Notes and News – Week of 11-30
ML’s Pieces
Dear Red Lions,
Last week was one of our busiest weeks in the college! We began the week with a packed house of over 150 attendees listening to U.S. Ambassador to Jordan, Alice Wells, discuss the rapid rise of ISIL in the Middle East and the necessity to continue U.S. support of Jordan to resolve the Syrian refugee crisis and bring stability to the region. The Ambassador graciously took time to answer numerous questions from the audience and dined with students afterwards and further discussed economic and political challenges in Jordan and her career in the U.S. Foreign Service.
Thanks to TD Junior John Chirikjian, who could skate AND take pictures, this week’s photo of the week is “TD Ice Follies” taken at the end of our Thursday college skating trip to Ralph Walker Rink. Despite the last minute change to Thursday night, we still had about 70 come out to skate! Giant thanks to all the newbies who came out and tried skating for the first time. You will be amazed at how good you are the next time you get on the ice!!!
This has been an amazing week of submissions for photo of the week! It is pretty much impossible to choose between a photo showing the TD community out at our first-ever ice skating trip at the local city rink and a photo of the Saturday night TD invasion of JE by TD junior Seungju Hwang and friends. Being a part of an entire theater singing along to Black Eyed Peas’ 2003 classic “Where Is the Love?” will stick with me for a very long time. If you would like to see photos and videos of the performances, go to this link:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tl5dlakj4vuqt6b/AABHzdVTObWmSNjM_O3TRIXra?dl=0
As we head into our last week of classes, we are working on hosting a number of stress-relieving activities and study breaks that will go on in the college throughout the reading and exam periods. We will do our best to make sure that we have plenty of opportunities to take short breaks from work to stay positive, recharge, and refuel throughout these long study sessions. Here is a photo from TD junior Mitzi Unda-Sosa reminding us why destressing in TD should not be that hard since we are the college with the “cutest kids and the best dogs” to quote Erika Hairston TD ‘18.
Here are our great events for this week:
Tuesday 12/8 5:15pm Harkness Tower Tour and Carillon Demonstration with TDers Lynnli Wang ‘ 16 and Jonathan Adler ‘17
If you were one of the lucky 15 to get a spot on the tour, make sure to report to the base of Harkness Tower in Branford Courtyard by 5:15pm to meet up Lynnli. The rest of us should go outside around 5:30pm to hear the special TD set list.
Wednesday 12/9 9pm Holiday Decorating in the TD Common Room
Our Student Council, Mott Woolley, will lead the holiday decorations for our Common Room – just in time for the Friday holiday dinner. Come help string lights, put up ornaments, and cut out paper snowflakes. Holiday treats will be provided. (And stop into the RH Common Room to see the great job done by our TD juniors last week!)
Friday 12/11 Holiday Dinner (TD Dining Hall) and Holiday Sing-a-long (TD House)
Please join us in the TD Dining Hall for this year’s festive Holiday Dinner in the college. As soon as dinner is over, we’ll head back to the house and sing! This year, we’ll have a mix of singing from the old caroling books in the TD house and some more contemporary pop favorites. And if you’re interested in playing the piano to accompany us, please let me know. The more volunteers the merrier!
Saturday 12/12 Alvin Ailey in NYC
We are closing the Alvin Ailey sign-up this Monday evening at midnight and doing the lottery drawing on Tuesday. Although the Ailey tickets sign up is pretty much full, there is still room on the bus for folks to sign up if they would just like a ride down to NYC for the evening. Here is the form sign-up again for anyone who’d still like to get into the Ailey lottery or secure a free trip to NYC for the evening. http://goo.gl/forms/RRz9lZYSB0
Without further ado, here is a word from Dean Mahurin…
Áshe,
ML
*********
Dean’s Domain
“At some point the mystery is removed from young people’s eyes. At last they understand how it is that adults have always behaved with them… For me the mystery had been removed many long years before, and none of it mattered much anymore. I would soon be an old man myself, wouldn’t I? And my sisters would even sooner be called old ladies, if they could not already be called that. I sat and listened to the sound of the traffic ten stories below and thanked God for the city’s hum that seemed to shut out all human noise.” (Peter Taylor, A Summons to Memphis)
TiDbits
2016-17 Freshman Counselor applications are now live up through Friday, January 29th, 2016 at midnightat http://yalecollege.yale.edu/content/freshman-counselors. Prospective freshman counselors can complete the application form and submit their resumes online. If you have questions about the application process or about being a freshman counselor next year, please reach out to me or head froco Micah Jones (micah.jones@yale.edu). Please note that no matter what the level of aid received, a student’s financial aid award will not be adjusted due to freshman counselor compensation.
The English department is pleased to announce the various creative writing and journalism courses to be offered this spring! Several of these courses require an application, due by noon on Wednesday, December 9. Application instructions and course descriptions can be found on the English department website. In addition, the Theater Studies course, THST 322 Advanced Playwriting with Deborah Margolin may also count as an English course for majors; admission by application, with priority to Theater Studies majors. A writing sample and statement of purpose should be submitted to the instructor before the first class meeting. Questions may be directed to erica.sayers@yale.edu or jane.bordiere@yale.edu.
ACADEMICS
December 11 Classes end at 5:30 pm; reading period begins.
Last day to withdraw from a full-term course or a course offered in the second half of the term.
The Credit/D/Fail conversion deadline at 5 p.m. You may convert to enrollment for a letter grade either through SIS or the Course Change Notification Form in the TD Dean’s Office.
December 15 Yale Study Abroad application period opens
December 16 Reading period ends.
Deadline for all course assignments, other than papers and term projects.
December 17 Final exams begin at 9 am.
December 22 Examinations end at 5:30 pm. Deadline for all term papers and projects.
Please be especially mindful of our quiet hours during the reading week and the final examination period (24 hours every night through December 22nd). Remember that the library is for quiet studying only – there are way better places for group studying (or group “studying”). Also in the “common sense” category: please clean up your space when you leave it, and don’t over-spread-out and colonize tables.
Spring term reminder: Yale residences will open on Wednesday, January 13th and you are expected to return to campus by Monday night, January 18th (Martin Luther King’s Day). The mandatory Freshman registration meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 18th at 9:00 pm in TC Dining Hall. Please note that freshman counselors will hold their small group meetings immediately following the registration meeting at9 pm. All freshmen are required to attend. Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors pick up their registration packets on Tuesday, January 19th from TC Dean’s Office from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. Failure to attend incurs a fine of $50.
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
International Summer Award (ISA) Information Sessions
Learn all about Yale’s International Summer Award, which funds a summer experience abroad for Yale College Students on financial aid (details at www.yale.edu/isa). Bring your questions! Sessions will be held the following dates, time and locations:
Wednesday, December 9, 4:00–5:00 pm, CIPE, 55 Whitney Ave 3rd Floor, Room 305
Monday, February 1, 2016, 4:00–5:00 pm, OISS (International Center, 421 Temple Street)
Tuesday, March 8, 2016, 4:00–5:00 pm, CIPE, 55 Whitney Ave 3rd Floor, Room 305
OFFICE OF CAREER STRATEGY
On-Campus Recruiting (OCR) Program
OCR provides an opportunity for students to interview for summer internships on-campus. This is an interview tool that tends to be used by larger employers that can anticipate hiring needs months in advance. OCR interviews for summer internships begin the last week of January. To become eligible to apply for OCR opportunities, follow the instructions in the ‘OCR Program Tutorial and Registration’ available in Symplicity under Resources, Document Library.
Once you are eligible, visit Symplicity and click on ‘Campus Interviews I Qualify For’ under the On-Campus Recruitment section to view the positions and deadline dates. Additional positions will be posted as they come in. You may begin to apply on December 14. The first application deadline is January 13, 9:30am.
The Writing Center: Personal Statement Writing Feedback
Saturday, December 5, 3:00pm–5:00pm, 35 Broadway Avenue
Working on a personal statement for your grad school application? The Writing Center is offering drop-in tutoring for personal statement writers. Come get feedback on your statement from a Yale PhD student with experience writing graduate school personal statements. We’ll work with you at any point in the writing process, from outlining to drafting to making final edits.
Workshop: Creating a Fellowship Proposal and Budget
Tuesday, December 8, 3pm – 4pm, at CIPE, 55 Whitney Avenue, Room 305
What goes into an effective fellowship proposal? In this workshop, we will discuss the things committees look for when evaluating fellowship proposals. We will go over what can turn a ‘decent’ proposal into a ‘great’ one, how to approach creating a budget and we will review resources you can use to construct a successful application.