Lessons from a new (and unexpected) friend

In addition to my trip to Alaska and Canada, another great highlight of summer was working as an office assistant at a home services company in my town. As someone who is slightly fidgety and constantly moving, I wasn't very accustomed to long hours of sitting. However, I gradually adjusted and learned to sit for longer periods of time in the office while coordinating real estate inquiries among agents, buyers, and sellers. I became familiar with many of the agents, who loved the presence of a collegiate young adult and grabbed every chance to give me personalized advice about my future and career. Of all these interactions, I grew closest with the office bookkeeper, a lovely woman named Dolores.

On my first day of work, Dolores was waiting for me at the front desk with a toothy smile. She gave me an office tour and a thorough training for all my tasks. Each subsequent day I showed up to work, she'd come greet me with the same bright, toothy smile and tell me a bunch of stories. I'd hear about what she ate for breakfast with her husband, how she painfully fell down a staircase and bruised her knee, her get-togethers with friends, family life, previous jobs, generation differences... the list goes on and on. Initially, I thought of this as a mentor-like relationship. Dolores is like a sweet grandmother watching out for the new employee in the office. However, as the days went by and the conversations continued, I noticed how much more comfortable I became. It wasn't as if I were speaking with a superior or an adult; I felt as if I were talking to one of my peers.  

Even at her age, Dolores is able to find joy in small things. She is happy to pick up her granddaughter from school. She loves making special breakfasts with eggs and English Muffins. She savors great moments with her friends, even visiting them out-of-state. She may be a grandmother, but she's still so youthful. I'm reminded of the guarded person I tend to be and remember that I have to learn to say yes more often. Some of the friendships with other females can be the greatest friendships I will form, and one day, like Dolores, I will be able to cherish the longevity of great friendships I may form with more smiles and more yes. When I'm older, I hope to be as bubbly and wonderful as Dolores is.

Receiving a small farewell gift from her on my last day of work was so heartwarming. Her gift was also extremely thoughtful. She got me some handy and portable Avon products that I can use whenever I am on campus. Little actions like these can truly make someone feel extremely touched. She even wrapped it in a cute pink tissue paper held by a beautiful bag with a yellow ribbon plastered on.

"May new friends always cherish you the way your old friends do....

May you always find the joys you're dreaming of." 

-Excerpt from Dolores' card

Dolores was the friend I did not expect to make this summer. But she has been such a gift, and I am so grateful to have met her. I can't wait until I have my own paycheck to be able to treat her out to a delicious meal and share more laughs.

"Engaging Young Minds"

Thursday, August 1, 2013 -

On behalf of BEAM with Perry, Liz, and Emily, I had the opportunity to participate in a panel, which was part of a 4-day teacher workshop, Engaging Young Minds. The audience of about 100+ mostly consisted of elementary school teachers. With the new state standards putting emphasis on the engineering design process and STEM in general, it is understandable that many educators feel anxious and slightly intimidated. I thought back to elementary school, when my teachers at each grade level were required to teach absolutely everything - Science, Math, English, History... even when they probably didn't specialize in that particular field! By introducing educators to BEAM and sharing our elementary school experiences with science, our goal was to show that science isn't such a terrifying subject. Science provides a plethora of opportunity to learn and enlivens curiosity within young children.

When we arrived at the venue, the first thing I noticed were the packages filled with indiscernible objects near front of the auditorium. I later learned that these materials were provided by Trash for Teaching. Educators were working on a hands-on project during the workshop with the materials. I loved the message conveyed: you can learn science with simple, everyday materials. There's no need to be spending big bills on fancy, enigmatic equipment.

The packages supplied by Trash for Teaching.

 The general outline of the panel:

1. Presentation time! We opened up the panel by introducing some of the departments within the School of Engineering, transitioning to a brief talk on the Blackawton Bees study (all done by kids ages 8-12), introducing BEAM, and then sharing our experiences with science when we were in elementary school. 
2. Demonstrations of some of BEAM's showcase lessons: stomp rockets, microscopes, zip-line balloon racers, rubber band cars, and lung models.
3. Concluded with a fabulous Q&A session.

During the presentation, I learned something about myself: I've gradually grown out of my anxiety for speaking in front of large audiences. In the past, I gave presentations with smaller audiences of no more than 40 people. Being able to participate in a panel to share my thoughts and stories about a matter I care deeply about brought out a rather talkative side of me. And, most importantly, I realized how important it is to educate others about STEM, and how sciences and arts are inherently connected. Small sidetrack: I was talking with Liz and she mentioned how there was talk about "S.T.E.M" being adapted to "S.T.E.A.M." - science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. I like that change - let's all start hash-tagging #STEAM in our twitter and facebook accounts.

Many of the teachers were intrigued and impressed by BEAM's student-designed lesson plans. Some spontaneously asked me for advice and feedback on their current lessons. How can I include hands-on experimentation with a topic like ecology? How should I have them better understand the concept of erosion? I then recognized my broad knowledge of science, creatively thinking of ways for elementary school teachers to incorporate the engineering design process in their curricula. It also delights me that teachers were interested in having passionate BEAM mentors visit their classrooms and work with their students.

After the panel, I reflected more about my education as a kid. In elementary school, I really did have great instructors who encouraged me to experiment with science and discover new things - we had science fair projects and Elmer's tri-fold posters to work with, hands-on activities with rocks and minerals, astrocamp... I definitely liked science when I was younger and realized how ubiquitous it is. The funny part: while this should have prompted me to pursue a degree in STEM fields, the fact that science is everywhere scared me. It felt like too much for me to handle at that time. Math and science were probably my weakest subjects when I was younger, and I didn't have the mindset to pursue those subjects then. I surprised myself when I selected Electrical Engineering as my major on all my college applications two years ago. So what happened in-between?

The major change took place in high school. Ironically, I was part of a humanities-based program in high school which put a lot of focus on writing. Every day, I was writing... writing about Nietzsche, Danto, existentialism, Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel, and the list goes on. All this extensive writing fostered my critical thinking skills and helped me become a better communicator, and I am beyond thankful to my high school education for providing me these skills. I was also very lucky to have some great math and science teachers in high school. Three years of math with Mr. Butler and one year of physics with Ms. Blumfield (but really two years, considering how much I visited her classroom in senior year) sealed the deal for me. Despite some ridiculous homework problems (would I really slide my book on an icy surface and then calculate the conservation of momentum?), great instruction from 10th to 12th grade made me love physics and math. I even surprised my self by opting to self-study for AP Physics C in senior year.

While the discussion on Thursday did claim that students tend to make a decision about whether or not they like science in 3rd-5th grade, I know that there people like myself who didn't decide to pursue a career in STEM until their late teens. I never quite realized how the people around me played such a critical role in inspiring me about STEM, leading me to choose the career path I am pursuing today.

The lovely view from the 3rd floor of Boetler Hall.

And here I am, learning a little more every day, hoping that in the near future, I can contribute something beneficial for many communities I belong to.

Throwback.. Summer 2011

The summer before my senior year of high school, I attended the Sci Art Nanolab. Looking back, I realize that I didn't understand most of the research taking place in the laboratories at the California Nanosystems Institute. Now a UCLA student pursuing an engineering degree, I'd like to think I've come a long way since my days at CNSI. I remember being in awe of the massive machines in the labs and the extensive computers present.

I was reviewing some old files on my computer when I ran into this gem. Throughout the program, we were required to write blog posts daily to draw connections between the arts and sciences based on certain presentations and guest lecturers. This blog post is about one of my favorite presentations from guest speaker Colleen Macklin.. here it is!
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As a dedicated musician, my mind suddenly sparked some intense interest and concentration when the second guest speaker in the evening spoke of her integration between the arts and science to teach something educationally through technological games. Colleen Macklin, the first speaker, spoke of how her game creations can be treated like a mathematical equation. The equation states “Game + rules = Emergence.” This made me realize how the boundaries present in a game can also serve as a way to release the creativity deep inside within a person when these borders are created, incorporating both art and science in the process. Musician Samuel Lover once claimed, “Circumstances are the rules of the weak; they are but the instruments of the wise.” The uses of both science and art are extremely effective when trying to stimulate the human mind to utilize reactions and paradigm shifts.

The existence of rules have often been scrutinized and hated by many people. Rules are often seen as the ultimate concrete barrier to break through; human beings like to ignore their existence. Playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw once said, “The golden rule is that there are no golden rules.” Yet, when such a principle for freedom is set, it seems as if the universe seemed too large and everybody else seemed so small—exactly how I felt after watching Hubble 3D at the California Science Center. When human beings are given too much freedom and no boundaries to be restrained within, it seemed as if our contributions are useless. However, if I were to look at things on a smaller sized scale and take baby steps to reach a bigger goal, these contributions eventually will make a difference, be it on a local scale or a universal scale.

The idea of rules and boundaries is what caused me to think about the changes and improvements that could take place if everybody would look at things on a smaller scale. For instance, a toddler would only be able to walk if he or she learned to take the smaller steps to be able to allow him or herself to be capable of physically moving on the Earth. The games presented today are just like taking baby steps on a miniature scale. I know that personally, as a human, I always want to take the shortcut and make it to my final goal in a shorter amount of time. Yet, I think rules like those set in interactive games force me to limit my goals and take the puny steps that would create a better final product. I was stimulated when I heard the professional musician state that she wanted to create a game that would allow people to learn something about music and the difficult theory behind it. I could relate to her personally; I am a musician and I find myself much better a performer than I am at understanding music theory. Those books from Keyboard Concepts that teach Deceptive and Augmented Cadences are some things I detest most about music. However, the actual music performance is entirely different, and knowing that someone wants to create an interactive experience with music through a game is inspiring. The game forces the player to have restrictions in the learning process, which is important; otherwise, the player might just want to know instantly how to play a Chopin Polonaise within an hour. Furthermore, the learning process is done in an exciting way. Games like Budgetball Colleen devised are exciting ways that create the borderlines for people to be able to take diminutive steps and gradually expand their knowledge on the current economic crises.

The devising of these games serves as one of the best examples of the integration of art and science. In addition, it has an educational purpose behind it and teaches patience, a quality necessary for both science and art.