Original post: http://macaulayhunterblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/i-have-to-agree-with-jemi-if-were-going.html

I have to agree with Jemi – if we’re going to get a day off, it should be elections day or veterans day. As it is I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to work a trek home to Brooklyn to vote into my busy Tuesday schedule (10 – 1 Internship, 3 – 6 Babysit, 6:30 – 7:30 tutor). But I’ve still got some time to sort that out…

In the meanwhile, the day we DID get off was Columbus day, which, as Jemi said, everyone gets off! Or at least my boyfriend did as well, so we’re in Boston visiting a good friend of ours at Harvard. I feel like I deserve a weekend off in the middle of midterms (first one was Wednesday, one on this coming Thursday, two the Thursday after that) but I am already anticipating the enormous amount of work to come as projects’ and papers’ due dates loom just around the corner from midterms…

But for now, a nice quiet night. Harvard apparently banned parties tonight, since tomorrow is LSATs (which I might be taking in a year; ahhh!) so we’re just going to watch a movie. I hope everyone has as nice and relaxing Columbus Day weekend as I am!

Original post: http://macaulayhunterblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/butterflies.html

In return for all of the wonderful things that Macaulay gives to us, we are committed to doing community service hours throughout our four years of undergrad. For most of us, it’s not a big deal, having happily done many hours of service in high school. However, getting out of bed at 7 AM on a Sunday morning to go to Staten Island for some community service was more than a little bit difficult. Luckily, I got my best friend Whitney, who is in Macaulay at Baruch, to come with me. We headed to the Sneak Peak event at Freshkills Park, which is not yet open to the public (hence the name “Sneak Peak”). The site used to be a landfill, so much of the event was about environmental sustainability, which is very relevant to the discussions my class is having in MHC 200 (Science and Technology in New York – the required seminar for first term sophomores). Though the day started early, and it was colder and windier than we expected, it ended up being alot of fun. Whitney spent the whole day as the face-painting artist (the kids loved her – see an example of her artwork in the picture above) while I wandered from station to station – helping kids make bracelets and kites, signing visitors up for tours, and making sure people were putting their waste in the proper place – trash bin, recycling bin, or compost bin. The kite making was at the top of the north mound, and the view was beautiful – you could see the downtown skyline and parts of NJ. Not a bad way to get 6 hours of community service done – not to mention free shirts, hats, and lunch 🙂

Original post: http://macaulayhunterblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/sunrise.html

After getting up in the dark four days in a row, it was nice to actually miss the sunrise today. I purposely left my Fridays class-free and internship-free for exactly this purpose – it’s my sleep-in/mental health day after weeks like this one, which just felt overwhelmingly busy.
That being said, I am absolutely LOVING my internship with Council Member Brewer (which I found on the Macaulay maintained internships list). On Tuesday morning, I got up really early so I could be at a school on the Upper West Side (the Council Member’s District) and pass out fliers about/try to get signatures in support of the Paid Sick Time legislation CM Brewer is sponsoring. It was pretty successful – we got over 100 signatures – and it felt nice to be truly involved in trying to get a law passed that I personally support. Then I got to attend an event about immigrant workers in NYC on behalf of the Council Member, which was really interesting (and I got free lunch!) Other than that, I’ve spent most of my time in the Council Member’s city hall office – sometimes doing the mundane work that must be done in any office (answering phones, making copies, filing) but more often writing correspondence – thank you letters, letters on behalf of constituents, etc. – which can be really enjoyable.
This internship is pushing me toward declaring a minor in public policy – I attended an Admissions forum about public policy graduate schools on Wednesday at the Roosevelt House (Hunter’s brand new Public Policy institute) and that seems like a career path I might really want to pursue.
But for now, I’m enjoying my day off, since I get to wake up early and see the sunrise again tomorrow – the Class of 2013 is taking a field trip to Black rock. Enjoy your weekends!

Original post: http://macaulayhunterblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/windy-city.html

The stars aligned and there they were – two four-day weekends, separated only by my History of the Middle East to 1800 class on Wednesday mornings. So, my mom and I got on a plane to Chicago early Thursday morning and we spent the long weekend there (the trip was planned; since I spent the whole summer studying abroad and then working, this was my vacation). We spent each day busily running around to every museum and attraction we could fit in to our schedule (a sampling below). Chicago is a beautiful city, and I can’t wait to go back and check out everything I missed this time. But for me, nothing compares to the big NYC. So I’m happy to be home, and (mostly) happy to be back on my normal school schedule. Three days of class a week is A LOT of hard work! But seriously, it is. I’m off to do homework.

Original post: http://macaulayhunterblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/allow-me-to-re-introduce-myself.html

Hello readers! Anyone who’s been following this blog for some time might find the following information repetitive, but for new readers…

My name is Kaitlyn, and I’m a sophomore here at Macaulay Hunter. I’m a double History/Special Honors major – Special Honors is code for the Thomas Hunter Honors program, which essentially requires taking a few interdisciplinary classes of your choice and has some perks (kind of like Macaulay!). I’m still trying to figure out a minor/additional major – the choices are German, Public Policy and the Adolescent Education sequence (which prepares you to be a 7-12 teacher).

I took German for my language requirement here at Hunter, and absolutely loved it (Hunter’s German department is amazing) so I spent the month of June studying abroad in Kassel, Germany (for free, of course – thanks to my Opportunities Fund money from Macaulay). It was an absolutely amazing experience.

I spent the rest of my summer working as a camp counselor at Unirondack (a Unitarian summer camp in the Adirondacks), which was so much fun and really inspiring as well.

So basically, if anything my summer just made my decision even harder. My goal is to have made my decision by the end of this semester, so that I can declare it in the Spring (my Spring schedule is mostly set regardless of what I choose).

Speaking of schedules, this is what my schedule looks like this term:
German 301 – Your basic third year German language course.
History 276.5 – History of the Middle East to 1800 – for my major
History 3 – The Early Republic – ditto
MHC 200 – Science and Technology in NY – One of those awesome Macaulay Seminars
Statistics 213 – Basic intro to statistics class, which satisfies a requirement for my Special Honors major and is required for both the Adolescent Education sequence and the Public Policy minor

So now that that boring info is out of the way, A FUNNY STORY ABOUT MY FIRST WEEK BACK AT HUNTER…
Last Tuesday, I headed to Brookdale to check into my new dorms. Low and behold, when I unlocked the door to my room, somebody else had clearly moved in already! It turned out that some Macaulay freshman (whose identity is, as of yet, still unknown to me) had moved into my room. It’s still unclear why/how she got moved into my room, but the Residence Life office spent the next couple of days trying to reach her to move out so that I could move in. They were unsuccessful, and when I found that out, I have to say, I was more than a little upset. I was very attached to my dorm room – perfect location (all girls 24 hr quiet floor, near the elevators and bathroom, right across the common room from the kitchen, and the courtyard side of the building). Then I walked into the room I had gotten instead. Not only do I have all the same location perks, I got a BIGGER dorm room. So thank you, unidentified Macaulay freshman. I’ll probably have to switch rooms in the Spring (I believe the bigger dorm rooms are usually reserved for handicapped students), but for now, I’m enjoying the extra space.

Original post: http://macaulayhunterblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/done-but-still-not-quite.html

Since yesterday was the last day of classes, I am officially “done” in at least one sense. But with a paper due tonight, another one due Tuesday, a final Wednesday morning, and a final Thursday evening, there’s still about a week of hectic work to get through. And then just four days later, my summer research position begins! And I have to move out this Sunday, after working 9-6 on Saturday and 9-6:30 on Sunday. Ahhhhhhhh.

Wish me luck!

Original post: http://macaulayhunterblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/hunter-vs-harvard.html

Contrary to Chevy, I had a great weekend. I stayed with some friends at Harvard, and I’m currently on a bus back to NYC.

Since I brought up Harvard, I think its important to note some things for prospective/incoming freshman. I talked about this a bit last week with some accepted Macaulay Hunter students, and after visiting my friends in Cambridge, I’m sure what I said was true: I believe that the academic education I’m getting at Macaulay Hunter is just as good as the one I would’ve gotten at an ivy league school (like Harvard). There are really only two differences between Harvard and Macaulay Hunter: the names, and the atmosphere.
The name “Macaulay Hunter” doesn’t quite carry the same prestige that “Harvard” does (although I think it should!). Picking a school because of the prestige factor of it’s name is, in my opinion, not a good idea. Some people like to argue that going to Harvard opens up more opportunities because of this factor, networking with Harvard alumni and other ivy leagues, etc. but I think Macaulay does this as well (we have alumni working to give Macaulay kids expanded opportunities, and just look at the list of Macaulay events to see some of the big names that Macaulay kids have the chance to meet).
The other difference is the atmosphere. Harvard and other ivy league schools have self-contained campuses, and even if they are in/near a big city, this is much different from Macaulay/Hunter, which are spread all over NYC, along with the rest of CUNY. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but personally, after spending three days ONLY on the Harvard campus, I’m thrilled to be heading back to the city. I was starting to feel a little cooped up!

Sorry for the long serious discussion, but I think it’s really important. Last year, when I was rejected from the ivy league schools I applied to, I was crushed. But over the weekend, listening to some of my friends and their classmates talk about their struggle to keep a budget and worry about their mounting debt, I realized even though I go to Hunter and they go to Harvard, in many ways, I’m better off.

Time to face that mountain of spring break work in my bag…

-Kaitlyn (kt.ohagan@gmail.com)

Original post: http://macaulayhunterblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/dear-prospective-incoming-freshmen.html

It was so great getting to meet a bunch of prospective incoming freshmen today! I had to duck out a bit early for class, but some of you guys had a TON of questions – which is great! If you need anymore answered, feel free to email me: Kt.ohagan@gmail.com. I love talking about Macaulay @ Hunter because when I decided to attend, I still wasn’t sure it was the right school for me. Less than a year here has convinced me otherwise, but I want to help you prospective freshmen be confident in your decision. Hope you all had a great day!

Original post: http://macaulayhunterblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/hey-readers.html

Hey readers. I’m blogging to you from the courtyard outside of the Hunter dorms, enjoying the last few rays of sunshine. I’m sure I’m not the only one enjoying the nice spring-like turn the weather has taken. In the early fall, I used to love doing my reading out here, and it looks like I’m going to be able to start doing that again. Yay!

Over the weekend, I volunteered at Thirteen’s Celebration of Teaching and Learning, which was so much fun. I got to see Diane Ravitch speak about her recently published book The Death and Life of the Great American School System. My mom’s a teacher, and I’m seriously considering pursing a career in education (if not as an educator, perhaps in the field of public policy, which is why I was really excited about Hunter’s new undergraduate program in Public Policy) so I found her speech (as well as some of the panels I got to attend in my down time) really fascinating.

It’s also great food for thought considering the upcoming Macaulay event I’m going to: “Macaulay Perspectives: Fixing Our Schools”. I’m sure much of the analysis presented by the speaker, Whitney Tilson, will be in opposition to the ideas I heard espoused by Ravitch (she is skeptical about the impact of charter schools, whereas Tilson is vice chairman of KIPP Academy Charter Schools in New York City) so it will be interesting to get a look at both sides of the debate about education reform so I can formulate my own ideas.

Original post: http://macaulayhunterblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/snow-olympics.html

Hey guys – nothing interesting to blog about today, especially with this weather! Just hunkering down at the dorm in front of the Olympics with some of my floor mates – we’ve been watching them almost every night in the common room since they began. I always find the half pipe and figure skating particularly exciting to watch, so that makes tonight enjoyable – the women figure skaters are doing their free skate.

On my plate for this weekend –
-editing the first round of poems that are being work-shopped in Creative Writing including *gulp* mine
-reading half of the Scarlet Letter for Sexuality and American Culture, and the weekly blog post, -tons of reading for the Peopling of New York
-German homework
-finish putting my opportunities fund together so I can submit it next week
-a Macaulay common event – the second “tech fair” for freshmen

For all of you unfortunate enough to have class tomorrow, good luck getting around in the snow!