Meet the MAPH blog

Welcome to MAPHtastic…the most entertaining (and useful) way to get
information throughout the school year on a variety of topics. Things we cover
will vary from imperative administrative hoops you must eventually jump
through to more run-of-the-mill social and city-living stuff, which you might
even call “fun-of-the-mill”! (Don’t actually say this.) We will write on anything
from finding an advisor for your thesis to knowing the best place to grab a
coffee on campus. Last year, I didn’t find out about the $1 americanos in the
Divinity School Café until there were only a few months left in the program. Our
job as mentors is to guide you through your MAPH year so as to avoid similar
catastrophes. Think of the blog as an FAQ only less susceptible to skimming
and with more vibrant pictures (for an actual FAQ page, see our Current Student
FAQ).

A vibrant picture.

Last year, we Mentors completed MAPH and are staying on to act as guides for the next batch of MAPH students (this is you!). Since we are so eager to help, we want to differentiate ourselves from other professionals who have similarly high levels of enthusiasm (summer camp councilors, kindergarten teachers, etc.) As much as we would enjoy making God’s eyes or supervising other arts and crafts projects (this last year hand turkeys were popular) 

Two God's Eyes in vibrant colors.

we are, more importantly, here for you guys when you have questions about the university or life in Hyde Park/Chicago, or when you just need to talk about how your year is shaping up. The office is pretty slow over the summer, but feel free to email us and we’ll make sure we’re here if you want to drop by to chat over subpar coffee (remember, there will be future blog posts about where to find coffee that is better than office coffee, so keep checking this blog!).  If you’re in Chicago over the summer or arrive in the city before colloquium, seek us out. We’d love to get to know you all before the year gets chaotic and you start feeling like this guy:

Enjoy the warm weather, and keep checking the blog. Though we’ll be making more and more posts as colloquium approaches, we’ll still be writing throughout the summer. We hope to hear from you all soon!