“I mean, I feel like I should be. I’ve followed the prescribed CMC regimen pretty closely, and from what I know about CMC alumni, it seems reasonable to think that things are going to be OK. I did fairly well in my classes at CMC. I got involved on campus. I’ve made an incredible group of friends here. I had some cool internships during the summer. I went to TNC. I’ve been ponded. I’ve been to Baldy. I’ve been to the Ath so many times I can pretty much generate the taste of the salmon in my mouth at will.

“And it looks like I’ve got a lot to look forward to. There’s a great job and great friends waiting for me in San Francisco.

“All these things make it pretty easy to project an outward appearance to my parents and others that I’m ready. And to laugh and tell all my classmates and fellow CMCers that ‘I’m not ready! I could never leave. I LOVE CMC!’ But the reality is somewhere in between, and it involves a lot of introspection.”

I guess that’s a lot for Google to squeeze into one button. The beauty of college is that I don’t get to waffle in real life. Senior week flew by, and tomorrow, May 12, Dean Hess is going to call my name, and that’ll be it. The rest of my life is real life, whether I like it or not.

My favorite quote of all time is from Robert Louis Stevenson’s first book, An Inland Voyage. To close the book, he writes,

The most beautiful adventures are not those we go to seek.

One last piece of advice. I have loved writing about technology for the Forum for the past year, and I hope that I’ve shared at least one thing you’ve found helpful. I love my computer, my phone, and my iPad. But I love my time away from them even more. Leaving my phone at home when I go to my girlfriend’s, leaving it in the car when I go to the gym, not getting reception up on Baldy—those are the peaceful moments with which no amount of Netflix or Reddit can compete. Don’t become a Luddite, but make sure you spend some time unplugged.

Time Management:

The first step of getting a hold of your life is to make a game plan.  You should make at least a rough schedule for yourself between now and your departure. In order to stay on top of your tasks in the coming days, use calendars and to-do lists religiously. Keep a pad of paper with you, make a list on your phone, keep a doc on your computer up, whatever. Each time you remember something you need to do, big or small, instantly put it on your list. Set aside five to ten minutes later in the day to schedule all your tasks somewhere in your calendar.

For more thoughts on time management, here is a synopsis I wrote last year of some helpful time management strategies from Peter Drucker’s book The Effective Executive.

One Step at a Time:

Now that you’ve got a plan, get yourself into an appropriate mindset. Nothing makes a big task seem more daunting than seeing the task as one big, impossible challenge. Consider climbing a mountain; if you start out by thinking, “I have a whole mountain ahead of me,” you’ll feel defeated before you even begin. But when you break it down and focus on the present, you find that no individual step is actually that difficult.  By focusing on each individual step–by methodically putting one foot after the other over and over again–you will reach your goal. In the coming days, instead of thinking, “I have SO MUCH to do between now and the end of school!” and stressing yourself over the whole, break it down piece by piece and take it one step at a time. Remember that there is no particular piece of the whole that you can’t handle.

Stay Healthy:

It’s tempting, I know, but try not to let go of healthy habits. When things get hectic, you fall into the trap of skipping out on exercise, you order perpetual Mix-Bowl and pizza, you opt to have a working dinner in Poppa consisting of only a 5-Hour Energy. You are so focused on what you need to do and where you are going that you neglect the vehicle that’s supposed to get you there. Remember, healthy habits are not only good for your body, but they also fuel your brain. There are specific foods you can eat that will set you up for success this week. Simple diet choices can give you energy, increase focus, and improve memory. Good brain foods include foods high in Omega-3’s (salmon, avocado, fish oil), whole grains (oatmeal, granola), and proteins (mixed nuts). Along with staying on top of your diet, remember to exercise. It has long been accepted knowledge that exercise improves both mood and academic performance. Even a quick walk outside could tremendously help you with your ability to study or write. You’ll feel happier, healthier, and have more brain power by treating your body well.

Remember to Celebrate! 

This one is big. Take a second to enjoy the view and note your progress. Each time you finish a substantial step on your way to the end, take a moment to reflect and be really proud of yourself; You just accomplished something big, you learned a lot, you did good.  You know so much more right now about [insert class subject here] than you did four months ago. You are allowed to be proud of yourself and give yourself a little time to celebrate your successes–maybe treat yourself to some 21 Choices–before getting back to the grind.

Hope this helps, CMC! Happy finals week!  You are almost there, you can do it! 

The event was run by ASCMC Student Life Chair Mohammad Abdul-Rahim ’15.

Vocabulary of the Week: Bro Portmanteaus

portmanbro

Update your brocabulary with the most popular and latest portmanbros. For the Econ majors, a portmanteau is a combination of two (or more) words into one new word.

Music Discovery Tool of the Week: Band of the Day (iPhone/iPad)

Band of the Day

A free app that brings you a new band each day in a digital magazine form, along with reviews of the band’s music and full streams of its top songs and videos. It’s a great app for keeping in the know of which bands are currently cool to know.

Smart Move of the Week: Mac Rumors Buyers Guide

Apple Buyers Guide

This website provides an easy to understand product summary for the current product cycle of each Apple product and provides a summary of currently available rumors for each model. What this means is, you check this site before buying your next MacBook or iPad so that you aren’t the chump with the obsolete model one month later.

YouTube Channel of the Week:

Beardyman

It’s hard to determine whether this man is brilliant or crazy. Either way, the beatbox-based music he makes is entertaining, spontaneous, and complex. Watch this one to understand his process, and then go back to the link above to get your fix.

Student Photograph of the Week: Sean McQueen ’13

Best Person to Share a Desert Island With: Michael Lapadot

Most Dreamed About: Katie Bonneau

Friendliest: Taylon Johnson

Most Likely to Have a CMC Building Named After Them: Alex Berman

Poppa Power Couple: Mark Munro & Erica Libby

Most Likely to Become a CMC Professor: Jake Petzold

 

 

Most Likely to #OccupyWallStreet: Dan Evans

Most Likely to Take Over the World: Dana Staley & Drew Oetting (together)

Best All-Around: Kevin Macpherson & Elena Davert

Most Nominated: Alex Wheatley

After the dinner, the Senior Class went across Foothill Blvd. to local piano bar Piano Piano, where the above mentioned winners enjoyed free drink coupons. But what were some category suggestions that didn’t make the cut? Here are some “more inspired recommendations coming from the broader Senior Class,” as Class of 2012 President Mary Doyle puts it:

Featured image credit goes to John Faranda.

5C Emails

One thing that CMC has down is simple email addresses. If you know someone’s name and class at CMC, you’ve got a pretty good shot at guessing their email correctly. The same cannot be said for some other members of the consortium. So without further ado, email addresses explained, in order of most logical to most absurdly complicated.

Harvey Mudd: [First Name] + [_] + [Last Name] @hmc.edu
Example: David_Meyer@hmc.edu

CMC: [First Initial] + [Last Name] + [Class Year] @cmc.edu
Example: dmeyer12@cmc.edu

Pitzer: [First Name} + [_] + [Last Name and Class Year] @pitzer.edu
Example: david_meyer12@pitzer.edu

Scripps: [First Initial] + [Last name (cut off at 7 characters)] + [Last 4 digits of student ID number] @scrippscollege.edu
Example: dmeyer3633@scrippscollege.edu

Pomona: [First Initial] + [Middle Initial] + [Last Initial] + [ a zero, UNLESS there’s someone else with your initials, in which case it could be a 1, or 2, or 3, or 4...] + [the FULL year you entered Pomona]@pomona.edu
Example: dwm02008@pomona.edu

The Claremont-WPA Network

This mysterious network is every CMCer’s dream. Log in once, the Wi-Fi network remembers you forever! Imagine the time savings when you don’t have to log in to CMCNet or Claremont every time. You’ll probably have your term papers done before spring break! So why does it tantalizingly appear on the list, but we can’t get on? I asked Jeremy Whaley, Director of Information Systems and Network Services. Here’s what he said:

The Claremont-WPA network has not officially launched. As you know it has existed for a while now and has been tested by IT folks and some users throughout its pre-release.

If you are inclined to try it out, when selecting the Claremont-WPA SSID you will be prompted for your user name and password. Similarly to the Claremont SSID login process, you will need to enter your user name with a qualifier (example: jwhaley@cmc) where the @cmc lets the system know I am affiliated with CMC. The password is your CMC Network Password—no surprises there.

This summer we will officially roll out this network, as well as a separate network, Claremont-ETC, which will serve the game consoles and other secondary devices that do not support WPA2 Enterprise.

To encourage adoption of the Claremont-WPA network, an auto-configuration tool will be provided that supports a wide variety of platforms (Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, etc.).

Wi-Fi Access

As in, why doesn’t the Wi-Fi work in my bedroom/dorm room/lawn chair/shower? The fact is, Wi-Fi networks are really hard to set up. As the library has demonstrated this year, adding more hubs can actually make the network worse. Let me solve your problem: Ask one of the alumni you met last weekend what they thought of the Wi-Fi network when they went to CMC.

Things about CMC’s technology infrastructure that are awesome

• free printing
• fast Wi-Fi
• dual monitors, everywhere
• computer labs usually have space
• you can mostly use BitTorrent without getting a letter from the RIAA
• our course evaluations are finally online

Ok, I’m losing steam…

Things you should download or sign up for

• Skitch – take better screenshots on your Mac.
• Chrome Beta – Google actual releases three different versions of Chrome. This one strikes a balance between getting new features sooner and having fewer bugs.
• Flipboard – for iPhone and iPad, an awesome way to read…anything.
• Swift Key – if you have an Android phone, this keyboard will make your life better.
• The Week – a website for people who like the Economist, but don’t have time to read it/get annoyed with British people.
• Sublime Text – if you write any code at all, even just HTML and CSS, this is a beautiful, dead-simple text editor.
• Asana – shared to-do lists for teams. Use it for your next group project.
• Google Calendar – unlike a planner, you can’t lose it. And unlike a planner, it syncs with your phone. And iPad. And every computer. And it sends you reminders.
• Prezi – I’ve covered this.
• Doodle – a better way to do sign-up sheets.
• Google Music/iTunes Match – put your entire music collection on your phone and throw your iPod in the trash. Store the songs you listen to a lot locally; stream everything else. Don’t worry about data. I use it every day and stay under 2 gigabytes per month.
• Text-Only Instagram – the new #whatshouldwecallme.

The grand prize went to freshman Chris Rama ’15. The event raised $586 for Rama’s charity, the Red Cross.

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EVENTS

Friday, April 27

Noon: Scholarship Lunch at the Athenaeum

If you are the beneficiary of a scholarship here at CMC, take some time to stop by the Ath at noon to speak to and thank your benefactors. Besides, a free meal at the Ath is never a bad thing.

2:00 – 5:00 PM: Women and Leadership Alliance Negotiation at Pickford Auditorium

The Robert Day School is sponsoring this workshop for students and alumni. Participants will engage in a dialogue regarding negotiations, compensation, professional development, and social interaction. Alumni will be presenting and discussing all the topics, as well as role-playing various negotiation-based scenarios.

2:00 – 3:00 PM: Rose, Kravis, and Roberts Institutes Open House

Employees of the various institutes can come to hear alumni reminisce about redistricting, leadership, and environmental studies in years past.

2:30 – 4:00 PM: Speed Thesising Outside Bauer

Now that seniors have finished their theses, the alumni would like to see and hear about them. Come and pitch your thesis (if you can bear to think about it anymore)!  Email Meghan Grebing with your topic by tomorrow if you wish to participate.

3:00 – 5:00 PM: Open House at International Place, Chicano/Latino, and Black Student Affairs Offices

Come hang out with affiliated alumni and see where their degrees have taken them, be it domestic or around the world.

4:00 – 5:00 PM: Mi Casa Es Su Casa Reception

Swing by the Alumni Tent outside of Bauer to hear from alumni who may have lived in the same dorm room that you now occupy. If you want to, you can accompany alums back to their old dorms to relive and reminisce about some of their glory years.

9:00 – 10:30 PM: “Into Poverty: Living on One Dollar” in Pickford Auditorium

10:00 PM – 12:00 AM: RDS Speakeasy with the Winston Churchill Society in the Bauer Founder’s Room

Join the Winston Churchill Society for one of CMC’s finest traditions. Interact with professors and alumni over cigars, scotch, and a healthy amount of conversation. A non-smoking area will be provided for those who wish to avoid the smoke.

Saturday, April 28

8:00 AM: I Ran with Goldhammer

Consider this 5K around campus the unofficial Pirate Party warm-up.  Runners should meet at the Tiernan Field House on Scripps’ campus.

12:00 – 3:00 PM: Stag-a-palooza!

This is an alumni only event, but the Alumni Relations Office is looking for student volunteers who can work at the game and competition booths in exchange for a wristband to access food trucks. Email James Lippincott with your availability from 1pm to 4pm if you are able to volunteer.

2:00 – 7:00 PM: Pirate Party

A CMC classic.  Come out to Green Beach to soak up some sunshine and play pirate on the inflatable slides.  ”Please be respectful of visiting alumni…no water balloon attacks!” said Faranda.

9:00 PM – 1:00 AM: 5C Monte Carlo Party

Although this event is technically for alumni, students who are dressed up are invited to attend.  Just make sure you bring your ID.

Sunday, April 29

9:30 AM – 12:30 PM: Concours de Claremont Car Show

Have a thing for classic cars?  This is your event.  Wade Vaughn ’13 will be there showing off his 1966 Plymouth Fury III.

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TIPS AND TRICKS

1. Go to class on Friday. It may be warm and sunny out, but many alumni will be coming back to visit their favorite professors and classes. With all the alumni, it is more likely that your history class will turn into a story-telling session about your professor’s quirks and habits.
2. Be aware: Collins is closed for Saturday dinner. Plan ahead. Frary has pasta bar scheduled; Pitzer’s McConnell dining hall menu says it’ll be serving BBQ chicken.  We just might make it through.
3. Be a good host.  Be polite, share your campus.  If you see any alumni looking lost, make sure to introduce yourself and offer assistance.  Hey, you never know what you might have in common.

The official Alumni Weekend schedule can be found here.

I love this school. Coming here was probably the best decision I ever made. The great thing about Claremont McKenna is that it is not like anywhere else I could have spent these four years. It is fun and exciting, but it’s challenging me and pushing me towards my goals at the same time. In the end, I have learned, it’s the little things that count —  it’s the little things that make me look around several times a week, even nights before midterms, and think, “I love this place.”

It’s not just about the Athenaeum and the small classes, and the fantastic faculty. Here are 10 additional things that make me wish I could stay at CMC for a lot longer than four years:

1)   Snack and Tea

CMC loves feeding me; I love being fed. Every afternoon at 3:00, I have a platter of brownies, cookies, and rice krispies, and an array of tea facing me. And every night at 10:30, I am welcomed by the sweet, sweet smell of snacks like mozzarella sticks and pizza bagels. How do you say no to that?

2)   Subsidizing

Whether your friends want to go see Bon Iver or spend a day at Disneyland, get ready to pay half of what you would otherwise. Want to work for a non-profit this summer, but afraid you can’t because you need to make some money? CMC has you covered. What’s great about a small school is that we use our endowment to make sure that your four years here are about you doing what makes you happy.

3)   Pirate Party

Maybe it’s because it’s this weekend, but Pirate Party seems too quintessentially CMC to leave out. It’s an entire day of inflatable bounce houses, obstacle courses, burgers, and sunshine. It’s a day party to end day parties — and best of all, it’s during alumni weekend, so your fun never has to end.

6)   John Faranda

7)   Winston Churchill Society

Fine attire, fine drinks, and fine cigars — all enjoyed with the company of the finest professors and students. Winston Churchill Society is CMC epitomized. It’s a night of gallivanting in conversation with professors about their research, their classes, and their lives. Show up, mingle, and you might just learn a lot more from your professors than you can in just class time.

8)   Idea Night

They say it time and again on tours and brochures, but at CMC, your ideas matter. Here’s how I know: Every year, on the same stage as Condoleezza Rice, Robert Gates, and Dan Savage, CMC puts up its own students to talk about their own ideas. Whether it’s eating bugs, annexing Canada, or creating profitable philanthropic models, there’s a lot to be said about a school that will place you and your ideas on this pedestal.

9)    The Fountain

Everything about the fountain is a CMC hallmark. There is, of course, your freezing-middle-of-the-night birthday ponding and your run of the mill nice-day-dip-your-feet studying, but there’s no moment in a CMCer’s career (or so I hear) like Thesis Party. There is nothing quite like dancing in a fountain with your classmates, each of you clutching a school-sponsored bottle of champagne as you celebrate turning in your senior thesis, and with it, the most successful, happiest four years of your life.

10)    They send you a card on your 21^st birthday

Nothing screams “college” more. CMC cares, and on the momentous occasion of your full adulthood, they’re right there to celebrate with you.

You stand on the cusp of one of the most important decisions you have had to make yet. When you’re deciding where to be for the next four years don’t forget to think about what you want to remember from these four years, and what kind of people you want to be around. Then just trust me: Come to CMC.