BSA September Newsletter 2012-2013

BLACKTALK Issue 1, Sept. 2012

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BLACK TALKBLACK TALKThe Official Newsletter of the Harvard Black Student Association

Share Your Talents!Every month, BlackTalk will recognize one student from each class as one of the “Talented Four”. Read their story to learn about their journeys and successes.

In This Issue:An Introduction to the BSA......pg. 2

About the BCL....................................pg. 4

The Freshman Experience.........pg. 5

You Don’t Want to Miss This!...pg. 6

The Talented Four............................pg. 7

Final Thoughts....................................pg. 8

Issue 1, September 2012 B


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A BSA WelcomeDear Black Community,

I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of our members, especially the members of the Class of 2016! This year, the BSA will continue to make our community as in-clusive as possible, through new collaborations, thought provoking discussions, vari-ous community service events – as well as the best social events on campus. BSA will also be very active this election season, promoting civic engagement all across Harvard and within the greater black community beyond Harvard’s gates. Although Rush Hour, Apollo Night, the Black and Brilliant Banquet, and Renaissance Ball will surely provide some of the greatest memories of the year, I hope you will also enjoy and remember the conversations, fellowship, and camaraderie that is truly the foundation of the BSA and the black community at large. Lastly, no matter how hard our board works, the BSA is ultimately what you all make of it. The passion and enthusiasm all our members bring to constantly better the black community is key to making this year a success – I can’t wait to see what we can do this year!

~ Jermaine Heath 2012-2013 BSA President

Last Year’s Highlights:

This talent show modeled after “Late night at the Apollo” featured dancing, singing, FBT step team, and an amazing spoken word by winner Linda Ugbah.

This annual awards ceremony and dinner reception celebrates the accomplishments of the black students and staff on campus.

Last year this weekend included a ride on the “soul bus” to Yale’s campus, a jammin’ tailgate party, and HOT performances by Har-vard and Yale’s best student groups at the annual talent showcase.

Harvard - Yale Weekend


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Meet The BoardJermaineHeath, ‘14President

Quincy HouseBiomedical Engineering

FayAlexander, ‘14Vice President

Cabot HouseGovernment

CrystalJohnson, ‘15Treasurer

Dunster HouseHuman Evolu-tionary Biology

JasmineWyatt, ‘15Secretary

Mather HouseGovernment

TiffanyAgard, ‘15Arts & Entertain-ment Chair

Mather HouseGovernment

Adeola (Ade)Popoola, ‘15Historian

Mather House

Oluwaseun “Olu”Animashaun, ‘14 Community Service Chair

Mather HouseHistory and Literature

LanairLett, ‘14Community Ser-vice Chair

Currier HouseChemical and Physical Biology

SydneyGreen, ‘13Senior Representative

Leverett HouseHistory and Sci-ence, Medicine and Society

CarinaFish, ‘13Senior Representative

Quincy House

Earth and Planitary Sciences with Environ-mental Sciences and Engineering

AhsanteBean, ‘15Publications Chair

Cabot HouseComputer Science

AlexanderMoore, ‘15Webmaster

Adams HouseApplied Math-ematics


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The best way to describe freshman year is new. There was nothing familiar about freshman year outside of the

term freshman. I had never been tortured yet enthralled by a class before. I’ve never been so scheduled in my life. Never have I ever had so many fun things planned for the same time slot. Before college, I didn’t know so many people that were interested in Bad Girls Club, Global Warming, Politics and Wale. I had never asked hobos for favors nor had I ever eaten a Chickwich. There were so many

first this year, that I got exhausted from just waking up in the morning and thinking of all the new things I’d be doing that day. Needless to say, I learned a lot of things and gathered many tips and tricks in my arsenal from all of these new experiences.

Here’s what I learned:

Experience: Go to study breaks, go into Boston, join clubs, make friends, eat in An-nenberg (at least pretend to and then actually eat at Panera Bread), try everything from the grill, work on psets with your classmates, try all the libraries, workout at all the gyms, go to some parties, get all the freebies and take that

random class on Vikings for no reason. Just don’t spend too much time in your room. This is the last time you get to be reckless kid and people won’t severely punish you for it.

Welcome: Allow your professors to rip up your papers, let the upperclassmen shed their wisdom upon you, let yourself enjoy school, allow yourself to get carried away. Continue to welcome challenges, allow yourself to ask lots of questions, and welcome all the help that is offered to you.

Never: Never say no to an opportunity, never miss office hours, never party alone, never miss out on free Finale’s and never go longer than an hour without checking your email.

It may be a bit too obvious that I essentially repeated myself, but I’m trying to emphasize the importance of being open. Harvard is an amazing place, but it can easily seem like less than that. Therefore, it is imperative that you keep an open mind, open ears and your eyes wide open. You never know what you’ll stum-ble upon; it could change your life.

The Freshman Experience

Go to study breaks, go into Boston, join clubs, make friends, eat in Annenberg

By Mandi Nyambi

“ ”


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You Don’t Want to Miss This!

Calender of Events

Sept. 3

Sept. 7

Sept. 5

Sept. 8

Sept. 29

Sept. 20

Sept. 19

Oct. 1

Black 2013 Wel-come Back BBQ/ Happy Hour4pm - 6pm

Freshman Wel-come Reception in Holden3:30pm - 4:30 pm

Rush Hour 4 Party10pm - 2am

BCL CookoutOld Lev Library4pm

FBT Elections5pm-6pm

Welcome Study Break8pm - 9pm

Freshman Retreat

2nd BSA General Meeting7pm - 9pm

Class Reunions!2015 - Monday, September 10th2014 - Friday September 14thLocations and Activities TBA

Freshman WelcomePlease join the members of BSA, Presi-dent Foust, Dean Hammond and addi-tional faculty as we welcome the fresh-man to Harvard College. There will be light refreshment served.

Rush Hour: The Party Join members of the Asian American Brotherhood, Black Men’s Form, BSA and Chinese Student Association for the first party of the year. DJ NIX will be on the 1’s and 2’s.


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Sophomore of the month

Amarachi EronduClass: 2015Hometown: Augusta, GeorgiaConcentration: Human Evolutionary BiologyHouse: Pforzheimer HouseExtracurriculars: Kuumba Singers, Black Arts Festival board member

Share with us your talents and accomplishments

What advice would you give to someone aspiring to achieve similar greatness?

What advice would you give to underclassmen regarding academics, advising, seek-ing opportunities, and/ or extracurricular life?

Singing is definitely a major pass-time for me. In high school I sang in my school’s formal choir and compe-tition show choir. (It’s nothing like Glee, by the way.) When I came to Harvard for Visitas, I fell in love with Kuumba and joined my freshman year. Through Kuumba, I was also able to serve as Financial Chair for

the 14th Annual Black Arts Festival. Working on BAF board not only gave me more leadership experience, but also allowed me to share my love of music and other forms of art with members of the Harvard and greater Boston community-something that truly made the entire process fulfilling.

Having the courage to try something new is definitely an integral part to making the most of one’s time at Harvard. I had never been a part of a gospel choir before joining Kuumba, so I was definitely in some

unfamiliar territory when I joined. Looking back now, I can honestly say that joining the choir was one of the best decisions that I made last year.

First and foremost, they should have faith in them-selves and their abilities. Sometimes, it can be so easy to be intimidated by other people’s talents and abilities in and out of the classroom. It’s so important to re-member that, out of tons of applicants, Harvard care-

fully selected each and every member of the new class. Everyone here deserves to be here. Secondly, they should find something that they are passionate about and stick with it. Life’s too short to do anything less!


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Senior of the month

Atasha JordanClass: 2013Hometown: Newtown, PAConcentration: NeurobiologySecondary Field: Global Health and Health StudiesCitation: FrenchHouse: LeverettExtracurriculars: Harvard Society of Black Scientists and Engineers; Harvard Project for Asian and Interna-tional Relations; Identities; Neuroepigenetics research

Share with us your talents and accomplishments

What did you do to prepare for these accomplishments and how did you develop your talents?

What advice would you give to someone aspiring to achieve similar greatness?

What would you say is the best summer you’ve had while at Harvard?

I conducted neuroepigentics research at Massachusetts General Hospital this summer, where the Sadri-Vakili Neu-roepigentics lab in which I was placed focused on under-standing molecular mechanisms of Huntington’s disease. At the end of my summer program, I presented my work to

approximately 40 members of the scientific community at MGH. The 15 presenters in my program were judged for overall poise, professionalism, scientific clarity, and scien-tific ingenuity, and I was awarded the second place prize.

As a neurobiology concentrator and premed student at Harvard, I’ve gained quite a bit a of lab experience from my biology and chemistry courses. Though this summer before my senior year was my first experience conducting basic science research, I felt adequately prepared to work in the lab. In addition to the pre-paredness I felt due to my coursework, my success this summer

was also due in large part to the great deal of guidance I received from the other members of the lab. The principal investigator (PI), post doctoral student, and research assistants in the lab all assisted me with the day-to-day process of my research project. I enjoyed the experience so much that I will continue to work in the lab this fall semester.

I participated in research this summer through the Summer Research Trainee Program at MGH. Before this research opportunity, I was adamant that basic science research was not for me. However, the friendly nature of my lab and the autonomy that I was given in regards to my research project allowed me to have an incredible experience. So in terms

of advice, I think the easiest way to have an enjoyable yet productive lab experience is to find a lab where the PI is willing to invest time in your success, the lab environment suits your personality, and the research focus of the lab is of interest to you.

In addition to the lab experience I had this summer, I’d say that the summer travel opportunities I’ve had while at Harvard have been some of my most treasured memories. I taught English in China for a month and helped organize conferences in South Korea and Taiwan, all while spending

almost none of my own money to do so. I went to South Korea and Taiwan through the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR); I highly encourage anyone who’s interested in Asia to apply to be a part of HPAIR.


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That’s a Wrap!

B

Share Your Talents!Disappointed that there’s no freshman or junior of the month? Then nominate one!! Every month, BlackTalk will recognize one student from each class as one of the “Talented Four”. Look for their stories in the monthly newsletter. Nominate yourself or someone else for the talented four; e-mail [email protected] for details.

E-mail us at [email protected] for inquiries, comments, etc. on this month’s newsletter.

Send us pictures, ideas, etc. that you would like to see in future install-ments of BLACKTALK. We love to hear from you!

WWW.HARVARDBSA.COM

Newsletter Edited by Ahsante Bean

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Documents

BSA September Newsletter 2012-2013