Hamilton College Admission Journals: C. Adam Pfander

The Last Friday

Fri, 10 May 2013 14:59:21 GMT

Today is the last Friday of the year at Hamilton College; I have never before felt so free and so stressed at the same time. I look out the window at the bright, sunny summer day and realize that in just one week, my time is my own. But before Monday, I must finish a research paper and prepare a 20 minute oral presentation for my German class; I also must study for my two exams in government and economics, which take place on Wednesday and Thursday next week.

Successful time management is key to surviving this final weekend. Today, I will finish my final paper for my computer science class and then hopefully have enough time to draft an outline of my German presentation. That will give me the weekend to work on my research paper. But my whole day will not be completely overtaken by papers and finals.

Tonight, Hamilton is bringing Macklemore and Ryan Lewis to the Hill. I have been a fan of the group for the past couple of years, and I could not be happier that I can actually see them live. In case you do not know, Macklemore is a fantastic lyricist and rapper; his songs often address the corrupting influence of money and consumerism, as well as his past struggles with drug addiction. His words are paired with the musical talents of Ryan Lewis, a producer who perfectly captures the mood of each lyric. Although I have a lot of work, I would be crazy not to attend this performance.

Tonight is sure to be a fantastic celebration. It will be my last casual, fun-filled moment before returning to the grind of final projects and exams. But after next week, I will be completely uncommitted for three months. With no schoolwork, I wonder how I will occupy myself….

Evaluating a Semester

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:30:32 GMT

The course evaluation period is always an appropriate time to reflect on the past semester on the Hill. The Dean of Faculty’s office just released evaluations for this spring. Most of the time, these questionnaires are quick and painless, taking no more than 30 minutes to complete. But each one brings forth a host of memories from the past semester—assignments that were particularly long and arduous, moments of success that I wanted to last forever, moments of failure I would rather forget. Often times, I don’t realize my final impressions of a class until I submit the evaluation.

Right off, the questionnaires ask me to describe my commitment to the class. Did I complete work on time, was I attentive during lectures, was I late to class or was I early? I think back and consider how engaging the class material was. When topics piqued my interest, I worked especially hard to understand them, often conducting my own unofficial research to fully flush out a subject.

This happened especially often in my German and Macroeconomics courses. Over the past few months, I frequented the German Wikipedia, looking up the histories of certain authors or literary periods. I also subscribed to The Economist to stay informed of global economic issues. I realize now that most of my free time was dominated by this independent research, but I was happy to do it.

The questionnaires then move on to the professors, asking me to evaluate their interactions with students, their teaching styles, their comments on graded work… the list goes on. The evaluations sort through every detail imaginable to see how professors perform in the classroom. Luckily, I have never been forced to give a bad review—all of my professors have been knowledgeable, professional and most importantly, friendly.

It has been a good semester. There was never a class that I dreaded, never a moment that I wasted. I was challenged, but never too stressed. And in a few days, classes will be over.

Finding the End of the Line

Fri, 03 May 2013 14:30:56 GMT

This week is almost done—just one more day separates me from the sunny weekend. These next few days will be my last moments of ease before the stress of final projects, papers and exams begins to mount. I plan to spend most of my time outside, enjoying the warm breezes and seventy degree weather while my thoughts drift to the fast-encroaching summer. It strikes me that the year is almost over, that Hamilton’s last full week of classes starts on Monday.

I cannot say where the time went, but Hamilton is facing down the end of the year. Martin’s Way is lined with sunbathers and loungers. The student body faces finals in just a handful of days, but we cannot help taking a little time to do nothing in the sun. We all feel the last day of classes, the unbridled freedom of the summertime, fast approaching.

I have already begun a lengthy list of “lasts.” Today was the last track practice of the year; the team marked the occasion by reviewing the highs, lows and interesting points of our respective seasons. We paid special attention to the senior running with us, Sam Dupuis ’13. He said that the highlight of his year was “adopting” all the first-years, getting to know us and offering training advice over miles and miles of distance runs and interval workouts.

We will sorely miss Dupuis’ guiding presence on the team next year.... Of course, he is not quite done with track just yet. The team will be competing at the New York State Collegiate Track Conference championship meet today and Saturday; Dupuis is poised to run a very competitive 5k race. We will all be rooting for him, for a powerful showing in his last collegiate race.

I too hope for a powerful showing at the end of the year. I want to race well; I want to start my finals early; I want to earn my grades. But then, I want to relax for a few weeks.

A Political Discourse

Wed, 01 May 2013 12:58:27 GMT

I just took part in the most interesting classroom exercise I have ever witnessed. Hamilton students in comparative politics class held a mock election for an imaginary country called West Europa. They split into six groups, representing six competing political parties. Tonight, they held the final election event: a public debate between the leaders of each party. I was in the audience to cheer on my friend Evan Abelson ’16, who represented West Europa’s Nationalist Party.

To start off the event, each candidate screened their very own campaign advertisement. These ads outlined the major policy goals of the various parties—from the Eco-moderate Party, determined to pass more stringent environmental legislation, to the People’s Party for Modern Freedom, which stressed increased defense spending.

Then the actual debate began. Each candidate was given a few minutes to make an opening statement, further defining his or her campaign platform. I was there to support the Nationalist Party and cheered loudly when Abelson finished his speech; in a nutshell, he wanted to leave the European Union in order to limit immigration and revitalize the stagnating domestic economy with special tax incentives for industry. While I had reservations about these isolationist policies, I was sure that Abelson would prove to be a strong and effective leader, who would deliver on his campaign promises.

Finally, the candidates were allowed to ask questions of one-another, critiquing their opponents’ platforms. For example: the Nationalists were criticized for wanting to limit immigration when the country needed new workers; the People’s Party for Modern Freedom wanted to vastly increase defense spending , but the government faced mounting debt and few threats to national security.

Following the debate, ballots were passed out to the audience. I enthusiastically threw my support behind the Nationalist party—though I think the People’s Party for Modern Freedom would have been my second choice. When all the votes were tallied, the Nationalist Party won the popular vote. The judges, however, ruled that the candidate from Aurinthia Independence Movement won the debate.

Long Week

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:23:36 GMT

I just finished my third exam in four days; needless to say, it has been a long week. Luckily, I saw this grind coming from a long way off. At the end of Spring Break, as I looked over my respective syllabi, I realized that a string of midterm examinations fell within this one week. I braced myself and began studying far in advance.

My week began with a government exam on Monday morning. Luckily, we had only covered a few chapters of the textbook since the last exam—there was not too much material to study. But still, I buckled down and tirelessly reviewed my class notes until I could recite them by heart. I was amply prepared when I finally got to the test.

On Wednesday I had a German exam, my last of the semester. I carefully reread the novels and poems we discussed in class; I also reviewed the personal philosophy of each author. When the exam eventually arrived, I had a list of literary themes I was ready to interpret.

Finally, there was tonight’s exam: economics. This test was by far the lengthiest of the three, taking me just short of two hours to complete. Our last examination was months ago, before spring break; since then we covered almost half of the textbook. For the past week, I practically lived with my economics notebook, reviewing my notes whenever I found a spare moment. Though the test was long, I managed to survive.

The key to surviving this week was time management. I prepared for these tests long before I felt a dire need, before the weight of each exam was bearing down on me. Now that this week is over, I can relax and enjoy these last two weeks before finals. Of course, there are still a few essays I need to write before the end of the year.