Hello peeps! My name is Joy Gao, and I’m a rising sophomore at Amherst College. I’m from Los Angeles, California, but I’m also an international student from Yunnan, China. I’ve declared majors in Economics and Mathematics. Before college applications were due, I just wanted a vacation. A trip to the other end of the country,…Continue Reading Joy Gao ’28 – Introduction
Hey everyone! How are you doing? I’m doing well! In this blog, I hope to share a little about my badminton journey here at Amherst College—and why this club has become such an important part of my life. When I first arrived at Amherst, I wasn’t sure what role badminton would play in my college…Continue Reading From Birdies to Bonds: My Badminton Journey at Amherst
Hey! Long time no see. As I reflect on this year, one thing stands out: this spring, I ran for Class of 2028 Senator—and I’m thrilled to share that I was successfully elected! Through this blog, I’ll walk you through my campaign experience and offer a snapshot of Association of Amherst Student (AAS), the student…Continue Reading Student Government at Amherst College
Hi readers, I’m officially done with freshman year and want to reflect on my experiences at Amherst College thus far. I’m grateful for so much at Amherst, and yet there are some things I wish I had done differently! Thanks for reading my last blog of the semester 🙂 As always, please email me with…Continue Reading Farewell to Freshman Year
Spoiler: It’s not glamorous. It’s just chaos. You know what they don’t tell you when you’re moving into college? That moving out is a full-blown emotional, logistical, and physical disaster. Right now, as I write this, everything I own is basically sitting in a pile on my dorm room floor. Clothes, notebooks, half-used candles, those…Continue Reading The Truth About Moving Out of Your First-Year Dorm
My friends from back home and I were on Facetime and I was showing them pictures of the Amherst buildings. This is what we had to say about them!! 1. Morgan Hall Vibe: Brooding dark academia with a soft side. Morgan is peak moody liberal arts. It’s giving “I write poetry at 3 a.m. by…Continue Reading Ranking Campus Buildings Based on Vibes Alone
Classes? Over. Finals? Looming. My sanity? Questionable. Welcome to reading period — that strange stretch of time when you’re technically not in class, but definitely not on break either. It’s the academic limbo where we all collectively pretend we’re “catching up on studying,” but in reality, we’re just circling Val snacks, Googling if cold brew…Continue Reading Reading Period Has Begun… So I’m Getting a Little Unhinged
Hi readers, Are you wondering what college students wear on a daily basis? What are some closet essentials? When coming to college, I was worried about having too many clothes and not having enough at the same time. Here are some things I brought/wish I had that are important. You should bring many other clothing…Continue Reading A College Student’s Closet
I would not talk to anybody online before arriving. I’d save the attempts at making friends for orientation and spend the summer with my hometown friends instead of online worrying about a social life that hasn’t started yet. I would split my first semester classes between humanities/social sciences and STEM. I’d take no more than…Continue Reading If I could do it over again
It’s almost the end of my first year at Amherst! Did everything go the way I expected? Well, not always. In this post, I hope to share some expectations I had of Amherst that ended not the way I thought. (Note: Since Decision Day was two days ago, I write this post with incoming students…Continue Reading Behind The Gates