Summer at Brown: 2009 Ivy League Connection

A weekend to Remember

2009-11-09T00:04:00.002-05:00

This pass weekend has been the most informative and fun weekend I have had in a while. I learned so much from how to have a persuasive public speech to managing my time. I also learned on how to create an elevator speech that Dean Rose taught us. The elevator speech is basically having all your information for your cause and being able to present it to someone in a timely matter.
I had a class the specifically talked about my action plan. The young ladies that taught the class gave me a lot of new ideas. I'm thinking of going into a new direction with my action plan. I'm of just focusing on getting my homework club back running then going forth with my Big Sister program. The class on managing gave me new ways on how to tackle my big projects also known as the "Big Rocks". I plan to take my new ideas and put them into effect as soon as possible.

I just want to thank the Ivy League Connection for giving me this opportunity to go back to Brown, I learned so much. I hope to share my new ideas and hopefully going back next year. I also want to thank you for trusting to travel by myself, just the travel part itself grew me up a little.

THANK YOU
-Tiffany Carter

College Student

2009-11-07T00:08:00.002-05:00

Today was such a beautiful day at Brown even though its extremely cold out here. I got up early in the morning to go to Kiana's classes which were very good. I went to her economics's class and also her french class. I was surprised that I actually understood some of the things that her economic professor was talking about. But far as her french class I did not understand what her professor was saying. I would like to thank Kiana for letting me be her shadow today, going to her classes really cleared up some things to me.

Later, I got to see all my friends from the summer program and also meet new students that came after me. I had an activity with everyone and got to listen to other peoples action plans. even some students that are enrolled into Brown now came and talked about their action plans. It got me to think about a lot of things, I'm even thinking about changing me action plan. I'm not really sure exactly what I would change it though. But hopefully I will find out by the end of this weekend.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to come back to Brown. I'm having a wonderful time.

-Tiffany Carter

Reflection take two

2009-07-11T02:11:00.002-04:00

Its seems like ions ago that i first stepped onto the campus of Brown University. In reality, its only been three weeks, yet I feel like a new person.

At the beginning of the three weeks, I was hesitant to answer questions, scared that I would be wrong. I didn't feel like I could compete with these kids who were so smart and dedicated. I was scared to ask the instructor for help, because I thought she would think I was stupid. I was scared to talk to people that I didn't already know. I was scared of being myself, because I might not impress these amazing people.

At the end of the three weeks, I find myself answering questions confidently or at least proposing possibilities when I'm unsure. I feel like I can compete with these kids, but the more important thing is, I don't have too. At Brown, people know everyone else is intelligent. People are willing to give people the chance to be interesting and engaging. Its as if people realize that they competed to get into the program, and now everyone must be there for a reason. I found myself asking the teacher for extra help, asking her for clarification. I realized that people are there to help you, people generally want to help you, but they aren't going to go out of their way to give it to you. I realized you have to ask for help, and its okay to ask for help—its a sign of intelligence, not weakness. I find myself introducing myself to strangers, just because its a more interesting way to live.

This is what I can bring back to El Cerrito— the confidence to be myself. So many students don't ask questions, or don't try because its the cool thing to do. People who don't do work are rebels. People who ask for help are losers. But that's not really the case. Everyone at Brown was open about their shortcomings, they were open about not understanding things, they were open about asking for help. If El Cerrito High could develop a culture like this, I can only see positive changes coming about.

The Ivy League Connection has given me this amazing opportunity to become a new person. It has given me the opportunity to struggle, to fight, and to conquer. Also, it has reminded me that just because the WCCUSD doesn't have the best reputation, it still has people who care about the students, who want them to succeed, and will do everything possible to help them (even when we don't feel like we're being helped).

I'd like to thank everyone who has made my time at Brown (and Cornell) possible. It has been a life changing opportunity for me, and I sincerely hope you will continue to make this experience available for students in our district. And in twenty years, you can sit back and relax, while we take over the show.

Because I can assure you, we're going to be a big deal.

Each and every one of us.

Its been fun,
Joseph Young

Impact.

2009-07-11T01:11:00.002-04:00

This summer has meant a lot to me. Maybe it's too early to say that because it's only been the first month but if the rest of my summer goes like my experience at Brown, I wouldn't have the words to describe it.

My summer at Brown has been a growing experience. I've learned so much about myself and what I'm looking for in a college. I feel like I've learned so much these past three weeks. I learned things like I like a college that is about the size of Brown. I need classes to have a lower teacher to student ratio. I like being close to big towns. I would never have learned these things, had it not been for the ILC. I thought I would like bigger classes, and a campus like UC Berkeley but it turns out that I don't.

Where would I have been without the ILC? Would I even have thought of schools like Brown? Without the impact of the ILC in my life, I would be at home right now, sitting around and doing nothing with my summer. I doubt I would be trying new things everyday like I am here at Brown or meeting any of the great people that I've met here. Thanks to the ILC, I've been able to experience life in the fast lane on the east coast. It is unlike life on the west coast, that's for sure.

I went to the University of Pennsylvania last year and the two experiences can not be more different. The campuses, the environments and the cities are totally different. UPenn was a busy city, integrated into Philedelphia. Everybody was always busy, always doing something. Brown is more relaxed, located in Providence. The streets aren't as busy and the campus is really beautiful. I had a good time at UPenn because there was always something to do, but I found that at Brown, you had a lot more time to yourself and to your friends. Our class at Brown was only 3 hours, as opposed to the 6 hours at UPenn so that definitely plays a role in the amount of free time we had. But overall, I think I can honestly say that I like Brown more because I can see myself going here in the fall of 2010. The people here are dedicated to learning, which is what I admire the most.

Thanks to the ILC, I've gained a better sense of self. I've learned more about myself by getting out of my comfort zone and I would definitely encourage others to do the same. I want my friends to get the same experience that I am getting and I want them to benefit from it like I did. I want to inspire them to go places, like I'm sure they can if they put their minds to it. This is all thanks to the ILC. So, thank you all for your generosity, your caring hearts and your devoted attention. Thank you.

Good-Bye Brown

2009-07-11T00:42:00.002-04:00

The time has just flown by, we're all packed and ready to leave tomorrow afternoon. I have gained so much from this experience, more then I'd think I could attain in just three weeks. I mean it was a similar experience as last year, but that extra week just makes it feel more lasting. I feel that I have truly grown a lot and learned to become more independent. Like they say, the bird has finally left the nest. Even though I'll come back, I know what it's like to be out there without my parents.

Independence is a key quality for students how attend colleges far away from home. You can't go home and have mom cook for you; you're on your own. I'm able to say that I can handle being away and can depend on myself. Being in this program has changed me for the better. That's what every student needs, a little independence. Without it they won't be able to survive. I think that is what holds some students, in my school, to nearby Universities instead of Ivy Leagues and colleges on the East Coast. They have to know that it's okay to be on their own, and all of the students in the ILC are perfect examples. We all have to reach out and get the timid students to step out of their comfort zones, so they can see that there are other choices out there.

Multiple students enter college without ever having the chance to experience the college life. I was in the Introduction to Psychology and human Behavior class, and let me tell you, we didn't have regular high school reading. I think the hardest part for most students is the jump from regular high school to the rigorous college work. Being at Brown gave me the opportunity to see just how big of a jump it would be, I mean I'm sure there was more homework to it, but it was definitely a different amount of reading. College life isn't only the homework, it' being able to balance our time and living in dorms, you just have to be multi-talented. Living in the dorms gave me a look at how close everyone gets and just how hectic it gets when five people want to shower at the same time. But it's in the dorms where you bond with others and learn to depend on them in one way or the other. The most difficult part is learning to balance your time between work and social events. At first it was really hard to adjust to, but once I got it down I was able to do a lot more. That's just what's so great about living on a college campus, you get to see into the future and gain skills that you have otherwise.

I was given the opportunity to change and become a better person, whether it was becoming independent or living the college life. Now I want to go back and make sure my peers are aware of this program and the wonders it can do for you! It would be like I was mentoring them in some way. Everyone is capable of doing anything if they are given a chance, and that's what students at Richmond High need, a chance. And of course with the help of programs like the ILC they will be able to succeed. Thank you everyone who has made this trip possible. I am extremely grateful; I've learned so much more then I would have at Richmond High. It also opened my eyes to all these colleges which is just as good as the UCs, I'm very proud to say that I have been there and done that. Thank you once again!

Knowledge

2009-07-11T00:02:00.002-04:00

There was definitely lots of knowledge to be gained this past week.

Coming to the East Coast for the first time I did not know what I had coming.
Being the top student in all my science class in RHS has my confidence way up high, and Brown did a great job in bringing me down to reality. Like I said before it was a slap in the face. This definitely hit my confidence hard but I did not let my lack of resources stop me. I read each chapter twice before and after the lecture, asked the TA's for extra help and of coarse asked Dean Thompson for help. I believe that I learned more in these past three weeks than I did in a year in my freshman biology class.

Coming to Brown really changed my way of thinking, writing, drawing, and viewing things. Now whenever I see certain things I relate them back to science like when I look at tie die I see compact bone, when I see jeans I think of muscle stritations, and now I cannot look at cats the same way I used to.

Dean Thompson definitely filled up my brain with much useful knowledge. She not only thought us Histology but she also helped us improve our public speaking skills, our research skills, and she helped us learn try to apply what we learn in class to the outside world.

This coming year I am confident that I will do so much better in school because of this experience. I became more studious by getting into the habit of taking notes in class, doing HW right after I got to my dorm, and because this course challenged me I will not complain about how "hard" the class work is.

I will most definitely share my experience with other students who are going to attend pre-college programs but I will also share it with those who are interested in attending college. Because yes its going to challenge you and yes you will have a hard time but in the end it is all worth while because you work harder hence you learn more.

The Experience...

2009-07-11T00:01:00.000-04:00

...doesn't end right here.

There are still tons of things that are going on that will add to what's happened in the last few weeks - college apps mostly. After going through two summers of hard coursework, great people, and new insights, there are a ton of experiences that can be shared and should be shared so that everyone can also get the most out of the college search.

The last 3 weeks have been growing experiences for me - well I'm only 17, I should be growing in everything I do. This year, I've been able to maintain that relaxed atmosphere of summer, but still find challenges in classwork and in college searches. Like I've said in previous posts, I've got a pretty good idea of what I like and dislike in a college, and I'm able to use those tastes to discern and identify colleges that would provide a good learning environment for me. After all, everyone is after one thing: Knowledge.

The college search is like a cryptogram. They all have the same message, "Knowledge," but each school has a different cipher, a different way of encoding that message. Some code it through a core curriculum, some code it through freedom of choice. Some present it as intense academia, some present it as vibrant social scenes. In all these cases, the code may seem arduous and imposing to decipher, but we all have our own "key" which can decode the message they're trying to send. That key is an accumulation of personal experiences, of hopes and dreams, of failures and tears, of frustration, of peace; each is a unique solution to the cipher. Our key may work faster or easier at cracking the one code than another, and maybe their will be a school which we can un-mystify immediately.

But the only way to really know which college is good for us is to look into who we are as a person and make a decision based on what we want. Although prestige is something that when given a passing glance, can make or break the decision whether or not to apply to a school, it's not everything. If someone wants to apply based on prestige, go for it, they can't go wrong with a big name school in terms of education. But after meeting with Mercedes today over lunch to talk about admissions, I believe that to get the most knowledge out of an institution, one must be proactive in that quest for knowledge and learn about the school before applying there. There are too many cases of students applying to 10+ schools because they all have good *fill in the blank* programs. And in the end, when they get into some of these schools, they realize that most of the schools they had applied to, if they knew more about them, they would never want to go to.

In the end, for myself, I don't want to turn burnout doing college apps. From learning about the mistakes of others and combined with the positive experiences I've had, I'm going to be starting early on apps, not applying to too many schools, not adding a school to the list because it "sounds good" or because "I might at least try"; I'm pretty set on only applying to the schools that I want to go to. I want to avoid the mishaps that comes from not having a clue about what I'll be doing, and I want to make sure the people around me don't do anything ridiculous either.

My Reflection

2009-07-10T23:28:00.002-04:00

I cannot believe I only have hours before I board the plane to return home. As I look back on these three past weeks, I realize how much I have grown. Originally, I didn’t think my lifestyle here at Brown would be as different as it was at UPenn last year. But boy, was I wrong!

Last summer, we had a morning lecture from 9 am to 12 pm and an afternoon lab from 1 pm to around 4 pm. Although class was so long, our professor rarely gave us homework until we neared the end of the program. This year was completely different. My Introduction to Psychology and Human Behavior course was only three hours long, from 10 am to 1 pm. We were also required to send in a reflection email to our TAs in addition to the couple hours of reading each night. Since my homework was extremely time consuming, I was forced to find a balance between school and leisure. Although it was always tempting to take part in some of the activities that were offered, like kickboxing or yoga, I knew class had to be my number one priority.

Another difference was that I had a roommate this time! Last year, I felt it was great having a room to myself because of all the space I was given, but at the same time it was so lonely. Thus, I was bursting with excitement when I learned I would actually have a roommate with me at Brown. The first night was a bit awkward since it was the first time either of us had to share a room with someone else. Honestly, I a part of me was afraid I would not be able to live with a complete stranger for three weeks, let alone an entire year. However, I’m glad to say we’ve grown to be so comfortable around each other. I learned it just takes a little give and take. We’ve learned to live with each other and we’ve pretty much created a routine here. I must say, it’s definitely going to be a little difficult to go home for the first few days and not have Kim there to talk to.

One of the most important qualities one should have is independence. Because of ILC, I can now say I have this characteristic. Last year, I was forced to be independent. I had to wake up on time, do my own laundry, and walk to the cafeteria to get my own food. There was no one to be by my side to count on or fix my mistakes. I could only rely on myself. This year was no different. And I survived! After being on my own for four weeks last summer and three weeks this summer, I know I will be able to take on the challenge in college.

I've also learned about what I am looking for in a college. Before this summer, I was completely lost when it came to picking the best college for me and I was dreading the fact that I needed to decide which schools to apply for. Now, I at least have an idea of what I want. I learned that I like the idea of smaller class sizes and I like living in a city or at least near one. Without ILC, I would probably be at home still wondering which schools I should apply to and I'd probably settle for a college I don't even like.

I'll be coming home from this three-week journey as a new person and I have ILC to thank. Thus, I'd like to end by saying thank you to everyone who has made this experience possible. To Mr. Ramsey, Ms. Kronenberg, Mr. Gosney, and all the gracious sponsors, thank you so much for your support and for believing in all of us! I will forever be grateful for all the opportunities I've been given due to this program.

My Brown Journey

2009-07-10T22:48:00.003-04:00

When I first got to Brown two weeks ago I was so nervous, I didn't know what to do with myself. I was fresh off the plane, didn't know to much about the area, and really didn't have no one to talk to besides the other kids in ILC, who I never hung out with. Then when I got to my dorm it was so scary because no one was there not even my RA, the whole building seemed empty. I was so ready to go home but the next day came and that's when everything started happening. The next day was when everybody started showing up and I got to meet new friends. As the week went on I started embracing all new ideas from so many different sides, I became more responsible, and a better leader.

I think my class was the best class at Brown this summer because we had so much fun learning about the Civil Rights Movement whether it was through song, class discussions, speakers we had come to our class, or the documentaries we watched. I would talk about all the incredible things Ive learned but you've all heard it from my other blogs. Overall it was a great class thanks to Branice and Kristain who were my teachers.

From this pre-college program I found out my strenghts,weaknesses, and what type of leader I am. And with this information I plan to apply it to my action plan which is a Big Sister program. I will work with girls from the ages of 10-14 years. And I will help them with their homework,teach them manners, take them to nice placess, and make sure I spend a lot of quality time with them. The program will be based out of my church, Great St.Paul Missionary Baptists Church in Oakland,Ca. As I start to expand in my program I'm going to get some of my friends to help me and two girls will be assigned to each mentor. Then we will meet at least twice a month to do an update of every girl and just have girl talk. I'm going to try to get the program up and going by the end of the year.

Before I go I want to say thank you to ILC and all the sponsors because without you guys none of this would have been possible. And you really touched and inspired my life.

THANK YOU

-Tiffany Carter

The End

2009-07-10T22:26:00.003-04:00

Today was my last day of class and we watched Across the Universe. Although I don't really like musicals, the movie was actually pretty good. The majority of the events that happened in the sixties were portrayed in the film. What I didn't like about the movie was that the transition from scene to scene was very weird and confusing. The movie didn't really flow.

After the movie we discussed the sixties and the forties and fifties as well. We talked about how the problems and concerns in the forties and fifties were mostly voiced in the sixties. We recapped the forties with conversation about post-war anxieties revolving around atomic bombs. Then we discussed the fifties in correspondence with its prosperity, nuclear family ideals, and McCarthyism. We gathered all these quick summaries and saw how they were brought out in the sixties with nuclear family ideals turning into the Women's Right Movement and how McCarthyism became anti-McCarthyism for the counter-culture and anti-war protesters.

Overall, the title of my class: Decades of Change, was very fitting because these three decades made the platform for how America is today and without those three decades, I really wonder what America would be like. I really enjoyed my class and I learned A LOT of interesting facts that I didn't learn in school. I am very glad that I decided to take this course. I would definitely recommend this course for future ILC students who are incoming seniors because they will learn so much that they didn't learn in class. When I arrive back home and tell of my experience, I will say that this was definitely a great opportunity for me because I was able to learn more facts about those three important decades in American history and that I had the chance to take this course at an Ivy League school!

Being at Brown helped me realize what school will best fit me and although Brown is no longer at the top of my list, I am thankful that being here helped me realize that. I look forward to the college application process later on this year and hope that my first choices: Stanford and Columbi, will accept me. The ILC has made a big difference in my life and hopefully many more students will have this great opportunity that I did.

My Action Plan/ What Im Going To Bring Back

2009-07-10T21:46:00.002-04:00

When I first got to Brown numerous things went through my mind. Who am I going to meet? What can these people possibly teach me? Am I good enough to be here. And after this course I found out the answer to all those questions. The people I met her are wonderful people who are very social and people with whom I would like to keep in touch with forever. My teachers Nell and Nora taught me a lot of things about myself that I didn't even know. They taught me how to be a leader most importantly. If I want change, I have to go out there and get it. If I think something is unjust, I should fight for what I think is right. That's why when I get back to California I want to build on my group called the Brown Bears and make it more global. I want to not only be able to help struggling kids in my community out, but also struggling kids around the country. So here is my action plan explaining everything I learned since I have been here, and not only do I want to thank Brown for allowing me to learn, but also for my mom, the Ivy League Connection Staff, Ms. Lamons, and all who helped me get to where I am today and for shaping me up into who i'm going to be in the future.

My thoughts/ Action Plan:
Part 1- Why It’s Important to me.

Before I came here I didn’t always have good grades. I began falling behind my junior year, and my grades began declining. I was always so focused on sports and tried spending all my time trying to be the best, and I didn’t notice that I was getting a 2.7 my junior year. This started becoming a problem for me because I was getting yelled at by my mom, and my coach who knew I could get better grades, I just wasn’t balancing my time. Then one day a teacher that I didn’t even know saw me struggling and submitted my name for a group called the Ivy League Connection. Never in my life have I ever dreamed of going to an Ivy League school. The Ivy League Connection required me get my grades up and strive harder in school if I wanted to go to the Summer at Brown program. “This is a chance that you can’t pass up”, said my mom and my coach, “a chance of a lifetime”. This made me think, sports isn’t everything. I then started focusing more on school and my grades went up from a 2.8 my 3rd quarter of my junior year to a 3.6-3.7 the 4th quarter. This all happened because someone pushed me to strive harder and helped me realize my full potential, and that’s what I want to do for other kids.

Part 2- Starting the Action Plan
Months ago I created a group called the Brown Bears because I was inspired by, not only the Ivy League Connection, but also by the Black Panthers. The Black Panthers showed that they fought for what they wanted and what they thought was right for not only themselves, but for others. I created the Brown Bears, a completely student run organization, for the sake of my peers. I noticed that kids were beginning to not care about their education and started giving up and saying things like “I will amount to nothing in life anyway”, or, “what’s the point?, It’s not like it matters”. But the thing was, their grades did matter. High school grades decide what college you will go to, and that will decide your future. So my kind of “alternative gang”-- the Brown Bears-- helps kids find special opportunities and programs, such as Summer at Brown, that they can apply for and do, and we also help each other with homework and discuss community problems and gang violence. I started the Brown Bears specifically because I know way too many people that are on the streets selling drugs, are in gangs, or are having trouble getting good grades in school. The group meets every Saturday so that kids know that they don’t need gangs to resort to when they have us, the Brown Bears, who treat each other like family and like to help each other out, no matter what the problem.

Part 3- Resources/ Going Global
When I help people that decide to be in the Brown Bears, they have to be willing to help themselves first. So far we have about 20 people in the Brown Bears and counting, but if I could get my school to help out then I know there would be more. Kids at my school are always looking for opportunities to get somewhere in life whether it be scholarships, programs, tutoring, as long as it benefits them in the long run. That’s why I would like to inform my school about the Brown Bears so that teachers, counselors, and fellow high school students can help out too. I’m sure that the tutoring part would go better if we had actual teachers with degrees in certain subjects and counselors that can give me information about scholarships and programs that I can spread the word about. I am also in Forensics Speech and Debate and AASU, so I could use those and talk about the Brown Bears as one of my speeches. The other resources I need are: money for some trips to colleges, an actual meeting place instead of the bookstore or park (especially if this organization gets big), flyers, and people who are willing to spread the word. The way I would get these resources are simply by asking teachers to be involved with the Brown Bears, and start fundraisers and tell parents and adults about what the Brown Bears do. At my school, only a hand full of students knew about the Summer At Brown program, but when I told them they were interested, but it was too late. This is bad because students should be informed about the many opportunities around them and they should all have a chance to be involved inside or outside their communities. The targets of my program are high school students because I want to help them reach their full potential and be a well-rounded student because that’s what colleges really look for. I not only want my high school to know about this, but also high schools around the world. I already talked to some high school students in New York about starting a New York Brown Bear chapter. My timeline for this project is infinitesimal. I want to keep helping kids grow as long as I live because I don’t want them resorting to drugs, gangs, or giving up, just because they have it hard. There is always an alternative to things, and I want to keep kids thinking that they actually can make it in life, and I want them all to realize that the dreams that they have could be achieved. I accept anyone who is willing to help my cause, as long as it benefits those in the program. Even though I am going to be busy and have a lot on my plate, I will still be able to meet with kids on the weekends or some weekdays after school when I don’t have football so this will be organized on and off campus. I spread the word all the time through phone calls, texts, telling kids at school, MySpace, and even Facebook. The only challenges I could possibly face is money because not enough kids have money to go on trips or can pay for certain activities that I might have such as a getting together and having a potluck, or even playing sports together to keep people active. That’s why I am going to try and ask parents, teachers such as Ms. Lamons, and Mr. Wilson, asking my school, other schools and even other people in power to donate money for the Brown Bears program. I will try to individually ask parents and teachers one by one at a place that’s best for them and tell them about the Brown Bears.I know I will overcome this now though because the social change program, teachers, and speakers, taught me that you don’t need to start off with power or a lot of money to be a leader, you just need to find people who believe in your cause and are willing to help you.

Game over.

2009-07-10T20:55:00.006-04:00

The morning started off with heartfelt goodbyes and hugs. As for us, well, we dully walked to the cafeteria passing all the early departures and I could not help but feel sadden by this. These past three weeks have been a blessing. I am blessed to have such a wonderful opportunity to experience life in the Ivy League. It has changed different aspects of my life in various ways.

Before EVER coming to Brow, at all, I was naive to the world outside of the Bay Area. (Did you notice I said Bay Area, not California? Well it is the truth because most of the low-income community are located in the Bay.) Up until last summer, I was merely focused on getting accepted to UC Berkeley and completely closed off my options but then the Ivy League Connection came and reopened the gateway.

I was a timid and quiet girl who kept to myself. I would normally hate to step outside of my comfort zone for fear of the unknown. When I was offered the opportunity to attend Summer@Brown, I admit I was reluctant. I already had plans for the summer of 2008 and I was in no way prepared to go across the country. However, something inside of me was urging me to go and I guess that urge led me down the right path. I was never really challenged in school whatsoever, and that summer, I came to conclude that I have met my challenge, Brown.

I was aware that I was surrounded by people with wealth. However, when days dragged on, I figured that the best thing to do is put aside the differences in family income and instead focus on the assigned task. I have learned to associate with people from different cultures. People are human beings and that is a fact. We all think and feel emotions so one's background should not change the fact that we are more alike than we think.

This summer, I was lucky enough to go back to Brown. I had the choice to apply to other Ivy League schools but I chose Brown because I know for certain that it is capable of challenging me. Just like last summer, Brown challenged me to take on more leadership roles and responsibility. I have learned how to maintain my time and to set my priorities. Prioritizing. That is a skill that I have gained from this experience and it will surely help me a great deal in the future.

I have learned so much through this experience that I cannot imagine life without it. The memories that have been built here at Brown will forever remain.

Final Words

2009-07-10T14:00:00.002-04:00

It is Friday of my last week here at summer@Brown. I had such a fun time here, but I have to be honest and say that I am ready to go back home. I have been a bit homesick, but I did not let that get in the way of my exploring of Brown University. I have taken advantage of all the activities offered to do here at Brown. For example, I went to watch two independent films on Wednesday night and Thursday night. One was Jesus Camp which I do not want to spoil, but do recommend it and the other was Best in Show recommended for those whom enjoy a little comedy. Apart from the cinema entertainments I went to the Brown college Fair composed of 125 universities and colleges from around the country. I got so many catalogs, brochures, and admissions information. It was a great opportunity for me to look at different schools and have some one there from the schools to tell me about it and answer any questions I had.

This morning I had my last class of Intro to Psych. It ended in a pretty fun way, I have to say. We all got to see each other's final projects most of which were photo collages. We also ended with a personalty test in which I got categorized as an Idealist. Also the very last thing we did was play Jeopardy which contained all the information we had learned during our three week course. It was so much fun, my team won by 50 points all thanks to the final Jeopardy question.

I have gotten to say goodbye to those that are and did leave Brown today. And now I have to head back to prepare my luggage for my trip across the country back home to where I can share all my experiences with everyone I see.

So Long, Mercedes M.

Week Reflection.

2009-07-10T02:28:00.003-04:00

Much of this week’s reading and lecturing revolved around one thing: our society. Our generation is very different from the previous generations and in our discussion group, we attributed this to many reasons ranging from peer pressure to advancing technology. I feel like this week was devoted to studying the patterns in the youth today and why we act the way we do.

Our lecture topic on Monday was a study of “The American Life on Pot.” It was interesting because we heard about someone who actually turned their life around from being a real addict. Most people stick with pot because of reasons like peer pressure or because it helps them relax. The reason I thought this was interesting is because people who are addicted to pot usually don’t turn around from it without something as drastic as an intervention party. The change that he made in his life was remarkable. I took away from this that self-reflection is very important. Awareness is something that we must always strive to have. This point also correlates with the reading that we talked about in discussion group that day. In our society today, we seem to lack awareness in our relationships. The “hook-up culture” only seems to be interested in relationships for the purpose of self-gratification or social status. I believe that if we were more aware of ourselves and the people around us, we would be more modest and thoughtful about how we affect each other by doing things like hooking-up. Why do we hook up? Why do we smoke pot? I believe the reasons are correlated. We do these things in our search for attention, acceptance and in our search for ourselves.

On Tuesday, we talked about cognitive science, which is the study of human behavior or human intelligence. We focused mainly on development and memory. It was interesting to listen about this because it reiterated the fact that childhood was important. When we talked about advertising in the discussion group that day, it was easy to see the link between the two and why advertising nowadays may be detrimental to the youth today. I don’t think advertising to young people before they are fully developed is right. The reason I say this is because I feel like it really hinders growth and individuality. What are kids suppose to do when media is telling them left and right what is correct and what is wrong? When will they learn how to develop their own opinions? This is a major difference between today’s society and the society 30 years ago. We are constantly surrounded by advertisement and people who want to change our opinion whereas before, it was really easy to get away from all of that. I don’t want to say that we should separate kids from media altogether but I feel like advertisements can very often be a negative influence. I feel like this may be dangerous to us because we are engulfed and overwhelmed by it all. I’m afraid because we have learned to depend on advertisement for the latest gadgets and the coolest toys. We listen to them and trust them. Is this wise?

I thought Wednesday was the most interesting lecture day out of this whole summer session. We talked about psychotherapy both in the lecture and in discussion. I thought this was all interesting because I got to learn more about myself as a person while listening to this lecture. Listening and learning about transference really struck me personally. I thought about how this also plays a role in our society today. It is no secret that family life is slowly deteriorating in our society. I say this because of divorce rates today and how many kids complain about how many problems their family has. If this is the case, this must make relationships in the future very hard because according to Freud, our future relationships pattern after our first relationships. In a time when family life was stronger, people built stronger relationships and things like hooking-up were not as common. This may not be causation but it does seem like a correlation. Does this mean now that family life is deteriorating, things like hooking-up will be more common? This does seem to be the trend so maybe we aren’t to blame; maybe media doesn’t play as big of a role that I had originally thought; and maybe it really the fault of our parents.

This summer session has been interesting. I found that this week tied together really well and I’ve been giving our lectures, discussions and readings some serious thought. Everything inspires me to think more about our society and the problems with which the youth are faced with today. We are faced with a different set of troubles than what people were faced with years before and therefore, we are forced to deal with them in a different way. I can’t imagine a society where technology wasn’t prevalent because that’s the type of society we live in today. Therefore, we, the younger generation, need to evaluate our surroundings objectively and decide how to handle this. How are we supposed to deal with the “hooking-up culture” and peer pressure? How will we handle advertisement and media? How will we treat future relationships? These are all questions we need to think about for ourselves; I know I have.

Our Days at Brown are coming to an End

2009-07-10T01:29:00.001-04:00

I can't believe time passed by so quickly, it seemed like just yesterday that I was moving into my room and anticipating my roommate. While I was busy being homesick, I didn't notice how quickly the three weeks flew by, now I regret not doing as much as I could have. It's so sad to see everyone packing up and getting ready to leave, luckily not everyone is leaving till Saturday. In the last couple of days class has been getting easy, all that was left to do was our final project. As you can tell, the atmosphere around here is winding down.

Today I we attended the college fair, and it was packed with tons of people! It was the longest line I've seen in awhile, going all the way to the back of the building! It was even crazier inside; it was held in the gym and there were a lot of colleges there. At every table you'd see a flock of students hovering over the representative. I found out so much about all of these different colleges, and even some that I've never heard of! I feel that if there were less students, then my time there would have been a whole lot better. I mean I did learn a lot about multiple colleges, I could have learned more if there weren't hundreds of other kids trying to get their attention.

Tomorrow is the last day to bond, then they're all off! I really wish I had more time here. I'm also really excited to meet the admissions officer for our area tomorrow! I hope to take in a lot of information from her too! Well I'm off to bed and maybe I'll pack a little more, it's going to be a tiring day!

Well, It's Here

2009-07-10T01:06:00.002-04:00

My floor right now is having a party! One last fun event before everyone heads back home. I'm going to miss the guys on my floor 'cause we've all grown really tight since the first day. It'll be weird having to send everyone off cause I'll be leaving on Saturday while most people are leaving Friday.

Currently, it's too hectic to be able to sum up what happened. People are packing, saying good byes, dancing, singing, keeping people awake, etc. Stuff you do when there's only so little time left.

More later....

Coming to an End...

2009-07-09T23:51:00.002-04:00

It's finally hit me that I'm leaving in two days! I've already turned in my last reading reaction email and paper and had my last floor meeting. And I just finished my final reflection. I can't believe this experience is about to come to an end. My roommate, Kim, and I recently talked about how we're just getting used to our routines and now we have to leave. Of course I'm going to love being back at home with my own room surrounded by my friends and family, but I'm truly going to miss my time here at Brown.

Anyways, today after dinner, I went to the college fair at the OLMAC. The line just to get into the building was enormous! It was even more hectic once I finally got into the gym. There were stations circling around the indoor track and several people trying to push their way through the crowd. As I was approaching the track, I didn't know where to begin. Unfortunately, I only had about an hour to go to the different stations and the colleges I wanted to see (like Columbia) had massive amounts of people around the table. Thus, I decided to look at the smaller colleges that weren't getting as much notice. One college I learned about, College of Mount Saint Vincent, is near New York City and supposedly has a great nursing program. I'm not sure if I want to apply to this school, so I'll need to do a bit more research to see if it's right for me. Overall, the college fair went well and I was able to look at a few colleges I never even heard of. I'm definitely glad I went to the college fair in St. Mary's last April since I had more time and more chances to speak to the college representatives.

Final goodbyes && college fair

2009-07-09T23:39:00.003-04:00

Today was dean Thompson's last day :(
We went to the green house and learned about medicinal plants which was very interesting. We got to see the plants, smell them, and learn about what they do.
In the afternoon we had a guest lecture on Diets. Not as in loose weight diets, but eat healthy and keep a normal weight diet.

College Fair!
Wow it took Mercedes and I about 2 and a half hours to go all the way around the gym asking questions at most tables. The line was huge! We waited about an hour in total to get in!
My Favorite colleges from the tables that we went to were: Albertus Magnus College and Stonehill College.
Apart from the fact that Carey Schmidt doing an excellent job in explaining the school I really liked the fact that the school is really strong in many different areas specially in science! I also liked that SAT scores don't matter too much. I liked Stonehill for similar reasons. It is optional to send in your SAT scores and they are looking for students who are strong in academics but also have other activities that they do.

Overall summer @ Brown was an incredible experience! I learned that even though I don't want to attend Brown I did get to visit other schools that are at the top of my list like Wellesley. This was something that was truly life changing and I appreciate all the hard work that many people did in order for me and other students from wccud to attend pre-college programs.

One Busy Thursday ...

2009-07-09T20:39:00.002-04:00

These past two days have been hectic for me. I have been rushing to finish my final weekly reaction paper and my reflection project. I still have yet to finish my reflection project. However, I did find time to attend the college fair. Boy, was that a LONG line. When I say long, I mean LONGGG! The line was nearly stretched out among two blocks, possibly more! We heard from some people that they had been waiting for an hour and a half. That is absurd. Luckily for us, we did not have to wait that long.

When we did get into the gym, I was in for a shock. It was crowded with hundreds of people from all over. There were a bunch of tables set up and colleges around. I did not know where to start at all so I started from Reed and went down the road from there. It was catastrophic in that gym; there were too many people and too little space. However, I did learn some interesting stuff and I even across schools that I never heard of. I was disappointed that we were unable to get into a deep conversation with the representatives because there was just too many people waiting to speak with them so they kind of had to push us aside. Other than that, I think the college fair was a big success.

As for myself, I have been thinking about this whole experience. How can I bring what I have learned here back to my community? Well, I can almost guarantee that if we were ever to have an enormous college fair like this at Richmond, there would not be as much people. Therefore, I was shocked how many people cared and took time off of their day to attend this college fair. I hope that I can go back to Richmond High and inform students about the various opportunities out there. I will try to motivate people to think about college and go beyond high school. The conversation about the CAHSEE test at the dinner have encouraged me to stand up and help my peers who needs help in this area. I know a number of students who are unable to pass the CAHSEE. I do not want any of my friends to be denied the right to graduate and walk the stage just because they could not pass this test so I want to help as best I can. I will even offer tutoring assistance. I will do this by incorporating the leadership skills I gained from coming to Brown last summer and from what I have learned this summer. I will combine both of these experiences at Brown and implement it in my school, community, and home.

The longest lab

2009-07-09T02:11:00.002-04:00

Today was an exhausting day. I woke up feeling more tired than usual, even though I'd gotten more sleep. Then, I went to the lab.

I got to the lab at nine am, and finally finished us for the day after six. We started working on cloning our DNA into a vector.

We had to design the procedure ourselves. I'm the only one in my class following the same procedure, because most of them chose an easier, less reliable method.Because of this however, I was able to get a few minutes alone with the instructor. She is still working on her degree, and is researching methylation patterns in an animals. However, she doesn't want to do research. She wants to help bridge the gap between lay people and scientists, so that the everyday person knows why a doctor is doing something, or understand the studies in the news. She wants to help people get informed. She also loves Kurt Vonnegut, a sympathy I don't share.

When I finally got out of the lab, I was very pleased by how the lab went, despite a few setbacks. Hopefully everything goes well so I can get some of my DNA sequenced.

Until then,Joseph Young

Close The End Of The Road

2009-07-08T22:54:00.004-04:00

Today in class we had another guest speaker, who happens to be one of my teachers cousin. Her name is Kathleen Mosley and she was a good friend of Stokely Carmichael.She just talked about his life and his different views on things, especially about the civil rights movement.From the stories she told it sounded like he was a powerful and well spoken person. You can really tell that he really stood for what he believed and he took it personal when things wouldn't go right. Like the riots in 1967, he felt like that was his fault that they were doing that even though it wasn't. Also he really wanted to get back to his roots so he went to Africa and help out there. And later he actually moved to Africa and lived there up until he got sick with cancer. This is a picture of him below.

Then later on in class we watched a video called "American Blackout." It basically talked about the 2000 and 2004 elections. Like how Bush cheated and how a Georgia congress woman by the name of Cynthia McKinney tried to tell America the truth. Then she talked about how Bush knew about the 9/11 attacks before they even happen. The media started changing her words and made it seem like she was a bad and that she didn't know what she was talking about. Shortly after when it was time for her to run for office again the republican party planted an African-American woman to run against her so they could get all the African-Americans to vote for them. She lost that election because she was manipulated and also the voters were too manipulated.

The video is so surprising and interesting I recommend that you watch it.

-Tiffany Carter

P.S. I did try to upload a picture of todays speaker but it did not work.

College Q&A

2009-07-08T19:42:00.004-04:00

I finally got the chance to ask all the questions about Brown to Dean Thompson. I also got to hear what my classmates had to ask. We talked about admission, PLME, majors, and classes.
What does it take to get into Brown?
- Demographics
- Athletics
- Ethnicity (mention, but not emphasize)
- Legacy (it helps if your parent is an alumni of the school sometimes.

Does Early Action help?
- It show commitment, but it is hard to tell whether it helps or not.

What are some examples of what works and what doesn't work?
- Don't make up stuff that you think will impress the college, be yourself and talk about what is interesting to you, what is real about you (does not have to be activities)

Are letters of recommendation important?
- Yes! If you want to add another letter you can send a supplementary letter (must state something diff. or special that no one else can say, does not have to be from a school teacher). Teachers that you have known for a long time should write your letter of recommendation.

Do people who get wait listed have a chance in getting into the school?
- no one from the wait list ever gets in.
These are the questions that I found to be the most interesting.

Today my group and I got to present our career project on Biotechnology. Other students presented theirs as well. The career that I found to be most interesting was the patent attorney because it combines the law career with science. We had a class discussion on whether companies should be able to put a patent on genes or not which was very interesting.

Final Days of Psych

2009-07-08T16:43:00.003-04:00

On a usual day in our Introduction to Psychology class we have an hour of lecture, then an hour of discussion with our groups based on reading assignments from the day before, then we reconvene in class to another hour of lecture or presentations given by groups of students. Being the last week of our course, today was the last day in which we would gather in our discussion groups. It was a good experience for me to be able to read for homework and come back to a class in which everyone had done the reading and was ready to have a productive conversation. I would love it if my classes back in Richmond were this productive and maybe when I get back I can meet with students and make my own discussion group.
Today we also got to see the last of the student presentations. There were two of them, one on the theory of intelligence and the other on defense mechanisms.
We have also had the last of or reading or writing assignments. We are now to focus on our class' final project which can be anything from an essay to a photography collage. I have chosen to draw out the many places in which I spend my summer at Brown. I have been taking these sunny days to sit outside and draw a few buildings.
Even though we are leaving Rhode Island on Saturday I will have with me my memories, photographs, and drawings.
Mercedes Montelongo,
Only three days left

Cutting.

2009-07-08T07:53:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, the disorder of the day was cutting. I felt this was an important topic to discuss since many of us know people who cut and may have even done it ourselves. From the moment we got our syllabus, I couldn't wait for this day because I felt we needed to talk about this subject. As a class, we made a list of the reasons why people start to cut. A few points on our list were:

release of anger
punish themselves
revenge & self pity
a way to control something in their lives
attention seeking
addicting
aggressive apathy

We then went on to making a list of what parents might have done to cause their children to cut. Some of the possibilities we came up with were:

parents busy
parents not getting along
promoting guilt
high control

In order to treat a person who cuts, Dr. J said the most important thing to do is listen carefully. I was a bit disappointed with this lecture only because I wanted it to last longer. I wanted to discuss more about the disorder because when I go back home, I want to be able to help someone who is cutting in any way I can.

When I go home, I want to share my experience with everyone I know. However, this is not limited to the knowledge I've gained about Brown and the other colleges I visited on this trip. Because of this psychology course, I want to use the information I learned and help someone if he has issues with cutting, depression, or an eating disorder. I know I won't be as useful as a therapist, but I think I can assist by simply listening.

Advertisement.

2009-07-08T01:38:00.001-04:00

They’re brainwashing us!

“It’s part of what we cherish most about friendships. And that’s precisely why the marketers are so keenly interested in them.”

In psychology, we've discussed about how the advertisers work. It was very interesting to read about. I knew that advertising was getting more invasive but I had no idea. Reading about it showed me how it’s actually a lot more sophisticated and sneaky then I thought it was. Advertisers get paid to figure out new ways to get into people’s heads. I never thought that subliminal messaging works but it must because the advertisers use it to their advantage very often, according to these articles.

“Marketers are teaching kids to view their friends as a lucrative resource they can exploit to gain products or money.”

Where do we draw the line? There has to be a line somewhere. What’s appropriate? When are they going to far? For me, I feel as if they’ve already gone to far. They’ve hired people to influence their friends just for the purpose of advertising. This invades personal privacy and it brings in the question about who can we trust? What can we trust? The article talks about “the Wholesome Halo.” Companies like PBS, which has a positive connotation, are being targeted by advertisers BECAUSE of their positive connotation. Schools also fall into the lure of the advertisers. Do the ends justify the means in this case? On one end, schools do need the money because of budget cuts, but on the other side of the argument, does that mean it’s okay?

“But since 1990, commercial activities in schools have expanded substantially, with an explosive rise in nearly all types of school-based marketing since 1997.”

Targeting kids is more dangerous than anything else because I don’t think they are old enough to make their own decisions. That’s why kids need to be around good influences when they are young because it will really influence the way they are when they grow up. However, with these new forms of advertisement everywhere, what are we going to do? Kids don’t know how to differentiate between what is good and what is bad. They don’t know if they are being advertised to or not. Kids are very naïve, and they’re not to blame. They’re young. I believe that media now makes it really hard for kids to learn how to make their own decisions. At this moment in time, all we need to do is look outside and media tells us what is cool and what isn’t. Where is our individuality? Where will it be for the future generations?

Where do our own opinions really start to form? This article reminds me of Wall-E where the people are constantly hooked up to a screen. Our generation is like this because we are constantly seeing what our society wants us to see. We are constantly being influenced to think a certain way. This is portrayed by this article and by the article we read the other day about hooking up. Media plays such a big role in our lives. When are we suppose to learn how to make up our own mind if we are constantly being pressured by everything else to sway in a certain direction?

I like our psychology class because I feel like I'm really getting challenged to think about the world around me and why people act the way they do. This is exactly what I came to the Summer Program at Brown for. I feel like I'm exercising my brain and doing so much thinking about the world and I decided that I wanted to share my insight with you all.

The Black Panthers

2009-07-08T00:39:00.002-04:00

Today in class we had a speaker whose name is Ashanti. He was a former Black Panther member who was arrested numerous times and tried to fight for justice. He talked about the founders of the Black Panthers, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, and he also talked on how he started off reading books when he got into the Black Panthers instead of using a gun. The Black Panthers used nonviolence in some cases and used violence only to defend themselves. Ashanti showed pictures on how cops were thought to have been pigs, and the government and police force is only meant to keep the colored people oppressed and down at the bottom. All the Black Panthers tried to do in Ashanti's view was watch the police and make sure that blacks got treated the same or as equal as whites.

Back in California we watched a video about the Black Panthers in my AP US History class and I was inspired in numerous ways. I was inspired so much that I made my own group called the Brown Bears. The Brown Bears is an underground organization that I made a couple months ago and we don't have weapons or anything. The Brown Bears is a group of 20-30 friends, and counting, and we meet every Saturday at the local bookstore or park to discuss problems, help with homework, tutoring, community problems/ needs, and I try to do what I can to think of ways to fix those problems and help out. I also try to inform my peers about special opportunities and programs that they can do, so that they can fill up their time with bettering themselves as people and making sure they become successful instead of ending up on the streets. The Brown Bears were made in California and so were the Black Panthers. I made the Brown Bears in order to help out my fellow peers and help them find opportunities and programs to help push themselves and realize their full potential.

Less then Three Days Left

2009-07-07T22:36:00.002-04:00

I can't believe that time is running out! It seemed like just yesterday we arrived. There has been so much that I learned at Brown, some good and some bad, I believe that there is so much more left to learn here yet our time is limited. In my opinion, we should be allowed to stay a little bit longer. There really is much more to learn, and we should grab it while we are at Brown. I'm sure that it has truly been an enriching experience for all of us. From college tours to visiting New York, this could not have been a better trip. Coming back to Brown has definitely given me a new outlook on the true college life. Last year's class was demanding and long, but this year seemed more rigorous. I liked the Women and Leadership Class more just because of the sense of community and openness of the Leadership Institute, but I really liked that the Intro to Psychology class gave me a normal college work load. It was an intense and interesting class. Everything we talked about was very captivating, but it has not completely made me want to jump into a psychology major. When I signed up to be in this class, it was because I wanted to learn more about psychology because it seemed interesting. But there wasn't that click I was hoping for with the subject. Now I know that maybe psychology isn't the major for me, even though it is very appealing. Hopefully I'll get to learn more on the subject though.

Although the class wasn't quite what I expected, I stilled learned a lot and the information I attained here will forever stay with me. I'm very grateful to be here, and feel like this opportunity helped me get one step closer to college.

Berkeley in the Sixties

2009-07-07T20:25:00.005-04:00

Today we took a little tour back to California and visited Berkeley. Our primary focus the whole day was the Free-Speech Movement.

We first discussed what the term "new left" meant and who represented it. I didn't really remember too much about this term, but the teacher gladly refreshed my memory. We then discussed SDS-Students for a Democratic Society which represented "new left" students. We watched a movie called "Berkeley in the Sixties" which had videos of the sit-ins on Cal's campus and interviews of some of the main players of the movement. The movement drew from the civil rights movement and later turned into an anti-war movement. The majority of the students that were a part of the movement were young, affluent and privileged. Many right-wing Americans, primarily older adults, were astonished that these "good kids" were rebelling.

In the movie, the demonstrators were dragged down stairs and carried across streets by cops, because they would go limp and refuse to move. This showed me how dedicated the demonstrators were to gaining victory in their cause. It was very obvious that they were not going to give up until they got what they want. And they did get what they wanted in the end.
Seeing those demonstrators stand up to the police without any fear to fight for freedom of speech made me realize once again that sometimes myself and other students take certain things for granted.

I am very glad I am able to be out at Brown having this great learning experience because it is teaching me more about America's history and even myself. While being out here I have been able to decipher what colleges I would want to go. Although Brown is no longer on the top of my list, I still like the school just for the fact that it helped me realize the type of school I would and would not want to go to. Brown is too much a quiet, non-excitement school and I think after a year of being here, I would get bored or relentless.

As well as realizing the type of school I would like to go to, I have noticed the different opportunities some students have had. Some girls I know have been able to take French classes at the schools in their district since the second grade. A lot of students I know in my grade back home say that they still don't know how to read an analog clock. Although this could be the students fault, it just shows the difference in teaching and learning between where I'm from and my floor mates are from. My experience so far at Brown has been very fulfilling and I know that I will grasp much more with just the 3 days I have left. Goodnight everyone!

Second Day Of The End

2009-07-07T20:18:00.005-04:00

Today was basically a typical day, it started raining again. In we wrote our own freedom songs and one of the freedom riders came and spoke to our class. I do not know how to spell his name but he was a professor of Russian history at Brown.

Our class song goes like this:

we are one, freedom is coming

we stand together, for equality and a brighter day.

The melody is to the song "we are the world." It was a very fun process of trying to make the song because we all had so many ideas. But in the end we came up with a great catchy song.

Then we acted like we were back in the time of the civil rights movement and talked about how we felt about white people joining the freedom summer. Shortly after that one of the freedom riders came in and talked to us. He told us why and how he joined that summer. He also told us about his experiences of how he did a sit-in and how he was treated.He said he was never thrown out of his chair but he did get hit in the back of the head and got things thrown at him. One thing that really stuck out at me was how he was sometimes treated by black people. When the times were hard they would get in arguments and sometimes he was asked "why are you even here." But he said he never let those comments get to him because he knew that he was there for something greater than him. This is his picture below.

Richmond High School vs. Summer@Brown

2009-07-07T18:18:00.004-04:00

The fact that we will be leaving Brown this Saturday sounds so scary. In these past weeks that I have been here, I have grew accustom to the dorm life. I really do enjoy the freedom that I have here as well as being in an environment with students my age who are more or less as motivated as I am. This is a whole different environment that I was never really indulged into at my high school. The difference between being here and being at Richmond High is definitely beyond what words can express.

At Richmond High, it seems that a majority of the students are attending school out of force, not willingly. And if they do attend, they are likely to cause disruption. Many of the students lack a will to succeed and the drive to get to college. Some lost all hopes to even graduate. Not only that but there are those students who thinks that education is a joke and so they take away from other people's education. It seems like there is a small number of students who actually want to learn and go to college. The rest are just there creating obstacles for the highly motivated students.

Summer@Brown is the complete opposite. Not only is it way different from school where we have the freedom to do whatever we want, but the students here are different as well. I am surrounded by intelligent students who are highly motivated and most likely, goal-oriented. These students KNOW what they are doing. This is how I wish my school was like. It is amazing to me that all the students attend class on time, some even way early, and prepared for the lesson for the day. While I sit in class, I see everyone jotting down notes and this is something that surprised me. In my high school, you rarely see people taking notes. Also, everyone is respectful of one another and they are mature. Maturity is not something you see very often at Richmond High. It is like a word that does not even exist in the system.

I admit, like I mentioned various times before, that sometimes I feel like I was not prepared well to merge in with these students. Most of these students come from really great high schools from public schools to boarding schools. They possess extreme knowledge that I cannot even began to imagine. However, I keep in mind Dean Robin Rose's words that we were selected because they found something special in each and every one of us. Therefore, I MUST be doing something right. I may not have the best education, but I have struggled to strive for the best. Being in the bottom for so long have motivated me to aim high. I know it will take a lot of extra work but I believe that if I stay focus, there are no boundaries to what I can achieve.

Lastly, I really want to thank everyone who have made this opportunity possible for me. I want to thank the ILC and everyone involved. Without you all, this would not have been possible. Never in my dreams, would I have imagine to even step foot on an Ivy League campus but because of you all, I have. It has been a challenge for me to be so far away from home where the culture and environment is different, but now I know that there is something beyond the Bay Area. I do not always have to stick within the circumscribe boundary that have been drawn for me. Through the ILC, I am able to step out of my comfort zone and experience things I have never experienced before. Thank you. I surely am going to bring this back to the students at my school and encourage them to join the ILC. It truly is an eye-opening experience.

Continuation of the cat dissection....

2009-07-07T16:21:00.004-04:00

Today I finally got to present my inquisition on Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS). I was nervous because I was called to be the first to present but I managed through and I think I did a good job of presenting and explaining the syndrome. Tomorrow I will be presenting my group project on a science related career (biotechnology). The part that I had to research is the job market, employers, Salary, and applications. Public speaking skills is something that Dean Thompson has been emphasizing on these weeks because it is something that we should all become comfortable doing. That is something that I strongly agree with because we can't just have great ideas we also have to be able to communicate them to others. If it weren't for Mr. Ramsey being able to communicate his ideas ILC would not exist.

Today we had a lecture on blood and the digestive system, it was a lot to take in today but I managed through and I completed the assignment for both blood and the digestive system. For the digestive system we finished dissecting the cats. We made the incision, De-fatted Fat Joe (our cat) once more and identified all the digestive organs as well as looking at the kidneys and cutting one in half to look at the inside of it. After finishing up the cat we got a microscope and looked for the different types of blood cells as well as illustrating them. My Atlas is almost finished! Now I have to get a binder and plastic slips for it and I will be finished!

Tomorrow we will be having the Colleges Q&A, Dean Thompson re-scheduled because on Thursday we will have a guest lecture instead! Just a few more days left of the program and I am so exited to see my finished atlas.

Museum of Anthropology: Believing Africa

2009-07-07T16:01:00.014-04:00

Today Mercedes and I rushed to the Museum of Anthropology which is at Manning Hall to see the "Believing Africa" exibit. Here are a few pictures of the wonderful exibit:

Incredible Night

2009-07-07T15:00:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was a great day because the Ivy League Connection students got to go to a pizza dinner with Robin Rose, the Dean of the leadership institute at Brown, and got to meet the other students in the summer@brown program that came on similar scholarships. We had pizza and then divided ourselves into three groups. Within these groups we talked about our challenges this summer and what we liked and what we did not like about Brown or our classes. It was interesting to see how a lot of us had similar ideas on what we did not like. It all had to do with the maintenance of our residence halls and our dorms. We also talked about how some people wanted more social activities with their Ra's. It was fun to be in a room with students that came to brown within similar processes.
After the dinner Robin Rose invited us to a small concert on Brown campus. It was exhilarating to watch and hear the singing about freedom and the piano play. I enjoyed every second of it. I had such a great time.One of the many things to do on my last week at Brown.

Break Out

2009-07-07T14:29:00.004-04:00

I feel like I've told this story countless times, but I guess it's worth recalling again.

Spring of last year, when I had been offered a spot to be part of the Ivy League Connection and be one of the first students going to Columbia, I didn't really want to go. I hesitate to say "reluctant to go" because that seems to be a strong word, but in reality, I was hesitant and reluctant to venture all the way to New York City. However, I do want to clear up one misconception: it was not because I doubted the ability of the program or the worth of the program. At that point of my teenage and high school life, I had personal reasons that caused me to have conflicting feelings about going. So after much discussion with friends, mentors and parents, I was consoled and convinced that I should take a chance, and see what happened.

That risk was most certainly rewarded.

I had a blast at Columbia. I was challenged both academically and socially. My class taught me how to cope with ideas that were unfamiliar and hard to understand. The people I met, taught me that, well, not all rich kids are snobs. Yes, I did have that biased view of the world around me, and there I made a few friends that I still keep in touch with.

However, when I came back, they asked me "what can you bring back?" or "how are you going to share your experience?" The time immediately after I came back, as much as I credited myself as being more mature than most teens around me, I acted immaturely. I wanted to keep my experience to myself. Part of it was because I didn't know what TO bring back. I went to an east coast college over the summer and had the time of my life - now what? I think it was because I was still slightly bitter about having to completely overhaul my summer to do it. I didn't want to have any positive things to say, as much as it had been fun for me, I didn't want it to appear that way.

Fast forward to this year. I was excited to have to chance to go to Brown and have another great summer. One catch, Mr. Ramsey had been sending email after email asking all us students to form an opinion and collect our thoughts about what we thought of the program and what we thought were the benefits of even having it in the first place - it was implied that we all should answer. I tried putting it aside, not worrying about validating my experience or my reasons for wanting to go again, but at some point, I just got fed up with dodging the question that I decided to answer most of the emails he sent out. And slowly, as I responded more and more and told others more and more about my opinions of the program, I got a pretty good idea of what the program had done for me and what I saw was its perceived benefits.

The main one was this: The Ivy League Connection gave me the opportunity that helped me break out of my shell. I had always limited myself to what I could do, usually out of modesty. I didn't want to stick out and make myself vulnerable to ridicule or have my every action analyzed and criticized. I knew I was good, I just didn't like it when people made a big deal out of the fact that I was good, it didn't seem like it was important to be praised for something another person could have done as well. Anyways, when I noticed I was surrounded by people that were good at what they did, and weren't afraid to show it, well I had to step up my game. It never came to the point where I thought that I was incapable or deficient, I just knew that I had to work a bit harder.

I've been fortunate in this regard. I can grasp new concepts and adapt easily. If something is unfamiliar, I have the capacity to figure out what I have to do to improve. A lot of this has to do with being pushed by my parents to learn things at an accelerated rate at a young age and therefore learning early how to take a lot of information, condense, and then pack it all into my brain for recall later. I've also been blessed to have had mostly good teachers; they're invested in each students education and know what they're talking about. However, those teachers are starting to retire and I know our district will be hard-pressed to find new-teachers that can live up to those legacies. Still, I think that those are the types of teachers that would best benefit students, who aren't afraid to challenge their students and are aware that with the right resources, student's can achieve higher than their expectations, as long as the student is aware of those resources and takes advantage of those life-lines.

Break out, and take a look at what people have to offer; I've benefitted and grown tremendously from doing it.

Reflection

2009-07-07T11:38:00.002-04:00

When I was asked if I'd finally met my match—in terms of the rigor, quality of work, and level of understanding required—here at brown, I quickly and unthinkingly responded yes. However, thinking back, I realize that it wasn't really a fair match to begin with.

I entered the arena with one hand tied behind my back. In order to begin to compete, I first had to untie my hand. I spent the first week bemoaning my tied hand, almost giving up, and feeling disadvantaged. Finally, I asked the professor for some "scissors" which came in the form of a introductory textbook, and I spent the weekend untying my hands.

The second week, I began to hold my own in the battlefield that is my class. I began answering questions, forming hypothesis, analyzing what I was doing, wondering why I was doing it.

And now during the third week, I'm pulling ahead. I'm answering more questions than most people, I'm thinking about the concepts exactly how the professor wants me to. I'm forming my own procedures, instead of following step by step instructions from the textbook.

What i'm trying to say is, yes, coming from the WCCUSD we are under-prepared. Honestly, this makes me angry. Its not fair that we have to struggle with ancient lab equipment, and outdated textbooks, while the kids from Stuyvesant and Harker have everything brand new, top of the line. Its not fair that the already privileged get more privileges. But that's the way it is. In order to be successful, in order to compete, we need to take every opportunity we can. We NEED to ask the professors for scissors. We NEED to take advantage of every head start, extra time, or second chance available.

And this is what the ILC is all about. The ILC is giving us our head start, its giving us extra chances to prove ourselves, its giving us a chance to learn how to fight for what we deserve.

And for that I am thankful,
Joseph Young

The Start Of The End

2009-07-07T00:23:00.003-04:00

Today was a wonderful day I woke energized and much better than I felt over the weekend. In class we talked the movie that we watched on Sunday night which was "Freedom Song" and then we watched a documentary that was called "Let Freedom Sing." It was so powerful and it made me realize how singing really brought the movement together. I believe if it wasn't for music the civil rights movement would not have been so powerful because the people would not of had the motivation to do what they did.

Then later on today I went to my teachers concert. I already knew that she could sing from class but tonight just brought all my thoughts together. She song freedom songs and you could tell that she really felt the words that she was singing. She worked with Harry Belafonte for tens years and many others. I recorded some of her singing I will see if I can upload it so you guys can experience what I did.

Overall I had a great day and I'm kind of sad that things are ending.
-Tiffany Carter

My Last Monday.

2009-07-07T00:10:00.005-04:00

Today was pretty normal. In class we had a lecture about pot, discussion in our groups about the articles we read over the weekend, and had two more group presentations.

No doubt about it, my favorite part about today was having pizza with Dean Robin Rose. At 6 pm, our group went over to have dinner with her and other students who are here on a scholarship. When we walked in the door, I was surprised that some of the students were from my class. It wasn't until I received an email invitation to this dinner that I found out that there are more than 90 students attending a Summer@Brown course with the help of programs like ILC. I liked how we were all able to connect on that level. After dinner, the group split up into three groups in order to discuss our classes and living here at Brown. We talked about our likes (such as teachers and learning material) and dislikes (like bathrooms and the floor activities), but the one part of our conversation that stuck in my mind was when we discussed the intimidation factor. Most of us come from schools where we are one of the best students and for me, it gets extremely intimidating when I am put into a class with the best and the brightest from other schools. However, Ms. Rose told us that whenever we feel this way, we must remember that we were chosen for this program because someone saw a special quality in each and every one of us. This is great advice for the future especially since college is only a year away. I know it may be a bit frightening when I am in college and am faced with a bunch of the top students from their high schools. However, they probably feel the same way. And I must remember to keep working and to never lose my motivation.

We then went to watch Branice McKenzie and Richard Cumming's concert. It was amazing! I took a couple videos and I just wanted to share the incredible music we heard tonight:

*my video would not upload, so I will have to find some way to post it tomorrow morning.

American Of African Descent

2009-07-06T23:44:00.002-04:00

Today was different from all the other days. When I went to school, we had a guest speaker along with a former Black Panther Member come and talk to our class. They talked about prison reform, and went and talked about slavery starting in the 1500's. I learned many things such as guards for jails make more money then teachers, and prisons are a form of segregation. More than 70% of inmates in the U.S are black, and some didin't even commit crimes.When I get back to the Bay Area I want to learn more about the California prisons, and learn statistics and find out about abuses and forms of jail segregation. People in jail are more likely to hand out with people like themselves (race, color, etc).

The second thing I did today was go to the concert and watch Richard and the teacher from the Civil Rights class. What I heard was really amazing. Not only the way she sang the songs, but the words that came out of her mouth. She sang about freedom mostly and the songs really inspired me. When I get back to California I want to make songs, or sing spiritual or about troubles in life, so I can reach out to others like she reached out to all of us today. Statistics show that kids these days are more likely to listen to words in song form because it is a big part of their cultures.

Just a Typical Day

2009-07-06T23:07:00.004-04:00

I woke up like usual, excited for what the new day had in store for me. But nothing much went on in class today; just the norm. After class is when all the action happened.

Dean Rose had invited all of the Ivy League Connection students to join in on the pizza dinner and to attend the jazz concert (which you have probably read about in other blogs). Since we had a huge group, we split up into three groups and I was with Courtney and Cynthia in Dean Rose's group. We talked about all the pros and cons during our stay here at Brown University. On the first couple of days, I was intimidated by all the wealth and superb educational background the students around me came from but I was relieved to find out that I was not the only one who felt that way. These other students in the room felt the same way as me because they come from more or less the same situation as me. I was happy that I was not alone. Not only that, but saw a few of the students in my class attend this dinner and this dinner was limited to scholars. I did not know that these students came here through a program that I came through. Now, I think I will feel even more comfortable in my class environment because I feel like I can connect with them. Who knows? Maybe we will build a friendship that will last longer than this week.

Well it is getting late and it is almost curfew so I will take my leave.
Until the next blog,
Meuy

Sick.... :(

2009-07-06T22:15:00.003-04:00

Today was a long day, we had our usual lecture in the morning and three Inquisitions. I have yet to present my inquisition but I did get to present the student researcher project. I also dissected a sheep brain today. We didn't do anything too special today. I got sick after eating chicken at the v-dub so I was unable to take in the experience of dissecting a sheep brain.
Apart from doing the usual I found out that we will be having a college Q&A in our class on Thursday so I get to ask Dean Thompson about what Brown University is looking for in applicants.

Pizza Dinner and Concert

2009-07-06T22:00:00.002-04:00

Today was like any typical day, class started as usual. We started off by talking about weed and how it effect this teenage boy from Beverly Hills High. It's strange to see how he changed after he started using drugs, it sort of reminds me of other people I know who have done drugs. They slowly get more and more isolated. But the effect on him when he heard recordings of his conversations with his drug buddies is what made him turn around. I think everyone has to the ability to stop if they really see how it is affecting them.

The highlight of the day was when we got to go to a pizza/dinner event planned by Dean Rose. We just gave our insight into the programs, and how things can be improved. I felt very special that they came to us to figure out what they need help on. There was a lot to be said, but my experience at Brown has been terrific, even though I got a little homesick. I'm really glad that they gave us a chance to speak, because it shows that our opinions count and we can help better the summer program. After that we went to a concert performed by Branice Mckenzie (singer) and Richard Cummings (pianist). They were wonderful! The songs had history and a lot of emotions tied to it. We are so lucky to be able to watch the show! Thank you everyone for making it possible, and for letting me come to experience life at Brown.

The First Day of the Last Week

2009-07-06T21:59:00.003-04:00

So today is our last week, and in my class we got our new and final teacher that is going to teach us about the sixties. First we talked about the documents that we read which were about the sit-in demonstrations, Freedom Summer and the Black Panther Party. We compared and contrasted the thoughts of a black demonstrator and a white demonstrator and discussed how the sit-ins started off the civil rights movement.

We then watched a movie about the March v. Fear, which was started by James Meredith (who was going to apply to Mississippi University) until he was shot while marching. Martin Luther King and other marchers continued the march for Meredith. While they were marching they were harassed by many whites, especially the police.

After that movie we watched another clip about Malcolm X, MLK, SNCC, and the Black Panthers. We saw how the media tried to make a huge deal out of the contrast between MLK's non-violent movement and Malcolm X and the Black Panthers more radical movement. I didn't think that the way Malcolm X or the Black Panthers handled situations with a more violent approach was bad because whites in the South did the same thing. I think they handled their situations perfectly.

After the movie was over we talked about it and if "Black Power" meant violence and why power equals violence to people. I don't necessarily think that power means violence, but in past cases people striving for power use violence to obtain power, so usually people connect power with violence.

We then ended class and I rushed to the pizza party hosted by Dean Rose only to find out it was over. Then, thinking that the concert that Brown was having was mandatory, I went to it, even though I was very tired and hungry. The concert was nice and Mr. Richard played the piano very beautifully. Today was a very relaxing day and I hope that tomorrow I learn something that I haven't already learned.

So much that came in just two weeks

2009-07-06T21:30:00.009-04:00

Wow, I have actually had to step back and look back on all the things I have gotten to do these past two weeks. My schedule has been stuffed with dinners, college tours, and city tours. Yet I do not regret it because I have grown with these experiences and have gotten to know myself more than I did before. This past weekend I had the day off to visit the city that never sleeps, NEW YORK CITY and I got to visit not two, not three, but seven college campuses in one day, on Sunday. It was incredible what one can do when managing their time correctly. Me, Carla, Ms. Kent, and Ms. Pelly got to visit Wellesley, Babson, Onli, Boston University, Boston college, Harvard(again), and Pine Manor. By the end of the day I actually got a headache from all I had taken in in one day. I enjoyed myself and being able to see all these schools up close. This is one of the dormitories on Wellesley campus, it was beautiful. One thing I learned was that at the bottom of these buildings there are different cafeterias including a vegetarian one which would be perfect for me. Also I loved how close it was to nature. I could really see myself taking a walk down to a lawn or patch of grass and study. Being at Wellesley would take of a weight off my shoulders of being cautious everywhere I am because it is known for being a safe environment. It would be a dramatic change for me, but I think I might like it.

We made short visit to all the other six schools and had self guided tours around the schools. I have to say that even though Boston University is in the city I enjoyed the environment as well. I believe their is a different, more crowded atmosphere during the school year there, but I liked how the school was within the city.
It was a long day and I figured that I am looking for a school with a balance. Not too much nature, like Pine Manor, and not too much city like Columbia. Not too small like Wellesley, but not as big as Harvard. I think that with a bit of research and help from my college counselor I will find the fit just for me. At least I'm making some progress in my college search. Thank You.

A Very Busy Weekend

2009-07-05T23:39:00.002-04:00

The past couple of days have really been busy and also has been a challenge to me. On Friday as you know we all went to New York City. It was so beautiful and plus it was my first time being there. My major highlight of the trip was Ellis Island, something about that place made me feel really humble and so lucky. Also Ground Zero was very touching, I just started thinking of all the people who died and how their families felt. Even though I really didn't get to see all of Columbia I still think its a really nice campus. The campus is like in the heart of the city and it seems like it would be very hard to really focus because there's so much to do.One thing I didn't like about the trip was that I got sick because of the boat and plus I really didn't eat anything.

Then on Saturday I went to Newport and it was very nice. I got to see the mansions, walk around, and enjoy the nice weather. The houses were amazing, I think its crazy that it was just summer homes for the people. There was one house that had fifteen rooms in it and I can fit my dorm in there plus more.

Today I met with one of my teachers so I can work on my action plan. Then later my class watched "Freedom Song" which was a very good movie it starred Danny Glover. It was basically about the start of SNCC in Mississippi.

Overall my weekend was good.

So Many Colleges...So Little Time!!

2009-07-05T17:52:00.008-04:00

Yep, we did something kind of nuts, we visited 7 colleges on Sunday!! Mercedes, Carla and I met up with Ms Pelley from Richmond High at 9 am and she, being a Wellesley graduate, had graciously offered to take anyone to have an indepth tour of her alma mater. We did have a wonderful all outdoor tour because the holiday weekend had everything pretty closed up. So, after having lunch in the town of Wellesley, we headed off to Babson College, a Division 1, mostly business school, Boston University, Olin School of Engineering, Harvard (again), Boston College and Pine Manor College. I will let the girls tell you more about each one but let me say it was a very full day with a wonderful hostess. I, unfortunately, was not able to bring back literature but I have pictures and we all got a good feel for each one. Tomorrow is Monday, back to the routine, but what a wild weekend!

Seven campuses in a day!

2009-07-05T17:22:00.007-04:00

Our initial plan was to visit Mt. Holyoke, Smith, and Wellesley. Well that was not the case. In a day we visited 7 different campuses! We went to Wellesley, Babson, Olen, Boston University, Harvard, Boston college, and Pine Manor. Looking at all these beautiful campuses was a lot to take in for a day. My favorite overall has to be Wellesley not just because of the beautiful campus but because I just got a special connection with the school sounds a bit cliche but learning more in depth about the school made me realize that this was a place that I would love to spend four years of my life. I learned that Wellesley girls can take classes in Harvard, MIT, and some in Babson Business University. Another thing that I loved about Wellesley was that you are guaranteed four years of housing and they are strong on the sciences! The last thing that I thought was interesting about Wellesley was that they keep traditions alive like a wooden ring tossing contest between the girls, though in the older day the girl who won was going to be the first to get married now it is the girl who wins will be successful first. A lot has changed, learning about Wellesley's past was interesting. I found out why everything is so far apart, its so that the girls wouldn't gain weight.

11 hours of sleep.

2009-07-05T14:46:00.003-04:00

It's been a long weekend.

On Friday, we went to NYC. The Big Apple was exciting, though we walked around on an empty stomach most of the day. We had an awesome time visiting Columbia. We explored the campus a little and got a feeling of what campus life is. My highlight of the day was when we saw the Statue of Liberty. I was hesitant at first to go on the tour and the ferry but it turned out to be worth it, as always. Seeing the Statue of Liberty left me in awe because it was so big and so beautiful. To be honest, I thought it would just be like the pictures but it was so much better than that. I'm glad I went and I'm glad we decided to go on the ferry.

On Saturday, the Summer at Brown program took us to New Port. I didn't go to the beach but instead, we explored downtown. New Port was amazing and it made me want to go to Brown even more. The people were nice, the sights were nice and the shops were nice. I couldn't think of a highlight even if you asked me to because the whole experience was amazing. I wish I could have gone to the beach because from what I hear, it was also amazing, but I guess I'll have to wait until next time.

We were able to sleep in today, and that was the highlight of this Sunday so far.

One Busy Independence Day Weekend

2009-07-05T12:28:00.002-04:00

Strange how this is the first opportunity I've had to actually post this whole weekend; I never thought I'd be this worn out and exhausted not doing school work till the wee hours of the morning.

It was so great to be able to go back to New York City Friday. Riding the subway, weaving through pedestrian traffic - I couldn't help but be nostalgic. Stepping back on to Columbia's Campus, I realized how much I actually missed it and loved it. It was a different experience this time being on campus. Last summer, I was actively taking classes and galavanting across the city, so I never really took the opportunity to take a good look at the campus. Secondly, I didn't know as much about looking at colleges as I do now. But now knowing the information about colleges and the experience of being on Columbia's campus, going back there was a treat and allowed me to take in what I hadn't taken in already last summer.

The next day, a bunch of us went to Newport to soak up the sun! We lucked out with the weather this time around, it was sunny the whole day! No rain, no thunderstorm, just a peaceful day. I went with my friend Alli on the cliff walk which was a trail that followed the cliff on one side of Newport. It was beautiful and made the 2 week wait for sunny weather worth it. At night, we went to Waterfire and enjoyed the fireworks! All in all, I'm glad that for one day, we were able to go around and enjoy the weather, enjoy the atmosphere, and enjoy our time-off. Sometimes, we just need to relax.

Fourth of July.

2009-07-05T00:48:00.001-04:00

Once again, it was an early morning. To get to Newport. We had to be
at the bus station by eight thirty.

When we got to Newport, we were able to enjoy the second day of good
weather we've had. After exploring the shops for a little while,
Karen, our friend from texas who is going to be taking advanced
placement photography next year—how can you grade someones
photograph? Besides basic technique, it seems way too subjective to
me, Gina and I went to the beach. It was beautiful, even if I did get
sunburned. I'd love to go back... The water was so warm... compared to
our's.

When we got back, I went to dinner with my friend Perihan (pronounced
peh-dee-han it's Turkish). Afterwards, we discussed our opinions on
colleges. It was interesting to see how she still hasn't found a
campus that she can see herself at, she likes Berkeley, but it's too
big, whereas I have my heart set, and can only see myself at one
college, brown.

Finally, it was time to show an Italian how we so it for independence
day, so we went to see the fireworks and the waterfire.

Tomorrow, I can't wait to sleep in!

Until then,
Joseph Young

Fourth of July!!

2009-07-05T00:31:00.004-04:00

Wow! I over slept today and was not able to go to the New Port trip. :(
I was too tired from the New York Trip, But I was determined to have an educational experience while being here at Brown. So Mercedes and I, who also overslept went out for a self guided tour of Brown. Not as great as the self guided tours with Mr. Ramsey but we managed. We found that there is a museum of anthropology here at Brown which was unfortunately closed, but I really want to see it so I will go some time this coming week.
Being here at Brown with nothing to do made me think about why I am considering an all woman's school and what the district needs to do to make classes more rigorous. Like I said in one of my past blogs that Introduction to Biomedical Science has been really challenging and that I had to go look for extra help from the TA's and Dean Thompson they didn't come to me asking if I needed help. I realize that teachers don't do that in high school, they walk around the room and ask if anybody needs help and we become accustomed to this which is why I think most students are shocker when they attend college. If our teachers were more like the professors in universities in which students have to go to them for help instead of the other way around students would be more prepared. Also I think that it is completely wrong for teachers to lower the rigor for the much slower students to catch up. I think that by them doing that they are not just hurting those slower students but the much advanced students as well. In college NO professor will lower their standards for the slower students those students have to raise to their standards which should be happening more in high school classes.
As far as the all women's college go I think that I don't really mind being with all women because I am not planning on having a boyfriend or husband any time soon. I want to focus on my studies and my future job and until I have completed those goals a boyfriend or husband will NOT be popping up into the picture. I think that with no boys I will be able to focus much more on my studies and I will be able to take a clear path in achieving those goals.

Learning With Emotion

2009-07-04T23:35:00.002-04:00

I have always wanted to go to New York! It was so fun yesterday beside the fact that we almost missed our train back. We got to see Columbia a little bit, and to tell you the truth, I liked the environment. I liked the whole city thing, and it was a new experience going there. When we got to Ellis Island I had a wave of emotions. I saw pictures of immigrants, brutal camps, the Ku Klux Klan, and other various racial and violent things.

I learned that more than 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis island between 1892 and 1954. Not all immigrants were treated fairly, and others were put into sweatshops, and had a hard time finding jobs. The most amazing thing I saw there was this machine that could tell you exactly how many of each type of race was in each state. It was pretty cool finding out that California has the most Filipino population.

The other thing in New York City that we saw and what got me was Ground Zero. When I got there I just felt a wave of sadness coming over me. I remember that exact day and how it was on every single channel and my mom yelled at me because I couldn't see what the weather was like because of this tragic event. Back then I didn't know what I could do or say to fix anything that happened that day. I still don't know till this day, but I have an idea. Right next to Ground Zero there is going to be a memorial building for all those who died and or helped that day. I want to learn more about it and I want my community to know about it too. I know if I didn't go, I wouldn't have known it existed. Well on a light note, it was an interesting Friday , and July 4th was pretty fun too. Happy 4th of July everybody.

A Great 3-Day Weekend!

2009-07-04T22:31:00.017-04:00

FRIDAY

Oh what a day! After a 3-hour train ride, I couldn't believe I was back in the Big Apple. Although I was able to go last year, I still felt there was so much more left to see! It was great to see Ms. Kronenberg and Ms. Lilhanand again and Jackie and Gabe. I also had fun meeting the other ILC students in Columbia and Yohanna (who was visiting colleges on the east coast). Our first stop was Columbia.

Honestly, I didn't think I'd like Columbia as much as I did just because of the hustle and bustle of New York City. But I loved it! Dennis was able to give us a little tour of the campus. We saw the library, the dorms, and the graduation site. We even saw the Schermerhorn building--where Thomas Hunt Morgan performed the first genetics experiments on fruit flies. I thought the campus was beautiful and really enjoyed the environment. But I wished we could've stayed longer to explore a bit more!

The group stopped by Barnard College (another one of the seven sisters) for a while. Unfortunately, we could not stay very long, but I found out that if one is a student at Barnard, she can attend classes at Columbia. Another back door (like with MIT, Harvard, and Wellesley)! I couldn't picture myself attending this college since it didn't seem to be the right fit. But who knows, with a little more research, this could be another possibility for me!

We then took a ferry to view the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Once we got on the island, we took an audio tour of the museum. It was amazing to actually visit particularly because it was part of the first topic taught in my US History class. I never imagined being able to be on the island where so many immigrants landed. I thought it was especially interesting to hear the personal stories of people who arrived there as immigrants.

Our last stop was Ground Zero. This was a special moment for everyone since we got to see this site that symbolizes a day that will never be forgotten. We could all remember exactly what was going on in our lives on September 11, 2001. I never imagined I would be at this site.

SATURDAY

Today, we went to Newport! I had such a great time seeing a different side of Rhode Island. I spent most of the day walking around the plaza and Thames St. looking at the little souvenir shops with Meuy and Cynthia while Gina, Joseph, and Karen visited the beach.

After coming back to the dorms from Newport, we had dinner at VW. Then we headed down to watch the Waterfire show, a great Providence tradition. I thought the show was amazing (even though Gina said it was a lot better last year).

My day ended with a fantastic fireworks show.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July!

New York to Newport

2009-07-04T20:38:00.002-04:00

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!

I am proud to say that I have been to New York. It took waking up at 5 a.m. to a long three hour train ride for me to reach my first experience at New York. I was anxious for the well known rush of the city that never stops and I was expecting just that but when I stepped out, I noticed that it was not as fast pace as I thought. Maybe it was because it was early in the morning, approximately 10 o' clock, so people probably slept in or were busy.

Then from there, we headed to 34th street where we met up with Ms.Kronenberg and boarded the subway to Columbia. My previous assumption was that Columbia was going to be a bustle and hustle place but I guessed wrong. It was quite calm; I was not expecting that. However, I have to keep in mind that it was July 3rd and people were probably off to celebrate July 4th with their family or anything of that sort. Columbia has a really nice and serene campus in general but I wish there was more UMPH into it. The campus is also small compared to what I intially thought. This just shows me that visiting the campus really do make a difference! From the tour and walking around Columbia, I realize that Columbia is not the place for me. I love the that it is in New York (I am a city girl), but it does not give me that vibe and warmth that I want in a campus. The atmosphere is not right. It doesn't impress me like how M.I.T. impressed me.

Then we went to Barnard, an all women's college, which is literally right across from Columbia. I know that it is not good to judge a school before actually visiting it but after visit Wellesley, I came to the conclusion that I do not want to attend an all women's college. Last year, I took the Women and Leadership class at Brown. This class challenged me mentally and physically to go above and beyond the expectations for women. We talked about how we want equal rights as men and we want to be integrated into their society. Therefore, I do not want to attend an all women's college because it will seems to juxtapose the idea expressed through many females of equality. However, the good thing about both of these schools is that the students at Wellesley are able to take classes at M.I.T. or Harvard and the students at Barnard at Columbia.

After the little tour, we went on the ferry ride to see the Statue of Liberty and got a audio tour at Ellis Island. Walking through the audio tour was like walking through a glimpse of each culture that have passed through the very buildings I was walking in. It is shocking that so many people had to register in that building to have access to citizenship in the United States. A good amount of my time at Ellis Island was looking at the pictures of the immigrants who came to United States.

A good amount of us students met up in the line to board the ferry early (thus we were on time for the departure of the ferry), but some were late. Therefore, we missed the ferry and we had to wait a good 15 to 30 minutes for the next one. It was near 4 p.m. and us Brown students were starving since our last snack was at 7 a.m. so we grabbed a snack at Picnicks. Afterwards, we shopped a little at the stalls and then headed off to Ground Zero. It is shocking to believe that two great big buildings use to stand just feets away from me and now it is gone. It is depressing to know the tragedy that occured there. I could not even imagine the numerous lives lost and the families and friends that have to suffer and mourn the lost of a love one.

That was basically all for New York. Now, about Newport.

If you think waking up for New York was horrid, try waking up early two days in a row! We went to Starbucks to grab a snack and then boarded the bus. It was a good 45 to 60 minutes bus ride. When we got out, we walked around for a bit then split into two groups. One group went to the beach and the other went to explore the shops around Newport. I bought various little gifts for my family and friends. I noticed that while walking around, there were a lot of tourists of all race. It felt relieving to know that I was not the only outsider there. For a little city, Newport is quite a busy city.

After a long day at Newport, we finally came back to Providence. Now here I am blogging about my experience in the last two days.

While in New York, I notice a lot of people with accents who were trying to sell T-Shirts and souvenirs to tourists. Then I come back to Providence and see all these students around me who are, money wise, pretty well off. They come from wealthy high class families and all of that. Then I see these students at Newport spending large amounts of money on high price and high name brand clothing. I see them walk around all the time with expensive looking items. Now that I take a better view of it, I sympathize for those people who were trying to sell souvenirs for a living. They are hard-working and maybe works harder than most people but yet they do not get very far while some people have money handed down to them. Even I admit that I was once intimidated by the wealth and background but now, I see that I can handle being in their presence. Afterall, we are all humans and although the gap in family income may be possibly distant, it is not so difficult to get along with them. In fact, some of them admire me for coming from such a "murky" background and I am proud. I am proud to represent my school district. I am proud to represent my community. I am proud to represent me.

What a Long Weekend!

2009-07-04T17:42:00.001-04:00

Wow! Yesterday was crazy! We were in New York, just walking around, not knowing where we were headed next. There was so much to do, so much to see. It was a day to remember. We started our day off at 6am grabbed a quick breakfast and got on our train. When we got the New York finally, we headed off to Columbia to have a quick tour before we went to the Statue of Liberty. It is truly a beautiful campus and a very busy one too. Even though I like Columbia, I can't see myself there, but I guess it's just a feeling I have. Right now I am totally stuck among which colleges to apply to, and I'm glad that we've been exploring many colleges so I get the feel of what I want. When I get back I'll make sure to let everyone know of all the other possibilities out there. They should grab every chance they get to explore colleges; they don't want to end up in my dilemma. I know I will eventually find the right college for me, but it's a working process.

After Columbia, we were off to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, I must as the ferry ride was not pleasant. The sight was incredible, I couldn't believe that I was actually in front of the Statue of Liberty. At Ellis Island we took audio tours of the building, and learned of the struggles the immigrants had to go through just to enter the U.S. I imagine that my family faced the same struggle when they arrived in America. At 3 o'clock most of us were outside waiting in line for the ferry back, but unfortunately we missed the ferry because some people weren't punctual and were late. So we waited another 15-30 minutes for the next one. When we got on solid land, it felt great! And we finally got to eat lunch at 4 o'clock (that was the longest time that I have ever gone without food). We grabbed lunch, and got to shop a little. When we were at the location of where the twin towers used to be, there was a certain mood to it. Being there made me feel very depressed because of what happened and all the people that died there, it was just devastating. After seeing that it was almost time to catch our train back. It was so nice seeing the Columbia kids and being able to experience everything with them, it was especially nice to see Jessica and Sofia. After getting on the train, we all fell into a deep sleep from exhaustion, what a day!

Today we went to New Port! The first we did was, shopping! We went into all the little shops on the main street (I don't know the name of it). There was a lot to look at, and everything was unique. After the group split up, Joseph, Karen and I went to the beach and the others stayed behind to shop some more. It was so beautiful and relaxing at the beach. I took a tiny dip in the water, but didn't want to get too wet. But that was a failure because Joseph dragged me in deeper. But I think that was the high light of my day. After a couple hours at the beach, we walked back to meet everyone else. It was a short trip, but very fun and a lot of walking! I can't to see all the fire works tonight, and the water fire show again! I can't imagine being able to do all this stuff if I wasn't apart of the ILC. I would love for other students, at Richmond High, to experience what I did. It's not only fun, but it helps you get familiarized with colleges and exactly which one is your fit. So in order for them to experience the East Coast, we all have to spread the word! I hope everyone has a great July 4th!

New York!

2009-07-04T17:04:00.002-04:00

First off, Happy Fourth of July everyone! I hope everyone has a great day with lots of barbeque. Unfortunately, i won't be able to enjoy any ribs or hot dogs, but that's okay.

Yesterday I woke up @ 5 am to get ready for our big day in New York. We took a 6:45 train and arrived in New York at about 10. We then took the subway to the best school ever, Columbia! We looked around Columbia for about 20 minutes and snapped a couple of pictures. We then ventured across the street to Barnard and looked around a little.

We got back on the subway and took a long ride to the South Ferry line, I think. We met up with Mrs. L and other ILC students tp get on the ferry to Ellis Island. Ellis Island was very interesting and all the pictures were intruiging.

After we got back to New York, we visited Ground Zero. Then we took a little rest which almost made us miss our train. Thankfully the train was a few minutes late so we didn't miss it.

Today was a very tiring day, but I'm really glad that we got to see Columbia. Now that I have actuall seen the school, I've gotten a better picture of how I might fit in their. Columbia is still my top choices, even though its tied with UC Davis. Hopefully I'll be able to visit again and get a real tour and learn a lot more.

Nobody Waits

2009-07-04T12:25:00.002-04:00

Being in New York Yesterday for the day, was a dream come true because I have always wanted to visit the BIG APPLE. While being there, I realized that the city in fact does not wait for anybody. One has to be their own person and do what they need to do because in the city of new york no one waits for you including the subway doors.
Visiting Columbia University was a very beautiful experience, the campus was very pretty but we were not able to go and see inside the buildings. Even though I enjoyed being there I can not see myself studying on that campus because I feel like it would be too easy to get distracted.
We also got to visit Ellis Island while being the city which was a very interesting and educational experience for me. It was something I had learned in my history class that I now had the chance to see for myself. I got to see how it was for newly immigrants to come to the United States.It was a very difficult to task to go through. They had to go through medical inspections, legal inspections, and questionnaires. It was a very hard thing to go through in a strange new place and would be hard for me to be able to imagine going through it. I thought it was a very informative trip that students taking U.S. history should visit to get a better perspective of the event.
I find these college tours on the weekends to be so helpful for me because slowly and efficiently I have been going down the list on what I want out of a college. I now know that I do not want a big city campus and would much rather prefer a smaller campus with more trees than buildings. That is why I am looking forward to going to visit Wellesly tomorrow because I did not get the chance to go last weekend because of class assignments. I glad that the opportunity came across for me to get the chance to see a school which can be in my future.
When I go back home I will definitely encourage my underclass whom have no idea about where they want to go to college to join the ILC because they will get the opportunity, just like did, to get to see universities up close and figure out what it is they want.

Having fun with the Columbia Students

2009-07-03T22:46:00.003-04:00

Being in New York for the first time in my life was exiting! It's something not even in my wildest dreams I thought would ever happen! We visited Columbia and Barnard and I learned that if I want to go there I would need lots of bug repellent, because the mosquitoes were attracted to me and biting! On the way there I read the book "The Color of Water" to kill time. Unlike on the way back I was so tired that I only read two pages and fell fast asleep.
Visiting all these different campuses give me the privilege to figure out which school are for me and which aren't. Honestly I thought that Columbia would be a nice fit for me, but being there I wasn't really comfortable. The campus was beautiful but I could not imagine myself doing anything more than just visiting the campus.
I think that if more students from the district got to know more about these colleges or got to visit these different colleges more students would be applying to these excellent schools that are located in the East Coast and in the Mid-West. It surely has helped me begin to create a mini list of school I will be applying to this coming fall and which I won't be applying to.

Goodnight,
Carla Ramirez

2009-07-03T00:48:00.004-04:00

Today, I woke up to the blaring of a thunder storm. I don't think I've heard that much thunder before in my life. When dennis and I got to the vw for breakfast, a large portionnof the dining hall was flooded. I wonder if flooding is a normal thing at brown... I hope not.

In lab today, I sicceafully isolated my own DNA. Once this was done, we used a spectropetometer at two different eve lengths to determine the DNA to protein ratio. A number above six is considered sufficiently pure for analysis. My sample was 1.73 which is very pure. In addition, we isolated pdna from the cells I mentioned previously, which we used a restricion digest on and then will electrophores on Monday.

Tomorow it's off to New York!
Until then,
Joseph Young

Teamwork

2009-07-03T00:48:00.003-04:00

Today was all about teamwork. I started off my day at 8:00 because of the ropes course. It started to rain, so we actually did it inside. We did multiple puzzles such as the magic carpet, and the maze. What I focused on today was not just how to have fun, but I learned about relationships and team building.

The magic carpet was one of the hardest tasks and the one I remember the most. We all had to flip over the carpet to the other side while standing on it, and by not using our hands. The only way we had to do this was through communication. There were also blind/ disease having people, that could not really contribute. What I learned and am willing to take back home with me, is helping others in need. There were blind people in our game, how are they suppose to know where to go? There were also mute people playing in our game, how are they suppose to contribute? Even if people are different I still think that we should help them out by either walking them through it, or showing them the way. The idea of "showing people the way" can also be used in real life problems too.

The maze game was all about memory. There was one ways to get across the maze in a series of 10 steps. However there were about 4 by 4 squares and we had to go in the correct order. If you messed up, then you would have to start from the beginning. This game was about paying attention to the people in front of you, and learning from yours and their mistakes. This can be used in real life because people do have to learn from their mistakes and make sure that it doesn't happen again. It's just like writing an essay. You should always write out a draft first and then have someone correct it to see what you did wrong so you can make it better. Like what if I wanted to write an essay about Ruth Simmons and got everything completely wrong? At least I would have a draft that people could look at first to tell me, "Hey that's not right!" Then I could change it to the correct things, I basically learned about using trial and error with a group of people.

This whole course reminded me of one thing, the book Never Eat Alone. The whole idea today was about working together, helping out your teammates, and sometimes relying on them. This course also helped build stronger relationships and helped us trust each other a little more. Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi talks about just that. When I go back to California I should not work on my effort to change the world on my own. I should find people that are willing to help me out, share my same cause, and even make some sacrifices along the way. Building on relationships is an important thing because every big person who made a change from Oprah, to Ruth Simmons, and even Barack Obama had to get to where they are today by building relationships and trust along the way. I have to be willing to do the same if I want change.

12:10

2009-07-03T00:10:00.003-04:00

Tomorrows forecast: Partly sunny in the morning then becoming mostly cloudy. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs around 80. West winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.

I was just checking the weather as I was getting ready to go to bed. This week has been way more interesting than last week. I decided that I really do like the environment here at Brown. It's very relaxed and this is the kind of environment I want to live in when I go to college. When I go back to El Cerrito, I will tell people what I like about Brown. People tell me how much they want to study in a relaxed environment and to all those people, I will strongly suggest that they check out Brown.

Informative Day

2009-07-02T21:12:00.004-04:00

Today Judy Richardson visited my class, she's a producer and filmmaker just to name one "Eyes On The Prize." She talked to us about how she joined the civil rights movement and how/why she joined SNCC. She left a full scholarship for college to join SNCC to get more involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Her sister even quit her job at Columbia records to also join SNCC. Judy went through so much she actually mentioned that she couldn't be scared. She was shot at and she just made an excuse that it was her car back firing.

She was such an enthusiastic person and had so much life. She traveled for three straight days before she came to our class and she was more alive then most of the students in my class. She started off with this song named "Woke Up This Morning With My Mind Stayed On Freedom." I admire her so much she really made me think about life and how much I could achieve.

Later on in my second part of class Dean Rose came and we did some leadership activities. One of the things I got out of the activities is that sometimes during a conversation I need to sit back and listen instead of trying to make my opinions heard. Also certain things can insult a person while your having a conversation. Like looking at your phone or looking a certain way.

Overall my day was very informative and it was really great!

-Tiffany Carter

Last Day of the Fifties

2009-07-02T20:36:00.006-04:00

Since we don't have school tomorrow, my teacher made sure she crammed all the information she could into our heads about the 50s. Today we talked about the other side of the 50s such as the rise of the teenager, rock & roll, the roots of the sexual revolution and teenage pregnancy.

We first started off with juvenile delinquency and the concerns many adults had for it. There was a lot of public anxiety about juvenile delinquency and fear of the youth becoming complacent and spoiled due to the growing prosperity. Comic books that were graphic and violent were also a nuisance and in the late 40s, a group of teachers and parents gathered comic books and burned them. Movies such as Rebel Without A Cause also caused worry, especially with white middle class Americans because the movie portrayed a white middle class teenager rebelling.

Next was rock & roll, and we started off with Blackboard Jungle and the song Rock Around the Clock. Rock & roll was very surprising for adults, seeing how before rock & roll came out, most songs were ballads and had a soft tune and was very sweet and romantic. Also all of the rock & roll songs were about sex. The lyrics, sound, and movements all revolved around sex which caused great controversy.

We then talked about the roots of the sexual revolution began with Playboy. Although Playboy had a lot of nude pictures of women and was thought of as obscene, the magazine was also classy and was very popular to the white middle-class. Playboy had a mainstream appeal and was actually a legit magazine with articles and news about the world. Playboy helped start of an alternative masculine identity that didn't involve the suburban man in a gray flannel suit. It let the middle class man out of conformity and went against the nuclear family ideal. We then talked about homosexuality and the Homophile Movement. There were organizations made for homosexual people in L.A. and San Francisco.

Our last subject was teenage pregnancy which rose dramatically, for both married women and single women. Since a lot of teenage girls were getting married, that also meant they were having babies too. In 1957, 97/1000 girls between the ages of 15 and 19 were pregnant.

We then watched Pleasantville and I saw the movie in a whole different way. The movie expressed the view that a lot of people had about the 50s that wasn't really true. It showed that the 50s wasn't perfect and that life was more than the repetition of conformity.

Today was a great final day of the 50s. I learned a lot and realized the 50s wasn't really the ideal suburban era that was perfect. I'm glad I got to see the movie Pleasantville in another light. Hopefully next week with my new teacher will be just as fun. Tomorrow we go to New York to visit Columbia University and I can't wait. Columbia is one of my top choices and I am soooo exited to be able to go on a tour. I'll talk to everyone tomorrow to brag about my great day!

Rain Man.

2009-07-02T19:30:00.005-04:00

After much reading and discussing, today we concluded our lesson of autism with a great 1988 movie called Rain Man. Since many others have already given a short summary of the plot, I'll skip straight to my opinions of it and what I learned. First of all, even though the attitude of Charles (played by Tom Cruise) towards his autistic brother Raymond changed for the better too quickly to be realistic, I was very moved by the ending. Although Raymond did not stay with his brother and had to return to the mental institution where he had been living, the fact that the two were able to bond on a deep level was truly touching. I hated how Charles abused his brother's abilities with numbers and memorization, but I especially loved how Charles's insults went to heart-felt loving remarks. As he began to spend more time with his autistic brother, he began to understand him and even want to help him. I truly hope that something like that does occur in real life with the family members and friends of not just autistic children and adults but of people with any type of mental illness-- that eventually they are able to look past a simple problem and truly connect with their loved ones. I'm glad we saw this movie today because Thinking in Pictures basically gave me facts, but Rain Man gave me a visual. With this movie, I was able to see his outbursts and other actions.

But in addition to my comments on the movie, I also wanted to share what I have learned about autism as a whole this week. Even though Temple Grandin's book, Thinking in Pictures, was not my favorite, I still feel like I learned a lot from it. Grandin gave me a deeper look into the life of autistic people through both direct information and her writing style. She taught me that their way of thinking, learning, and developing is very different, but more importantly, about the duality of autism. By duality I mean the fact that though it is perceived as a "curse" by many, it can in fact be a blessing for some who have mild autism. Temple Grandin is one example of that. She is a high-functioning autistic whose visual thinking and connection to animals has distinguished her from the rest.

Civil Rights

2009-07-02T17:31:00.004-04:00

Avauna Walker recently wrote about studying some of the advertisements in old magazines that clearly showed how racism was prevalent in mainstream advertising. Here are but a few examples of products that could be found even in our very recent history with some right in our own community.

Relationships

2009-07-02T16:21:00.003-04:00

We watched a very interesting movie in class today. It's called Rain Man, and it is about a man who finds his long lost brother, and kidnaps him for money. He never knew of his brother because he was autistic and got sent away to an institution, but when their father passes away, Charlie tracks down the money to his brother Raymond. The movie goes on to show the two bonding. At first Charlie was in it for the money, but in the end he realized that Raymond was the only family he had left so he wanted to do everything in his ability to keep him around. The story was very touching and I'm grateful that I don't have to go through any of the emotions that Charlie felt.

In an article that I'm reading for homework it talks about teenagers hooking up, and how most teenagers don't want serious relationships in high school. I found the topic very interesting, because they openly discussed their private lives and what they did when they "hooked up". As said in the article, the term hooking up is very vague and can mean multiple different things. It's interesting to see how other teenagers around the nation go about in their private lives, in contrast to my life. I grew up learning the do's and don'ts of my culture. Hooking up would be a shameful thing to do; most of them hook up with strangers. I would never want to bring shame upon myself and my family. Topics like sex and relationships were not openly discussed with friends and family, so when I read the article I couldn't believe that these teenagers (some younger then me!) would spill secrets like this. You can definitely see the cultural differences between the "teenagers of suburban America" and people in my culture. Which is eccentric because you always assume that everybody acts similar until you read something like this, that can totally change your opinion.

Heart Disection, Gross Anatomy Lab, and John Hay Library

2009-07-02T16:04:00.003-04:00

Today was an incredible busy day! In the morning we went to the Gross Anatomy Lab and saw a dissected cadaver, a human head cut in half vertically, and got to hold a human brain. I thought that I might be a little uneasy being in the presence of a human cadaver but I was completely comfortable and I touched the cadaver. The cadaver that we saw is ten years old and its known as "born to raise hell" because of a tattoo that the cadaver has on the arm. I loved being able to have this experience because now I know that I can be comfortable around cadavers.

In the afternoon we did two activities, we dissected a sheep heart and we went to the John Hay Library to view medical illustration folios. The Heart although you are only making one cut it is quite difficult to dissect because of the fat. Unlike the fat in the cat which was soft and a bit liquidy the cardiac fat was more solid yet it wasn't hard. After we cleared up the vessels and identified them, we cut the heart open in half and identified the right and left atrium as well as the right and left ventricle. Doing the heart and cat dissection this week really made me feel like I was at a disadvantage because all the other students in my class have dissected more than just a fetal pig and a rat which made it easier for them to do the dissections. I feel like if I would have dissected more than just a fetal pig and a rat the Teacher Assistants would not have to be helping me as much as they did.

When we finished cleaning up our workspace in the lab we went to the John Hay Library to view medical illustration folios from the 1400's to the 1800's books that were done when doing autopsies was a controversial topic, when plagiarism was not yet established as something against the law, and when very few corpses where available which resulted in scientists stealing bodies from graves or taking the bodies of criminals that had been hung. It was very interesting to see how intricate ans accurate these drawings were.Some of them where funny though, there was one where is was a picture of a women sitting down showing the muscles on her back yet her cheeks were rosy and her hair was nice and had a ribbon on it. On the other hand there was also other books that demonstrated the crude reality of autopsies and where very explicit.

"Rain Man" on a Rainy Day

2009-07-02T14:17:00.003-04:00

We watched "Rain Man," starring Tom Cruise, today in class. For an overview of the movie, Tom, whose name is Charlie, is the owner of a car company. He had a rough relationship with his father and his mother past away before he was old enough to know her. He left home after an incident with his father's Buick and never returned to him. Unfortunately, his father past away and he finds out that all his father left him is the Buick and the rose patches. The $3 million he was hoping to receive was not given to him and thus, he goes in search for where all that money went. It leads him to a home for the mentally disabled. That is when he discovers that he have an autistic older brother, Raymond. Then the rest of the movie shows how Charlie kidnaps his brother Raymond in hopes of splitting their father's will but after struggling with his brother's condition, he begans to grow a deep connection to him. In the end, he did not care for the money. Instead, Charlie wanted to be the guardian of Raymond.

I really enjoyed watching this movie. Reading the book was a whole other thing. The movie helped to visualize what it is like to be around autistic people and it is definitely more interesting than the book. Just like my other post about autistic people being geniuses, I found out that it is not as common as I thought. In "Rain Man," Raymond had the ability to memorize everything he read or saw. Not only that but he was quick and speedy when it came to counting cards and doing mental math. However, there were times when something like a noise, or the water faucet, would trigger an outburst. Raymond also struggled to live normally since he was so use to having someone take care of him. Now the question is, "Is it better to sign an autistic person into a facility or emerge them into society?"

The movie brought about a very interesting topic about family unity and secrets. Charlie had a rough relationship with his father because of all these hidden secrets that his father would not tell him. He never knew his mother. Therefore when he grew found of Raymond, he wanted to be his guardian. He finally found a family member that he can relate to. Family unity is the strongest bond possible. What would I do if I was alienated by my family? What kind of life would I live? How will living alone feel like? Now, I am able to see the core value in a united family and my family. Family is a strong bond and is almost impossible to break.

Regarding the movie, I strongly recommend it. It is a truly compelling movie about the value of brotherhood.

As a side note, I cannot wait for tomorrow. I am anticipating the time when we are all set and ready to leave to New York for the day. I want to learn a lot about Columbia and the city in general.

Now I will take my leave and settle for the day.

The Civil Rights Movement

2009-07-02T13:13:00.007-04:00

I apologize for not blogging yesterday. I have a paper due on Friday and I spent all my time trying to start it off and try to get it finished. But yesterday my teacher took our class to the John Rockefeller Library to look at some primary sources from the 1940s and 1950s. We looked through endless amounts of Life magazines with numerous advertisements, articles and photographs. We spent about 40 minutes looking through these magazines and for 20 minutes talking about what we found. I found a couple of ads, but in the end I made a snapshot decision and chose this ad that my friend showed me.

When we got back to class, our teacher started her lecture about the Civil Rights Movement. She discussed the symbols of segregation, such as the "white" and "colored" signs on water fountains, bathrooms, restaurants, hospitals, and many other buildings. She then discussed the origin of the movement in correspondence with the Double V campaign, the March on Washington, and the Highland School. She described the case Brown v. B. of Ed. and told us about the "Doll Test" and how it really helped the NAACP win the case. We talked about how the racism in America made America look bad to the world, since America was based upon the principles of democracy and freedom. We then watched about 20 minutes of Pleasantville and were dismissed for class.

I thought I knew a lot about the Civil Rights Movement from what I had learned from my family and in class. But in reality I didn't know anything about the Double V campaign or the Highland School. I didn't know all the details about Little Rock 9 until I read some chapters of Melba Beals memoir and when we discussed it in class.

This class seems to be teaching me a lot of things that I didn't learn back home. Some of the students talked about how they did certain exercises similar to the "Doll Test." I have never even heard of the "Doll Test", or even performed an exercise trying to imitate it. Overall, I am glad I am taking this course because it is teaching me a lot about an era in our history that is very important. When I return back home and to school, I will ask some of history teachers, mainly US, if they will talk about the things that I didn't learn. Hopefully they will and many more students will have an idea of what else happened in American History.

Posting In Class

2009-07-02T10:08:00.003-04:00

Last year I posted once while in class. I don't remember the occasion or the reason why, but I kind of just felt like it. We're in break right now after a lecture on the short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment. For the most part everything we're learning in class is pretty logically organized. The tradeoffs are easy to grasp, meaning that all the exchanges that occur make sense.

I wish my class was more discussion based. Everyone else has a class that has more group interaction. On the other hand, my class is lecture based, I sit at my desk and take notes on the presentation my teacher makes. I realize that most of my freshmen classes in college will probably be lecture based, with discussion groups after, but maybe by then I'll grow more accustomed to it.

Last night, I attended a discussion on International Relations (IR) held by a few of the RAs who are taking classes in that concentration. I had already talked to another RA who was taking Econ and IR at the brunch on Sunday, so I thought I had a pretty good idea of what IR had to offer. Still, I wanted to see if any of the other students had questions that I had not asked before.

Turns out, I already knew a lot about what IR is about or what it requires. A lot of the questions were about Brown's Open Curriculum and how IR fits in with that or how AP credits would affect placement. I could see that a lot of the students wanted to see if they could skip classes and get ahead in their studies, which kind of annoyed me, because a lot of the students came off as obnoxious and thought that because they did well on AP tests that they were entitled to skipping classes. However, that's really a personal opinion and taste.

In reality, the RAs explained that Brown usually offered higher placement for AP tests rather than actually "credit", and that because Brown has an open curriculum with no GE's, getting out of a class does give more opportunity to take classes one is interested in, but the advantage is not as much as if one got out of a GE at another university. Also, IR doesn't have as many requisite classes as other majors, something like 10 compared to a science where they may have 14 or so. This combined with the open curriculum really lets students tailor the major to their own interests.

I'm really looking forward to going back to New York tomorrow and visiting Columbia. With all the information that I know now about my personal taste in universities and what I'm looking for in one, I think I can make a better judgement while looking over the city.

Time To Get Serious.

2009-07-02T07:32:00.005-04:00

My class Leadership for Social Change, is a very productive class. I learn a lot of things everyday . The CYA (California Youth Authority) is a very important thing that I learned about that I never knew before. The CYA is known for their beatings and abuses, both sexually and physically. The CYA abuses have been going on for years . What I also did yesterday was do a campaign to stop Nike from selling shoes, clothes, shirts etc. because of their use of sweatshop labor. There are sweatshops in places such as Honduras, China, Japan, and even in Thailand. What I really didn't know was that there are other U.S. territories that nobody really knows about that also use sweatshop labor to make clothes and shoes . These include things that say made in U.S. and is really deceiving because you would never think that sweatshop labor would go all the way into the U.S. Immigrants get tricked by corporation owners because they say that the immigrants will get a job, and will be able to live in the U.S. But what they didn't know that the U.S is also United States Territories such as the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan, Guam, Rota etc.) My campaign is based on getting the principal to help support us by sending newsletters, e-mails, phone calls, etc. to parents and probably other schools to inform them on how bad sweatshop labor is, on how they hire even little kids such as Iqbal Masih who escaped child sweatshop labor at a young age and was assasinated at the age of 12 trying to make a difference. I want people to know about how sweatshop workers get paid less then $1 a day, maybe a little over if they are lucky, but still don't have enough money to support their families, even when they work over 60 hours a week. I also want to inform the students about how in the sweatshops it takes only $3 to make the shoes, but we pay over $100. Not only are we getting ripped off, but we are also continuosly buying a new pair of sneakers and that helps supports sweatshop labor. I not only want to help the people in my community, I want to also help suffering people around the world. When I first got here, I was only thinking about myself and talking about things such as buying hats and such, but that's not the issue I should be adressing. I should be focusing more on how I want to make a change, how am I spending my time, and how I can use this time at Brown to my advantage. You don't need power to make a change. There are a childrens groups everyday that make donations, or even make web pages to help eradicate sweatshop labor. When I first got to Brown I didn't think about doing any of this. I thought that just because I didn't have power, just because I wasn't an important person, nobody would listen. Now my thoughts have changed. How did the people making a change get to where they are today? They started off right where i'm at right now, and that's by thinking of ideas. Ideas that not only change my community, but to also change the world. A leader is someone who influences others, and in my opinion makes a difference. I learned that Adolf Hitler is a leader, even if he wiped out millions of Jews. Adolf Hitler had a cause, and people followed his cause, that's a leader. Martin Luther King Jr. had a cause, people followed him because they believed the same thing that he did, he was a leader. Ruth Simmons believed in diversity enough to get over $1 billion, because people believed in her and her cause, that's a leader. Now if I have beliefs, hopes, and dreams that I think will change the world, I KNOW that people will follow. I know that people feel the way I do about getting younger crowds to know about life changing opportunities, such as having a summer at Brown, so that they wouldn't think that they couldn't make it in life, or that they couldn't make a difference. I once thought that too after my junior year. Knowing that football isn't everything, or my grades weren't good enough, was what had me declining even further. I use to sit at home thinking about my future, thinking that I wasn't going to make it. But since I came to Brown, all that is gone, because it's never too late to make a change. This whole trip to Brown is not only about changing the environment, communities, or even the world. It's about changing yourself and knowing who you are and what you can do as a leader. All of these things are up to me, and the only question i have nowadays is,How far am I willing to go?

Insomnia

2009-07-02T02:37:00.002-04:00

So it's two thirty in the morning, and I'm still awake. It seems that I haven't quite gotten used to east coast time. Or maybe I just need someone to make me go to bed.

This morning, I headed over to health services to get my blood drawn. I was nervous at first, but it wasn't so bad. They took a test tube worth, which I think is four ml.When we go into the lab, we purified white blood cells from the blood through centrifugation and lysis. It's amazing to think that a week ago I knew nothing about working in a lab and now I'm confidently working. Tomorrow I will even be purifying DNA from my blood.

Also, we looked at the results from a lab we did yesterday, and my cells were some of the only ones in class that grew on a certain plate. This means not only am I now working confidently, I'm also working competently. It's quite comforting seeing as I was struggling so much at the beginning of the course.

Tomorrow should be an exciting day because my building is throwing a party.

Until then,
Joseph Young

2009-07-01T23:53:00.005-04:00

Autism & Geniuses

2009-07-01T21:00:00.003-04:00

So I recently read the ending to "Thinking In Pictures." At first, I mentioned that I felt emotionally detached from it but then I found myself indulged in her informative style. She noted that autistic people are not necessarily unable to learn. It is said that most autistic people possess extreme knowledge in a certain subject but will lack in others. For example, Albert Einstein is one of the most well known scientist in the world! Did you know he had autistic traits?! It is the same case for Van Gogh and Wittgenstein. To take it back to the present, Bill Gates had autistic traits as well.

My views of autistic people have changed since. I learned that they are not necessarily that different than us. They just have a different mind set. Actually, they may possess knowledge far greater than we expect from them. Who knows? Maybe the autistic person sitting next to you in class may be the next Einstein or Van Gogh. As in Temple's case, she is a visual person. Although her communication and writing skills are not up to standards, her visionary skills far surpass those of "normal" people. This leads me to the question, what is normal anyways?

The last time I checked, there was no real specific definition for a normal person. In this society, there is so much pressure for people to fit into the social norm which causes people to shun those who are diagnosed with autism, a mental disorder, or anything out of the "ordinary." What I do not understand is the power of the media and the pressure to fit in. What is so great about fitting in? It is the uniqueness in each individual that makes that person who they are. I have learned to respect people for who they are.

By the way, I looking forward to going to New York this Friday and Newport on Saturday. I am anxious for this weekend to come.

Ropes Course

2009-07-01T19:06:00.002-04:00

Today I had to wake up really early because I had a ropes course that was 30 minutes away. I got up at 6:30 a.m. to make sure I'll have enough time to eat breakfast. Once I got over to breakfast I found out that our ropes course was delayed because of weather. So we had to wait an extra hour and finally they took us to another place to start our activities. There we talked to Dean Rose and did teamwork activities. In the activities we had a lot of challenges some were blind folded, muted, then some could see but they talk. The challenges turn out to work better than when everyone could talk and see.

Then later on the weather cleared so we went to the original place for the ropes course, but most groups only had time to do one activity because it really started to storm. My groups activity was called the "Magic Carpet." It was eleven of us and we all stood on this small tarp, that we had to flip over while all of us was still standing on it. It was very challenging but we got through and actually completing the activity without anyone stepping off the tarp.

Today I would say my leadership lesson was adapting to new surroundings or challenges. Today I had things thrown at me and I had to think of new ways to adjust to it and it really worked. I will carry this lesson for the rest of my life.

-Tiffany Carter

Conformity and Sympathy.

2009-07-01T17:36:00.002-04:00

I thought this week’s reading in Thinking in Pictures was hard to digest but beneficial. However, it was interesting to read about autism from someone who actually had it and had to adjust to her society. It was interesting to read about how she didn’t even know she was different until much later. It’s true that her book is really repetitive, but at the same time, I enjoyed reading the parts about the way she thought and how she was such a visual thinking. I can’t imagine being able to store images and videos in my brain and being construct from that knowledge.

“From as far back as I can remember, I always hated to be hugged. I wanted to experience the good feeling of being hugged but it was just too overwhelming.”

What is it like to be different? Everybody talks about how they think they don’t fit in, but here is a girl that really doesn’t fit in. Temple doesn’t understand our society and she doesn’t think the way we do. I understand how it would be very difficult to grow up in a society that is so focused on conformity. Our society is all about fitting in with the norm, following what is “popular” and the “trend.” Our society influences everybody using media and the temptation of materialism. So what would it be like if you didn’t even understand what our society is about? What is it like to be such an outsider? I sympathize people who have psychiatric problems because they are so far away from our reality. The quote above shows an example of how Temple doesn’t understand what we do and how we show affection. She may understand the comfort of touch but she has to use an artificial machine to get this feeling. I feel like Temple understands that she doesn’t understand and she understands that she is not the same. It is such a great ability to be able to look at your situation from the outside and realize that you are different. Even Lori thought that she was normal after a while with the voices but Temple understood that she was different.

People who are different and people who have psychiatric problems are left to pave their own way in a world that doesn’t know understand how to accept them. It’s great that in both books, Lori and Temple found support systems and found their way in the world but not everyone can do what they did. They found their way, they found what works for them and they’ve adjusted. What happens to the people who cannot adjust? What happens to the people who do not find their way in this world? Temple wrote this book with the purpose of explaining to the world what autism is and how people with autism feel. That is what I appreciate most about the book. By reading parts this memoir. I’ve been able to understand more about autistic people. Like schizophrenia, I have never studied this disorder in depth and this psychology class has enabled me to do so.

A Few Photos from Sunday's Brunch

2009-07-01T16:56:00.003-04:00

Thanks to Prudence Kent for sharing these wonderful photos from their brunch on Sunday morning Don't they all look sharp in their Sunday finest?

Interviewing

2009-06-30T23:49:00.002-04:00

Since many of the girls already talked about what we did in class today, I just wanted to share an event held for the people in my hall.

This evening, my RA, Sophia, set up an ice cream social for the girls on my floor. Not only did she put together this optional event to help us socialize and know more about each other, but she also turned it into a Q and A about interviewing. I'm not sure if the other RAs here at Brown plan functions like these, but I'm glad mine does! Just like the college Q and A I attended last week with Meuy and Mercedes, I was given much advice about interviewing whether it's for a job or college admission. Sophia even did a mock interview with another RA and then we analyzed the strong and weak aspects. Some of the pointers our group was given were:

be sure to look up information about the college
know exactly why you want to attend
keep eye contact with the interviewer
when asked a question, take some time to think of the answer rather than starting and then gathering your thoughts in the middle of answering
whenever you are asked about a time when you acted as a leader or resolved a conflict, talk about the experience, relate it to yourself and your qualities, and then try to explain how you would use these characteristics for the school you're applying to
try to make the interview seem like a conversation instead of a question and answer routine
always be prepared to ask a question at the end!

I definitely like how here at Brown there are several activities planned to help answer questions about college or the application process. Attending these events will be helpful for me in the future, and the information I share with others will be useful if they have an questions about applications or interviewing.

This Whole Day Was Late

2009-06-30T22:41:00.002-04:00

Today I woke up late. My roommate said that he would wake me up becuase he always wakes up early, but today he ended up waking up at 8:00 . That gave me only a little less time to get ready and grab a quick snack right before class started. Class was pretty fun today. We were assigned a project about Nike and about the sweatshops that are used all over the world. My group has to find a way to make students stop buying Nike items and we have to make Nike stop distributing these items as well. I learned where all of my clothes came from today too. Mostluy in Honduras or China. Then I was late again. I could have sworn that we didn't have a meeting today, but I was amazingly wrong because we had a meeting today with the dean! I didn't know this so I went to the gym with my RA's and friends, and I got a phone call from Tiffany about an hour or two later. I ran back to the dorm as fast as I could, but I ended up running the wrong way and got lost. I then had to ask a lady directions to the Sciences Library (because that's my landmark for this city) and she pointed me in the opposite way I was heading! If it wasn't for that lady I probably still would have been lost haha. But I made it back in time to hear Dean Rose speak and I apologized and everything was fine. I just got back from playing a game of MANHUNT with everybody from Harkness. It was pretty fun until somebody ruined the game and try to make a "better" version. That's when everyone left and then I wrote this. Hope everyone is doing well.

Eating Disorders

2009-06-30T22:25:00.002-04:00

We had a presenter come present to us today on eating disorder. Amanda, a Brown student, was diagnosed with anorexia in her freshmen year in college. Now she is going to be a senior and graduate and she wanted to inform people about eating disorders, especially since she went through it herself.

What I found interesting was that people do not think they are anorexic or bulimic even if they are beyond unhealthy. An example Amanda used was that when she use to look at herself in the mirror, she would see a fat lard. Then she would look at another person who was exactly the same weight but she would find them in the nice weight spectrum. This is the complicated part; people diagnosed with eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia only find flaws within themselves.

Eating disorders are due to the pressure from family and friends to be perfect. Amanda said she did not know this until she was finally diagnosed with anorexia but when she was younger, she used to be chubby and her mother would watch what she ate. For example, when Amanda picked up something containing a lot of fat, her mother would retort " Do you know how much calories is in there?!" This kind of attitude towards her led to her eating disorder.

I used to get disgusted when I see interviews of people with eating disorders. Some people just do not know when they are going overboard and jeopardizing their life! However, from Amanda's personal experience, I understand why sometimes they feel an urge to purge or binge; it is difficult to stop especially in today's society. There is a huge pressure for females to be a specific weight and look a specific way. This lead some girls to believe that they have to purge or binge to lose weight and look like a "celebrity."

I found out that eating disorders are very hard to treat as well. In Amanda's case, she had to go through a 12 step treatment and they were closely watched every hour of the day. They retained no privacy even while in the bathroom. They had a specific dress code in case they hid anything in their sleeves or anything of that sort. Now, I view them as strong people because they have to go through so much to get treated. It shows how dedicated they are to rehabilitating so now I respect them.

Well, good night and expect another blog tomorrow.

Today's connection to last year

2009-06-30T22:16:00.003-04:00

Today in class we had a very interesting conversation and presentation on eating disorders. But the part that I found the most interesting was how many times the girl presenting to us said um. I recall learning from a guest speaker that whenever giving presentations or speeches to avoid saying the word um or like. Even though I know she is not a professional, it still bothered me a lot that she said it so many times. It got to a point where I couldn't hear a thing she was saying and just started counting the ums. I feel that public speaking is very essential in order to present yourself in a professional manner. I'm very glad that I learned this important skill last year in the Women and Leadership course here at Brown. This just goes to show you how beneficial it is to be able to attend courses like that, and I wouldn't have been able to come to Brown without the ILC. Other then that her presentation was very informative and she even told us about her own experience which must have been really hard for her to do. I could never imagine going through the things she did, it just doesn't seem possible. But that just justifies how society pushes people (mainly women) to look a certain and make them feel like they have to be a certain weight to look beautiful. I also got a lot of information on this last year in my women and leadership class. Well that's all for today!

Women

2009-06-30T21:11:00.006-04:00

Today in class we primarily discussed women in the postwar era. Such as, how women were getting married and having kids at young ages, which resulted in the baby boom. Also how women were placed in a domesticity sphere and how odd it would be if they left the sphere and got a job other than being a housewife.

We talked about appliances again in correspondence with Betty Crocker and her cake mixes. Surprisingly enough, I didn't even know that Betty Crocker wasn't a real person. The pictures that were put on Betty Crocker's merchandise changed as the years went on. Where in the 50's, Betty looked very motherly and like a housewife, but in the 80's she looked like a business woman. Funny how ideals change.

Ideals with television also changed. After the war, sitcoms such as I Love Lucy and the Honeymooners expressed women's dislike of being a housewife and wanting to enjoy the world outside her home. However a couple of years later, sitcoms like I Love Lucy and Ozzie and Harriet expressed totally different ideals. Instead, June Cleaver was a happy housewife who enjoyed waiting on her husband and sons' hand and foot.

After this discussion, we watched Eyes on the Prize, which was about African-American students trying to break the color barrier and enter non-integrated all white schools. Watching this film made me realize once again in my life how fortunate I am to able to go to school with people of all different races and even be able to attend such a great summer program at an Ivy League School.

The past 7 days of class I had has taught me a lot, and refreshed my memory about WWII and the Cold War era. I am able to learn more about society rather than government as I had in school. In regards to its teachers and classes, Brown would be a great school to go to. But the atmosphere and lack of excitement don't really suit me; which explains why I am so excited for our trip to New York/Columbia University.

Well, I will talk to everyone tomorrow! Goodnight.

Catch Up Day

2009-06-30T20:46:00.004-04:00

John Brown House
Meeting with Dean Rose

Today was a catch up, catch my breath day. When I completed that I went up the hill to Brown and toured the John Brown House, which was very interesting. John Brown made his fortune as a slave trader and built the most splendid house on the hill. Years later his son Nicholas gave a large amount of money to the then "College of Rhode Island" so the college was renamed Brown University after the Brown family. In the 30's the house was donated by the Brown family to the Rhode Island Historical Society. In recent years, the house has been restored back to the original state.

At 5 I met with the students and Dean Rose joined us to chat with the students about their classes, roommates, being away from home and other gerneral subjects. It was a very productive hour and Dean Rose has been so hospitable and supportive for all of us. The sun was out all day today so we are feeling energized by the extra Vitamin D!

"A slap in the face"

2009-06-30T20:28:00.006-04:00

In today's 5:00pm meeting with Ms. Kent, Dean Rose asked me how my class was going she told us not to sugarcoat it to tell her the truth. Which is where I was able to finally say exactly what I am feeling. I told her that my class is challenging and that "its a slap in the face," why? because going from one of the top students in my class to one of the slowest in the class is a shocker. It saddens me that I did not learn that same things in AP Biology as these rising sophomores in my. That none of the science classes I took prepared me for what I had coming here at Brown. While this inspires me to try to help to improve the classes at school and talk to students in my school and share my experiences with them so they don't take a "slap in the face" the way I did. Thinking about the unfairness in this country brings tears to my eyes. How can tax payers allow this? How can school administrators allows this? How can California allow this? I now know that I am not dumb, it was just that I was not prepared the same way that these students in my class have.

Class.... Class was definitely exiting today. Today we learned about the muscular system! After the hour and half of lecture and an hour and a half for lunch we went to the lab and dissected a....CAT! I never got the chance to dissect anything other than a fetal pig and a rat in RHS so this was a big deal to me! Our first cat (not named) was weird so we had to get it switched and in return we got FAT JO! ha ha. That is what my partner, Kara and I named our second cat because it has a LOT of FAT! It took us the three and a half hours to De-fat the cat we also barley had time to identify all the muscles in the chest and in the arm. This was definitely interesting. I cant wait to return to the lab tomorrow to finish dissecting Fat Jo.

Until Tomorrow,
Carla Ramirez

The Second Day of School

2009-06-30T19:24:00.002-04:00

Today we started class acting we were at a baptists church in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement. I acted as an usher and greeted people in my class to their seats. Then we started with at song by the name of "Woke Up This Morning With My Mind Stayed On Freedom." It's a wonderful song and it gives you the feeling of how African-American people felt during the time and they stayed focused.

After that we watched a movie called "Eyes On The Prize" volume 5, it was about Mississippi and how they tried to get voting rights. It was a very interesting,moving, and very informative.
I didn't know that African-Americans weren't allowed in democratic conventions and many people fought for it like protested in front of the convention. A lady by the name of Ms.Fannie Lou Hammer was the leader of the protest and she really made her voice be heard. You could tell how passionate she was about her work.

The second part of class we watched the Will.i.am" Yes We Can" video and we talked about how it affected us and what made him do the video. I read a interview that he did about the video and he said that he did it to inspire and not to make a profit about it.

from,
Tiffany

Experiments and Experiences

2009-06-30T19:17:00.004-04:00

My day in class started today with Dr. J, my professor, explaining and demonstrating the studies of Stanley Milgram. Stanley Milgram was interested in how people go against their morals and ethics if authorities tell them to do so. In 1963 he conducted an experiment which involved a volunteer questioning another person and every time the person got the answer wrong they would shock them and every time the answer was incorrect the volts per shock would increase. The Volts went up and up and the deal was that the person shocking another keep going no matter how bad they felt for the subject. Out of 50 people 26 people went through with shocking another person with extreme voltage. Towards the end of the test the person being shocked would be silent to make the shocker believe they had just murdered the subject. I found the results of this experiment to be very interesting. I realized what people are capable of doing under certain pressure.
The second half of the class today was a presentation from a Brown Medical student whom had a personal experience with anorexia and bulimia. Therefore she gave the class a presentation on Eating Disorders. It was interesting because we got to learn the cause and effects and the different type of eating disorders as well as learning how to treat them. It was helpful to hear it from someone who actually went through it.
This class has really showed many things that can go wrong in one's life. And it has been an eye opener to the many opportunities I have had and how I have a good life. Therefore I can help others who need a helping hand or a little push in life.

There is no comparison

2009-06-30T14:24:00.004-04:00

Recently, I was asked "how [Brown] compares to what [I am] doing at El Cerrito High School... Do[es El Cerrito] have the rigor? Are other students more prepared than [El Cerrito's] students? What are [my] observations about our readiness?"

I didn't even have to think for a second before I knew the answer.

El Cerrito High School does not compare. Not at all.

I can honestly say, this is the only course I've taken in my high school career in which I asked a teacher for help.

I can honestly say, my times at Brown and Cornell are the only times in my high school career that I've been surrounded by motivated students.

I can honestly say, this is the only time I've gotten lower than a B+ on a quiz in my high school career.

I can honestly say, El Cerrito High School hasn't prepared me at all for the work I'm doing here.

I could count on one hand the number of students at El Cerrito, including my self, who even begin to compare to these kids.

Its not that they're smarter than us. But they're more prepared, their schools offer accelerated math programs starting in middle school, they offer programs in conjunction with local universities, they offer AP Latin, AP Physics, AP Economics, AP Psychology, even AP Art. They offer IB, fencing, and lacrosse.

These kids have been to Turkey, Japan, or Bonnaroo.

How do we even begin to compete with these kids? Kid's who have spent their whole lives preparing for the SAT's, whose parents are doctors, scientists, or ambassadors?

When it comes down to it, I guess we just have to do our best, ask for extra help, and grab every opportunity with our teeth and hold on tight. Because if we don't, we can kiss the east coast goodbye.

Until next time,
Joseph Young

The Fundamentals

2009-06-30T07:22:00.000-04:00

That's basically what we've been learning in Macroeconomics - the fundamentals. Without a strong foundation, all the higher level thinking and problem solving that goes on in economics would be harder to grasp. For example, today we went over money growth and inflation. The way we're taught the concept is that, in a perfect closed economy, without any outside forces changing the behavior of the market, when the government prints more money, it inevitably leads to inflation. Also, the central bank (ex. the Fed) can control how smaller banks do their business by changing interest rates and by selling/buying bonds.

This led to a discussion about our current economy. A simple model like the one above, was able for the most part explain what happened in the economy. However, of course, our current state of market is a ton more complicated and intricate than what a basic intro to macroecon model of a closed economy can tell.

My day, in all,was spent well. Joseph and I got breakfast at the Sharpe Refectory, the new place that opened which is a whole lot closer than the V-dub from where we're staying; It's so convenient now. After meeting with Ms. Kent, my floormates and I went to see Transformers 2 in IMAX. Holy cow it was thrilling to see all the explosions fill my plane of view and the booms shake my body. It was good to be able to have something to do in the afternoon seeing that most of the time, there aren't many things to do on campus. My RA tells me its more exciting during the school year, I believe him.

New Teacher, New Decade

2009-06-30T00:27:00.004-04:00

So today in my class we had a new teacher to teach us about the 50s. She talked about image vs. reality and that our image or perception of the perfect 50s were basically false. She explained that the 50s is more complex than we think and that there were still post-war anxieties. We also talked about suburbanization and appliances.

With suburbanization, our teacher elaborated about the ideal of the nuclear family and how this ideal was advertised a lot on TV. For the housewives of these nuclear families, appliances were a must. New appliances for cooking were most popular, especially with supermarkets becoming a phenomenon.

We then watched a documentary about the 1950s that discussed religion, fear of another Depression, emotional crisis revolving around splurging, and especially advertisements.

After the documentary we talked about it and the lecture. Surprisingly we were able to leave class early. Hopefully tomorrow will be the same kind of fulfilled learning day.

"Cheating from the Starting Line"

2009-06-30T00:04:00.003-04:00

Today, in class we had a lecture on neuroscience from Vicky, one of our TAs who is an upcoming junior at Brown. We then broke into our discussion groups to discuss Thinking in Pictures, a book about Temple Grandin and autism. This was definitely a much harder read than The Quiet Room since I was able to try and connect with Lori Schiller on a more emotional level. Parts of Grandin's memoir were interesting, but after a while, it seemed extremely repetitive and just explained the disorder like a textbook. I would've liked to read more personal accounts, rather than the facts about autism. Hopefully I will be able to get into the book more as I read it. We then heard two presentations from our classmates. I thought they were great and definitely helped me since I will be presenting my study, The Power of Conformity, on Wednesday.

However, the most interesting part of the class today was actually the homework. We had to read two articles, but the one I could related to more was “Cheating from the Starting Line.” It was basically about how more and more students are beginning to cheat and why. Two schools, Horace Mann and Stuyvesant, were mentioned in the article for having the most money and some of the best resources. Even with all these advantages, the students still go to great lengths in order to receive a good grade in class. From forcing tutors to do their work to asking doctors to write notes for medical illnesses, this article showed me how students will not stop until they achieve their goals. I was a bit surprised, but at the same time, I wasn't. Although my parents may not push me as hard as these kids, I still want the best grades I can receive. Thus, of course there will always be a small part of me that thinks it would be so much easier to look over someone else's shoulder or get a note from my doctor in order to receive more time on a test. However, I resist giving into these temptations because I know in the long run, it would only hurt instead of help me. I started to become irritated because even with all these rich, top-rated schools with all the best resources the students continue to use technology (with the internet, e-mail, and even calculators) to avoid work. I go to one of the low-rated schools in my area, and reading an article like this makes me even more frustrated. I feel the wealthier teens in the world should embrace the blessings they have at their prestigious schools because there are other kids who do not have the same resources. It's infuriating to know I must work ten times harder in order to compete when these teens simply weasel their way through school. However, now I also feel motivated to strive. In the end, dishonesty only hurts the cheater.

Classwork

2009-06-29T23:14:00.003-04:00

In class today I gave my group presentation on the studies done by Henry Harlow on Discovering Love. He tested the relationship between an infant and a mother. He used baby monkeys and two fake mothers, one made of wire that contained food for the infant and one that was made out of cloth to provide comfort. The results to all the studies done under different situations was that the baby monkeys preferred the comfort over a necessity like a milk, food.

My group was one of the first to present so far and I am excited to see what the other groups have got to teach me about their studies.

Also in class we have started to read a new book called Thinking in Pictures which is a book about an autistic women.

So far in class we have learned about different illnesses and challenges people go through. It makes me feel in some way more grateful and lucky to have a life that's not as nearly corrupt.

Homework.

2009-06-29T22:47:00.003-04:00

Today, the unique thing about my day was the homework I had to do. We read articles from the reading packing that we had to buy for the class and I thought it was all very interesting. We had to read two articles; one about cheating and one about consumerism and creativity. Here are my thoughts.

“’What Horace Mann programs you to think is that your purpose in life is getting into an Ivy League school,’ says another former student, who graduated from the school a few years back.”

It was easy for me to relate to the stories of these kids who faced pressure like no other in their high schools. I don’t come from a rich family and I don’t go to a fancy private school but I do face pressure as these students do. They talk about how they feel the need to cheat, whether it is because they feel like they have to level the playing field or because they feel like they need to get good grades. I face similar pressures and temptations.

In our school, it is not hard to succeed. El Cerrito is not a great school and it comes from a poor school district, meaning that the kids in that school do not care and do not strive to succeed. The competition to do well is not as cutthroat as the competition in these private schools. However, the pressure to get A’s on tests and in the class is very similar. Because it’s not a very good school, I have to succeed or else it must mean I’m worth less than everyone else that does well in harder schools. This is the train of thought that I usually follow during the school year, but now that I think about it closely, that’s not true.

I try hard, I work hard, I strive hard. My effort is worth everyone else’s and I didn’t cheat to get where I am today. That makes me worth it, according to the moral ethics that should be in place today. However... the article is right. People have unfair advantages; people do things to get ahead and usually, it works. Usually, these people get away with it and they get further in life, according to our materialistic ideals. What does this say of our society? What does that mean for those that can’t afford advantages or don’t feel right about cutting corners? What does that mean for humanity? Where is our morality?

“It’s not in the marketers’ best interest for consumers to think too much, too well, or too critically about their products.”

After reading this second article about consumerism and creativity, I thought about the quality of life in the children today. When I was a child, not so long ago, I feel like society was just shifting between good old generalized legos and sets of legos with instructions. I worry about the future generations.

However, this correlates with the other article. If the younger generations now are losing the ability to be creative because of toys available to them and if they’re feeling the pressure now to have the new toys then what does that mean for their future? Won’t they continue in their search for the newest “toys”? Won’t that search for materialistic satisfaction follow them into their adult life? If it does, this will fuel the temptation to cheat and get ahead in life. It makes sense because they feel like they have to do what they have to do in order to get what they need to be satisfied. It’s a cycle; once they get what they need to be satisfied, they’ll get tired of it and they’ll be in the search for the next new thing they need to be satisfied. Once again, people will try to cheat and get a head of the game so that they can feel satisfied again by getting the new object of their desire. Advertisers must be making it big, even in the economy we have today.

I've thought about a lot tonight because of these readings. These are the types of things we learn about in psychology.

Good night.

Cheating Culture

2009-06-29T22:34:00.002-04:00

In class we learned many new things in class, our TA Vicky presented a power point on "Your brain on drugs". I was surprised to see that I knew most of the material being presented because In had previously learned it in my physiology class. That I found very ironic because throughout the year my physiology teacher continuously changed, I had about four different teachers that year. That was when I got excited, maybe I did know just as much as anyone else, even throughout all of the struggles to try to learn in my physiology class, I knew material that was being presented by a college student. I guess it was pretty basic stuff, but it made me confident in my education. After Vicky's presentation a few student group presented their project. Team BAMT presented on Feminine, Masculine, or both? I found that some of the character traits that they labeled as a female trait was not entirely true, and you often see this stereotype everywhere in society. Next was Mercedes' group, the orange oranges, their presentation was on discovering love. They showed us how infants are said to be connected to their mother through compassion and love, instead of food necessities.

I especially liked today's homework because it was explaining how people cheat to get the big money in life, which goes back to my title, Cheating Culture. As I was reading I found that most students going to prestigious schools often cheat their way through, and I felt it was unfair to those students who work hard to get somewhere in life. They also went on to say how because most of those students go to private schools, their parents have the money to get them tutors, and have the power to change hings so that things are more advantageous to their kids. They even go as far as getting medical approval that their child has learning disabilities, so that they could have extra time during the SATs. I feel that these kids have all the luck, they get to go to excellent schools and they don't have as many struggles as kids living in poverty. It is so unfair that we have to work extra hard to try to excel, when they can just cheat their way up. I don't think all of them do, but the statistics in the book were pretty high. I feel that maybe that's why it's so hard for students without these advantages to turn their life around, because they see no point. That is basically what I see around my school, they don't care because they believe that they can never compete with students that get to attend private schools. I really connected to this reading because of these reasons, I am one of those students who have to work extra hard to reach for a higher education, but I don't have my parent's money to get me personal tutors and bribe my way up. I do it all on my own, without cheating because I want to know that I did it sincerely without cutting corners.

Thinking In Pictures

2009-06-29T21:51:00.002-04:00

Recently, we started reading Thinking In Pictures as a class assignment. After reading The Quiet Room, I figured this would be a good book as well. The first 20 pages were fairly okay and interesting but then after that, I found myself skimming through the pages. You may be wondering why? Well, for numerous reasons.

I am not a text book kind of person. I hate reading text books because it is all information and contains nothing that I can emotionally connect to. This book contains a lot of information about autism but the author, Temple, does not describe her life living with autism. This brings me back to what Ms. Kim told us to do in our college essays, "Show. Don't tell." I find that this will be a really good advice to Temple because what I get from the book is that she is telling, not showing what life is like for her. Not only that but there is quite a lot of information to absorb and I find it overwhelming. This information can be found in text books, and like I said, I am not fond of text books.

Reading The Quiet Room also added more reasons for my dislike for Thinking In Pictures. In The Quiet Room, I felt emotionally attached to the book so it grabbed my attention. It came to the point that I could not even put down the book. The main difference is the personal account of the book. Lori was able to show what she went through which helped the reader comply with her own experiences. In Temple's book, she is just generalizing and teaching the reader what autism is.

What I found out about myself is that I like it when I can emotionally connect to the experiences in the book, I am more likely to continue reading it. Maybe this is why I despise reading text books. I have learned something about myself.

First Day Of School

2009-06-29T21:44:00.002-04:00

Today was really different. I woke up at about 7:45 which was kind of early since I have been waking up at around 11 these past couple of weeks. At first I went to go eat breakfast in the cafeteria, and I had just realized that I didn't have a course packet. I then went to my class with two of my other floor mates and the media director said, "You must be wrong, there are no classes here". So after going all the way to the 14th floor wondering what we should do. We then saw the RA Ann and we talked to her and went to go get some course packets at the information center. That's when we found out the class was originally at the Sciences Library where we originally came from. Well the class itself was pretty interesting, yet kind of repetitive. Throughout the whole day the asked us to write down our action plan like 5 different times. We got to know our classmates more and learned what they wanted out of this course however. We got to do fun activities and think through scenarios and act like real leaders, and lawyers, and there was a lot of debating. It was pretty lively, and when I got out of the class I felt free! I made new friends and we went to eat and kicked it together all day, it was great. I hope that tomorrow will be even better, and I hope I get more sleep tonight.

What I learned today: Definition of a leader: Someone who is passionate about doing what they think will benefit not only themselves but others as well. A leader is also someone who influences others and whom people like to follow.

The Ice Breaker

2009-06-29T20:45:00.002-04:00

Today I started my class which is Leadership & the Civil Rights Movement. I have really great smart and intelligent teachers. There's a funny thing about them, they both live in Oakland. So it shows how its such a small world, I leave my neck of the woods to experience new people and I still end being taught by someone near me. Also one of my teachers Branice teaches at the Oakland School of Arts and my other teacher Kristian teachers at a school in Hayward.

When I leave this summer program, I feel like I'm going to leave with so much more information than I know now. I'm learning the songs that the Civil Rights participants song during the movement. I learned that older African-Americans during that time tried to keep what was happening from the children because they didn't want the children becoming a victim. And keeping secrets kind of hurt some of the children in a certain way.Lastly I learned about who has the power in certain situations. Example children control the economic power because they get their parents to by a lot of different things like an iPod and computers.

I just want to let everyone know that I'm having a great time and thanks for this opportunity to come to Brown.

Next Time....

2009-06-29T20:27:00.002-04:00

Ok, next time I will read the other blogs first so I don't title mine the exact same way!!

Nature, Nurture, DNA

2009-06-29T20:07:00.003-04:00

For some reason, I can never get more than six or seven hours of sleep. That said, I groggily dragged myself out of bed this morning to meet Dennis and Ali at the Ratty—the cafeteria that just opened this morning.

Then, I went of to my morning lab session. We began the first part of our three day lab in which we will create a recombinant plasmid, grow bacterial cultures containing the recombinant DNA, and then test whether the desired plasmid is actually contained in the cultures.

Today, we did the first step, creating the recombinant plasmid. To do this, we first did a restriction digest of BamhI and HindIII on two separate samples of plasmid DNA, pAMP and pKAN. Next, we incubated this mixture for thirty minutes. Meanwhile, we prepared the agarose gel. When our sample was finished incubating, we added loading dye to the samples, and loaded the samples into the gel. We then ran electrophoresis for about thirty minutes. When the gel was finished running, we took it into the UV photography machine, and captured the DNA's movement through the gel. This was done in order to be certain that the restriction digest had continued to completion. Next, we put the remaining samples of the restriction digest into a sixty five degree heater in order to kill the BamHI and HindIII. Finally, we combined the pKAN and pAMP, and mixed in DNA ligase so that the fragments will combine.

Also, last weeks lab reports were passed back and I received check pluses in both practical applications and theoretical understanding. This was especially pleasing because I've been having a lot of trouble understanding the theory behind DNA manipulation.

In the afternoon session, we went over an article we had been assigned to read which dealt with epigenetics—the link between genes and environment. This was particularly fascinating. Often in science, you hear the debate between nature and nurture. Are some people born more intelligent, more athletic or healthier? Or do environmental factors such as nutrition or a mother's education level determine this? After reading the article, a clear answer resounds—both.

Phenotypic differences between individuals are often caused by differences in the genetic code of individuals. However, genes exist that are not polymorphic—genes that have only one possible arrangement. How does one account for phenotypic differences here? The answer lies in gene regulation. Environmental factors can determine the amount of methylation in genes. For instance, ninety nine percent of non-smokers show partial to complete methylation of the CYP1A1, while only thirty three percent of heavy smokers show methylation. Thus, smoking increases the expression of this gene. Also, drug resistance, which is coded for on MDR1 gene, varies between people. However, there is no polymorphism of this gene. The amount of methylation of this gene determines drug resistance.

Small portions of RNA called micro RNA (miRNA) act as gene regulators. miRNA bonds to mRNA, which carries the information for protein translation, creating dsRNA. However, genes code for the automatic destruction of dsRNA. Thus, by creating small pieces of RNA, the cell is able to stop the production of certain proteins. The amount of miRNA shows a clear correlation with the level of gene expression. Thus, levels drug resistance are also determined by miRNA. Interestingly, miRNA was only discovered in 2007, so the study of this RNA and its regulation is very young. Who knows what discoveries will come next.

Once class was over, I back to my dorm room to catch up on my sleep. Then, it was on to meeting with Ms. Kent, dinner at a different cafeteria that just opened up, and finally studying in the P5 lounge.

Tomorrow, I will be transforming the genetic make-up of E. coli.

Until then,
Joseph Young

Brunch and Wellesley

2009-06-29T19:42:00.008-04:00

Wellesley Admission's office

Wellesley

The gang at brunch.
Sunday was just as busy as Saturday, starting with a brunch at the beautiful Maddox Alumni House. We were so honored to have many Brown "stars" attend, from admissions officers to the assistant to Ruth Simmons, the president of Brown. Robin Rose and Karen Sibley, who are longtime supporters and admirers of the program were also there. After brunch, our student, Meuy Chien Saephan gave an interesting presentation about some of thepast illuminaries of Brown and Ms Kronenberg spoke about our connection to Brown. Tehani Collazo, the Director of Education Outreach spoke of her journey to Brown and had the students participate in an activity in which they pondered where they wished their lives to be in 5-10-20 years and then several shared their reflections.

In the mid afternoon a group of us headed off to see Wellesley College, the alma mater of both Hillary Clinton and Madeline Albright. The students were interested in seeing not only an all womens college but a small college as Wellesley has a student body of 2000, much smaller than the Boston schools we had just visited. The campus is lush and gorgeous and the architecture splendidly medieval.

Today Ms Kronenberg and I visited Carlas's biology class where she was being certified for CPR and then off to see Mercedes present in her Intro to Psychology class. She and her group did a great job illustrating the work of Henry Harlow who did the research with the rhesus monkeys to determine if infants are attached to their mothers more for nourishment or for comfort. You will have to ask Mercedes for the answer! I met with all the students at 5 and they are back into their routine. Tiffani and Zack had a great first day. Tiffani said "it is so much more than I expected." And Zack said he is "having a blast."

Tomorrow my mission is to find a laundromat in the neighborhood! Keep you posted...

CPR & Megan Dawson

2009-06-29T14:40:00.003-04:00

I have to say that taking a CPR class was so much fun! Being certified is also great, now I know that I am prepared in case of an emergency. Apart from taking a CPR class in the morning I got the unique opportunity to meet a Brown Alumnae who is doing a research project here at Brown. Her name is Megan Dawson, she graduated from Brown in 2008 and her concentration(major) was biology. She is currently working in Brainerd Lab which is located in the life science building is working on x-ray reconstruction of moving morphology. Being able to take a tour of the lab in which she works in and seeing the x-ray machines and animations she develops with certain computer programs is unbelievable. Getting this unique opportunity is special to me, and knowing that this is funded by the school is making me like more aspects of Brown that take away from the fact that it is an open campus.

What a busy day!

2009-06-29T00:12:00.003-04:00

Today, everyone met at 11 am at the Maddock Alumni Center for a lovely brunch. Not only was there great food (I loved the blueberry french toast! haha), but I was able to talk to a few people who currently go to Brown or have graduated from the university. I liked talking to Marcella, a rising junior, who explained to me why she chose Brown over other schools. She, like several others, told me she liked the open curriculum and the freedom to explore various subjects led her to choose her major of Geophysics. I also plan to go to the admissions office sometime this week to speak to Mercedes Domenech about the medical program here at Brown. After eating, we went to a different room in order to here a couple of speeches. I found it interesting when speaker Tehani Collazo mentioned that she first went to a poor, low-rate school district, her parents took her out and moved her to Brookline. This struck me because I know a few students who left our district to move to one that they thought was better. I wonder if Tehani would have stayed with her school district if it had organizations, such as the Ivy League Connection, which helps students. Although we may not have the best district, I'm glad I am part of one that is slowly improving with programs like ILC.

After the brunch, Gina, Meuy, Carla, and I went to visit Wellesley College with Ms. Kronenberg, Ms. Kent, and Mr. Ramsey. Fortunately, a kind lady, Moira Kelly, was able to give us a tour of the campus. This school is one of the seven sisters (the seven all-women liberal arts colleges located in the northeastern US) with famous graduates like Hilary Clinton and Madeline Albright. My first impression was that the campus was beautiful and huge (600 acres!). There are only 2,000 undergraduates and 30% diversity. I liked how the school has such a strong connection to MIT and allows students to take courses there and has an extensive study abroad program. In the end, I could not see myself going to this school. This tour was helpful because I learned I may be more of a city person. Although it is 5 minutes away from downtown Wellesley and 15 miles away from Boston, I still felt a bit isolated. However, I'm sure I can use the information I received to talk to any students who are considering an all-women college.