Visiting Penn and History

Today was a very long day, but it was definitely worth it. Waking up early and sleeping late seems may be a problem, but I guess that is all part of the college experience. Anyways, we headed to Philadelphia and walked towards Penn. Along the way, I got to see Drexel University! The campus seems very nice, but it is very similar to NYU due to the fact that the buildings seem to be all across the city. I do not think that I feel as comfortable in a dispersed campus compared to an enclosed one.

Once reaching Penn, I remembered one critique about the school: there are a lot of bugs. This became apparent throughout our tour, but that did not deter my reaction to the beautiful campus. There was an orientation before the tour that gave a general breakdown of the college's schools. I learned about the School of Engineering and their Robot Contests, about Wharton School of Business, a bit about Penn Nursing and the College of Arts and science. There are about 1500 students per class, but the campus seems like it could hold a lot more! I got to hear more about the dual degree programs at Penn, which I found very interesting. The speaker also gave a very useful breakdown of the application process: Transcripts, Testing, Recommendation, 2 Essays (Why Penn, and a creative one), Activities, and their need blind institution. I believe that this will greatly help me throughout my application process!

The tour of the campus was very efficient as well. The weather was nice, the tour guide was very informative, the campus was very pretty, and the bugs were out to celebrate! I thought the campus was a suitable fit for me, but I think that after meeting with June Chu, Andrew Zheng, Carlin Yuen, and Joanna Wu, I really would like to apply to Penn now. Penn has a program known as Digital Media Design (DMD), which I find very fascinating and I will look more into it. It also has an architecture major, great buildings, many opportunities in research, and a whole bunch of student run activities. Brian Mertens says that Penn favors Early Decision, however I like to be able to see my choices and then make a decision. I am pretty sure that Penn will be on the list.

With a bit of time left, our group visited Independence Hall and Washington Square. I find it amazing to think that our history and independence emerged from this one area. Taking U.S. history recently, it was great to be able to stand on top of everything I basically learned!

Philadelphia is Pleasing

This morning, we took a train to Philadelphia so we could visit the University of Pennsylvania. We took a short walk from the train station to UPenn, and on the way, we passed Drexel University. The campus seemed very new. There mascot is a dragon named Marvin the Magnificent.

After we passed Drexel, we went to College Hall of UPenn so we could to the informational session. The speaker was very thorough in explaining the different undergraduate schools of Penn (business, arts and sciences, nursing, and engineering). She explained the social life at Penn, and the application process. After we took a tour of the campus, and it was awesome. There were trees and grass everywhere, surrounding the old buildings.

Afterward, we met up with June Chu, the director of PAACH (Pan-Asian American Community House), where she introduced us to two students of Penn, Andrew (a rising senior) and Joanna (a rising junior). We walked to a restaurant for lunch, and asked them questions along the way. We sat down to eat our cheesesteaks (per Gabe's request) and they told us all about life at Penn. Andrew said that he was a biology major, and that he wanted to go to medical school at Penn, since it is one of the best in the country. Another student, Carlin joined us for lunch to also tell us about his experience at Penn.

After lunch, they walked us to the bookstore. We said our goodbyes and thank yous, then purchased our souvenirs. Then, we took a subway to the historic part of Philadelphia.
It was nice to see history in real life, and not just in text books. Afterward, we took the subway back to the train station, enjoyed some ice cream, and went back to New York.

While waiting for the train, I starting contemplating if I wanted to apply to Penn. Andrew convinced me by saying that Penn has a lot of lab opportunities and that it really helped him during the MCAT. Then, I saw this, and although it is part of the medical school, I do want to apply to Penn so I can pursue my career.

UPENN

As most of you may already, know today we went to visit UPENN!!

First of all I would like to take the time to say how much I appreciate being given this opportunity of coming to Columbia for the summer. I would like to thank all the sponsors, Mr. Ramsey, Ms. kronenberg, and Mr. Gosney for all the support they have given to the students within the Ivy League Connection. Thank you.

What I really loved about about UPENN was it's beautiful campus. Pennsylvania University is located right in the middle of the city but the school's environment had a calming feeling to it. ( Did you know Transformers was filmed on campus!!! That is amazing!) UPENN has what they call schools within the University which include The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, The School of Nursing, The Wharton School, The College of Arts and Sciences, and then there is the Dual-Degree and Accelererated Programs. When applying to UPENN ,it is required to apply to one of the schools and if undecided there is also the Dual-Degree program which allow students to double major. Also if you decide that the school that you are in is not for you, UPENN allows you to transfer to a different school after your freshmen year. so you don't have to be stuck in a class that is not within your interests. What I find interesting about UPENN is that everyone has the opportunity to begin research as of their freshmen year.

When it comes to socializing , UPENN provides over twelve college houses and three hundred different clubs and activities. So no matter what people are going to be able to make new friends and find a home away from home. It so happens to be that students at UPENN do a lot of community service of activities involving their community which is something I really want to look into.All in all, I had a great time and during this trip and all is left to say is that I loved UPENN.

P.S. I was excited to have eaten my first Cheese steak Sandwich.

Chinese Food and the Joys of Laundry

This morning we had an awesome field trip to Westchester Research Labs. My favorite part of the whole day was the one hour bus ride both ways because I could get some shut eye since we had to wake up about an hour earlier. Just kidding, my favorite part of the day was the very first lab we visited, Virology. It is split up into two parts: Diagnostic Immunology and Tissue Culture. Diagnostic Immunology deals with diagnosing what is wrong with the patient. Samples are given to the lab and used to screen for HIV, syphilis, chlamydia, mono, and transplant complications. Some of the tests used are used to detect the presence of certain antibodies (such as IgG or IgM). Western blotting is used to confirm that the patient has HIV, even if they have a positive rapid test or ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays). Tissue Cultures deals with taking a sample from a patient and growing whatever virus they may have (influenza, varicella, and adenovirus, just to name a few). Ever since I learned about viruses in biology, I was interested in their life cycles and the potential threat they caused to humans. Immunology and virus epidemiology has always interested me, and it might be something I want to pursue.

We got back a little earlier to campus than we expected, so Jackie came into my room to watch some YouTube videos for about half an hour before our daily meeting with Mrs. Lilhanand. After that meeting, Sofia and I decided to go out to dinner. We really wanted Chinese food, and I found a place on Yelp, called Columbia Cottage. As I was on the elevator, some girls were talking about how John Jay's cafeteria was serving Mexican food. Last time they did, we all did not have a very good experience with the taste of it. After walking the wrong way for about a street, we finally found the place on Amsterdam. The food was okayish, and I put it on my list of restaurants to never visit again. Sweet and Sour Chicken is my absolute favorite, so I always order it, but it seems in New York instead of the chicken being battered in flavorful sauce, the chicken is just fried with watery sauce put over it. They forgot to put shrimp in Sofia's Lo Mein, too.

Afterward, we wanted to go Rite Aid so I could get my candy fix and Sofia could get some flip-flops. I got us a little bit lost again, but we passed through a Puerto Rican neighborhood (I think that was what the flag was) and it was interesting looking at people just chilling out on their stoops with their families and friends, just talking about life. We made it to Rite Aid, bought our necessary items, and decided that the night was still young, so we decided to do some laundry. On our way back to campus, we saw a lot of trailers, for movie production. We wondered who was there, and Sofia got really excited.

We got back to campus and noticed that barely anyone was doing laundry, so we got our clothes and headed to the basement of John Jay. We washed our clothes more quickly since we could use more machines. It was obnoxiously hot down there, so we decided to go to Pinkberry while our clothes were in the dryer. It was such perfect T-shirt weather outside. On our way back, we passed by the movie trailers again, but we didn't see anyone. We picked up our clothes and went back to our rooms.

I think I'm getting used to becoming independent and the college life. I can't believe we have only one more week left.

Westchester Research Lab

Today was a very informative experience. Our class took a trip to the Westchester research lab, where we were exposed to many different types of science. 

The short presentations in the morning were probably my most favorite ones out of the whole day. These people were scientists in the field of tissue culture, immunology, bacteriology, tuberculosis who explained the many tasks and experiments they run each day. Of all the fields in science, I find health-related science to be the most fascinating. I love the study of the complex human body, and how it allows to function as we are every day. Despite my mom's condescending push for me to major in science, I actually am considering this as one of my prospective majors in college. I feel as if that this morning in Westchester was a reminder to myself of my intrigue in a biological science, and specifically a biological science.

The rest of the day was interesting as well. My most favorite presentation during the afternoon was the lecture on radiology. This guy explained to us that decaying particles surrounded us, and were easily to pick up with the use of fine machinery. I was amazed with the man tracking so many of the decaying particles either by use of the machines which pick up either alpha or gamma rays, or by placing it in a machine where it was expose the object's decaying areas.

Afterwards, we returned early from the field trip, earlier than the time our class usually gets out, and went out with some of my classmates. I really feel a strong friendship growing between my classmates and I. These are locals whose culture I have been soaking in for the past two weeks, enjoying every minute of it. I find my stay in New York almost exactly as I hoped it would be. I believe that one hasn't really immersed oneself in a city's culture if he or she doesn't live like the locals. During my stay, I feel as if I've adapted to the local culture, slowly assimilating to it as the days progress. I feel extremely grateful to be able to experience such an opportunity.

Westchester Lab and MoMA

Hello!

As Sofia said, today we went on a field trip to Westchester County Department of Laboratories and Research and I made a new discovery. Actually, thinking back on it, I feel like I really had a closed mind about what I could do with a BA degree in science. I originally had the idea that by having any one specific major would limit my job opportunities to a job directly related to the degree. However, today I learned that to work at the Westchester Country Department of Lab and Research, all they require is at least a BA in a biology/chemistry background. This meant that I could have a BA in chemistry and still have an opportunity to work in a biology based job according to experience. I assume that I can associate this to most other science fields and I don't feel as stressed now about my major because I know that I won't have to be completely restricted in what I can do.

The Lab and Research facility was amazing, we were able to see so many aspects of what people did in the labs and again see what we can do with a biology/chemistry background. To name just a couple, we toured the microbiology lab, the radiology lab, the virology lab, etc. I'm very happy that our professor was able to set up a tour of the lab because I doubt I'd ever be able to see an actual government laboratory on my own. Everybody at the lab was very welcoming and glad to introduce us to what they did and why (like why the lab has to test water, etc.).

I really like the class we're taking because we are constantly shown what we could do in the future. Instead of just teaching out of a book, we're learning practical uses of chemistry and getting hands-on experience with success and failure.

In the evening, I was able to go to MoMA with an RA group and Jessica Tran. Apparently it's free every Friday from 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM sponsored by Target. I don't really understand what modern art is but the museum was really fascinating. However, after going to the museum, it seems modern art can be anything as long as we call it that... One really big project caught my eye though, the "Waste Not" exhibit. The artist and his mom worked together to consolidate and display all the things that the family has hoarded over a period of ~30 years in China following the Cultural Revolution. It was interesting to see the exhibit because it reminded me of the grandma and my mom who happen to have the same tendencies to hoard things like clothing and old newspapers.


Julie

Here and There

My class today learned about green roofs, basically plants on the rooftops. My T.A. made a presentation about the benefits of this type of roof and then we headed to the Bronx. There I went to the Fieldstone Green Roof, located on top of a private middle school. The location looked pretty much like a garden, and it was hard to believe that we were standing on a roof! There are a lot of benefits to having a green roof, some which are: cooler air, prevention of pollution, better aesthetics to the area, save money, and more. It helps keep biodiversity and it can provide habitats to endangered species too. Imagining NY with all green roofs would be a pretty amazing site from above. Dr. Gaffin, who works with my T.A. Laura, is trying to work with the city major in hopes to start major green roof projects across the city. Many volunteers come to help maintain the plantations and I think that it would be a nice project back home too. It is definitely a consideration.
Another exciting event that I had went to was the Harry Potter Premiere. It was really exciting even though the group that I went with was a bit far from the red carpet. Still, it was packed with people, and I was squished between three or four people, plus the rail for about 2 hours. This was another big eye opener to the large numbers of NY! The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) was another location that I was able to go to. Along with Julie, the RA, and other group members, we all headed down to the museum near Times Square. The first exhibit that I saw was huge. I did not really think that it could be an artwork! Items after items were displayed across the floor and a wooden frame of a house sat in the center. The materials were collections of the artist and mother who tried to relieve the grief of losing the father through art. It was called "Waste Not" by Song Dong. It was really a sight to see.
Another interesting aspect of the museum was the "Universe Wall" where people were able to get their height measured and then names written on the wall. Julie and I had to wait a bit in line, but were eventually got our names placed in history!

We walked around the museum looking at pictures and paintings, listening to music, as well as designs. On the fifth floor, there was an architecture and design section that I found very fascinating. Every time I become unsure of what I'm interested in for the future, I always find something that draws me back to architecture. The projects seem very hard and long to create, but the outcome seems flawless and worth the time. I had previously did not want to go see the MoMA, but overall I am glad I went. Though my feet hurt from walking around, the experience was worth it.