Coming to an End...

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

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 ...

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.