Harkirat Lally, ’18, attends Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. He plans to major in biology or biochemistry.
Q: What classes are you taking?
A: The classes that I am taking right now are Chemistry 107, Calculus 1, Freshman Year Seminar (FYS), 9/11 in Literature and Film and a chemistry lab class that’s coupled with Chem 107.
Q: How big are your classes?
A: My largest class is 40 people, and that’s my chemistry class. The whole school is about 1,500 kids.
Q: What is your favorite class? Least favorite?
A: My favorite class is my 9/11 in Literature and Film class. Some of the films that we get to watch and some of the points that get brought up in class are good. I never really thought about the implications of 9/11 (before). The way our country and government has changed post 9/11 was very interesting.
My least favorite class is Chem 107 because it’s basic chemistry, and I’m not learning anything new. Also, my teacher teaches a basic lecture with some group activities, (which) is not very engaging.
Q: Are you in any clubs or extracurriculars?
A: I am in Pre-Med club and Public Health Initiative, and I play Ultimate Frisbee.
Q: How do you get around campus?
A: Mostly walking. But I bought a scooter a few months back, and I can pretty much get everywhere I need to be on campus with that.
Q: How’s the weather?
A: We actually got our first snow recently. It was low-key wild, and I was shook. It has mostly been (in the) 30s to 50s.
Going into winter, it’s supposed to be colder. Mid-November to March, we are going to have snow pretty much constantly.
Q: Have you made any freshman mistakes?
A: I decided to take the chemistry class at 8 in the morning, and I’m pretty consistently late. I wake up too late, and by the time I get ready, I am a few minutes late. Sometimes my alarm doesn’t go off, and I’m 40 minutes late.
Q: What do you miss the most about home/Country Day?
A: There’s a very small town that surrounds (Bates). I end up just staying on campus a lot because there’s not much going on in the town. I miss the different restaurants in Sacramento, and I guess I miss the weather (too). I can’t wear basketball shorts outside or even khakis.
Q: Do you think Country Day prepared you well for college? How was the transition?
A: For the most part, yes. The workload at Country Day was very heavy. Here, I feel like I have so much more free time in between classes. There’s so much time that I can work whenever I want to.
I learned my time management at Country Day, and (college) has been a pretty easy transition. I’ve joined all these different extracurriculars. I’ve made friends quickly and found stuff that really interests me.
Also, we have academic advisers who are helpful with scheduling or any other problems that we have.
Q: What’s it like to go to the same school as your brother (Jag Lally, ’16)?
A: It has its upsides and its downsides. Especially for the first semester, having him here is comforting because I can just go talk to him. If I need anything, he’s always there.
It can be annoying at times. He’s always pressuring me, asking, ‘Why aren’t you working right now?’ ‘What score did you get on this exam?’ And ‘Are you working hard enough?’ He’s just making sure I’m working and staying committed to studying.
He’s very helpful with my schedule because we are doing a similar track. He’ll help me get the right teachers, stuff like that.
Food: ☆☆☆☆☆
School Spirit: ☆☆☆
Location: ☆☆☆
Clubs: ☆☆☆☆
Student/Teacher Interaction: ☆☆☆☆☆
—By Jackson Crawford
