Omg
Signed t-shirt, class sweatshirt, Murakami, notes, newspaper, imported Swiss chocolates and Japanese candies. Second best care package I’ve ever received (first is still from Jasmeet, haha).
My roommates, floormates, and whole dorm in general are way, way too good to me. Thank you so fucking much, guys.
Also if anyone’s wondering why I look like I’m in the second grade, it’s because I shaved. Sigh.
Anonymous asked: yoooo a youtube star (youtube uuuuuuuukewithme) is going to your college. is it hard to get in Bowdoin?
Yes, she is going to Bowdoin, and we’re excited to have her, just like we’re excited to have everyone in our class of 2016.
And yes, it is very, very, very hard to get into Bowdoin.
Also—and this is my mistake if I’m wrong and you’re just curious—if you’re wondering if it’d be worth applying to Bowdoin because some girl is going there, I would strongly advise you against that, lol.
lilwoo asked: Shaurya! This is Lily. I was looking at the Bowdoin tag and was surprised to see your name hahaha. Just wanted to say hi and that I can wait for the fall :) thanks for going above and beyond to make the Experience so great for all of us!
Hey, no problem! And I’m glad you guys had a good time, I’m seriously excited for all of you. Thanks for the shout-out :p
Anonymous asked: Hey Shaurya, I'm super excited to be coming to Bowdoin next fall! Do you have any advice or wise words for an incoming freshman? Also, what are your favorite and least favorite things about your school?
Hey, welcome to the family!
Hmm, advice: Get to know people of different backgrounds and cast aside the stereotyping glasses that (typically) work really well in high school. There’s so many exciting people to meet here with exciting stories, but you only hear them if you ask questions and talk to strangers; take those chances.
Also, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Everyone does, at Bowdoin, and they get it, because there are so many resources and no one is trying to beat you or put you down. This is something I regret because even though my classmates were awesome resources, as was the faculty, I didn’t talk to them as much as I should have.
And get outside of your comfort zone. Remember what’s important to you for sure, and don’t get pressured into stuff just because other people are doing it. It shouldn’t be hard at Bowdoin, since everyone just does their own thing and is really respectful, but some ironically psych themselves into following others. Don’t do that—be influenced and inspired, and try things that might seem scary or weird, or at least try and reconsider them in a new light. Don’t do things that conflict with who you are and what you conclude, when you reconsider.
Favorite: the people. The faculty is so nice and exciting and approachable, the janitors are cool people, Connie and Norma are the best lunch ladies EVER, say hi to the polar bear when it’s running around campus, and the guy who does mad stunts on his unicycle.
Least favorite: we used to register for courses using physical course cards that had to be written on, but now the system is going to be electronic via website, so, uh, I need to find a new least favorite. The cold, sometimes? I don’t know.
Anonymous asked: bowdoin isn't ivy.
LMFAO
You should look up what “Ivies weekend” is, buddy. Noob mistake. The award of greatest-anon-failure on my blog in the history of the anons I’ve received, goes to you.
Childish Gambino came to my school. My girlfriend and I were in the second row of the crowd the whole time. Successful Ivies 2012, yes.
Anonymous asked: what did you think about josh raff's comment on the top 10 hottest guys in college article?
Haha oh boy.
Well, it’s not so much my place; I obviously dislike the comment, but I’m not a primary source here, and apparently people close to him said he only made his comments to describe the general impression of the guy/girl scene (although I’m not sure if that makes it any better), so, I’m skeptical.
I’ll say this. I don’t agree with objectification of either sex. It happens to men plenty, it happens to women way, way more. It has negative consequences for body image and pressures for all sexes, though empirically I think we can see it results more frequently in more physically/mentally damaging consequences for women.
The kind of gross objectification and reduction of people to mere bodies that I hate most happens mostly on campuses that I intentionally chose not to live on, but, even then, I expect better. Media and culture is mostly to blame for the way we talk about attractiveness and all, but I don’t condone it, even though most people do condone it, since they’re never taught that it’s dangerous (they think it’s normal/natural).
We don’t need any more statements on relative visual attractiveness of men and women, based off of anything to do with the way anyone looks, regardless of how they look. There are tons of attractive men and women on campus who have tons of outstanding qualities in their personalities and backgrounds and idiosyncrasies, and I can speak for hours, literally hours, about how proud I am of the number of quality people here I interact with on a daily basis.
Anonymous asked: Do you have any advice for a high school senior trying to decide which college to attend next year?
Yes. Here are some general guidelines:
1) Don’t panic too much, you’ve come this far, you’ve got choice, and you’ll hopefully end up liking wherever you go.
2) The top-tier of colleges looks (academically) horrifically homogenous. Separate by environment: housing, facilities, food, safety/security, ease of access/use, and strength of community.
3) Ask: are students really really happy there, have you visited the campus, and can you contact current students? If you can, assess their attitude on their college, and their attitude on presenting their college / helping a rising freshman.
4) Let colleges know immediately when you make your decision, because turning down offers is important (especially when there’s selective schools involved) because someone on the wait-list might be dying for your spot.
5) If you got accepted to Bowdoin, choose Bowdoin.
For immediate attention: Colby has challenged Bowdoin to a rap battle this week.
I will start a website called “obnoxiously long tags” this will be the hottest trending tag ever.
leponge asked: Hey! I'll be a visitant student at Bowdoin for one year, starting this August. Doing a search here on tumblr, I found your posts and, damn, now I'm pretty happy I was put in Bowdoin! =) Thank you!
Haha yes! That’s awesome, we’re lucky to have you. Let me know if you have questions or anything!
megmassa asked: congratulations on tour guide! are you staying over the summer?
Yes! I’m super lucky I got hired early so I got to do it this semester already. But I got the summer position too! I can’t waiiiiittt.
Anonymous asked: You have completely convinced me to go to Bowdoin next year. I was on the fence until I found your blog and started reading posts about how much you love the school. Thank you so much!
No prob! I’m glad you’ll be coming here (you won’t regret it). Feel free to hit me up if you have any other questions about Bowdoin… I literally can talk about my school (and other schools) for hours and hours and hours. I’m also a tour guide now, so my reserve of question-answering and Bowdoin info has gone up a bit. YES.
I just went over to my Japanese teacher’s house with some friends and we cooked food, arm wrestled, gossiped about other teachers, and then I wore her pants (she’s a 24 inch waist and is small enough to be an eight year old) and we promised to go out drinking together during third year.
Bowdoin, mothafucka. My school > your school.
