

I had my final class of the day, “Everyday Life in Mao’s China.” This is my favorite class this semester, where we are taking a ground-level view of how the lives of everyday people were impacted by the various changes during the Mao era. Seminars at Princeton are usually three hours long with around fifteen people, though mine is capped at nineteen because so many people were interested in taking it. 

4:30 p.m.

I went to Coffee Club, a student run cafe located in Campus Club to grab coffee with a friend and work on my Japanese homework. Coffee Club has new seasonal drinks every month or so, so I got to try their lavender latte (last month they had raspberry matcha as a specialty). 

6:00 p.m.

Dinner time! I went to dinner at my eating club, where every Thursday night is a member’s night. I got to sit with my friends and catch up on what they did over spring break while also meeting seniors in the club I had never met before. 

9:00 p.m.

My a cappella group was performing at a show for Princeton’s East Asian dance company, Triple 8, so we met near the dressing room at the theater to rehearse beforehand. 

10:00 p.m.

After my performance, I went back to Firestone Library, my favorite library, to do work. I normally leave the library around midnight and go straight to sleep. 

One of the first things I promised myself before going to college was that I was going to try new things and step out of my comfort zone. What better time than now to explore all the things I had never had the opportunity to in high school? 

Thus, first-year fall, despite my many reservations about doing so, I tried out for the Princeton Debate Panel. While it was one of the most terrifying things I had ever done, I am grateful to have found some of my closest friends and a tight-knit community that single handedly helped me through my first semester at Princeton. 

I kept (and am keeping) my promise to myself as I entered the second half of my sophomore year. I ended up auditioning for an a cappella group, a decision I made a day before auditions were to take place. My reservations for doing so stemmed from the fact that as much as I enjoyed singing in my free time, I never thought I was good enough to sing in a more structured setting. 

I was saved from making one of the worst mistakes of my Princeton career when one of my friends, after hearing my plight on whether or not I should audition, told me just what I needed to hear. “What’s the worst that could happen? You’re nervous for 15 minutes, maybe embarrass yourself in front of a few people. But the best case scenario? You get ten new friends, and get to do something you enjoy.” The answer then became pretty clear in my head. 

I went, sang in front of a group of people I didn’t know, and left shaking from nerves, but relieved I had gone through with it. That night, I found out that I had been asked back for callbacks, and went to callbacks the day after, where I (still extremely nervous) mingled with members and got to experience what it would be like to sing as part of a group. I left callbacks daydreaming about what it would be like to perform with these amazing collection of singers, and once again, thoroughly glad I had gone. 

Now, I’m a proud member of the Princeton Tigressions, one of the many a cappella groups Princeton has to offer. Each group is unique in their sound, their members and their personalities. The Tigressions are known for a bold sound, and our repertoire ranges from classics such as Moon River and more contemporary arrangements such as When We Were Young. We also go on an international tour during fall break, though a cappella groups on campus mainly sing in one of the many arches on campus. Also unexpectedly, my first performance happened to be at McCarter Theatre in front of a crowd of more than six hundred people. As terrifying as that was, it was one of the most fun (and memorable) moments at Princeton so far. 

So go for it. Try something new. 

I have always been fascinated by languages. I grew up bilingual, speaking Haitian Creole and French. Then, at the age of twelve, I realized that it would be cool to actually understand the songs of Akon which I was a big fan of: that's how I decided to start learning English. Later, in high school (coincidentally around the time Akon had hit pause on his musical career), I decided to move on to new horizons and started studying Spanish, followed by German. I think languages are cool, especially at Princeton.

At Princeton, every A.B. student has to pass the language requirement (i.e. demonstrating proficiency in a language other than English) before they graduate. There are many ways to fulfill this requirement. I, for example, took a French Placement Test the summer before I came to Princeton, which allowed me to place out of the language requirement. That meant I did not have to take any language classes at Princeton. But I still did! Why? Because languages are cool! Rather than starting with a completely new language at Princeton (which I might still do later on), I decided to keep learning Spanish for a while. I took the Placement Test for Spanish a couple of days after the French one and got placed into Spanish 108 (for Advanced Learners). 

I took the class last semester and it was amazing! My instructor was extremely kind, supportive and knowledgeable. My experience in that class was nothing like what I had seen in language classes before. Not only did the course focus on the development of the students' oral and written expression, but it also did so by engaging with interesting and thought-provoking material that explored the cultures, histories and politics of Spanish-speaking communities in the United States as well as the larger Hispanic world. The regular writing and speaking exercises encouraged me to frequently engage with the language beyond a superficial level in order to become comfortable expressing complex ideas in Spanish. All this in an encouraging and low-stress environment. I ended up doing very well in the class thanks to the incredible support I received from my instructor and my peers.

This experience reassured me in my decision to pursue a Certificate in Spanish, so much so that I am taking another Spanish class this semester: Spanish 209. In this course, we learn to analyze films in Spanish, which is a great way to improve my writing and speaking skills. It's also a great excuse to watch TV on the weekend without feeling guilty! I am only a few weeks in and I already love it! In addition to the language courses, Princeton offers other opportunities to get better in languages such as speaker events, internships abroad, summer language courses abroad, etc…

I truly feel that Princeton is one of the best places to brush up your skills in many languages or acquire new ones. Plus, you will want to take a class in East Pyne (the building that hosts most of the language departments): it is absolutely stunning! If you don’t believe me, come see for yourself!

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P.S.: If you have questions about any of the things mentioned above, do not hesitate to send me an email!

I remember my first grade class’ Halloween party like it was yesterday: the mummy wrapping station on the rug, the spooky cupcakes on the desks and a Halloween storytime in the book corner. Though I briefly stopped by the dessert desks to grab a cupcake, I found myself all consumed in the fourth activity: Halloween story starters. Shifting through printed handout starters about witches and ghosts and goblins, I spent the entire party writing story after story. I somehow drowned out the “Monster Mash” track that played on repeat and the laughter of my classmates as they wrapped each other up in toilet paper. All I could hear was the sound of my pencil gliding across the thick-lined paper. 

It’s no surprise then that when applying for colleges ten years later, I was drawn to Princeton’s Program in Creative Writing. With faculty such as A.M. Homes and Idra Novey, and graduates like Jodi Picoult (I am obsessed with her novels!), I knew I wanted to take courses in the department. And ever since I was admitted, that’s exactly what I did. I took everything from “Introductory Fiction” to “Advanced Fiction,” from “Introductory Poetry” to “Advanced Poetry,” and even Special Topics courses like “Political Fiction.” 

But my writing journey came to an abrupt stop at the end of last year. It was Spring 2021 and I applied for the Creative Writing thesis. At Princeton, everyone writes a thesis in their concentration (mine being English), but some certificates also require you to write a thesis. In the case of the English department, you can actually replace your English thesis with a Creative Writing thesis if you are accepted into the program. So anyone can apply for and take creative writing courses, but that does not necessarily guarantee that you can write a thesis in the department. 

When I received the email that my application was not accepted, I was crushed. I felt as if all that I worked for and all that I hoped for since coming to Princeton, since sitting at that table at my first grade Halloween party writing about witches and pumpkins, had meant nothing. Was my writing not good enough? Was I not good enough? I decided to take a semester off from creative writing for the fall. I was hurt, and perhaps a little too prideful to keep taking courses in the department.

But as these thoughts slipped into my head, I remembered something that one of the creative writing faculty members said. She told our class that she herself was rejected from writing a creative writing thesis, and now she’s a bestselling author with several novels that she is proud of. During the fall semester, I missed creative writing so much. Yes, I might have been hurt, but being at one of the top schools in the country not only means that you’re surrounded by other brilliant, talented people, but that you have to learn how to be surrounded by other brilliant, talented people. It means accepting rejection, learning from setbacks and moving forward. 

This semester, my final semester at Princeton, I am taking a course called “Spark! Sparking Creativity in Writing” with Professor Quade, who I had as a professor for “Advanced Fiction” during my sophomore year. The course focuses on daily writing practice as opposed to long-form, workshop writing. I hope to leave this course with the tools I need to continue writing in my day-to-day life, even as I start my career after graduation. Receiving rejection is always difficult, but it made me realize that creative writing is something I never want to let go of. Thesis or no thesis, I will continue the dream that little first grader had as she scribbled word after word onto her paper.