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Mohit's Blog
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 Beginning of November- Good Times to Remember
Monday, Nov. 9, 2009 1:55 PM
As much as I would love to tell you about my Halloween weekend…I can’t, because I don’t remember it. Just Kidding! ;) It’s really is something you have to experience in college to understand how epic it is. I did however miss trick-or-treating for the first time in my entire life but I’ve accepted that on this particular day the parties do in fact trump the candy. I’ve included a picture of my costume in the album below for you’re amusement!
I just got back about an hour ago from tailgating at the 49ers game with the fam bam. Unfortunately, they lost but the experience of partying in a parking lot with your whole family, close friends and a bunch of 49ers fans makes up for it.
So out of nowhere November has arrived and it’s beautiful. It’s week eight and holiday bliss is in the air. The leaves are changing color, pumpkin spice lattes in festive cups at Starbucks are now out, football season is picking up, and people are putting the count down for thanksgiving on their Facebooks! College simply could not be a better place at this time of year. Don’t kid me wrong, work is definitely still there- I have a second round midterm and big paper due this week but the stress isn’t as terrible. It’s been more of a balance now that I am slowly finding my group of friends and hanging out when taking a break from studying. It’s pretty shocking that we’re already are supposed to be thinking about our classes for next quarter. I had an appointment with my advisor, Dr. Steve Fedder, who is the director overseeing most students who are pre-med. With in half an hour he and I were able to plan out my classes for next quarter as well as tentatively for the next three years. Along with figuring out classes for next quarter I’ve also been looking into what extracurricular activities I want to get involved with. I went to a pre-health club meeting last week and learned about the EMS (Emergency Medical Services) program here at Santa Clara. This is definitely something that I’m planning on joining. Not only does it look great on a med school application but it's also going to give me a chance to treat patients, which for me is so exciting after shadowing, interning, and volunteering for so many years. The application process and training is very selective and intense but I am really hoping to experience the thrill of getting paged at 3am! Another group that has caught my interest is the hilarious Inoperable Humor club, which is the improvisational club here. Missing performing in high school immensely, I hope that trying out will cure my thespian with drawls and give me the joy of performing in front of an audience again. Also, the theatre program is something that I’ve heard great things about and am for sure going to look more into when I get the chance.
Right about now I’m going to the Bronco (the late night grub spot) to get my usual- a plate of fries with ketchup and tell my favorite bartender to make me a smoothie but “make it a surprise”. I like surprises ;)
Love,
Mohit
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Halloween
Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009 4:59 PM
Done! Done! Done! Lucky for me, I am officially concluded with my first wave of midterms! However there are others who are not as fortunate. It’s week six: the library’s packed, the café lines are out the door, and everyone has their game faces on. On the bright side it’s the week before Halloween (a legendary holiday in college) so after all these tests are donezo, it will be all happy times from there. It’s been a rough two weeks but I have finally emerged from it all and will be smiling and skipping to class for the rest of this week. Hah until I get them back that is…So this past weekend I went home for the second time and mom if you’re reading this: Yes, I have missed you, dad, and sis. It was also great seeing a few buddies whom I’ve missed a whole lot too. To be honest, that’s pretty much all I’ve been doing these past two weeks: studying, nothing too exhilarating I find worthy to share with you guys. I did however develop some intense studying tactics that involve a myriad of caffeinated products, a secluded studying spot, and a legit reward system that I think overall worked out pretty well. Fun stuff, right? Yeah, I’ll have to tell you all about that another time because now I really need to blow off some steam and prepare myself for an epic weekend ahead. Stay tuned…dun dun dun…
Have a safe and Happy Halloween!
-Mohit
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4 am: the new 12 am
Monday, Oct. 19, 2009 2:07 PM
Apart from my incessant coughing for the past eight or so hours, I feel pretty good right now. I have finally crossed off studying for my chemistry quiz on my long to do-list for this hectic Monday. Today, I had my first English paper due which I felt pretty confident about given I sacrificed my entire weekend for it. I’ve learned that papers in college are nothing like the ones we got in high school. The prompt tends to be broader usually not in response to a novel. I actually really enjoyed writing about how Fruit Loops was my favorite cereal growing up. So overall, it was not that bad. What’s bad is that it’s 2:12am right now with still a short essay, a religion paper, math homework, and a midterm to study for left on my to-do list. This would be the epitome of a fourth week in college on the quarter system. It’s goes by FAST. Last night I believe to have gotten three hours of sleep? I seriously don’t know how I would function without caffeine. I did however go out last Friday night that I think was well deserved, as should this Friday be. I have to say I actually really love this weather right now- I can feel pumpkin spices in holiday cups right around the corner. The campus is starting to look more beautiful everyday.
Looking back on this past week one of the biggest highlights was probably attending the Oktoberfest festival held in the Bronco last Wednesday. They entertained with free German food, music, games, and the main reason I attended- a root beer pong tournament. Here’s another thing about me- I take my pong very seriously. After twelve rounds of intense BP (excuse me, RBP), my partner and I took the title of 2009 champions!!!! Thank you, thank you (I have a mug to prove it). Another highlight would be rush. I wasn’t too sure how the Greek system actually worked so I decided to tag along with some buddies in my hall who were interested in checking it out as well. The first meet and greet at Sigma Pi consisted of Hooters girls and hot wings. Obviously after this I went to the next rush events. Towards the middle of the week I realized that it wasn’t something for me given my schedule and workload. I was very glad to have at least gone to get a better sense of this part of college that is definitely meant for some but not so much others. And even though I didn’t end up pledging a lot of my friends did so at least I got the hook ups there. (Really, I only saw it for the parties ;)
So after a two-hour break from writing this blog post I decided to finish up my Christian Tradition paper. Not going to lie, it turned out to be pretty darn good. Oh, the satisfaction of finishing a five-page paper- no feeling of accomplishment could ever compare. I don’t have class until 11:50 so I am definitely making the most of all the sleep I can get. And then we do it again: paper, midterm, paper, midterm. Good night!!!
Mohit
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First Week
Monday, Oct. 5, 2009 4:38 PM
So it has been a total two weeks that I have been living here at Santa Clara! CRAZY…I was planning on writing about what I’ve been up to every day this past week but with all of the classes and things I’m doing while not in class has seemed to hold me back unfortunately from sitting down and writing. But no worries, here I am, ready to reveal to you my amazing freshman experience.
First, I think it would be a good idea to tell you all a little bit about myself. I grew up here in San Jose, California and decided to live on campus because the experience of living away from home when going to college was something I never wanted to miss out on. I am planning on majoring in Combined Sciences with a pre-med emphasis. I am living in Walsh Hall, which is one of the two residence halls for the Unity learning community. I was heavily involved in speech and debate and volunteering in high school so performing and giving back to my community are two things that I am passionate about. I love meeting new people, trying different types of foods, downloading music (legally of course), great books, boggle, and any excuse for a get together. And I’m always down for a good time.
Now I just have to say that these past two weeks have flown by so fast it’s hard to believe all the things I have done were in such a short amount of time. But that my friend’s is college for you: so many things to do but never enough time. However, I am able to look back at my first two week of classes, dorm life, nights out, and the beginning of an amazing four years with great joy.
So classes were definitely the biggest thing I was stressing out for over the first weekend but as it turned out, I have ended up enjoying each one with a great deal of interest. Math has never been a strong subject for me but my professor, Laurie Poe, has made it so enthusiastic. I still have yet to fall asleep in my 8 am calculus class! For that I give her great props. After math I take a short walk to the Benson center to grab some delicious morning grub consisting usually of eggs and hash browns along with a tall glass of OJ. (I know right, can’t start your morning off any better than that). After I chow down and do some reading I head over to my Christian Tradition Class with professor Gary Macy who has the greatest sense of humor I have ever seen in a teacher…who knew the new testament could be so hilarious! Now for my all time favorite, my writing class called “Reading Food, Self and Culture”. I love food and just being able to read about it and write about it I find to be a whole lot of fun. Chemistry is my Tuesday and Thursday class with Dr. Carrasco who lectures so well he makes chemistry understandable and enjoyable. Overall, I would say the size of the classes here makes a tremendous difference in the way teachers teach and students learn. I get the opportunity to ask questions without hesitation as one might get when in a big lecture hall. The close attention has given me a lot of confidence in my ability to perform in a classroom and begin to develop a good relationship with my professors.
Ok so here’s a little bit of the fun things that have been going on. First, let me try to make this as simple as possible for you to digest: Kid Cudi, Live, second row. A truly once in a lifetime experience. This was sort of my first “legit” concert I have ever been to (sad, I know) but being able to be that close to an artist I listen to every day made it something I’m never going to forget.
Club day I found to be quite overwhelming with the vast amount of opportunities that were offered to join organizations with people who had similar interests as myself. So I decided to just sign up for everything that caught my eye: pre-health club, EMT program, improv club, Indian/Pakistani association, salsa club, and pretty much every other club I saw a cute girl sign up for.
This past weekend I went to San Francisco for the annual festival called Love Fest or also known as LovEvolution. It’s an event that many Santa Clara students always go to by taking the Cal Train that is literally right across the street. I wasn’t aware on how close it was but now I love how I can use it so conveniently to go to San Francisco or wherever, whenever I want. And so basically what happens at Love Fest is completely different story on its own but I now know for sure that I will be going there again next year!
One last thing to add which I absolutely have to point out is the amazing sense of comradery amongst the students here. I have visited larger public universities and other private colleges but nowhere else have I ever been able to feel so comfortable with making new friends and feeling at home where I live. Every time I take a trip to Benson to grab something to eat, on the gym, or on my way to class, I tend to always run into someone who I know. My hall has the most incredible people who really love to study hard and party hard. As I’ve come to notice, a mentality of almost every Santa Clara student. We recently had an open mic night on the second floor with pianos, singing, guitars…it was awesome. I have met some of the friendliest people in my classes and in my hall and I cant wait to spend the next year with all of them. We now embark on the beginning of week three! Santa Clara has become my new home and I am loving every second here.
GO BRONCOS
Peace out, till’ next time!
-Mohit
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