Brown University - Liber Brunensis Yearbook (Providence, RI)

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26 I'm really learning better i.e. retaining more, gaining more insight, etc. 1 hod some academic couneling 1 wa pietiy helpful in that he told me what I wanted to hear. It's nice to know he's there. 1 choce Brown because 1 caw it on a pretty fall day, had an adorable interviewer and because it had a mystical reputation for being friendly and liberal. I'm very glad that came to Brown but lve discovered that a clear blue cky without any clouds does not dppeat more than once a month, I haven't seen my interviewer since my interview, this place is riendly but 20 are plenty of other schools and itc liberal in thal there are 0o dic tribution requirements but in other waye 5 no Mote liberal than any other comparable school Decpite the groundlessness of my selection, I love this place and am having a fantastic time here. my roommate, am embarasced when he does something unacceptable. The people next door and down the hall are much more considerate than the jocks who took over my hall last veat. really enjoy living in the frat. The brothers are very nice and considerate. My relationship with my roommate has made a lot of my life at Brown more worthwhile We are censitive to each other's needs and respect them. It is much more realistic living with someone you choose in terms of expecting to get along I live in a coop and find it much mote supportive and home like than a dorm T have the same roommate as last year and we were then and still are now the best of friends. I find that I have more privacy lin Chapinj than I had in West Quad last year. 1 don't feel a part of the dorm, as I did last year 1 suspect I'm fucking - up my education, but I SOPHOMORE SURVEY My roommate has many interests different from mine, yet we both entertain similar goale, thus our relationship is rather rewarding The living situation this year is quieter, calmer, easier, etc. Last year I was a lizard, my roommate a turtle it was bad news. I'm rooming with twoother kids Itseacier Dbecauee I have a higher tolerance for them. Don't get me wrong they e great guy: but they sometimes diive me up the wall.y D The fifth floor of Bronson is alittle cold and empty. At the end of last year my roommate and I were best friends. Since then, however, I think that we have grown apart somewhat. We are still friendly and polite toward each other. It is different to live with a roommate whom I choose in that I feel more responsible for his behavior. Last year, inasmuch ac was randonly assigned to my roommate, I felt no chagrin when he behaved badly. This vear I feel that because have chosen to room with don't think any sort of academic counseling would help that 1'd probably be better off at a school with course requirements. I feel that what I am learning is 'How To Be An Intellectual. This year I have so much work to do i.e. number of papers, amoung of reading that I am just trying to get it all done. Last year had more time to do assignments and therefore more time to think about what I was doing. enjoy my courses more this year because I was able to more accurately judge which course would be of interest to me. Both the quantity and quality of my workload have increased tremendously. Academically, Brown is a traditional school which loves to believe it isn't. Most of the academics here are traditional in terms of delivery . .. Sometimes the pressure of a science course i.e. pre-med is out of hand . . . . My work is more enjoyable because I've found a subject that I really like. I've enjoyed all my courses, but I find my overall happiness suffering this year because of the many hours spent in the library. This year is harder than last year. I take half of my classes SYNC. If it weren't for graduate school, I'd take them all that way. It's a healthier way to learn. 1 feel forced into a major. My studying here is such that I take a wide variety of courses . . . it seems deviant to declare a single discipline as a major.

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x FA E o L PG o 7o BILL AT MARK Ay N OE ADRETH D ELApggy f AND UARE AND RWK 4ND 3. JARE wOING, TO MEET 040 40p BIRE AnD MaRRY AT THAT FELLAN MouiE AND THEN AFTERWARDY CHECK opT THE ENE A ELDg.THBV STOP BA ke AT PERKINS To SEE WHDs AROOND AAD SEE F We AV OET UF A ROUs NG, SNCWSBAL FHOHT AND THE Pryap, offerings has been replaced by the colder, more functional and yet ideally more fruitful sense of purpose. And perhaps this chift in perspective is the most significant difference between us as we were upon our arrival and as we are now: then we admittedly knew nothing of what was going on, whereas now we believe we know some- thing. I think at least some of us are right l remember reading in the Insider's Guide to Colleges, or another one of those books you inhale at the beginning of senior year in high school, that Brown was reputed to be loosely structured and abundant in its assorted offerings, and therefore one of the better places to be left alone to find yourself Though in my personal expetience leaving Brown was an important part of finding me here, I think that as a generalization that probably holds more true than most. FRESHMAN SURVLEY s it My roommate is the most unlikely friend I've ever had. I don't think there is any fundamental area of our personalities that coincides or aspects of our interests and pleasures that merges. Our initial response to each was an immediate healthy dislike. But the dislike never interfered with our relations as roommates, never even surfaced. The ground rule was clear from the beginning: This is going to work. And it did. Maybe we were more considerate than we would have been with a friend . . . In any case, it worked. After a time we discovered that we no longer had to pretend to like each other. My roommate made his first impression on me a permanent one by waking me up a 2:00 AM. to complain about bed bugs. I have a roommate from New Orleans. She had never seen snow before. One night I woke her up to see the first snowfall in Providence. It was 5:00 AM. . . . We watched if for a while and then around 5:15 after we'd gone back to bed she whispered, Let's go play in it. All sorts of excuses ran through my head before I pulled on my long underwear and went outside to the middle of West Quad and watched my roommate play with snow for the first time. My roommate and I are friends not just roommates; we often eat together, have the same friends, go out together, PlodTsy SOME WEGHIY ToFAC ON- 4, v etc. We spend a great deal of time talking about our friends families feelings to each other. I live on the bottom floor of Bronson West Quad. I live across the hall from the Laundry Room. But I actually like it. I meet kids that way and it's always busy there. The whole West Quad atmosphere is great. My dorm is great. It's a very together hall. There are some people I'd like to get to know better, but that will probably come with time. People bring chairs out into the hall and create a new room to socialize in. People leave their doors open and anyone can wander into any- where . ... It can get really rowdy one's life is constantly being threatened by frisbee hockey . . . but it's all in the name of fun and it livens up the place. My social life here is different from high school because my friends are in close proximity and we don't have to go out and spend money to have a good time. I live in the only all-male freshman dorm. This is the cause of much wailing and gnashing of teeth. However, the guys on my floor are pretty good and we have a good ol time every once in a while, playing hall-ball and breaking things. I have some pretty close friends considering that I haven't been here all that long. Most were met just through living near them or through friends friends. Very few through classes, as three of mine are too large to get to know anyone. l have met a very large amount of people; however out of that group I feel that I've made about two friends who I could really pour my heart out to. I've met most of these people through my dorm and through some friends from my old school who live elsewhere on campus. The 'new curriculum is good in that exploration is possible. However, the heavy workload has precluded my delving as deeply as Id like in one or two of my courses. 1 really expected my courses to motivate me more than they have. I had expected to be working constantly out of sheer interest in the material I was studying. But that isn't the case at all. I guess it'll get better as I find out which are the good professors and courses to take . . . I'm failing my exploratory course. I work much more than I did in high school; there's always something to be done . . . The pace is faster than high school but I question how much I'm learning or if TIL THE WEE HOURS - MAYE ATRK D7 kL WE AL ke , 757 EXAMS - ; 25

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This year, largely because of my course load, my social life has not been as active as last year. 1 do feel that I have more close friends this year, even though I go out less often Last year, living in Perkins, my entire social life was in the dorm. This year, I am in a cluster and my clustermates are becoming more and more like family. Therefore, I am meeting few new people in the dorm. I find that living in a frat provides for more diversions. Socially, I am more reclusive and less tolerant of bullshit. There are many cliques around that I find to be superficial, giddy support groups. Last year I used to go out with a group of friends and now I go out with one really special person. It's so much better! I don't do things with big groups of people as often. I also haven't met as many people this year. My dorm social life is non-existent this year. I find myself drinking less, seeing fewer females but having more sex. I don't feel as much like I have to do something on Saturday nights. I'm happy just to talk to friends, etc. I never go to frat parties if I can avoid it. I went a few times last year. Basically 1 do more what I want to do rather than just following what my friends are doing. The people I was friendly with my freshman year are living in various spots instead of all together. I have made many new friends. I have trouble accounting for my leisure time.I must spend a lot of it day dreaming. There are some things I'd ke e cle, lout - - Most of the time, I'm worrying about my work if I'm not doing it. I'm a member of the Chorus and I love it. It gives me something organized to do other than academics. My leisure time is not a distinct entity from my schoolwork time. I'm not organized enough. It's never quite clear to me what time I'm on, so I just mess around whenever I feel like it. Also, some of my courses coincide with my personal interests so the distinction becomes even foggier. My messing around includes reading, talking with friends, needlepointing, going out for a drink or dinner, an occasional getting-high, and a good several hours a week of staring at the wall. There ain't nothing like staring at the wall l spend my spare time socializing with friends, goofing off, and engaging in unorganized and very sporadic athletic activity. What leisure time? The fact is, I don't have very much leisure time. I find myself constantly working, for I have a very important goal to accomplish: going to medical school. l spend some time socializing and participating in political or social change oriented groups. I spend ten to twelve hours a week working in South Providence with a community organizing group and some time working at the Resource Center. l spend my free time with my girl friend, exercising, or both. I don't have that much leisure time' because I've usually wasted it before I get it. The understanding that I have gained through 'the changes has been great though I am not always happy with what I find myself understanding. My impression of Brown has changed for the better. Courses are more inspiring than I imagined they could be. I like Brown slightly better this year, because my room and courses are better and there seems to be some possibility of finding a regular ping-pong game. I have relatively few complaints against Brown. It's my fault that I dont like this place, not the school's. At first, I was overwhelmed by the whole idea of being in college. I now understand that there are some negative aspects to Brown. There is a pervasive disregard for learning on the part of the students here. tiring of the sterility of the academic environment. I don't enjoy working as hard as I am now and as I did last year. But I look at it this way: in the end, it will most likely be worth it. I have a hard time dealing with people's pseudo- intellectualism, their selfish values and pre-profes- sionalism. My tolerance of many of the people at Brown has decreased. I can, however, be optimistic about the place and system in terms of getting what I want. T a2