1. Name: Ruthie Portes
2. Major, Year: Writing Seminars and Archaeology with minors in French Literature and Classics (and in the voice minor program at Peabody, as well), 2016
3. Hometown: Scarsdale, N.Y. (for now)
4. Affiliated with: Thoroughfare Magazine and Hopkins Hillel
5. You can probably find me… speed walking through campus because I’m drastically late for class or drinking the amazing Alkimia hot chocolate in Gilman (at least when they have it), purposely about to be late for class.
6. The best thing about Hopkins is… my friends and teachers and all the support they’ve provided. I know. I’m a giant ball of unoriginal cheese.
7. Something I’m especially proud of is… my current work ethic. It only took my entire life to figure out. Side effects may include: exhaustion, the need to binge watch ‘80s t.v. shows, general insanity…
8. Something most people don’t know about me is… I am obsessed with Halloween and I will find any excuse to dress-up because I am a child who read Edgar Allan Poe before bed.
9. This year, I hope to… take advantage of my surroundings and seize the day. I’ve been doing pretty well, I think. My next goal is to go on a literary walking tour of Baltimore.
10. In five years, I will be… in school forever, still dreaming about publishing a book…or five.
11.Next up for me is… A trip to Israel in the winter with JHU Hillel and the Hartman Institute!
12. Relationships Status: HAH
13. What do you wish you knew as a freshman? The music scene in Baltimore is actually really cool. Look out for little gigs and concerts and walk into places to listen to bands you’ve never heard of. You’ll be presently surprised.
14. If you didn’t know, November was National Novel Writing Month! What’s your favorite novel? I have so many favorite novels but I’ll choose a few. I hold all of Jane Austen’s novels close to my heart, especially “Persuasion.” I also grew up on L.M. Montgomery’s “Anne of Green Gables” series (and re-read those at least once a year). “The Three Musketeers” by Alexandre Dumas, “Zorro” by Isabel Allende… Lastly, “Mila 18” by Leon Uris, which is set in Nazi-occupied Poland and tells the story of fictional characters who participated in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943. It’s fiction, but quite accurate in many respects (half of it is almost like a history book), but it was clearly written with immense sensitivity and thought and I cry every time I read it.
15. How did you get involved with Thoroughfare? I joined Thoroughfare my freshman year and I became president my junior year
16. What should readers know about Thoroughfare? Hopefully we’ll be hosting an open mic event this semester, so look forward to that! Also, look out for our magazine in December! It’s going to be lovely and a lot of work is being put into it. Thank you everyone for your submissions and interest.