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Jan 31

Life Skills: Renting an Apartment

Life Skills is a series of posts by former MiddBlog lead editors. J-term is ending, so we’re drawing this series to a close. Clearly, not many students are going to go out and put our advice into action immediately (except maybe you graduating febs!), but know that these posts remain here as a resource to come back to or as a place to start thinking about all these post-grad variables. As I said in my first post, this is a good time to “wean yourself off the good life.” Hope you’ve enjoyed the series and love to hear about what else you’d like from grads on MiddBlog. -Ryan Kellett ’09.5

So, you’re FINALLY moving out of your childhood room, huh? Nah, just teasing. For some, ma and pa’s house is a great place to live (not kidding) regardless if you have a job or not. But I’m assuming you’ve made the call that you want to move into a place of your own (and not a dorm room) and that you’re most likely in a city some kind. First, congrats! Renting your own place is one of the quintessential “growing up” milestones. Only one small thing — no one ever told you how to go through this process.

Oh, your apartment has a communal swimming pool, right?

Under Pressure

My own experience is one of always having to find a place to stay under pressure. My advice: don’t put yourself in a situation in which you have to find a place in mere days or even weeks. The best search is one where you can go at your pace, do your research, and feel comfortable committing to a lease. As such, you should try to buy yourself some time to go through the apartment search you want to go through. Ways to do that: stay with friends (but don’t overstay), stay at a short-term group house, stay with friends of family or family (for rent or not), airbnb, or house sit for a bit. All those tricks you pulled out for intern housing over the summer? Use ‘em again here. It’s not glamourous but this you might have to rely on the kindness of others until you can find your way apartment-hunting. Some say it’s a right of passage to live somewhere really bad before getting what you want, but I’d attempt to avoid it.

Getting started

Reality check: that dream apartment is not a mere click away on craigslist (or padmapper). Like most things, looking online is a natural way to solve your problem. But I’d caution that it’s not the only way. Just like getting a job, strategies abound: Facebook, workplace, network, etc.  Read more

Jan 30

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Life Skills: Getting To, And Through Grad School

Casey Mahoney ’11 was MiddBlog’s co-lead editor in fall 2010 and spring 2011. He’s currently in his second semester of a year-and-a-half M.A. program in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS, official tagline: “A graduate school of Middlebury College“).

MA. MS. MBA. MPA. MPhil. PhD. MD. These are the degrees (and others) that going to graduate school will get you. Why bother? Ultimately, your second degree will be the sine qua non of the resume or CV that will land you an advanced position in your field.

Your Middlebury BA or BS can definitely land you a great first, second, third job – and it could certainly be that it’s the only degree you’ll need for life (no school again? ever?!) – but you might find later on that advancing in your field requires a second degree. Alternately, getting an extra credential right out of undergrad could give you the extra leg up that you need to start your professional career.

Know your goals and make the right decision

You can't just do it for the colorful robes.

The most important part about the calculus of the “to grad school, or not to grad school” question is knowing your goals. Where do you want to be in your career in three, five, and ten years? No doubt it will be challenging to answer this with a complete picture of the exact job you want to have in 2022, but you need to know the direction your headed in order to make the huge investment that graduate school is. Researching career options (use that MiddNet) is just as important as researching the graduate programs that will get you the degrees to get there.

Specialize vs. Generalize

Once you get (back) to school, you’ll likely be faced with a number of options as to how you can specialize even more in your Masters of Science in Nurse Anesthesia degree (MSNA - it’s real). Do I specialize to the max, or take a step back and do something more general? I don’t want to close off all my options… Do both.

We’ve heard that, supposedly, specialization is the key to success: the liberal arts will unlikely provide bread and butter for the majority of us forever (though they are a great place to start). I’d like to argue that both specializing and developing generalist competencies are important in grad school. You’ll find that there are opportunities for both.

Use papers and research projects to create your unique brand of expertise in your niche. At the same time, fill your space for electives with courses and activities that wouldn’t immediately strike one as relevant. Bridging this knowledge to your field will broaden your viewpoints and translate to marketable, professional capabilities – a purpose much more than general knowledge for general knowledge’s sake. Taking “intellectual risks” (“doing stretch-work”) is still worthwhile even after you’ve got your liberal arts degree.

Learn to live as a professional

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Jan 29

SGA Sound-Off: Finances, MiddView & Fighting Gastro

In a nearly two-hour long meeting, the SGA was the place to be tonight! SGA Finance Committee Chair Scott Klenet ’12 presented the Finance Committee Mid-Year Report, followed by a discussion and vote on the MiddView Revision Bill,  and discussion and vote on the Gastroentitis Resolution. Two additional resolutions (Book Reserve Resolution and International Financial Aid Resolution) were tabled until the next meeting. So here’s the scoop:

 I. Mid-Year SGA Finance Committee Report

Finance Committee (FC) Chair Scott Klenet ’12 and several members of the FC were present to discuss the Mid-Year Report. (This will be emailed to all-students shortly, so stay on the lookout!) In summary: we’re looking pretty good.  With an operating budget of over $1.085 million, the FC has over-budgeted from their actual revenues ($950,000), but this has historical precedent and Klenet made clear was not a cause for concern. Many student organizations do not fully spend allocations for the year, and will return money into the reserves, thus making up for this gap. The reserves stands at approximately $413,000, however by the end of the year Klenet expects that the total reserves amount will be between $325,000 to $350,000.

Klenet countered the stereotype that the Finance Committee is a group of  “Soul-less misers who don’t like to let out funds…,” showing a graph of average allocations given from the Finance Committee per week. “Hopefully this graph will show us that we’re not like that… we’ve seen a lot of great presentations, a lot of thoughtful understanding as far as what organizations really need.”

Klenet presented the Senate with the amount the Finance Committee has allocated groups in the fall (New Budget Requests), as well as additional funding requests groups received (New Money). An interesting trend Klenet addressed is that of Student Org expenditures being quite low. While Student Organizations received $583,490 for their fall allocations, $314,454 of that allocation remains unspent. Regarding how much the Finance Committee expects to see returned by the end of the year (in the case of increased spring programming perhaps), Klenet explained that it’s tricky to predict, but that “we [SGA Finance Committee] expect a lot of money to come back to us this year, for better or for worse.”

II. MiddView Bill Revisions:

Senator Michael Polebaum ’12 presented the MiddView Revision Bill (co-sponsored by Senators Brittany Gendron ’12 (full disclosure: this being myself) and Luke Carroll Brown ’13.5). In a nearly hour long discussion, the floor was ceded to all senators, though primarily to Dean of Students Katy Smith Abbott, SGA Finance Committee Chair Scott Klenet ’12, Senators Carroll Brown ’13.5, myself (Senator Gendron ’12) Nathan LaBarbara ‘14, Joanie Thompson ‘14, Danny Zhang ’15, former Senator Charlie Arnowitz ’13, and Mountain Club Treasurer Caroline Santinelli ’14.

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Jan 29

Sunday Reading: Politics, Meat Week, and Celebrity Tweets

And here we are — somehow the last week of Jterm. Well, without further ado, my weekly installment of  random findings/news/musings/things from across the internet. Please enjoy, and stay healthy in this time of lingering gastro-plague!

U.S. Navy Seals: Another reminder of just how incredible our armed forces are this week — Navy Seals this past Wednesday rescued two aid workers who had been held by pirates in Somalia for months. According to reports from NPR and the New York Times, The Seals rescued Jessica Buchanan and Poul Thisted, receiving the OK for the mission after it was determined Buchanan’s health was in decline. Nine pirates were killed; no Seals were injured.

1,000 Pounds of Butter: This year’s Pennsylvania Farm show featured a whopper 1,000 pound butter sculpture of a 4-H member receving a ribbon at the county fair for a prized calf. Coolest part? The sculpture is now going to Juniata County Dairy Farm, where when run through a methane digester to gen. 65-kWh, running the farm for three days. According to the Fair’s report, Sculptor Jim Victor of Conshohocken, Montgomery County according to the Fair’s report also creates sculptures using chooolate and cheese. (Chocolate Mead Chapel anyone?!)

Computer Glitches: Remember that nightmare when you thought your college acceptance letters were actually just mistakes; they must have mailed the wrong one?  Turns out that did unfortunately happen Friday to some Vassar College Early Applicants. According to the New York Times Report, 122 (of 254 total applicants for the early decision round) students logged in to see a ‘test letter’ that had been intended as a placeholder prior to real admissions decisions being posted. Of those 122 who logged in before the error had been discovered, only 46 had been accepted and 76 had not been. All I can say is, thank you Middlebury College Admissions and our amazing Web Designers/Programmers/everyone!

The Little District that Could?: DC this week attempted to begin its quest for statehood in New Hampshire, hoping the ‘no taxation without representation’ would resound with the state. However, according to the Washington Post report, the delegation (a mix of councilmen, DC Mayor Vincent Gray, DC Votes advocates and District residents) received quite the cold reception. The delegation is planning a trip to Florida next.

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Jan 28

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The Hunt: Back Stronger than Ever, With a Colbert Bump

Taking over campus for the past several days, The Hunt has reminded me why Jterm may just be the best time of the year. A time of continual A Capella serenades (Clue #1), Hunt teams helping their comrades overcome their fears to ask out their crushes (Clue #44), random protests by the soup station (Clue #99), amazing videos filmed on every inch of campus, and a shout out from Stephen Colbert!!!!

Yes, you read that right. And yes, you are seeing that correctly. Congrats to the Half Years and Coffrin tales for the boost in 25 points! (Clue #76)

Update: Thanks to w in the comments, we were made aware of TOM HANKS shout-out as well! And we’ve found amazing endorsements from Rita Wilson,  Judah Friedlander, Jim Parrack, and even this guy! Way to go Hunt Teams! 

With clues due at 9am this morning, it is clear that this year, the hunt has elevated to an entirely new level, and is back bigger than ever. Best of luck to all the teams we cannot wait to see who wins it all!

Wondering what you’ve missed out on? Been plagued with the Gastro? Check out six of our favorite videos below. Did we miss your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

#1 Team Kenzie Does the Hunt. Beautiful. And a beautifully tragic love story Middkids know all too well.

#2 Team Rock You Like a Herman Cain. Bonus points for working to get the endorsement Pre-hunt, and the guy semi-creepily sitting on the bed in the back the whole time.

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