(A personal photograph of my front porch from my favorite
tree to sit and read in; July 2014)
To reiterate a fact I stated briefly before, I am a Pennsylvanian; my hometown is Macungie, PA, though I now live in Mount Bethel, PA--where formerly I spent every summer since I was a baby. So I guess you could even say I have two hometowns, haha. I came to OU due to the National Merit Scholarship and fantastic Honors College programs. And, upon attending school here, I have realized that there is no other university where I would rather be!
I am double-majoring in Biology & Letters, a very eclectic (but fitting) duo. I have always wanted to go into some kind of animal behavioral research, but also find the classics, literature, philosophy, history and language fascinating--making my choice in majors perfect but widely encompassing as far as subject matter goes. Therefore this semester I am taking Ovid's Poetry (in Latin), Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy, The Examined Life: Antiquity, Principles of Ecology, and Epics of India. That list of courses right there truly exemplifies my wide-ranging variety of tastes!
As far as hobbies go, I love to read, watch a variety of movies and TV shows, like to write stories (though I have issues with completing what I start. . . whoops!), enjoy playing sports such as volleyball, soccer, basketball, and ping pong, like to sketch (even if I'm not an utterly fantastic artist), love to hike and kayak, and all-around enjoy any time spent outdoors. I have also recently resumed running, an exercise that seems to get the better of me more often than not.
(One of my favorite silly photos of my sisters and I a couple of years ago
when we were moving out of our old house; November 2012)
I have two sisters, one older and one younger, and I am two years apart from each of them. If this had been written two months ago, I would have stated that I have two pets--a Brittany spaniel named Buddy and a gray calico cat named Princess. But then my sister decided to adopt an eight-week-old German shepherd/Anatolian shepherd mix puppy, so now I have yet another pet to list. And while she is absolutely adorable, Calypso has proven to be a very mischievous puppy. I hope that by the time I head home to PA for winter break I no longer have to worry about quite as much trouble from the little imp!
(Personal photographs of our new puppy, Calypso, on the left and my Brittany,
Buddy (under my favorite reading tree!) on the right; August 2014)
Well, now that you know the basics about me, it is time for the fun to truly begin. Onward and upward we go!!
I have only read your storytelling post and now your introduction but I can already tell you are a great writer! I feel like I know you better than I would if we had met in person. Your major choices are diverse and I think that's awesome you know what you like and that's what helped you choose those paths. The classes you are taking seem so difficult to me but I think by now you have got it figured out :) I think that it is interesting you came to OU from so far away; I am not as academically accredited as you are (as far as the national merit scholar goes at least! Good job!) so I had no idea that OU was a great option for those that are great achievers.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite thing is probably the fact you have a reading tree. I used to climb and hang out, eat snacks, relax, and read books in trees all the time as a kid and still try to today when I get the chance. Nature is definitely a natural stress reliever when enjoyed as such.
Your pets are so adorable! Even the little imp ;)
I had a great time enjoying your posts and I think I will continue to read and comment on them as the semester rolls on!
Hi Jessica!
ReplyDeleteIt seems that we have quite a bit in common! I am a Chemical Biosciences major, but Biology is definitely my favorite subject. I don't know very much about the Letters major, but it sounds like there is a lot of reading and writing involved!
I also enjoy reading, art, and volleyball. I'm actually taking volleyball as an elective this semester, along with tennis. What type of books do you enjoy reading? I like quite a wide variety from Pride and Prejudice to the Harry Potter series. Another thing we have in common is having two sisters; although, I am the youngest, not in the middle.
I really enjoyed learning about you, and I look forward to reading more of your post in the future!
Jessica, it's nice to meet you! Are you a double major or a duel major? I am a duel biology and accounting major, so I know what you mean when you say that you like the wide variety of courses you take! Have you ever taken veterinary entomology? It's an upper division biology class and I think you would really like it if you want to go into veterinary research of some kind!
ReplyDeleteGood luck this semester!
Speak of the devil, ha ha! Well, what to say... your blog sounds like a real blog - like, I so didn't really care about making my introduction sound fun, I didn't realize EVERYONE was going to be reading it... but yours looks like, you know, an actual blog and not just a class assignment. Also, you're clearly a good creative writer, and I'm glad that you're double majoring so you can use your creative and science-y sides.
ReplyDeletePuppy so cute!! (I English well when puppy).
See you around!
Wow, what a fantastic combination of classes, Jessica - how exciting! Of course I am especially glad to know you are taking an Ovid class in Latin... he is my favorite of the Roman poets for sure, and we just finished up a week of Ovid in the Myth-Folklore class. Ovid gained some new fans in that class this week! And your "Examined Life" class sounds fascinating too - is that a philosophy class? Very intriguing course title! It's been a long time since I have taught Latin (I originally started at OU as a Classics professor)... but Latin is something you can get hooked on so that it is very hard to give up. I still have a Latin blog that I keep just for fun - here it is if you are curious! It's called Bestiaria because animal fables and animal proverbs are my favorite Latin things! :-)
ReplyDeleteBestiairia Latina
As you can guess from my teaching this class, I am also obsessed with the Indian epic tradition too, and I really hope you will enjoy this chance to see a different epic tradition (related ... albeit distantly ... to the Greco-Roman tradition). I will be curious to learn what you think of this new cast of epic characters!
Hey Jessica,
ReplyDeleteYou definitely have quite a diverse pair of majors. Many people think that chemical engineering is a strange choice for a pre-med major, but I definitely don't cover such a wide variety of courses. Like you, I enjoy playing basketball and ping pong, but running definitely does not have a place on my list of hobbies (probably because I have horrible knees). I tried running a 5k last year and struggled to walk for the next 2 days... Anyway, I really enjoyed your introduction and look forward to reading your posts throughout the semester.
Hey Jessica,
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I must say you are a great writer! Double majoring is tough I wonder how you do it great job though! I'm sure your semester will be fun since it's filled with various subjects. I'm more a science person so ecology should be a lot of fun. Your puppy is so adorable. I love pets but never had one of my own. Great meeting you and looking forward to reading more of your blogs.
Hey, Jessica! I think it’s really neat that you chose OU, especially since you’re from so far away. I have a friend from PA and he came to OU for the same reasons. I also think it’s neat you’re studying Biology and Letters- one of my other friends has the same combination of majors and it’s certainly unique. Enjoy the rest of your semester and nice to (informally) meet you!
ReplyDeleteGood morning Jessica! It sounds as though you have your hands pretty full with Calypso. He reminds of my puppies back home; they just seem to get into everything but you gotta love them for it haha. Your double major sounds like a good combo. I'm sure the the philosophy classes and classic readings should give you a nice break from all the anatomy courses. Well good luck in studies and have a fantastic week.
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica!
ReplyDeleteYou have quite the way of expressing yourself; you are a very good writer.
It sounds like you're really getting it all figured out as far as school goes. Props to you for double majoring. You will have a wide array of options with those two majors.
Calypso is adorable, I had a puppy once upon a time (he is now a little over a year old.) They are a lot of work but definitely worth it.
Good luck with everything and it was nice it informally meet you.
Hi Jessica, nice to meet you! Wow, thats so awesome that your national merit scholarship brought you all the way down to Oklahoma and I'm glad that you like it here! Your choice in majors is very interesting indeed and I have not met many Letters majors. You seem like a very unique person and I look forward to reading your stories!
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ReplyDeleteHi Jessica! Your introduction is so great!!! Your interests sound very diverse, so you are able to explore so many things! It's so great that you were able to get OU's scholarship package-- I work in the NSP office to recruit fantastic people like you, so I'm glad you decided to come. Your new puppy and Buddy are both adorable! It makes me want to get a dog!!! I wish you all the best as you begin to finish up the semester!
ReplyDeleteHey Jessica! Nice to get to know a little bit about you and your background. I can't believe that you are double majoring in both Biology and Letters. As someone in the science field as well I know how challenging that must be since basically none of your courses overlap. However, I am sure that provides you with an extremely wide range of classes and topics to learn about. If I had the time I would like to take some of the letters courses just to mix things up and to appeal to my historical loves. Well I hope you have a great semester and manage to get your wild pup under control.
ReplyDeleteHey Jessica! It is really nice to meet you. I am also a Biology major, but have found the ride pretty rough. It has been crazy. I have really liked the class, but most of them have been more challenging than I have expected. They also require a lot of extra attention to details and memorization. It has been great this semester reading the stories and seeing your storybook.
ReplyDeleteYour dog, Calypso, is incredibly cute. I have a miniature golden doodle (I probably talk about him way too much). His name is Theodore Fitzgerald, and we usually call him Teddy. It's great to informally meet you, and I'm looking forward to reading some of your work in the few short weeks that we have left this semester!
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