Each winter, there’s not much I love more than opening my phone to Spotify Wrapped, or the personal recap of my music listening habits over the past year. In 2024, many brands decided to hop on the “Wrapped” bandwagon. Sephora did a campy Wrapped, Merriam-Webster did their own spoof on Wrapped, and now — you guessed it! — I am obviously doing a Bulldog Blog Senior Fall Wrapped. Try saying that 10 times fast.
First, study spots. According to advanced data-mining metrics (my own opinions), these were my top 5 places for studying this year:
5) Haas Arts Library at the Yale School of Architecture. The carpets speak for themselves.
4) The stacks in Yale’s Sterling Memorial Library — for when distractions were a non-option.
3) Cross-campus. Not much work got done, but at least I enjoyed myself.
2) Tsai CITY (Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale). The natural light that floods in is an immediate energy boost.
1) My desk <3. When my eyelids grow heavy, my bed is already there for me.
And here are my top 5 places to grab a bite:
5) House of Naan. Happy hour Indian food — say less.
4) Vivaz. Mexican food only a block away from my residential college, Pierson.
3) Mecha. Ramen. Nuff said.
2) Bar Pizza. I’m sure you’ve heard of Sally’s or Pepe’s, but this place takes the cake. Or pie.
1) The dining hall. Consistently yummy year-round.
Ghoulishly festive cupcakes the dining hall made during Halloween.
Next, procrastination destinations:
5) East Rock Park. The walk there is as picturesque as the view from the top.
4) Lighthouse Point Park. New Haven’s beaches aren’t exactly like those of my hometown San Diego, but they aren’t a bad place to escape your problem sets.
A moody photo down by the water.
3) The Pierson College Hammocks. These are new additions this year. And I can’t say I haven’t dozed off there (multiple times).
My friend Arden chilling in a hammock (she smiled when she saw me taking these, I swear).
2) Lower Forms. This vintage/thrift store is far enough from campus that I can aptly avoid my responsibilities, but not so far that I can’t carry my haul back.
1) Various friends’ apartments. Many of my closest friends live off-campus this year. So while their home might be a place of work or study for them, it’s a cozy couch and free food for me!
And some quick stats (of dubious accuracy):
5 classes, 5 professors and 2 teaching assistants.
8 essays and roughly 80 sources.
Some 68 hours spent Googling the definition of “semiotics.”
13 weeks of class.
91 days of laughter and growth.
2 days of questioning it all (nearing finals).
102 belly laughs.
1 spill in the dining hall (dropped an entire glass of milk on the ground — my fault for drinking straight milk)
27 movies.
33 nights of dancing (2 of which included compulsory karaoke).
An unknown amount spent on late night snacks.
8 hours of sleep each night (I wish!)
1 semester I will never forget.
