Up above are just a couple of photos I took from the lab portion of the day, playing around with our Mindstorm robots.
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Day 1 ~ 07/11/16 The first day. Well technically, yesterday was the first day but it was a great day to be introduced to what will be expected of our fruitful group of bright pupils for the next 4 weeks. It's normal for me to get nervous on first days-- a typical and totally normal thing to do, but I was glad how smooth the program eased us into our taste of freedom and the life of a college student.
Just to list off the day, the day started off with an intro to the terminologies that are used when discussing the use and creation of a computer. I had heard many of the terms in different situations, but had never got to understand the real correlation between all of the components. It was really interesting and was glad I got it down--kind of. I was thankful that our professor was very humble and kind, especially when he gave some valid and useful advice at the end of class. I usually need a boost to put myself out there and it was nice to hear from him. Second, we went to the computer lab where we got an introduction to basically biophysics and how that will play into computer science/programming. I have the worst memory, so it was nice to review some of the concepts such as the properties of atoms. After, we immersed ourselves in some pretty awesome Lego Mindstorm robots! Although I've played with these robots a little in elementary school, it was a fair way to open up the course. To end the day, I took our professor's advice and met new people! It was quite refreshing to sit at a random table or say hi to someone I had no idea who. To accompany these new connections that I had started to make, I tagged along with the campus tour while making lanyards (my multi-tasking skillsss for days). It was a quite eventful day and I'm glad to know it was only the first of many. I'm excited to get some really awesome friendships and new knowledge out of my 4 weeks here! |
Day 2 ~ 07/12/16
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Day 2 was a bit more difficult in my opinion. The day consisted of two labs, beginning with our first lab in robotics. We continued our progress of completing the several tasks that needed to be completed by the robot, including walking in a straight line, square, circle and a bit more. I got through three tasks and it essentially took quite a lengthy time due to the tedious attention to the time duration I needed to get right to complete the task. It was a long lab but was interrupted for a much needed 20-minute card game (Anomia) break.
The day continued with our second lab of the day which consisted of programming a few challenges in C on Unix. It was a rather new experience, however I was familiar with some of the syntax the was being used. It was a really difficult time for me because I'm generally more used to code used for webdev and games. It was a little frustrating not knowing how to apply the concepts I understood such as where or when to put the if and else statements. However, I was glad that I could get help from people around that could clear up this whole new world of programming logic for me. Lastly, the day ended with a trip to Davis downtown to have some AMAZING and DELICIOUS scoops of ice cream from The Good Scoop. I got a sesame seed cone with two scoops of geranium and a tea-flavored one I sadly forgot the name of. It was a long walk to downtown but worth it for those rewarding scoops of heavenly creamy concoctions. And last but not least, I finished the homework due tomorrow which consisted of our daily blog post, our research paper, and the directions around the complex. Overall, it was a cool day dedicated to trying new things! |
Day 3 ~ 07/13/16
Day three was a good day. What I mean by a good day was that it was just one step closer to realizing how much love I have for this experience. It's only three days in but I'm so overwhelmingly excited as to what I can get out of this 4-week real world experience with no parents, no familiarities--just starting from scratch with a new atmosphere and new peers. It's still a scary experience, but its refreshing and new! By far the highlight of the day was riding my bike for the first time!! It was a great time getting around the campus in a much faster and easier way than walking in the scorching hot sun. The day was pretty simple and easy-going, which I adored.
The day consisted of our robotics class in the morning, a lecture after lunch, and a biophysics lab for our last portion of the day. I had mixed feelings about the lecture after lunch because I fell in and out with what our speaker was trying to get across because the complex explanation of chemistry involved in the universe went a little over my head. The day ended with a trip to the Rock Hall to have a pretty awesome movie night. We watched You See Me Now--which in my opinion was a bit cliche and 3 stars out of 5, watching it the second time.
Other than that, it's a short log because I thought it was a really simple day but exciting at the same time (does that make any sense?)!
The day consisted of our robotics class in the morning, a lecture after lunch, and a biophysics lab for our last portion of the day. I had mixed feelings about the lecture after lunch because I fell in and out with what our speaker was trying to get across because the complex explanation of chemistry involved in the universe went a little over my head. The day ended with a trip to the Rock Hall to have a pretty awesome movie night. We watched You See Me Now--which in my opinion was a bit cliche and 3 stars out of 5, watching it the second time.
Other than that, it's a short log because I thought it was a really simple day but exciting at the same time (does that make any sense?)!
Day 4 ~ 07/14/16
Today was a rather tiring day considering that the WHOLE DAY was lab. If I could describe the day in one word it would be FRUSTRATING. But firstly, I'd like to apologize to my peers for the sassy character that my frustration pushed me into. From morning till the end of the day, I tried my best in trying to get my robot to finish the tasks that were given to us. Unfortunately, I was stuck on the four square task for FIVE PLUS HOURS. But to be honest with myself, I listened to that little voice in my head to stay safe and not try any other command. Every other command other than setMotorSpeed seemed so daunting to me. Consequently, I skipped the four square task and did the figure 8 and flat letter surprisingly quickly. In conclusion, today I learned the importance of trying new ways to approach a problem that may seem impossible at first. And it never hurts to try different commands, because the only thing that it could do is too give just a bit more knowledge about programming in the long run.
For the rest of the day, I joined in on the Sardines activity at the Death Star. While playing, it rose to my attention how great architecture affects us everyday. For example, if every building was like the Death Star then god help us. Consequently, the game was also a bit frustrating -- just the thing to make my day just a bit more complicated. AND to add to my day, I fell on the stairs walking up to my dorm room and had one too many brain farts. But hey. It's a good thing to remember that one bad day could arise a million good days.
For the rest of the day, I joined in on the Sardines activity at the Death Star. While playing, it rose to my attention how great architecture affects us everyday. For example, if every building was like the Death Star then god help us. Consequently, the game was also a bit frustrating -- just the thing to make my day just a bit more complicated. AND to add to my day, I fell on the stairs walking up to my dorm room and had one too many brain farts. But hey. It's a good thing to remember that one bad day could arise a million good days.
Day 5 ~ 07/15/16
ITS FINALLY FRIDAY WOOOOO!!!! Which in other words means that I survived a week of COSMOS. I had never done so much programming in my life, which only makes the urge for my school to supply exposure to programming clubs and classes just a bit stronger. It was another typical day with Robotics in the morning and Biophysics the rest. In fact, I enjoyed learning Python very very much. I'm a bit slow with programming and the logic of it all because my brain had never done code in this way as often as it would like to be able to the programs in a reasonably fast time. But, with baby steps I shall progress through this journey. It was a really interesting day, and I enjoyed it quite alot. I learned many new things and basked in the great feeling of soaking up fascinating knowledge.
I ended the day with some serious bonding with a few girls from my cluster. We ventured out throughout the beautiful Davis campus to do the scavenger hunt and played some cards (Hearts and Speed) in the grass. No matter how cheesy it may sound, it was one of those moments where you just feel that indescribable and joyous feeling of thanks for being alive in that moment. But just for some background, if I was home, I would be sitting on the couch watching Netflix being totally unproductive. So being outside and doing something other than staring at a computer screen was a like a breath of fresh air. And BY THE WAY WE WON THE SCAVENGER HUNT LIKE BOSSES. I'm a killer for competitive activities so it was very much my cup o' tea.
I ended the day with some serious bonding with a few girls from my cluster. We ventured out throughout the beautiful Davis campus to do the scavenger hunt and played some cards (Hearts and Speed) in the grass. No matter how cheesy it may sound, it was one of those moments where you just feel that indescribable and joyous feeling of thanks for being alive in that moment. But just for some background, if I was home, I would be sitting on the couch watching Netflix being totally unproductive. So being outside and doing something other than staring at a computer screen was a like a breath of fresh air. And BY THE WAY WE WON THE SCAVENGER HUNT LIKE BOSSES. I'm a killer for competitive activities so it was very much my cup o' tea.
Day 6 ~ 07/16/16
SATURDAY. Saturday was a spectacular day. I got some homework done and rewarded myself with some delicious boba tea. Just to run off tangent for a little, ShareTea is 10/10 if you haven't gone yet. I got some Honey Green Tea and the first sip was like no other. The level of happiness that boba gives me can definitely validate myself to make a whole essay about how great boba is. After some boba, our scavenger hunt team decided to finish the scavenger hunt by visiting the places we didn't get time to visit yesterday. And just to make the day even more amazing, our trip to the rec pool for dinner was an amazing time for our cluster to bond like we haven't been for the past week. It's sadly been very separated between genders so it was a great feeling to be able to eat with everybody in the grass, play some MAFIA, and some intense frisbee monkey in the middle. Considering the scorching heat that Davis had been experiencing for the past days, jumping in the water was the most satisfying feeling in the world. The day ended with a cluster hangout on Currant first floor where we danced a little, sang a little, and arm wrestled a little. In all, it was a great day and I hope there are much more days like it. I'm ending this blog post with a seriously tired press of the button and a good night! Hasta mañana.
Day 8 ~ 07/18/16
Today was such a day. I'd just like to take a moment of silence to acknowledge that I actually made some good progress on my robot today. In other words, I successfully completed the star and obstacle course!!!! WOOOHOOOOOO! Of course these accomplishments were accompanied with the dreaded moments of ultimate frustration. But with much rest from the horrendous full-day lab on Thursday, I did good. Other than lab in robotics, we learned more about Python, and the history of computers--FUN STUFF. Nothing else GREAT happened today that's worth my blogging, but I am super duper excited for the cluster olympics and our first field trip to the Exploratorium tomorrow!! So see ya tomorrow!
this is the obstacle course that I successfully completed with my robot #proud
Day 9 ~ 07/19/16
Today we took a field trip to the Exploratorium! The trip was a really fun and new experience because I had never visited before. The Exploratorium made me aware of many different things such as the subtle importance and observation of human interaction -- ranging from arguments and cooperation. The bus ride was pretty long back -- reaching 3 hours!! I took a good nap so that was some good news on the bus.
07/ 26/ 16
Today was tiring due to the fact that the whole day consisted of non-stop lab. It was full of frustration and excitement but I got some work done.
