Tag Archives: summer

Summer travels in Asia

October 17, 2012 – 7:53 am

What an incredible summer it has been!  Over the past few months, I have embarked upon 14 flights, trodden the soils of six nations, crossed many time zones, and enjoyed countless foreign delicacies.  It has been a journey of journeys, one embedded in another, all of them combined to give me the incredible experience that was my summer before senior year.

First, Switzerland was breathtaking.  Among the daily trips to international organizations such as the UN and WHO, we took a weekend trip to the Alps (relevant post) and an academic tour of CERN.  The sheer density of visiting so many landmarks in just a month was exhilarating to say the least.  I must say, my favorite part of the program was the personalized UN pass we received and were allowed to enter UN premises with.  There is nothing like waking up in the morning and saying to yourself, “I’m going to study at the UN Library today.  I wonder which diplomat I will run into at the cafeteria there.”

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Then, my trip to Taiwan was one I had been anticipating and yearning for a long time.  It had been more than three years since I set foot in my home country, and it felt great to be back.  On top of visiting family and relatives I hadn’t seen for years, this was definitely a trip to make up for all the Taiwanese food I hadn’t eaten for the past few years, despite being on the West Coast of North America where authentic Asian food is aplenty.

Leaving Taiwan certainly wasn’t easy.

Next, we crossed the South China Sea to Bangkok, Thailand to visit my dad and friends.  It’s amazing how much has changed but the memories still feel the same!  It was two and a half weeks of amazing food, company and sightseeing.

We spent two weekends at beach resorts, one of which was on a beautiful island, unwinding from the stresses of daily life.  My sister and I enjoyed our first aromatherapy spa treatments and I regret not trying them earlier when I still lived there!

Of course, I had to pay a visit to my high school, International School Bangkok, and discovered they had installed a wonderfully dignified statue of our mascot:

By Eleanor Fang | Posted in Life off campus | Also tagged , , , , | Comments Off

First Year, Transfer, and Continuing Students

September 6, 2012 – 8:08 am

Can you guys believe that there is less than 1 month before school starts again and we’ll kick off Fall quarter???? This summer  has been going super fast!!

Soon enough, we will meet a lot of new Bruins joining our big family whether they are first year or transfer students. It is always an exciting thing, at least for me, to get to meet new people. Not only will I meet new Bruins in our big family, I will also get to meet new Bruin Ambassadors in less than one month!! :) This program has taught me a lot and definitely make me love UCLA even more and appreciate what I have been able to achieve here in UCLA.

One cool thing that I found is this page on Facebook that is dedicated to all the Bruins, whether you are first year, transfer, or continuing students: https://www.facebook.com/UCLAStudentExperience . If you haven’t been to this page, check it out and like it!! :) You’ll find tons of fun activities and events going on throughout the campus as soon as school starts! It is one of the best way to keep yourself updated about what is going on in the campus!!

Anyway, let me know what’s your favorite summer fun you’ve had so far before we start Fall in a flash ;)

By Olivia Harjanto | Posted in Academics, Life on campus | Also tagged , | Comments Off

Summer break addition: research life

July 20, 2012 – 12:13 pm

Hi there, so as I told you before that I am starting to do research this summer at one of the professors in the Bio-Engineering department. I want to tell you a little bit about how it going so far.

As a new researcher, I usually shadow the grad student that I will be working under for the first couple weeks. I started to learn all the new technique and methods; the previous experiment that they did, and also the future experiment that I should start to think about. I have made the plan for the next couple of  weeks, this month, and this summer of what I want to accomplish  and I went over it with the grad student. I’m looking forward to it because I can start thinking of the experiment that I want to do and how to accomplish the goal; and I”m talking about planning it all from the scratch!!!

This brings me to another point of how to get into research:

1. It’s always good to do your research before sending an email to your professor, this really shows that you have done some research and you’re not just “spamming” all professors with emails.

2. Try to meet the professor in person and have a short conversation to make sure that you are really interested for that particular research. There are times where you think you like it, but then you find out more then you realized and have a change of heart, which is totally fine. It is better to not jump into something that you are not passionate about.

3. Connections connections connections!!! Just like in the job field, connections are also important in finding research. Having broader connections will allow you to find out if there are new research areas that have openings.

4. Get your resume ready. This is of course a really good thing to start early even if you are not thinking about getting into research anytime soon :)

I hope these four things can help some of you to get started to think about whether or not you want to do research. Feel free to ask me questions if you have anything you’re curious about :)

By Olivia Harjanto | Posted in Academics, Life on campus | Also tagged , | Comments Off

The amazing Spider-Man!!

July 11, 2012 – 7:58 am

For some of you, I’m sure you were able to get a chance to go to the midnight screening of Spider-Man, but unfortunately I wasn’t one of those lucky people. I couldn’t imagine the line and the crowd for it, so I decided to wait until the weekend to watch it. It was a lot better, but still the whole theater was packed when I went to watch it with 5 of my friends!!

For those who haven’t watched it, and if you know you’re a super hero lover, then this is one of the movie that you should watch! It has action, more details of Spiderman’s life, and definitely more  romance ;)

I will say that this is the most romantic super hero movie I’ve ever seen. Maybe because it was during Spiderman’s  high school years and was about his first love… who knows. But it is one of those movies that will make you smile mostly because in your mind you’re saying “yup, those high school times!” ;)

Other than Spiderman, my 4th of July celebration was really relaxing :) My friends and I didn’t do anything over the top, we just relaxed for that day since most of us had school or work the next day. That night, I was driving home from having dinner with my boyfriend when people started lighting up fireworks!! So my driving home was entertaining because it was filled with fireworks along the freeway :)

By Olivia Harjanto | Posted in Life off campus | Also tagged , | Comments (2)

Museums!

June 29, 2012 – 12:36 pm

 

I am now officially into deep summer. I’ve spent more time watching British TV than doing anything else (except for maybe staring off into space), and my eating habits have gone from semi-regular to completely feral. Needless to say, I’m enjoying myself.

Last week, I was lucky enough to break from my cycle of lethargy to go to a museum – the Egyptian Museum of Rosicrucian. It’s one of San Jose’s many themed museums (we have a one dedicated to quilting and textiles, fun!), and it features ancient Egyptian artifacts as well as a real-live (dead) mummy!  The museum has a series of nice gardens, one with an ancient Egyptian game called Senet and another with a fountain.

Any trip to the Rosicrucian Museum is a special one, but this one was made even more special by a visit from some school friends who live in the area. During spring quarter there was talk of making a trip to San Jose to visit the museum, a plan I was on board with because I always like seeing UCLA people, especially if we get to see a mummy. Unfortunately, the main planner of the visit didn’t check to see if the place would be open (it wasn’t). Still, hanging out in the museum gardens with friends from UCLA was a fun time.

This recent trip, however, is not the only cool museum experience I’ve had lately. Back at school, my friend and I went to the Museum of Jurassic Technology located in Culver City. It was about a 40 minute bus ride from campus (but only one bus and it was a Big Blue Bus so each trip was only 50 cents!).

My friend and I had heard about the museum before but didn’t really know anything about it. We both couldn’t imagine what Jurassic technology was and how there could be a museum dedicated to it (did dinosaurs have cell phones?). We went to go find out because we had some time and finals week hadn’t really gotten started. All I can really say about the museum is that it is… an experience. I don’t want to give anything away or say anything about what’s inside (partly because I’m not even sure what’s inside). I recommend going – they have free tea and cookies until 5 – but guarding your head as your personal philosophies will be flipped upside-down after wandering the intricately-curated rooms of the museum.

Hopefully I can have another outing with a UCLA friend soon, although I’m pretty sure it will involve something more summery than a museum (perhaps an amusement park).

By Charley Guptill | Posted in Life off campus | Also tagged | Comments Off

Gettysburg

June 29, 2012 – 7:45 am

On my way home from camp last weekend, I visited Gettysburg for the first time. I was really, really excited to see it! I absolutely love learning about the Civil War and will admit to watching Ken Burns Civil War Documentary at home for fun.

I had a rather short visit since my sister was not thrilled with my excitement, but I still saw where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address and where the men lined up for Picket’s Charge. I once wrote a paper on the Battle of Little Round Top, so that was a must see as well. It truly was captivating to stand on the top of the hill and look down. I think I got the chills.

To complete my east coast adventure, I ventured to Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia. Alexandria is also extremely historic, and includes the childhood home of Robert E. Lee.

Go Bruins!

By Gina Provenzano | Posted in Life off campus | Also tagged , | Comments Off

Road Trip Part 1

June 27, 2012 – 8:41 am

It is hard to believe that I am already half way finished with my 4 years at UCLA. The last 2 years have been a truly remarkable experience, and I cannot wait for the next two and I am seriously dreading the end. As an out-of-state student from the east coast, I enjoy being in California and living somewhere completely different than my home. However, that distance can make certain things difficult when it comes to having a place to put your stuff at the end of the year, and lugging all your clothes back on an airplane which is what I did last year. However this year was totally different. I have a friend who lives in Arizona who needed to get his car back to the east coast, so I jumped on the opportunity to do a road trip.

We started our journey a few hours after my last final. We loaded up his Hyundai with all of our bags and headed out. Overall, our journey would take 3,000 miles, 110 gallons of gas at an average price of $3.38, and we averaged almost 31 miles per gallon. We drove for nearly 50 hours, stopped 16 times, and visited 9 different states, those being California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, and finally Delaware. Our first stop was in Phoenix where we rested up and prepared for the rest of the drive. Of course, any crucial ingredient for a road trip is the snacks, and drinks for the drive. We loaded up on brownies, beef jerky, cookies, pop tarts, Cheetos, tasty cakes,  soda, energy drinks, and PowerAde . Not exactly a healthy diet! We knew that we were going to need all the sugar, caffeine, and easy energy that we could get for our drive to Dallas. 16 hours while only stopping at rest stops or for gas is a long drive but one that we were excited to take.

I have not seen very much desert in my life, so driving from Houston to Dallas meant I got to see a lot of desert scenery which I thought was beautiful. I loved the mountains, and rocks and I thought it was amazing to me how few people lived in all this space. I have also never seen Mexico, so when we drove through El Paso we ended up driving a stone’s throw from the Mexican border and the city of Juarez. Unfortunately after that, there isn’t much in west Texas except for windmills, and oil rigs. Luckily though, the next part of the trip was much more exciting, which I will write about in my next blog post!

By Steven Simons | Posted in Life off campus | Also tagged | Comments Off

Summer Research

June 26, 2012 – 1:26 pm

Hi all, I can believe that I’m already in Summer quarter!! Wohoooo!!! I hope you all are enjoying your first week of Summer break or maybe your first day of Summer quarter at school :) I haven’t started my first day of Summer classes yet, it will actually be tomorrow. But I did start my first day of research!! :) It was a really fun and interesting new experience. I met the grad student that I will be working for, some new friends, and got to know the lab itself. Learning new lab technique is always fun, but learning to navigate a building and my ways around it is not so much fun for me. I am pretty bad with directions (meaning I’m really bad with directions), so trying to memorize different ways to get to a specific room is not always the easiest thing for me. I am learning my way around the new building, and hopefully I will master it pretty soon (cross my finger) Anyway, this last week break was really fun. I got to rest, meet my friends from community college, do some room cleaning, and last but not least, close off my one year at Disneyland. My annual pass will expire soon and the block out dates are coming so quick, so I have to bid my year at Disneyland goodbye :( I went to Downtown Disney on Friday, which is really relaxing; and watched the movie Brave :) For those that are Pixar fans, Brave is a really good movie!! And then on Sunday, I went to Disneyland for the whole day. I haven’t spent that long at Disneyland in awhile, so it was pretty tiring. By the end of the day, my feet were all sore. Nevertheless, it was a really fun week and weekend. I am sad I won’t be able to go to Disneyland that often anymore but I’m super glad that I got the chance to experience the privilege of having annual pass for 2 years already :)

By Olivia Harjanto | Posted in Life off campus, Life on campus | Also tagged , | Comments Off

Chancellor’s Residence

June 22, 2012 – 10:12 am

So, it is officially summer for me, but I don’t think I’ve quite gotten used to it yet. Being away from UCLA is hard – there’s just too much fun stuff to do there! (for example:)

Right before I left school, I was lucky enough to go to an event at the chancellor’s residence. There was an Enrollment Management Reception in celebration of UCLA’s efforts with this year’s admissions (UCLA did, after all, receive a record-breaking number of applications this year). Many people  in various departments were invited to the event – the tour guides included.

The reception was great; there were speeches, lovely appetizers, and plenty of people to chat with. As you would guess, the food was my favorite part. There were gobs of fancy meats and cheese, some bruschetta, fresh veggies, and super delicious lemonade. Yumm-o.

The chancellor’s residence was beautiful, probably the best place to live on campus (even though De Neve is pretty great, too). The house’s bottom level was open and guests were encouraged to take a look around inside. Each room was filled with artwork that was part of UCLA’s Hammer collection, which included a few pieces by Andy Warhol and Picasso. One room didn’t have any Hammer art in it – all of the pieces were by students at UCLA. Some were photos by graduate students, and some were sculptures by fellow undergrads. The residence’s study was curated as immaculately as the rest of the house, although many of the books and pictures on the shelves were the chancellor’s own personals.

I used the restroom while I was there, which was very exciting mostly because that meant I got to see even more of the house. It was neat and cute and had tiny yellow flowers next to the sink and light blue soap to match them.

Because the reception was held outside, guests were also allowed to stroll around the chancellor’s backyard. The outside is as pretty as the inside, and his pool looked good enough to swim in (seriously, I considered jumping in).

Towards the end, a group of us took some photos with the chancellor and most of us got to meet him! I shook his (extremely soft) hand – such a treat!

To say thank you, all of the tour guides signed the guest book. I’m not sure when I’ll be back to sign it again, but being at the chancellor’s was an awesome experience and a great way to say goodbye to UCLA (at least for now).

By Charley Guptill | Posted in Life on campus | Also tagged , | Comments Off

Summer Camp

June 21, 2012 – 7:57 am

As an after finals celebration, I ventured across country to work at Woodward, a gymnastics and action sports summer camp. I am currently in charge of 17 girls overnight, plus another couple dozen in the gym. I have worked in the California location but this is my first time working at the Pennsylvania location.

I am definitely not used to humidity given Los Angeles is a beautiful 75 degrees year round. The worst part, it is only going to get hotter! It is very beautiful and green- and in the middle of amish country. I definitely was not expecting a buggie going down the street.
I am having lots of fun, but it is back to California next week.

Go Bruins!

By Gina Provenzano | Posted in Life off campus | Also tagged | Comments Off
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