ohio state

Spring Break 2020 – Savannah, Georgia

I went on my last undergraduate trip with the amazing student organization MUNDO. We took a road trip down to the South for spring break 2020. Our group of 15 people (12 students and three staff mentors) went to Savannah, Georgia for a few days. For the second half of the week, we explored Atlanta. The purpose of this entire experience was to expand our awareness about the history of colonial cities and their role in the Civil Rights Movement, as well as the continuous struggles for equity in the United States. We became armed with greater knowledge and greater confidence in ourselves to create social change, which can start by holding space and conversations. Our group examined social justice issues and engaged in critical thought and discussions throughout the week. It was truly fascinating and as some of us say in colloquial terms, “mind-blowing.”

Saturday, March 7th – The Road Trip


Everyone arrived at the three campus pick-up locations on time. The group was able to depart for Georgia before 8:00 AM. The drive down South was peaceful. I worked on an assignment the whole time and was pleasantly surprised and thankful that the bus WiFi was very cooperative. It allowed me to listen to music too! We made a stop for lunch in Virginia and I tried Bojangles for the first time. I did not try their famous chicken and biscuits, but I ate a grilled chicken sandwich with deliciously seasoned fries. We continued and arrived in Savannah, Georgia around dinner-time. Several of us got food at an Asian take-out restaurant called Tokyo Café. I was excited to support a small business that is not only locally-owned, but also run by people of color. The area we were in had a plethora of hotels and restaurants, both chain and local. It was interesting to see Spanish moss trees everywhere. That night, I flipped through several brochures in the hotel to help me determine what I wanted to do in my free time.

Sunday, March 8th – Settling into Savannah

People ate breakfast in the hotel before we met up outside in the hotel parking lot around 9:35 AM. Breakfast options included make-your-own waffles, sausage patties, fried eggs, sliced cheese, and boiled eggs. Fresh fruits (apples, oranges, bananas) along with a few cereal options and oatmeal were also available. We addressed the indigenous peoples of the land we were currently visiting: the Muskogee (Creek), Guale, and Yamasee tribes. One of the staff mentors said to the group, “These tribes continue to thrive on this land today, but we acknowledge the genocide experienced by their ancestors in the past and the emotional labor necessary to continue the legacy.”

We boarded the bus and made our way towards the Historic District of Savannah. Lining the sidewalks on each side were trees of Spanish moss that draped down towards us. The air felt fresh and less polluted while the atmosphere felt more relaxed and carefree. When we reached Chippewa Square, we were given about 20 minutes to roam the streets before our Savannah Walking Tour would begin to give us an orientation to the area. Some of us stopped into a bookstore to peruse the books. Not many shops were open at 10 AM. Our tour guide was an older man with a well-rehearsed script and the willingness to answer any questions. We learned about how Savannah was founded and other neat facts. This laid down a foundation for us about how Savannah came to be about and events that took place there that shape life today. I learned that Georgia was named after King George. I also learned that churches and bars are usually in close proximity to each other. This tour was about two hours long and we went through a handful of the 22 squares in Savannah.

A peer shared her thought out loud about how these stories of the individuals (often military-involved men) who get honored by monuments can be glorified, and a staff mentor felt so proud from hearing this analysis. Why are certain individuals displayed and remembered in a city’s history? What traits do they have in common? I appreciated hearing my peers think about anything and everything.

We did not really have time for a sit-down lunch. Some people brought snacks with them. This is an important tip for MUNDO experiences: pack a snack. The guided tour of the First African Baptist Church was incredibly impactful. It was constituted in December 1777 and is the oldest continuous Black church in North America. As visitors sat in the pews, a young man in his 20s was our guide and he did not explain everything explicitly to us but allowed us to make the connections for ourselves.

Students and two staff mentors (far right) proudly pose in front of the church. Our hour-long tour transported to us through history and transformed our thinking.

Our guide told us the story of George Leile, an African American man who was enslaved and later freed, and who baptized fellow enslaved individuals. Reverend Leile established Baptist churches in Jamaica and people in his Congregation established FABC in Savannah. Words that came to my mind from the tour information: intentionality, purpose, foresight, and vision. It dawned on me how resilient and resourceful enslaved and free African Americans were and their intentionality behind the church design and objects: stained-glass windows, pews, floor, etc. They were more intelligent than they were made out to be by their slave-holders and the public. 

For more of the history, please see this site: https://firstafricanbc.com/history.php

Additional information that made an impression on me was that the church had a barrel roof; the walls and ceiling met in rounded corners to allow sound to travel so that someone’s voice can be heard anywhere in the room without a microphone. In the basement, a small part of the floor had holes, to let the Georgia pine wood breathe due to moisture, and to allow people resting underneath breathe as well. The FABC housed people fleeing to freedom as part of the Underground Railroad. The people associated with this church also resisted white supremacy and colonist forces in that the cross symbol used was an Ethiopian cross, not European. Subtle, but significant.

It was also interesting that the church’s 17 pastors have all been black men, and a number of them were mixed race and light-skinned. An important conversation matter is how lighter skin complexion can come with greater privileges and acceptance; colonialism and colorism are part of the equation.

We often hear the expression that knowledge and/or consciousness is power, and this rang true for me because of this tour. Enslaved peoples were seen as threatening to the status quo if they knew how to read and write. They were not allowed to read or write or even possess writing instruments or learning materials. The guide drew correlations to world history, when during the Holocaust, books were burned. A culture is at risk of dying if materials such as books and artifacts are erased. Still, people learn how to resist and persist. African Americans picked up English throughout the years.

The tour guide ended his time with us by imparting the phrase and African-American proverb, “Each one, teach one.”  The message here is to not sit and stew with newfound knowledge, but share it with others. Sometimes ignorance or lack of knowledge about a topic does not mean that someone is unintelligent or uninterested. Rather, it can be because no one is willing to tell somebody else. Taking the time to teach somebody something new can pique their interest and spark that desire to learn more.

After the tour, the group met up outside to reflect on our experience. Some of us shared that we did not expect to learn so much from a tour of a church. It actually opened our eyes to a lot regarding enslavement and the legacy of enslaved African American ancestors. We had two hours of free time in the area, and a group of us ate pizza right by the church. We were at the edge of the Savannah City Market, which is a great tourist spot. I enjoyed sampling pralines.

MUNDO opens space for everyone to see and hear each other.

Back at the hotel, I took a quiz for my online courses. Then I went with two friends to walk around the area. We stopped by Walgreens, ate mini glazed donuts at Krispy Kreme, walked past Yamaha, explored Publix, almost went into Staples but found it closed, stopped into Amigo’s Latin Grocery (actually a small family-owned restaurant, not a grocery store), and went straight into Carey Hilliard’s for dinner.

I will carry a backpack with me to hold more items and prevent my one shoulder from being overburdened and sore. Additionally, I will keep my journal on hand to jot down the information provided and insights developed from the tours!

Monday, March 9th – Tours Galore

In the morning, MUNDO had some free time for us to explore. I ate leftover fried rice for breakfast. Then several peers and I took ride-shares (Lyft, Uber) to the Savannah Botanical Gardens. We spent close to an hour looking at trees. One of us had wandered off into the hiking trails so the rest of us went off to find her. This excursion aided my mental well-being since it was a peaceful environment that felt secluded from technology.

Half of us decided to immerse ourselves in nature. Not many flora was in bloom but it was still nice to see and be around the grounds.

In the afternoon, the entire group went on a Juliette Gordon Low birthplace tour. Juliette Gordon Low founded Girl Scouts in 1912 to encourage girls to discover, lead, and be their best selves. Being in Girl Scouts would also promote girls’ confidence, character, and courage. We learned about Gordon Low’s upbringing and her family. Basically in every room, there was a painting and/or sculpture of a family member; some were created by Gordon Low herself, or by her relatives. She married a multimillionaire, and the privilege and resources that come along with that did play a role in her later success.

We interacted with the table in the library room of the house.

Find out more at: http://www.juliettegordonlowbirthplace.org/en/about/about-girl-scouts-of-the-usa.html

Free time was scheduled for the rest of the afternoon. Many of us went to Tybee Beach, about 20 minutes away. We took Lyfts and Ubers to get there, and we spent a few hours frolicking on the sand and dipping our feet into the water. One student read a book and another took the time to look for shells. Later, the beach group ate dinner in the area before ride-sharing to the Ghost Tour location.

As evening set in, MUNDO did a Ghost Tour, which was thrilling yet terrifying. We rode on a trolley with a narrator/storyteller who shared some stories/legends. We stopped at the Andrew Low house and then Perkin’s and Son’s Ship Chandlery. The latter stop was truly something different.

We traveled via trolley and made two major stops. The seating was comfortable. The gnats in the air were not.


Tuesday, March 10th – Power of People

In the morning, the group did a small discussion before exploring the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum. I learned that Savannah’s Civil Rights Movement differed from other movements in Southern cities. According to the museum, “…the movement in Savannah was fueled with home grown passion. It was fully organized and implemented by local African American citizens, the victims of the laws which gave people of color second class status. Outstanding leadership in the local adult and youth branches of the NAACP, the courage and eagerness of Savannah’s youth and the wisdom of local elders combined to make the quest for equal rights in Savannah, truly, a movement from within.”

From the museum’s welcome documentary and displays, I learned more about Savannah’s store boycotts that endured for 16 months! The substantial economic effects included a six percent decrease in retail sales and ultimately resulted in white business owners to start integrating their workforces. Slogans used during the 1960s included, “Don’t Shop Jim-Crow! We Will Not Shop Jim-Crow! We Must Not Shop Jim-Crow!” I learned more about the role of the Savannah branch of the NAACP. It also became clearer to me that sit-ins escalated into extreme discomfort, emotionally and physically. People would yell at the brave individuals who sat down and asserted that they deserved to be served and treated with equality. I also found a list of sit-in rules to follow. The last rule stated, “Remember love and nonviolence,” and I cannot imagine how hard it must have been to practice back in that era, which does not feel so far behind us.

Sit-in participants follow these rules while at lunch counters.

MUNDO had a few hours of break for lunch and free time. Four peers and I had a conversation over Wendy’s and then walked over to a cat café, where we made reservations. After that relaxing time, we joined the rest of the group for the museums.

For about 10 minutes, in two subgroups, we reflected over a few questions/prompts before proceeding into The Telfair Museums and Jepson Center, which contain a vast collection of artwork. There was artwork made by enslaved individuals. One of them was David Drake “Dave the Potter” (American, c. 1801-1870s). We looked at his alkaline glazed stoneware, just one of the thousands of vessels he made as a potter. “He signed hundreds of them and inscribed dozens with poems and verses.” The description also read that he was a “rare literate man,” which did raise some thoughts by members of our group. We also looked at impressionist paintings and sculptures.

We then had a special tour of the Owens-Thomas House estate. The tour guide did an excellent job at explaining the history of the house, which had a separate building designated the “slave quarters.” We saw what it was like, and how about a dozen people had no other choice but to live in such a cramped space. We learned about haint blue, which was painted around the quarters to resemble the sea that ghosts cannot cross, in Gullah culture. The Gullah are African Americans who live in the Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. They have their own language as well.

These are some of the names of enslaved peoples that were recovered, and the empty planks are for those whose names could not be recovered. George Owens enslaved almost 400 people on his plantation, according to the plaque text.

This plaque informed of the power behind words and suggests that people choose wording carefully because of the meaning(s) and context.

The text says:
Words have power.
They express meanings, ideas, and relationships. They impact how we relate to the past and to one another.
As we share this history, we strive to use words that are empathetic to those whose history has been marginalized. For example, we use phrases like enslaved woman, rather than slave. The noun slave implies she was, at her core, a slave. The adjective enslaved reveals that though in bondage, bondage was not her core existence.
Furthermore, she was enslaved by the actions of another. Therefore, we use terms like enslaver, rather than master, to indicate one’s effort to exert power over another. You may hear other phrases, like slave labor camp or escapee, rather than plantation or runaway. These reinforce the idea of people’s humanity rather than the conditions forced upon them.

To end the evening on a more comforting note, the group headed to the famous Leopold’s Ice Cream. This place has seen patrons for over 100 years, and is one of the best ice cream parlors in the city.

Please see the next blog post to read about what happens next for the MUNDO spring break experience group, in Atlanta, Georgia!

Los Angeles Experience 2.0

I returned to Los Angeles, the City of Angels, for a week during winter break, and my final year of undergraduate. It felt like a homecoming because I went to L.A. for part of the winter break of my first year at OSU! It was with the same student organization. From that first trip, I took my first ever plane ride with MUNDO (Multicultural Understanding through Nontraditional Discovery Opportunities) and found my experience so memorable. This time around, I was ecstatic to coordinate this ten-day experience for 26 students and staff. Members of the action team met up weekly during autumn semester to plan the trip and associated MUNDO meetings. We had difficulty choosing participants because many applicants appealed to us; some had strong essays while others had a significant number of attendance points. We prioritized students who were on-campus (so they would primarily be first- and second-year students) and in certain organizations for minority students.

Our experience description was:

“MUNDO invites interested participants to go beyond their preconceptions of life in the land of Hollywood, to get a deeper understanding of the cultural diversity, history, and significance of this vibrant Southern California community. As part of this experience, MUNDO will explore the connections between reflection and learning, how identity and culture affect leadership styles, and the importance of creating inclusive environments to promote social change.”

Right after Thanksgiving break, we held our Pre-Travel Meeting to introduce participants to their trip and prepare them for flying across the country. We had a number of first-time flyers! Since I was on the trip in 2016, some parts were familiar to me, but I was attentive throughout everything because even though we visited some of the same sites as before, aspects were new. I gained new pieces of information along the way.

I designed this cover page for the pre-travel meeting PowerPoint.

DAY ONE (Dec 14)
MUNDO ordered a charter bus to pick up students at three different Columbus campus locations early in the morning, before dawn. After two flights, we reached LAX and made our way to our hostel, which offers affordable stays! Guests also have free breakfast, WiFi, towels and fun events that build community and cross-cultural understanding.

Students had the afternoon free to explore the area and get accustomed to the warmer winter weather of 60-something degrees. People split off into smaller groups. Some meandered around the beach and pier and then browsed shops in the mall. My group went to eat lunch first and popped into a few stores to get a sense of the prices and products. This is the time to shop for gifts for loved ones. I made a mental note (and took photos) of items I would get later on in the week. Skincare is at the top of my list.

In the evening, half of the MUNDO group gathered to get groceries at the store Vons! I did not purchase produce because I was concerned about storage and stealing at the hostel communal kitchen. I purchased fresh and prepared foods outside instead of making my own and having to worry about storage. Also, fruits and vegetables were pricey. I bought myself drinks to quench my sweet tooth. Cravings compelled me to buy candy as well.

The rides at Pacific Park are around $10.

I ended the night by visiting Santa Monica Pier. It was just like how I remembered it from 2016. I tried a Mexican street snack called corn in a cup – fresh, warm corn with dollops of mayo, drizzled lemon juice, crumbled up cheese, and sprinkled chili powder. It was delicious!! I love supporting people of color, including those who own small food stands.

After many hours of traveling, I knew to get adequate sleep, which I had not achieved for most of the prior week.

DAY TWO
After sending out three breakfast reminders to the group, I ate cereal and milk before I boarded the bus with the group for our L.A. Insider Tour. Our tour guide showed us around the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is about five miles long, and the TCL Chinese Theatre, which opened in 1927! The theatre was designed by a European American man and had many Chinese-looking elements, but aspects of the design to me was insulting and caricature-like. There were dragons, jade green colors, and a font that would not be used in actual Chinese culture. The man who designed this theater and other theaters such as a Mayan-themed one wanted to be more worldly and diverse, but this was not truly representative or inclusive. This was something I had not thought about before, and how people can create a structure or piece to imitate a culture without consulting people from that culture. This is important to do because it conveys respect and appreciation for said culture.

I was content finding the stars for Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and Keanu Reeves. Each year, there are about 300 nominations for a star on the Walk of Fame; 24 are actually produced because there are three requirements. The celebrity who gets a star must have been famous for at least five years, must schedule a ceremony, and must have $40,000 to pay for their star.

After looking at people’s stars and hand and foot prints, we drove up to Griffith Park and Observatory to see the Hollywood sign and the views of the Los Angeles Basin.

MUNDO poses in front of the Hollywood sign! No hiking required.

On the bus ride to Beverly Hills, we learned about facts related to buildings and celebrities, including comedians and actresses and actors. This community has extravagant homes. Sidewalks are clean. Potholes are nonexistent. Beverly Hills is an affluent neighborhood. The bus went past Sunset Sound and Hollywood High School. There is so much history and roots of people beginning their careers on Sunset Blvd. Meanwhile, we strolled along the neatly paved sidewalks of Rodeo Drive to gaze at the luxury clothing and bag brands in the storefronts and sportscars parked outside.

The group took a break for lunch at Grand Central Market, which was crowded and lacking an enormous amount of seating, but had an abundance of cultural cuisines. Options included Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Chilean, ice cream, whiskey, breakfast foods, fried chicken, and more. Lines were hectic and people were hovering around us to snag the table we spent 10 minutes to find. I enjoyed exploring the holiday artisan pop-up shop in the basement of the market. Some of us decided to visit The Last Bookstore in our free time as well.

One reality that we were confronted with while traveling around Los Angeles and Santa Monica was the prevalent homelessness issue. Individuals were sleeping on bus stop benches, steps of buildings, and in tents set up around highways and alleys. These people struggling with finding a place to stay were also on the Metro. Some were singing or cursing out loud. It is troubling that larger societal issues such as housing unaffordability and our unjust criminal justice system can lead to people struggling to pay rent and sustain themselves. Society should instill more compassion and understanding for these individuals who have names and lives and stories of their own. I wonder about what they have gone through. Walking by homeless people, most of us do not want to glance at them. We do not want to spare some change, because a common thought is that they will use it to feed their substance disorders. However, I have come to believe that whatever they decide to do with their money is up to them, and that they will act in their best interests. Since I am in a more privileged position, I should be kind and freely give a little bit of what I have to others. Even if I cannot give any money or share some food with people, I can acknowledge their presence and tell them, “Have a nice day.” The problem of wealth persists in the United States, and we must address how there’s billionaires and millionaires hoarding wealth when simultaneously, many people are out on the streets or couch-surfing or crashing at friends’ places. A tourist booklet I found at the hostel instructed readers to not give homeless folks money but to donate to a foundation. However, organizations’ outreach may not catch every single individual, so I still feel morally obligated to give something to someone I see. It can make a difference in their day.

DAY THREE

Our tour occurred right when the museum opened. From our visit to MOT, we are better equipped to have conversations and impact change against prejudice and towards greater tolerance of individuals of different identities.

In the morning, our group visited the Museum of Tolerance, a “multimedia museum” that “examines racism and prejudice around the world with a strong focus on the history of the Holocaust.” I have visited this museum in 2016, but this visit variated from last time. Before we were greeted by our first tour guide, the group had some time to roam around the lobby, which displayed a photo exhibit. There was a project that involved giving cameras to Palestinian and Israeli women to photograph one another and shed light on a community’s humanity and lived experiences. Some photos were headshots of individuals gazing into the camera’s eyes. One photo was of a child and a candle during a holiday celebration. I was very intrigued by this project and appreciated that these photos tell stories and help others see the lives of others who are different from them, but actually have some similarities.

Our tour guide was of Polish descent and led the group to a Point-of-View Diner. We watched a video of a news segment covering a car accident. Involved were a teen behind the wheel, his girlfriend as a passenger, and a 10-year-old girl and her father in the other car in the collision. The girl ended up dying from injuries sustained; the teenage boy driving in the other car died as well. We soon learned that the boy, Charlie, was drunk and had gotten alcohol using a fake ID that his girlfriend helped him get. The convenience store that sold him the liquor was known to let youth purchase alcohol despite being underage. Charlie’s mom was interviewed and she had no idea that her son was struggling with alcohol addiction and even arriving to school intoxicated. We all voted on the level of responsibility that each person had (Charlie, Charlie’s girlfriend, Charlie’s mother, and the liquor store owner).

The results showed that 36% of us voted Charlie as having the greatest responsibility for the accident that caused his own life as well as that of a young girl, and the injuries of others. On interactive devices in front of each of us, we then asked individuals questions about the accident to find out more information. Then we voted again, and to my surprise, the group voted less responsibility for Charlie and more towards his mother and the liquor store owner. This finding contrasts with my own perspective; even though a parent does have influence on their child’s life, they cannot know all about what’s impacting that child and that child’s decisions. A parent can provide support for them but the individual themselves should be responsible for their actions. It is sad that this case was a real story.

Speaking about the Holocaust now, I heard familiar facts, but I appreciated reinforcing the information in my head. I found it interesting that the six major camps were all located in Poland. I did not know that before. A knot forms in my throat every time I go through the events that lead up to the mass genocide of Jews, Roma (gypsies), mentally ill people, and physically disabled people. In recent years, anti-Semitism has been on the rise, in my opinion. There have been numerous incidences of anti-Semitism in America; I hear about this on the news. I am concerned that future generations will not learn about the Holocaust. Importance and relevance of this issue weighs on every individual. Teaching tolerance should be a priority for school curricula. I would like my own career to encompass education and other experiences that will help further acceptance of diversity, inclusion of various identities into spaces so that everyone can feel welcome, and equity.

Although I have not extensively watched the show “Friends,” the introductory song is quite catchy.

After the heavy topics of the morning, MUNDO had lunch in the Warner Brothers Studios café. Our time touring Warner Bros Studios was fun for everyone. The group was split in half and transported around via golf carts. We visited stages and sets of shows such as All American and Lucifer. We saw a building solely dedicated to props for TV shows and films; one giant globe was used for Doctor Strange. My favorite part was the DC building, where I saw costumes from Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Crazy Rich Asians, A Star is Born (2018), and the Harry Potter series! The experience allowed us to see behind-the-scenes of Hollywood.

On the bus ride back to Santa Monica from Burbank, we posed these reflection questions:
1) Can you recall a time when you experienced or witnessed discriminatory behavior?
2) What are some actionable steps that you can take against hate?

DAY FOUR

Homeboy Industries was our first stop of the day. When MUNDO arrived in the morning, Father Greg Boyle had a microphone in hand and was addressing the whole room: people waiting in chairs in the lobby, people gathered around in the hallways, and people looking down from the staircase leading upstairs. The facility was full and silent as Father Greg remarked on the holiday season and celebrating another year of Homeboy Industries and the growth of individuals in the program.

This man started this organization in 1988 as a way for formerly incarcerated individuals who have histories of gang activity to better themselves and live out their goals of having healthy families and achieving an education. Homeboy Industries offers classes, tattoo removal, employment, case management, and support for legal, social, and mental health matters. Other people took the mic and said other parts of the announcement. One young woman shared how being part of the program changed her life and gave her healthy outlets to release negative feelings and improve herself. The sense of community and support in the room was so palpable.

A woman explained more about Homeboy Industries to our group. She was nearing the end of the 18-month re-entry program and disclosed to us that she had stood outside the doors and hesitated to walk in on multiple occasions. She did not feel ready. But she is glad that she had taken the leap. When she walked in, she was greeted with warm welcomes and “How are you?,” all of which surprised her because she had not been treated that way before. That was the start of a journey for her. We are grateful that she shared her story as a trainee with us.

There is nothing quite like Homeboy Industries. Several students took informative brochures and reports to learn more about the program and its outcomes. I observed that different aspects of our group tour and visit appealed to the participants; one art major was drawn to trainees’ personal artworks.

https://homeboyindustries.org/

Chinese American Museum

Even though I have visited this museum once before, I eagerly soaked in the information along the gallery walls. I read almost everything in sight. This is a small building and sadly, one entire section was closed. Being able to view the art exhibit that I remembered from last time would have enhanced our experience and given students a broader understanding of art and culture. This museum is certainly worth stopping in because it paints a story of Chinese immigration, struggle and strength in the 1800s all the way to the 2000s. One wall is consumed by a life-size timeline. Several students took the time to read this thoroughly. The museum displayed artifacts such as a restaurant apron, Chinese herbs in a model herbalist/pharmacist shop, and then upstairs, Chinese-American political campaign posters and toys and firecrackers commonly played with during the Chinese New Year. Museums such as CAMLA are pivotal for cultural awareness, humility, and sensitivity and for our understanding of U.S. history, because history shapes the contemporary. My hope is that people appreciate the efforts of educating and celebrating Chinese heritage and the roles people of Chinese ancestry have taken in making the U.S. what it is today.

http://camla.org/

This museum tailors to the experiences of Chinese Americans in Los Angeles and Southern California.

Some participants expressed to us that they had not learned about the 1882 Exclusion Act. That crucial part of history is missing from many textbooks.

A few MUNDO members discuss what they would bring in a single suitcase to begin a new life in a foreign land.

After the group gathered together, we walked over for free time and exploration in Chinatown. As we made our way to the Central Plaza, a magnificent dragon gate stood out to mark the hub of activity in this ethnic enclave. People split up into smaller groups to browse the gift shops and try foods. We were responsible to take public transit back to the hostel. Chinatown sprawls across numerous city blocks and a person can spend at least a full day there. Chinatown offers restaurants, including the staple of dim sum (brunch composed of small dishes) and a new burger shop that attracts crowds, pharmacy stores, and shops selling trinkets or clothing. Along the sidewalks, vendors sell produce, freshly pressed sugarcane juice, and more. I found it fun to share some knowledge with my friend group on dim sum, sugarcane juice, and the tropical fruit rambutan, which we sampled from a friendly vendor. This past semester, social media pages I have been following have brought to my attention that L.A.’s Chinatown has faced increased gentrification and poverty among the aging population. This is troubling in terms of the longevity of this resilient community that has established roots around the time Los Angeles was founded.

http://chinatownla.com/wp1/

Reflection questions related to this day involved participants considering their preconceptions of people involved in gang life as well as what they learned about Chinese Americans, Chinatown, and Chinese culture. Additionally, we encouraged people to compare and contrast the diversity in L.A. versus the diversity in Columbus. I can say that Columbus does not appear to have Asian ethnic enclaves, but I have heard from friends that some affluent Asian American groups are in certain suburbs whereas working class Asian Americans are in other suburbs or are closer to the inner-city.

DAY FIVE
MUNDO scheduled our first free day for the halfway point of the experience. Six of us went to Disneyland! Visiting this amusement park fulfilled one of my childhood dreams! The group went to both of the parks over in Ahaheim, California: California Adventure Park and Disneyland Park.

Pixar Pier includes a ferris wheel (with cars that stand still and sliding cars), roller coasters, and a Toys-Story-themed game gallery. I highly recommend the gallery; no wonder there was a long line!

Some tips for Disneyland visitors: Bring water, sunscreen, and portable chargers! Wear comfortable shoes. Go to the back of the park to be most time-efficient. You will likely wait a while in some lines but some attractions are Single Rider, so you get through these lines quicker. An important tool to employ is the Disneyland app, which lets you view wait times, locations for bathrooms, dining and more, and see event times. The app also includes a handy map feature with a compass as well.

Our group managed to leave the hostel at 6 AM and make it to Disney before 9 AM. We did so much walking (my tracked trek was over 8 miles)! We took an hour-long Uber ride back to the hostel and arrived at 10 PM. Much thanks to “Mr. MUNDO” for guiding us throughout the two parks!

DAY SIX
The MUNDO group took public transportation to Olvera Street, the oldest area of Los Angeles. In this historic district, with museums, a gazebo, and colorful marketplace stalls, we learned about Mexican culture. We gave students about an hour or so to look around the Avila Adobe to gain a sense of what life was like in the 1800s. People enjoyed food here (I had two tacos, rice, and beans) before we met up to explore Latinx-American identity and more specifically, Chicano identity and activism.

https://www.olvera-street.com/copy-of-siqueiros-mural

This gazebo displays a nativity scene. Park benches around the plaza provide places for people to sit.

The gazebo held a nativity scene.

Touring La Plaza de Cultura y Artes was a new experience for me. I took photos of the exhibit descriptions so I could remember all of the information presented in front of me. I learned more about areas I was previously foggy or unfamiliar with: Mexico’s independence in 1821 from Spain after 40 years, the californio laborers of mixed-race descent, and the mission system as part of Spain’s colonization. Another important theme I came across was the Chicano movement, and how people formed coalitions to fight for labor laws and rights, for equitable education, and more.

I was fascinated with artist Linda Vallejo’s collection, Brown Belongings. This art collection shows visual depictions of scholarly data on Latinx people in the U.S. in the form of dots and geometric shapes on graph paper. I have not seen anything like this before. These pieces allowed me to learn statistics about Latinx population, families, political alignments, representation, and more.

Statistics that stood out to me from The Brown Dot Project were:
– 30% of the U.S. population will be Latino in 2050 (2017 data)
– 35% of Los Angeles homeless population is Latino (2019 data)
– 63% of U.S. labor trafficking is Latino (2017 data)

Another exhibit, Make ‘Em All Mexican, was creative and fresh to me. Vallejo explains that many “…depictions of childhood, religion, education, and marriage rarely reflect the realities of Latinx experiences. Instead, they portray whiteness as the norm.” She took figurines and photos and made the characters brown all over, in different shades. Some, like Mickey Mouse or Big Boy, now had chocolate brown skin. George and Martha Washington had deep, rich skin tones. Disney princesses were also painted over with brown color. Mona Lisa and even a portrait of Jennifer Lawrence from the Oscars were included in this overhaul. It really hits home that representation in media can be lacking for people of color (Latinx, Black, Asian, Arab). This dearth poses significant risk especially for youth who grow up with not many positive images of people who look like them and little possibilities for their futures. White-washing occurs a lot in Hollywood and beyond; moving forward, we all should advocate for more people of color to be in roles that they are meant to be in, and not have a white actor play them in a movie or show. Moreover, more space, resources, and opportunities should be allocated for people of color so that their stories can come to fruition. As a feminist scholar, I am very passionate about this subject. Representation is a term I will hammer into conversation over and over again because of how it truly does matter, no matter the discipline or field in life. What made this experience better was that the artist herself was at the museum walking visitors through her thought process as she created these pieces. A few students had the chance to talk with her.

http://www.lapca.org/

After an enlightening museum experience, MUNDO took a short walk to the Japanese American National Museum, the first of its kind that I have been to. The exhibition, “Common Ground: The Heart of Community,” captures 130 years of Japanese American history with a focus on the Issei (first-generation) and their families becoming incarcerated and interned by the U.S. government. This part of history is grazed, if even covered at all, in history textbooks. If only more people were aware that underlying the whole internment was a misconstrued report. What is upsetting and infuriating is that fueled mostly by racism and xenophobia, Japanese Americans were all labeled as enemies of the state after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

The next exhibit was “Under a Mushroom Cloud: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Atomic Bomb.” This reflected a lot of what I saw at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum back in Japan. Often times, people hear that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed during WWII but we do not see photos of what the impacts are of the radiation blasts at the scenes of the explosions. In high school, I had only learned about the bombing but did not know how many people had died immediately, how many had suffered in the short term, or even how many people were indirectly influenced. People lost many family members and it was difficult to identify victims. I will not go into details about the suffering, but I hope that the exhibit helps people see that weapons of mass destruction are not the answer for peace.

http://www.janm.org/

After taking my time to explore the museum, with my group of friends, we browsed the shops of Little Tokyo, got ice cream, and took public transit back to Santa Monica. The travel time took an hour, I would say. The reflection questions related to this day regarded how to appreciate a culture without appropriating or commercializing it.

DAY SEVEN
MUNDO volunteered at the LA Regional Food Bank for a few hours and we finished earlier than expected! Our group was at the service site with another group and other random individuals to put food items into boxes; specifically, we made senior food kits that would be delivered to elderly folks at their homes. My group was responsible for putting juice gallons into the box. The process was intense but fun. With my group, I established a system for being the most efficient. One person would rip open boxes of juices to lay the containers out for the other two people to grab and place into the kits that would come down the line. Together, we prepared 1,512 senior kits!

At times, the packages went by too quickly and during a few instances, I could take a breath and relax.

The MUNDO group then had free time until dinner. Instead of an alumni dinner, (because we had difficulty recruiting alumni since it was so close to the holidays), we held a reflection pizza party. In the beginning, there was a woman who the program coordinator met in the hostel who stopped in to share her experiences and advice. She was a college counselor and also worked with youth experiencing homelessness.

Reflections are critical parts of any experience, school-sanctioned or otherwise. Sometimes questions make us think about topics and process in a way that we would not have done if someone had not prodded or prompted us.

Then a staff mentor for MUNDO asked questions that were to be discussed in smaller groups and answered out loud to the larger group. We discussed what we learned, what social issues resonated with us the most, what we observed, and what individuals can do to avoid “voluntourism” (defined along the lines of volunteering outside of your local area, as a tourist, in a way that is exploitative).

DAY EIGHT
Our second scheduled free day allowed people to further explore the Los Angeles basin. I went with a good friend back to Little Tokyo. We spent the whole day there, walking around the many blocks and stopping into a dollar store. At a street stand, I bought the red-bean-filled pastry taiyaki to try. I appreciated getting to spend hours in that community and see what was offered there. There were plenty of restaurants, gift shops, clothing stores, home good stores, and bookstores. Little Tokyo has attractions for locals and tourists, with authenticity and novelty. We rounded out the excursion by eating ramen. Mine was a black oil ramen, which looks different but tastes rich and garlicy.

DAY NINE
The group left the hostel for Columbus. We all brought down our sheets, pillow cases, and blankets to the front desk. I told people in the group to head downstairs at 10:45 AM and check out by 11 AM. We then stayed in the lobby/lounge room until 11:45 AM, when our bus picked us up. We got to our airport gate a few hours early but that worked out well for us since we were able to secure seats while waiting; people who arrived later had to sit on the floor. The group took two flights to make it back to Columbus, Ohio for some real winter weather, back near freezing temperatures.

DAY TEN
After an overnight flight, the group members dispersed. I waited until every participant retrieved their luggage and coordinated a ride back to campus (or home). I was thankful that I myself was able to hop into a car to get a ride to my apartment. It saved me from paying around $30 for a ride-share service.

I now tie this experience to the G.O.A.L.S. (found at https://honors-scholars.osu.edu/documents/goals.pdf)
(Once in Honors & Scholars, always in Honors & Scholars!)

Global Awareness – I gained greater global awareness about Chinese American history and Japanese American history. Additionally, my knowledge expanded greatly regarding Latinx American history, especially Mexican American, as they shaped the landscape of the L.A. area.

Original Inquiry – Along with the planning team, I developed questions to engage participants and get them to think with open-minded perspectives. Throughout the trip, I initiated conversations with different peers.

Academic Enrichment – I found that this experience supported what I was learning about in my Asian American Studies courses and even online in different Asian American-related groups and pages. There are so many individuals and stories that go unrecognized in the mainstream media and in the educational curricula, so I hope to change this and bring this information into people’s academics. I mentioned my AAS minor to the group and encouraged people to enroll in the minor at the very least, take a course.

Leadership Development – Planning this experience requires meeting up weekly with my committee and then doing work outside of that hour or two hours. I sent emails and text messages, added to our PowerPoint, and facilitated some general body meetings. I am so happy and proud of our work.

Service Engagement – We made a dent in the hunger and food insecurity issue in the L.A. basin. Thousands of older adults will receive food from the food bank. Service can always be fit into a trip. Food banks are MUNDO’s usual go-to for service.

This will likely not be my last winter break experience with MUNDO; for Winter Break 2020, we are going to Miami and I am interested in leading it!

Roots of Revolution, Change, & Activism in America (Spring Break 2019)

On the road again!

Once again, I planned and participated in one of MUNDO’s alternative break experiences! This was yet another ‘education vacation’ and an opportunity for me to see a part of America for the first time in my life. It allowed me to deepen my knowledge about this nation’s history. This spring break 2019, we visited Colonial Williamsburg, VA, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland to explore the theme of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Furthermore, we aimed to explore “Who tells your story?” because there are histories that are commonly known about whereas there are others that are unknown or hidden. Some individuals’ or groups’ histories and stories do not get told fully or even at all. For this spring break, we had a host of different experiences that enhanced our knowledge and challenged us to critically think and inquire. A few of them were visits to the Jamestown Settlement, National Holocaust Museum, and Great Blacks in Wax Museum, and a dinner with Pulitzer-Prize winning author, Wesley Lowery.

Fun Fact: MUNDO first went to D.C. in the spring of 2001. Ever since, the organization has gone back regularly (but not every school year). Each time is a different experience!

I used Canva to create an informational flyer.

The spring break action team held biweekly planning meetings in autumn semester and weekly meetings for spring semester. To be brief about our experiences coordinating the trip, we encountered many roadblocks and hurdles that helped our team strengthen and bond over obstacles. We were able to execute this experience successfully, with 20 participants (16 students and 4 OSU staff members/mentors). MUNDO partnered with the Morrill Scholars Program Learning Community so we had new faces and new perspectives. Our trip was predominantly underclassmen (first- and second-years!)

Here’s the day-to-day run-down:

Monday March 4th
The action team held a 30 minute Pre-Travel Meeting for the participants to attend, unless they had other circumstances that prevented them from coming. We added people to the GroupMe and shared a Google Drive folder with the itinerary, room assignments, and restaurants in D.C. and Williamsburg. In our presentation, we made sure to discuss what people should pack (such as packing layers of clothing to wear), and for specific days, people should wear nicer clothing – ‘snappy casual.’

Friday March 8th
I packed one large suitcase and stuffed my backpack full of items. I was most excited for Washington, D.C. and warmer weather.

Saturday March 9th
I slept about six hours before taking a Lyft to campus. MUNDO has three pick-up locations on campus: Archer House, Drake Performance Center, and the Ohio Union. We have an OSU charter bus throughout spring break, and I stocked four of its cubbies with snacks bought from Kroger. We had quite a stash of food for our participants, including Krispy Kreme donuts, apple sauce, Poptarts, apples, mini oranges, juice boxes, granola bars, chips, and fruit snacks. We also distributed MUNDO drawstring bags to each participant; each bag contained the itinerary and resource guide (with maps and lists of places to eat), a brown paper bag to store food, and Wesley Lowery’s book, They Can’t Kill Us All! Participants were encouraged to read the book on the bus ride since there were hours to spend.

Around 12:30 PM, we were in Lexington, VA and had an hour long rest to eat lunch. A large portion of us went to this restaurant called Cook Out, which has burgers, fries, and shakes, among other items. On the bus ride, I did online homework and was happy to be finished. I also spent time looking at classes for Autumn 2019 semester.

We reached Williamsburg, VA around 4 PM and checked in. We had free time until 6:00 PM when we met up for a group dinner. Dinner consisted of pizza and salad and we talked some more about the itinerary. That evening, I tried some ice cream from Bubba’s Ice Cream Shack just minutes away on foot from our hotel. The ice cream there was a tad expensive, but thankfully we used a buy-one-get-one-free coupon which made it more worthwhile. I had a great sleep at the hotel we were in; the bed was very comfortable.

Sunday March 10th
After an early breakfast at the hotel, we departed for a three-hour guided tour of Colonial Williamsburg. Our guide was named Mr. Drewry. I liked that he was honest and encouraged us to ask questions and challenge him. He was born and raised in the area and said he would spend the rest of his life here. This site is incredibly large that no single person can get through all of it in a day!
Here is the website for this living museum: https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/

We were ready for a day of exploration and education!


The group made our way to a silversmith, a jail, some homes, a carpenter’s area, and the Capitol Building. It was an information-packed time. My favorite part was visiting the silversmith. For some reason, I remembered the most from that session. It was interesting to see that people’s coins in the 18th century were literally cut in half to make a half-dollar. Coins could also be cut into fourths and eighths. Silver was also converted into jewelry and household items (spoons, coffee pots, bowls, etc.). A peer asked if people could get sick from using silver spoons for eating and the presenter replied that silver has antimicrobial properties.

I did find that the jails were very unhygienic at that time in history; this was not surprising to me though. Jail cells had poor ventilaton and usually had one window. Inmates would use a blanket to cover the window in the winter to block snow (and sunlight). They would relieve themselves in a corner, but the stench would be strong in the summers and winters.

This was where “the colony’s representatives struggled with the British governor over the meaning of American liberty.”

This tour provided me with greater insights into African Virginians in the early 1700s. Africans made up 52% of the population in Williamsburg. We heard stories of enslaved peoples and their experiences in this area. A salient point I remember is that when an enslaved person was new to the quarters of an estate, the other enslaved people already there would welcome the person in. They shared clothing and tools in crowded conditions. Their meals were simple and made out of one pot. Mr. Drewry, our tour guide, talked about some of his heroes and heroines from the colonial era. Some stories he told were saddening, but there were some that included triumphs and perseverance.


We took a break for lunch and explored the area on our own afterwards. I took the chance to quickly stop by the College of William and Mary to see what its campus looked like. A small group and I looked at a statue and one building. Since we were hungry for lunch, we left to get food. As we walked to a tavern, we saw a cow on a leash, bulls in a field, and plenty of people walking their dogs in Williamsburg. This was a pet-friendly environment. We found out that Chowning’s Tavern was closed, so we went to Trellis Bar & Grill. After lunch, we browsed in shops. My friend and I strolled through bookstores, a candy shop, and an outdoor festival. I appreciated this free time to explore; I purchased dessert from a festival vendor to support local and small businesses.

This public research university is the second oldest institution for higher education in America. The oldest is Harvard.


I ended the afternoon in Colonial Williamsburg with meandering through the Art Museums. I enjoyed viewing the installations at the Public Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds, the first of its kind in British North America. It housed 24 patients and a live-in attendant in a remote area of Williamsburg. At the time, there was a belief that medical intervention in a hospital setting would cure insanity. Since its opening in 1773, mental illness treatment, and our knowledge of it, has transformed during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Seeing this exhibit appealed to me because I study public health and have interests in medical anthropology and history. Approaches to mental illness had a new outlook beginning in the mid-19th century, when caretakers used more optimism and kindness, which was referred to as moral management. Anyone could fall ill to mental illness. The hospital changed rooms to improve patient comfort (and health outcomes). Each patient still had their own room (called apartments) with wooden bed and furniture. The rooms looked more domestic and suitable for humans. The windows and walls were also different in order to give the sense of a welcoming environment. It was unsettling to see how patients were held in previous centuries, but comforting that eventually, medical practices and views changed.

In the early years, hospital cells felt like prison cells. Patients spent most of their times inside and were provided with a straw-filled bed, chamber pot, and blanket. There were no structured activities.


In another area of the museum, I gazed upon examples of American and British antiques and decorative art dating back to the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. There were also colonial and contemporary folk art pieces in the galleries.
In the late afternoon, we returned to the hotel for rest. Just a handful of us ate dinner before the evening activity.

In the evening, we embarked on the African American Music Experience, back at the same location, but inside one of its buildings. I did not know what to expect, but this was certainly a nontraditional discovery opportunity! (The NDO part of MUNDO stands for Nontraditional Discovery Opportunity). We stood the entire day and it was very interactive. In the hour or hour and a half we had, we began with singing Funga Alafia, which is a cheerful rhythm about welcoming and blessing. “Greetings I bring to you, ashe, ashe.” That was fun. Then we followed and sang along to other words in different African dialects. Another song I remember was in English and it was called “One Day.” Enslaved folks sung while they worked to keep their morale up and to preserve and pass along cultural traditions. Song and music can help people communicate and express their myriad of feelings, from despair and mourning to hope and encouragement. Additionally, singing along with others can uplift one’s own spirit and help form closer relationships over a shared struggle. We did several different dances and songs. Each of us also had to do our own unique dance which could not be similar to anyone else’s. It was also amazing to see MUNDO participants step up and help make rhythms using instruments like African drums. By the end of the night, we had some lighthearted fun while also learning about the realities of enslavement and how African people survived centuries of slavery and its aftermath and thrived.

The staff had wonderful voices and helped us sing, dance, and play instruments along with them.

Monday March 11th
We ate breakfast and stored our bags in the charter bus. We had a guided tour of the Jamestown Settlement, America’s first permanent English colony. It is a living history museum with indoor and outdoor displays, as well as replicas of ships and recreations of the original James fort from 1607 and a Powhatan Indian village. Our guide, a retiree and a veteran of two wars named Ali, started us inside the museum to walk us through history of colonization and settlement. We actually know and use Algonquian language without realizing it: the words skunk, raccoon, Potomac, and tomahawk are Algonquian. In addition, many words in everyday English come from Native American languages.

The group witnessed a musketeer firing a rifle. Some of us also tried on musketeer armor and helmets!

To briefly explain Jamestown and its history, from what I took in from our guide, Europeans came over to this land we now call America for economic, religious, and political reasons. Some came to settle to escape persecution, but there were some with insidious intentions who wanted to exploit the rich resources of the land and other negative actions. Some Europeans were colonizers. Building this settlement and building this nation required human, natural, and capital resources. In 1618, the first documented Africans arrived in Virginia for indentured servitude. By the middle of the century, slavery was incorporated. These facts and findings about Jamestown was more eye-opening for me because it added to my knowledge of colonialism, specifically in the context of Virginia.

I enjoyed learning about Powhatan life. Women did farming, harvesting, cooking, and childrearing. Men hunted and fished. Farming accounted for at least half of people’s food supply, but people, including many elementary school visitors, think that hunting is the main source of food for Indians. Something else I learned was Pocahontas’s story and role in saving America. Pocahontas is a nickname given to her by her father because she was his “playful child.” She was an important figure who helped bring peace between the Powhatans and English while she was alive. It is intriguing that she is a popular Native American figure and there are many books, poems, and films about her, including the Disney film. Stories about her can differ and we do not know the entirety of her short life, but I learned much more about her from my visit to Jamestown (and later on, D.C.’s National Museum of the American Indian).

Overall, I really liked the Jamestown tour and how much history and information we were provided. It did not feel like we were being lectured at. Our guide emphasized a few points: 1) each culture is great and valid; no culture is better than the other. 2) We should thank our teachers/educators sincerely because without teachers, society would not function. Teaching is an often underappreciated profession, but teaching helps pass on knowledge to younger generations.

An actor shared with us facts about Powhatan lifestyles in the 17th century.
“The re-created Powhatan Indian village is based on archaeological findings at a site once inhabited by Paspahegh Indians, the Powhatan tribal group closest to Jamestown, and descriptions recorded by English colonists.”
From historyisfun.org

For more information on Jamestown, this summary should suffice:
https://www.historyisfun.org/jamestown-settlement/history-jamestown/

We went on to our next city, Washington, D.C.! Some students take a class trip to D.C. during middle school or high school; this is a phenomenon for Ohio students for some reason. I was supposed to go in eighth grade but it did not end up happening. Perhaps it was because of funding issues, as I attended a public school in a low-income inner-city. I always wondered when I would get to see the nation’s capital, and finally as a 21-year-old, I was able to!

After arriving and checking in, we had the rest of the time to explore. My friends and I walked to the Washington Monument, where we ran into public health Buckeyes, and then we headed to Chinatown. The D.C. Chinatown area is smaller than the ones in NYC and L.A. of course. It also is different in terms of atmosphere and feel compared to my hometown Cleveland’s AsiaTown. For this spot in D.C., many establishments had signs in English letters and Chinese characters. I enjoyed looking at the architecture of buildings and the traditional entrance gate. A group and I had dinner here in a family-owned restaurant called New Big Wong. We got bubble tea afterwards at a Vietnamese-owned cafe that sells banh mi sandwiches and Taiwan-invented bubble tea. It was a good evening.

“Full stomachs and happy hearts” is how I like to describe our dinner.


In the future, I want to delve into the history of this Chinatown because from what I have briefly researched online and noticed in person from walking on the streets, there is some gentrification going on. Apparently, many people of Chinese descent have been driven out of this historic area. Gentrification is not a new occurrence for communities of color, and as someone who is passionate about sociology and social justice, I want to examine this issue and its effects.
For more information on Chinatown:
https://www.tripsavvy.com/chinatown-washington-dc-neighborhood-guide-1039373

Tuesday March 12th
The D.C. hotel does not provide breakfast, so we are responsible for finding food ourselves. I tried to eat leftovers of my beef chow fun, a Cantonese Chinese dish, but I wish I had eaten more filling and nutritious food as well. In the morning, our group walked together to the Smithsonian Castle, home to the Smithsonian Visitor Center. This is a good stop to get oriented to the Smithsonian museum complex. It is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex. I learned about the history of the museum and how an Englishman named James Smithson founded the Institute to promote and diffuse knowledge and learning around in America.

Smithsonian Castle. Source: smithsonianmag.com

A few friends and I had a small window of time to wander the halls of the Freer Art Gallery. We only had 20-25 minutes to look around, and part of the time, we spent in the gift shop. I did not get to go back to this art gallery later in the week for its exhibits and gift shop. However, I saw Asian art pieces when I was there. In particular, I saw Buddhist and Hindu ancient art and shrines. It would be nice to visit D.C. again to get to the museums and art galleries I did not get to the first time I was in the city.

Information on the Institute: https://www.si.edu/Museums/smithsonian-institution-building

Our MUNDO group visited the National Holocaust Museum. This was self-guided, so we went at our own pace. I have been to a holocaust museum in Cleveland and Los Angeles, and now this one in D.C., where I learned even more about the genocide. I had a card with the name and photo of a young girl; as I progressed through the museum, I learned what happened to her and her family. She did not make it out of the Holocaust alive, and perished in a camp.

I took photos of many of the walls that had text descriptions on them. A few facts I want to share are:

– By 1939, there were less havens available for Jewish refugees. Latin American countries took in around 39,600 Jewish people, and 15,000 people found safety in Shanghai. In October 1941, emigrating out of Nazi Germany was forbidden. It was upsetting that America did not let in as many refugees as they could have, in part because of anti-immigration sentiment.
– Some Jewish children who were sick and hospitalized were killed by starvation, lethal injections, or overdoses of medicine. About 30 institutions carried this heinous practices out, intentionally harming instead of helping. These “special children’s wards” were also places where any youth with disabilities, mental or physical, were killed. German physicians carried out Operation T4 to eradicate the Jewish people and preserve genetic impurity. Learning of this was atrocious to me; it was especially horrific hearing how children were treated.

Here are hundreds of photos of people in a Jewish community in Eishishok, in what is now Lithuania. These are from 1890 to 1941.

In the museum there is also an exhibit about the systemic killings occurring in Syria since 2011. This is the greatest humanitarian crisis since World War II. Half of Syria’s population, 11 million, have fled. While I have heard about this crisis in the news, I have not done much thorough investigation of my own. It feels removed from me for some reason, and I know that I should do something like educate myself and/or donate. I should share this information so that we do not turn a blind eye to this issue of human rights as well.

Here is the website for the museum: https://www.ushmm.org/

After the National Holocaust Museum, I went straight to another museum, which also dealt with heavy history: The National Museum of African American History. I spent a few hours here, and was not able to read every detail. I learned a lot here as well. The museum began in the basement, where we were introduced to Africa in the 1400s. Slavery was not yet based on perceptions of race and it was a temporary status. People traded gold, salt, and spices. Later on, the concept of whiteness developed, along with other races to categorize people and ascribe characteristics to them. Race was also a factor in determining freedom, like in the case of John Punch. He and two European servants tried to run away but were caught and trialed. The white indentured servants had added-on time for their service, but Punch was sentenced to a life of enslavement. This was unbelievable.

This exterior design resembles a golden basket to me.

In addition to the exhibits on slavery, I found this learning center fascinating. There were interactive stations and I engaged with one of them, where I learned how people find artifacts in the deep Atlantic Ocean to help us uncover some more of the story of the slave trade. On other museum floors, I saw African American music and art, and how those influenced our world to this day. African Americans have made so many contributions to society and are an integral part of our history. This was not the first African American history museum I have been to; the first one was in Detroit, but this one was the largest! You can spend a whole day here if you want to devote intense interest to the museum.

I liked a quote on the wall: “The great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it with us, are unconsciously controlled by it… History is literally present in all that we do.” – James Baldwin
This quote will stick with me, since I hold history to be so important and necessary in understanding the world around me. From the museum’s food court, I enjoyed delicious, soul-soothing mac and cheese and corn bread. I recommend these two items! After that, I returned to the hotel for a quick rest.

MUNDO attended a Shear Madness performance at the Kennedy Center. I was in charge of booking seats for this murder comedy show. We had to keep contacting the center to update them on how many seats to reserve. I liked the show as it was interactive and funny, and I liked how they used retro colors and styles. It was similar to the movie Clue. During the intermission, we were able to talk to the performers to try to figure out who committed the crime. The performance was a nice way to end the night.

Wednesday March 13th
We completed service in the morning at A Wider Circle, in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Our group spent about three hours with this organization, and I really enjoyed volunteering here to help with organizing the different sections. Some people worked on making furniture and glass look polished and like new. Other people sorted out donations and even unloaded furniture from a truck. Those in the workforce development room worked on tidying up the areas and sorting belts, clothing, and shoes in preparation for a major event. Later, some of us examined puzzle boxes from the children’s section and counted the number of puzzle pieces in each box to make sure nothing was missing. This was all a fun experience for me. I learned about this great community-based organization that wants to continue growing and offering all that it can to support anyone in need.
They help people make houses or apartments into homes, help secure jobs and look good for the workforce, and help families make the most of what they have.

Expand your mind and expand your efforts at http://awidercircle.org/ 

The next group activity was our tour of the Capitol! 

Our tour guide was engaging and charismatic. She was open to all of our questions. She, like many people in D.C. in her words, is not from the area.

MUNDO had to do an OH-IO in front of the Capitol building!

While the architecture of the Capitol was gorgeous and impeccable, there was one room with many paintings and sculptures that made us think deeper into the art. No enslaved peoples were in any of the art in the room. There were a few Native Americans and these depictions were often racist as they painted these indigenous Americans as non-human/sub-human. There was a large painting of Pocahontas being baptized and becoming “white” or “acceptable.” Her true story rarely gets told, and I wonder why this is the case. Congress has the ability to change out these paintings and commission new ones that can tell the story of America better, and bring justice to the lives of Native Americans and African/African Americans as well as other people of color who built this stolen nation.

Our tour ended at 4:30 PM and we were free until 6:15 PM, when we had to be back at the hotel. I rushed to the U.S. Botanic Garden, an attraction on my bucket list. When I finally made my way into the building, I had about 10 minutes to zoom through its galleries and set my eyes on the lush vegetation and landscapes. A peer took photos of me before we were asked to leave. I’d love to return in the summer when everything is in bloom.

In the evening, MUNDO had a group dinner with Ohio State alumni at Harriet’s, a family-style restaurant inside of our hotel.

Thursday March 14th
This was a free day for MUNDO participants. I spent time with friends eating breakfast at a café called Abe’s Café (there are two locations). We stayed there for a while to work on homework and applications. I finished a study abroad scholarship application and had a friend look it over. We then went to Smithsonian museums of our choice! First up was the Library of Congress. Three of us went to get our library cards! The rooms of the library were marvelous. If I lived in D.C., I would check out some books and study in that library. What a great resource for people who want to learn and research any topic of choice.

My friend Kayla snapped this shot of me on this sunny day of exploration.

Then one friend and I explored the National Museum of the American Indian. Prior to this, I had never been to a museum dedicated towards Native American history and heritage. I was very thankful that this museum existed to educate people and celebrate the many diverse cultures and traditions of different Native groups.

Did you know? About 60% of the world’s diet today is derived from Native American foods, such as potatoes, chilies, tomatoes, and chocolate! Native Americans also grew a variety of food together, which is called biodiversity and lead to healthier crops. European colonists, on the other hand, used monocultures, which is not the most beneficial for agriculture.

This museum offers information and artifacts about American Indians in the Western Hemisphere of the world.
https://americanindian.si.edu/about

My friend and I witnessed a Native American man perform a song he wrote; he is a scholar and artist. This performance was a nontraditional discovery opportunity, and he opened the floor to questions from the audience: three from children and three from adults. We explored the museum and learned of different communities and their ways of life. I learned how different groups perceived their universes. We looked at the:
Pueblo of Santa Clara (New Mexico)
Anishinaabe (Canada)
Lakota (South Dakota)
Quechua (Peru)
Hupa (California)
Q’eq’chi’ Maya (Guatemala)
Mapuche (Chile)
Yup’ik (Alaska)

It is our duty to pass these teachings on to succeeding generations 
For that is the way to keep our traditions alive

Emil Her Many Horses, NMAI, 2003

These exhibits, including the introductory video NMAI suggests you watch on the top floor, was eye-opening for me and helped me gain a greater appreciation for Native Americans and their legacies. I would not have gotten all of this information and insight elsewhere. I strongly believe that all school curricula should have comprehensive sections on Native Americans and their experiences. I remember learning about them in second grade and fifth grade. As an adult, I have a more nuanced understanding of the complex histories. I still want to learn more and one way I can do this is to find books and works from indigenous scholars themselves.

I had an Indian taco from the food court. It had buffalo chili, which tasted like normal chili to me. I paired the meal with a refreshing agua fresca.

Afterwards, I checked out the NMAI gift shop and debated on what to get from there. Leaving empty-handed except for educational pamphlets, we embarked for the National Portrait Gallery. According to the gallery curators, it is a place for our nation’s stories to be told. The arts are a window to our history. The first major sculpture my friends and I saw was the dying Tecumseh, a key player in the Indian resistance to America’s expansion into the Midwest. We saw portraits and sculptures of important figures who played a role in shaping America. I was more interested in figures who are alive today, although everyone is important. I especially liked the most up-to-date exhibit. In particular, Michelle Obama’s and Barack Obama’s portraits were absolutely outstanding. This art gallery had pieces related to responses to the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, and other events. It is a very interesting gallery aimed to provoke emotion and thought.

The artist displayed on the TV screens what he associated with each state.

The last part of the day was spent having dinner and conversation with Mr. Wesley Lowery, a journalist at The Washington Post. We ate at Ollie’s Trolley, around the block from the hotel. It was a fantastic opportunity to hear from him and his upbringing in Ohio and his experiences as a journalist fighting for justice. According to his biography,  he was a lead on the Post’s “Fatal Force” project that won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2016 as well as the author of They Can’t Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice Movement. In 2017, he became a CNN political contributor.

Mr. Lowery went to Ohio University with a MUNDO staff mentor, who helped us connect with Lowery and coordinate this meeting. For about an hour and a half, we had his presence. He explained to us how he had always known he would pursue journalism. It was an enlightening conversation. We asked him questions during dinner as well as afterward. I still struggle with coming up with questions to ask guests. It is something I need to work on. I also read a little bit of his book, but not all of it. It is on my to-do list.

For the rest of the night, a few peers and I looked around in the H&M store down the street from us. We tried on clothes and had fun. That was it for the night. I knew I should turn in at a reasonable time to get sufficient sleep, and for the most part, I have slept fine in Hotel Harrington.

Ollie’s burgers are good. The fries are seasoned with 27 spices, they boast! Sadly I could not try one of their shakes; the machine broke right before it got to me.

Friday March 15th
We had a free morning to do our final exploration of D.C.. I got to visit Palmer Alley, which had beautiful pink lanterns to celebrate cherry blossom season. This is a great spot for photographs! Also, this spot is pretty close to Chinatown. I wanted to see more art installations and murals around, but I did not want to go alone to these spots, and there was a limited amount of time.

In the summer, the lanterns get switched out for beach balls.

At 2:15 PM, we met up for an afternoon walking tour. MUNDO walked all the way to the Tidal Basin, and around it, we met with our guide. We started at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and then made our way to the Korean War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and Vietnam War Memorial. This was an interesting tour with tons of tidbits of facts. Many people were touring the area and looking at the memorials.

 

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, we took a nice photo. 10 students and one MUNDO advisor are in the photo!

We had the evening free to ourselves after the tour. I met up with a friend from the summer research program I did in summer 2018! I am fortunate that she lives and goes to school in the DC area, and her spring break had just started as mine was coming to a close. We went to Ricebar for dinner, where we caught up over our meal, and then walked to The Wharf at the suggestion of my friends. At the Wharf, there’s a substantial amount of seafood sold, which is not surprising. Then there are restaurants and bars all around. I want to return here as well. If we had walked all the way down its boardwalk, we would have seen the giant swings that my friends got to go on. My friend and I went to get red velvet cupcakes and we ended the night. It is hard to find cheap desserts in DC. The cupcakes were $3 or so, which is not too bad because they were quite tasty and rich.

(For the week in DC, I gave myself an allowance of $200 to spend on food and souvenirs. A month later at the time of this posting, I still have not checked exactly how much I spent. I know I saved a significant amount of money by using an app where certain dishes from restaurants were $1 and I had credit on the app so I was getting free meals once a day! The app is called Ritual.)

Saturday March 16th
We had an early breakfast before checking out and storing our bags on the bus. At 8:00 AM, we departed for Baltimore, Maryland for a tour of the Great Blacks in Wax Museum. I believe this was my first time going to a wax museum. (There were a lot of ‘firsts’ for me on this trip). This museum was certainly unique and unforgettable, as it presented Black individuals in life-size dimensions, and they were quite realistic. There was so much to this museum. We began with the slave trade and I learned more pieces to the story. My knowledge of the world is constantly expanding. It was such an experience to see the figures accompanied with text to explain the context.

I saw so many important figures, some of whom I learned about in elementary school during African American History Month. My school’s library teacher taught me the most about civil rights and social justice. She taught me lessons that I take with me to this very day. Educators like her have inspired me in ways that I cannot express verbally. All over the museum were African Americans as pioneers in fields where nobody looked like them, as warriors and fighters in the midst of tumultuous times, as dissenters and activists to get their rights. There were many people I was unaware about, and this filled I recommend this museum too. My favorite part was seeing the wax figure of Barack Obama and the poems that people wrote about him.

Here is more about the museum: http://www.greatblacksinwax.org/index.html 

We had lunch in the Baltimore Inner Harbor before continuing on the long journey back to Columbus, Ohio.
The inner harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and landmark for the city of Baltimore. My small group of friends ate at Shake Shack. We were originally going to eat at Cheesecake Factory but our party of seven would have had to wait 45 minutes before sitting down. After eating, we perused Barnes & Noble. I also want to return to this harbor to try out the dragon boats available for tourists! I’ve rowed a boat before in Finland, but I want to try a boat here in America. We had a short time in the Harbor. I wanted to finish this blog on the bus ride, but slept for several hours. Surprisingly, by 7 PM, MUNDO reached The Ohio State University’s campus! I was happy we had gotten back before it was dark outside. Even more so, I was relieved that this experience was successful.

Source: Baltimore.org

REFLECTION
This experience was the most stressful to plan to this date. The frustrating aspects of planning were the government shutdown making us wonder about how we would adjust our agenda, participant recruitment, participants canceling, and museum and tour bookings. Since our group’s number of participants changed constantly, it was difficult to give museums and service sites an exact count. Being an action team member has sharpened my skills in patience, public speaking, problem solving, communicating, planning, budgeting, and email etiquette. I also helped facilitate Monday MUNDO meetings that connect and contribute to the themes of our experience. Furthermore, I was the administrator for the group’s GroupMe, where we communicate with each other. I put in reminders for where the group had to be and what they had to do for each activity. Additionally, I am pleased that we had a smaller-sized group because it was easier for us to fit into spaces and navigate museums. We got to know each other better as well. We discussed heavy and controversial topics and found common ground. My peers are very admirable and interesting.

I look forward to planning and participating in more MUNDO experiences. For the 2019-2020 school year, MUNDO is going to New York City for fall break, Los Angeles for winter break, and Charleston, South Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; and Savannah, Georgia for spring break. I would like to be a part of the Action Team for both winter and spring breaks to continue to create meaningful experiences and further explore the country.

Tune in next year when I serve, learn, and lead even more with my beloved student organization, MUNDO!

Applying to a Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP)

Research was once intimidating to me, but that changed when I took a “Research Methods in Sociology” course the first semester of my sophomore year (Fall 2017). It was a very interesting class that introduced me to research and allowed me to learn more of about what that encompasses. I learned that there are two major subgroups of research: qualitative and quantitative. This ended up being one of my favorite classes ever taken at Ohio State.

I have blogged about my eight weeks at University of Iowa through the Big Ten Academic Alliance’s Summer Research Opportunities Program. I separated the blog posts into two parts: part I (June 2018) and part II (July 2018). This specific blog post will be dedicated to sharing my experiences of APPLYING to the program, and my experiences with rejections from several programs. I hope to help others in their academic journeys towards graduate school and professional school!

(The following information are my own insights. Feel free to follow the advice laid out, but I do not guarantee acceptances.)

Source: http://www.sjhemleymarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/iStock_000041965580_Full.jpg

 

Research comes with a multitude of rewards: enhanced reading and writing skills, stronger critical thinking, better evaluation of sources, patience, networking, enhanced analysis skills, and more! By participating in a SROP, I prepared myself tremendously for graduate school and my junior and senior years of college. Through the SROP at University of Iowa, I was able to conduct research for eight weeks, attend workshops on topics related to research and graduate school, write a strong personal statement and CV, study for the GRE, and present my findings at a conference.

I am speaking specifically about the Summer Research Opportunities Program through the Big Ten Academic Alliance.

Here are the steps that I took in applying to and being accepted into a SROP:

During my first year of college, I heard about SROP from a current graduate student in public health. He discussed how he participated in two SROPs and enjoyed both of the experiences, as it helped him strengthen his skills and build his knowledge of public health and biology. They helped inform him of his career goals and aspirations. I kept “SROP” in my mind, and wanted to develop more as a student and scholar before I applied for one.

1. Around October of 2017, which was my sophomore year, I attended a grad school event in the Union. (I like preparing myself early, and even though sophomores may not really concern themselves over graduate school, it was useful for me.) This was like a career fair, and events were scattered in different rooms of the Union. During the one session I attended, the presenters talked about SROP and provided some handouts on SROP and graduate school at OSU in general. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, take notes, and ask for handouts, which contain helpful info! In my personal network, almost nobody had completed a SROP. None of my peers had participated in one, but some staff in Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) had. Ask around on your social media networks too. Somebody may know somebody who did partake in a SROP.

2. During winter, I did more research on SROP on the Internet, and asked people questions to see what they knew about it. I asked around at my own college to see if faculty typically have the time to be mentors for SROP at Ohio State. Looking at the SROP website and exploring its pages, including viewing videos and testimonials from past participants and faculty mentors, was incredibly beneficial for me.

** View the Eligibility Requirements before even starting an application. **

3. I began a Google Document to keep track of the SROP requirements and deadlines. Sometimes transcripts and letters of recommendation are due at different times than the actual application. SROP has a Common App-like application to fill out, and then some schools that have a SROP require their own supplemental applications. In this document, I wrote down my username and password for the application.

4. During winter break, I began brainstorming my content for the essays. This entailed free-writing for me, and typing out whatever popped into my mind that I thought could be used for my essays. There is a PERSONAL STATEMENT and a STATEMENT OF RESEARCH INTERESTS. These are different essays, and you should take the opportunity to showcase different sides of yourself in these essays. Try not to repeat information in these essays. You also do not just want to list out your achievements like you are just writing out your resume or CV. You do want these essays to tell a story! It also should not read like a formal paper; it should still feel like it is your voice that is coming across to the reader. It can be hard to explain what to do and what not to do with your essay, but I hope that my advice makes sense, at least a little bit! Also, there is no magic formula for writing a stellar essay.

https://www.papermasters.com/images/personal-statement.jpg This can be helpful for people in crafting personal statements. Keep these tips in mind! (This infographic is targeted to people who want to go to law school, but you get the idea.)

For my 250-word-limit personal statement, I tried to give the readers a glimpse of who I was, and how I was shaped into the scholar and resilient individual I am today. Additionally, I painted a picture of my background, because that is fundamental in my development. I wrote about why I was motivated to seek a research experience. I included how SROP can help me reach my goals. I also mentioned some experiences of mine, like participating in a college prep program from the sixth grade onwards, and earning 55 college credits during high school. This statement was short and sweet. I had a friend proofread this for errors. Never would I submit a piece of writing before a friend or two scan it over.

For my statement of research interests, which was also a 250-word-maximum, I mentioned my upbringing in the inner-city, and how the challenges/issues I witnessed and faced prompted me to study public health, sociology, and gender studies. With my range of academic interests, my studies would help me address multidimensional, or interdisciplinary, issues, especially health disparities, which I am most passionate about. Then I mentioned how a Research Methods class allowed me to get firsthand experience with research, and I wanted to do more research, which was why I intended to participate in a SROP! My last paragraph consisted of me saying that I wanted to immerse myself into research and what I hoped my future research will be.

** I would share my actual essays, but decided not to in order to avoid the potential for plagiarism. Do not plagiarize. Do not steal/appropriate ideas from others’ essays. Your writing has to be your own. **

5. When spring 2018 started, I made time to work on my essays on the weekends. I was unemployed, but still volunteered at least eight hours a week, and spent eight to ten hours a week for student organizations as well. Many hours of brainstorming, writing, and re-writing were spent. The easiest part was filling out the application with my demographic information. It is important to take breaks and revisit your writing the next day. Give yourself time and space to write. Writing in my dorm room was my preference.

** You may need to send official transcripts to the school and/or SROP. This will come out of your own pocket! **

6. I believe in January, early on in the application process, I asked for letters of recommendation from two sociology professors, since I developed relationships with those two people well. Ask professors/instructors well in advance, at least a month before a deadline. Be sure to ask if they can write a strong letter of recommendation. Do they feel like they know you well enough, whether personally and/or academically? Some things to provide these recommenders are your CV or resume, your application essays, information about the program, your LinkedIn profile, your personal blog, etc.

7. Throughout my process, I asked friends if they had time to read my essays. I did not ask the same friend to read different variations of the dozen or so essays I wrote. There were probably four individuals who read a few essays of mine. I did not use OSU’s Writing Center services, which would have probably helped me out and resulted in more acceptances. The SROP application was due February 10th for me, and some schools had later deadlines (but they also required the SROP application in addition to their own). Besides applying just for SROP, I applied for a few other opportunities as back-ups in case I was not admitted into any of the SROPs. For example, I applied for a cultural summer camp in China for fun and for a research position in Columbus over the summer.

8. Early March was when applications wrapped up for me, and I waited for positive responses in my Buckeyemail inbox. I heard a positive response from University of Iowa, and reached out personally to a potential faculty mentor in sociology, which is my specialization, not my major. Sometimes faculty are not conducting research in your major/desired field at the time, but you can still try to work with them in a different field if you have an interest in that as well! I remained determined and advocated for myself and my abilities. In late March, I was offered acceptance into University of Iowa’s SROP, and accepted that offer since they needed a definitive answer from me within that week. It was a shock to me to see a “Yes” from a program, since it is a competitive program and I doubted my chances of getting in.

http://www.firstpointusa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ohio-state-brutus-the-buckeye.jpg                                                                        Despite thinking that you probably won’t be accepted, you still have a chance if you apply! If you do not apply at all, you have a 0% chance. So take that chance! Believe in yourself.

9. After accepting a program’s offer of admission, you have to turn down other programs’ offers, if they come your way. It turned out that I was rejected from the other SROPs. Some emailed to inform me that I was rejected, while a few did not respond to me at all. For my SROP, I was expected to read emails sent to me carefully. There were more steps to take, like filling out forms and providing information to coordinate health insurance, direct deposit of my stipend, and to book my round-trip flight to and from the program. Some forms required my signature, so I printed out papers and signed them, and scanned them back. The program also asked about roommate requests, but I did not have any preferences, and let the program choose for me. I was required to complete research training modules to learn more about research procedures and ethics! Furthermore, I submitted a headshot to share with others; this headshot was later printed out and put on my dorm door when I got to campus. There are many tasks to complete, but it was actually fun for me to do these, and learn a bit about my peers in the program before I would eventually meet them!

** Respond to emails as soon as you can! Even if the email is just to inform you of what is happening, you can reply with “Received! Thank you for the updates!” 

In late May, I was emailed a syllabus for the summer research program. I printed this out because I like having a physical copy of it to refer to, and I put the dates/deadlines into my personal planner. After completing the requirements and maintaining communication with my program, I arrived in Iowa on June 4th. As always, I was courteous and respectful to everyone. Each participant had their own UIowa email to use. We submitted assignments via an online grading system similar to Ohio State’s Carmen. In this blog post, I provided many details for my readers; I hope that it is not too much! Overall, UI SROP was a wonderful experience and very transformative! If you are unsure of going to graduate school or even getting involved with research, but are willing to try it out, I suggest it. Remain open-minded about opportunities.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
If anyone has any questions, wants advice, or someone to talk with about the process, I can certainly make time to help a fellow Buckeye! I am potentially available to read statements as well. I do also suggest utilizing the wonderful Writing Center here on campus; students can do walk-ins, scheduled appointments, and even have their written work looked over virtually and then receive comments online. Send over your drafts to friends who can provide constructive criticism; they will be able to read the statements and determine if the writing reflects your true voice and your true self.

Good luck to all who will apply to a Summer Research Opportunities Program! 🙂

Resources:
http://www.btaa.org/resources-for/students/srop/introduction
https://gradsch.osu.edu/research/summer-research-opportunities-program

Se Levanta: The MUNDO Puerto Rico Experience

I had the pleasure and honor of being a part of the action team that planned the MUNDO Puerto Rico experience that took place from December 14th-20th, 2018. In August 2018, the people on our action team began holding weekly meetings in order to set the itinerary for our group, budget our activities, recruit and reach out to potential participants, plan the pre-travel meeting, and more. The hours we put in to helped make the experience a success.

MUNDO loves learning and exploring our world. We loved Puerto Rico.

It was an exciting and enlightening experience planning and participating in this alternative break trip. This was an opportunity to learn in-depth about the history of Puerto Rico, the island of enchantment. I learned more about the multicultural background and how people live today, firsthand. Beforehand, I had such a superficial, limited knowledge of Puerto Rico and its people. Actually, I had done some research when I applied to participate in the experience for the winter break 2017. Unfortunately, Hurricane Maria happened, and severely damaged buildings, infrastructure, and in general caused extreme distress to the island. Thankfully, the island is recovering and is showing how resilient it is. We are thankful that we have the chance to go visit Puerto Rico in 2018, and learn about a variety of topics, and stimulate the economy.

We shared this flyer that I made around social media to attract people to apply.

Twenty four (24) Ohio State students and four Ohio State staff mentors came along, so there was a total of 28 people in our group. Each of us provided unique perspectives and contributed to an engaging time while there. To become involved in this experience, people must apply and write an essay or two, and ideally participate in MUNDO already to receive preference/priority for the trip. We then look over the applications and we have had to make cuts or create waitlists for people. We also let participants know of the payments and their deadlines.

In late November, we had our Pre-Travel Meeting, which is mandatory and lets us all recognize the faces we’d see daily later on in December. We did an exercise that entailed us writing “What we know about Puerto Rico,” “What we want to know more about,” and “What did we learn from the presentation?/What barriers or challenges do we see ahead?”

I created this flyer to remind participants to attend our pre-travel meeting.

Friday, December 14th, 2018
After finals finished at Ohio State, early in the morning of Friday, December 14th, 2018, we had a bus pick up students from north campus, west campus, and south campus. We headed for the airport, and stopped in Chicago briefly before landing in Puerto Rico around 4:30 PM. Our group was picked up by a bus, and it took us about half an hour to get to our hotel.

On the ride there, I looked out the windows to observe what this new environment was; I saw gas for 67 cents for a liter, which is 1/4 of a gallon, if I am correct ($2.68 for a gallon). I also saw McDonald’s, Domino’s, and KFC. There were some abandoned buildings, some of which had graffiti sprawled on them. There was a rent-a-car facility which also apparently had buy one get one free margaritas. These observations were interesting.

We stayed in Old San Juan, which is such a beautiful area, with colorful buildings and friendly drivers who let us pedestrians cross the street. There’s also lively music around different plazas, and street carts selling fresh fruit, fried snacks, or frappes, smoothies, and other delicious and refreshing drinks.

Eleven of us went to dinner together at a restaurant called Mojito’s, which was a few minutes walk behind our hotel. This experience is substance-free, even for those who are of legal age to drink. We must abide by Ohio State University policy and take this precaution. At Mojito’s, many of us had grilled chicken breast with rice and beans and salad. Some had pulled pork or beef. A few of us had plantains, and the one of us had mofongo (they had had it before). My meal consisted of grilled chicken breast with creole sauce (which is similar to a tomato sauce) and rice and beans with some salad.

Mojitos had friendly service that accommodated us easily.

After a filling meal, we walked around the area a bit to see how to navigate the streets. I learned that there are not really street lights in Old San Juan, yet drivers still act peacefully and get around without much honking going on. They also let pedestrians cross when there are no marked crosswalks (there are some marked crosswalks, but most of the time, you just look left and right and see if there’s a car, you can motion with your hand a Thank You to let the driver let you pass first). I appreciated that. A group of us stopped at an area where there was a live band and people dancing in an alley-like area. I felt some rain pelt down on us, and two other friends and I headed to the hotel. On the way back, we tried pina coladas from a smoothie and frappe stand.

Puerto Rico is also in the middle of their holiday season, which I think that I heard began in late November/early December and will last until January 6th or so. Decorations like trees, wreaths, and holiday lighting were ubiquitous. One restaurant we went to had multiple Christmas trees, of various sizes in its building. Even though you usually associate the holiday of Christmas with snow and cold temperatures, over here, it was a warm, balmy 80 degrees. Wearing lightweight, breathable clothing is a must, as is wearing sturdy shoes for getting around everywhere. The slag and brick streets of Old San Juan are not very accessible for people who use wheelchairs or have trouble climbing hills and inclines. I heard that people are trying to ameliorate this and make it more friendly for people of different abilities and needs.

Saturday, December 15th, 2018 
I got up around 7:45 AM, or well, 8 AM, since I was still in bed as one of my roommates was getting ready in the bathroom. Three women share a suite, while two men share a room. Each advisor/staff gets their own room. Breakfast at the hotel opens at 6:30 AM, which is around the time the sun rises. I got changed into a dress and got down to the breakfast room around 8:30 AM, and the whole group had to be in the lobby at 8:45 AM to depart from the hotel for our food tour, brought to us by Spoon Food Tours. We headed out at 9 after we checked in with each other and Julius Mayo, a founder of MUNDO, taught us some Spanish phrases to know. “Buen provecho” means “have a good meal/enjoy your meal,” and is the Spanish equivalent of the French phrase “Bon appetit.”

Our group split into two smaller groups for the food tours, which also allowed us to learn of the history of Old San Juan, and anything else we wanted to know. Our specific tour took about three hours to complete; we had about five different stops for food of some kind, and this all ended up being a meal for me. I should have skipped my breakfast that day because I could not finish some of the samples provided to me. Our tour guide majored in food and culinary science for her undergraduate career in the United States, and has been back in Puerto Rico to do some food tours for people, and who knows what next. She was incredibly helpful and prepared to discuss histories and answer our questions. I learned some new and neat facts on the tour, including these:

  • The streets and buildings of Old San Juan are designed in a way so that one side of the street is always in shade, and the other side gets some sun.
  • Wheat is an Old World ingredient.
  • The plaza was dedicated to 500 years since Puerto Rico was ‘discovered by Columbus.’ The plaza had a pillar dedicated to the ingredient sofrito, which is commonly used throughout Puerto Rican cuisine. This pillar is made of black granite and replicas of bowls and pots that date back to the Tainos, the indigenous peoples of Puerto Rico. These bowls and pots were used to make stews a long time ago.
  • Casa Blanca is an attraction and museum to visit. The name literally translates to ‘white house’ and was where Ponce de Leon’s family stayed. Ponce de Leon was the first governor of the island, and he also founded Florida.

The first place my specific group of 14 people went to was Don Ruiz, a roastery, museum, and café all in one. The coffee is locally grown and comes from Yauco. They have some food, pastries, coffee of all kinds, and smoothies. We had mallorcas, which are sweet bread rolls dusted lightly in powdered sugar. Inside of ours was some ham and cheese. It was such a great bite-size treat, and paired with hot chocolate, was delicious. One person in our group had coffee, and she poured some brown sugar into it to sweeten it up. FUN FACT: The darker the sugar, the purer it is. Sugar has natural ingredients but when made white, its nutrients get stripped away.

We were in the Ballaja barracks, or Cuartel de Ballaja.

Don Ruiz is housed in a large building that has dance classes, museums, and galleries on the lower level, and offices on the upper level. (We saw cute children in ballerina outfits dancing around the vicinity). This building was used as a military facility; 1,000 soldiers and their families once lived here. Then this place was headquarters for the infantry. During WWII, it was transformed into a hospital. Now, it commemorates history and the arts.

According to our tour guide, Danny, the Corsicans brought coffee over to Puerto Rico after 1736. The Corsicans did not want to compete with the settled-in Spaniards for territory or get in conflict with them in any way, so they settled down in the mountains in the southwest.

Although Don Ruiz is not selling bags of their coffee anymore due to Hurricane Maria’s impacts on the coffee industry (and many other industries), you can still check them out: http://www.donruizstore.com/

At our other stops, we tried French toast with citrus and pineapple slices, pulled pork with rice and beans and some fruity drinks, and a traditional dish called mofongo, which includes plantains. We stopped at a farmer’s market, where vendors sold fresh produce, handmade soaps, some souvenirs, drinks, and more. I was surprised to see mung beans and bok choy, but the world is becoming more globalized, and foods from different places get traded and shared around. Danny recommended reading “Eating Puerto Rico: A History of Food, Culture, and Identity”

The final stop on our culinary tour was Señor Paleta. This is a tiny popsicle shop, with no room to sit in. You order what you want, turn around, and leave. The heat made the popsicles melt so quickly. I could not even finish mine, and was deterred from buying popsicles in Puerto Rico again. The small shop had many customers flowing in and out of the area, for some quick relief.

Castillo San Felipe del Morro also known as Fuerte San Felipe del Morro or Castillo del Morro, is a 16th-century citadel located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

~
The group had about an hour and a half of free time before we met up to tour El Morro. At 3:30 PM, a park ranger named Anthony guided a tour of El Morro; this tour lasted from 45 minutes to an hour. The tour group consisted of about 20-25 people. Over half of us were MUNDO experience participants, accompanied by a pair of women who were OSU alumni from decades ago, and also a few families with small children.

We went to different levels of the fortress. Our first stop was the chapel, where soldiers would come to sit on the pews and pray. Above the chapel entrance were symbols of a shield, a pillar/column, and a bull skull. This symbolism referred to protection and sacrifice. People etched these symbols also because many of the soldiers were illiterate, and could not read or write letters.

O-H-I-O in El Morro

Building El Morro began in 1540, and construction would take 248 years to complete. This fortress was to protect Puerto Rico from invaders, as Puerto Rico was considered to be a treasure. The massive green space on the fortress’s exterior is the battlefield where people fought. A major invasion where invaders were close to succeeding happened in 1625, when the Dutch wanted to try to take over.

I learned a lot about the fortress and why Puerto Rico was such a treasure; it was in a prime position in the Caribbean. The east trade winds would help incoming ships maneuver to the island. Plus, Puerto Rico was the gateway to the Americas, and to wealth and resources.

At the end of the tour, our guide Anthony asked us to think about what our treasure was, and what we will do to protect and preserve it, whether it be culture, language, family history, or whatever else. This was so powerful to me. He left such a good impression.

Sunday, December 16th, 2018 
I woke up around 8:15 AM, and got breakfast: an omelet and two thin slices of watermelon. Then two friends and I set out to explore Old San Juan and check out an artisan market.

I really liked the art museum the entire group visited in the afternoon: Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico. This museum is devoted to the visual arts of Puerto Rico and has a permanent collection depicting art from the 17th century to the present. It also has local and international exhibits. We spent a few hours exploring the exhibits and the outdoor garden. The outdoor garden was my favorite part. I also enjoyed hearing some live performers practice their music on the museum’s ground floor.

The murals in the outdoor gardens captivated me most.

The evening was free for everyone to explore some more. A group of eight of us went to Pirilo Pizza Rustica for pizza and other food. After an hour wait to be seated, we climbed up some steep stairs to the second floor. I ordered a Hawaiian pizza, and two slices made me full. I saved the other two slices for a meal the next day.

Monday, December 17th, 2018
This was another busy day, one where we were outside for the majority of the day. Sunscreen and water were absolutely essential. Our group went on an all-day expedition: El Yunque Rainforest & Bioluminescent Bay Combo Tour. El Yunque is the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. National Forest System!

At 10 AM, 24 students and one MUNDO advisor boarded one van, and the other three advisors went into another van, to go to the same destinations. The driver was our guide and he told us stories throughout this experience. He was steering with his left hand and holding his microphone with his right hand, which may seem precarious but he maintained good driving. He said that 90% of what Puerto Rico consumes is imported. Additionally, he explained that Old San Juan is separated from the larger island and connected by bridges as a strategy to provide a safe haven for Spanish ships.

Here are more facts and history that people should know:

  • 1898 marked the year of the Spanish-American War. The United States won over Spain and took over control of Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam. Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory. It was the last colony of the New World.
  • The Tainos, the indigenous peoples of what is now Puerto Rico, were decimated by colonizers (not ‘conquerers’ or ‘civilizers’) and diseases that their immune systems could not defend against. Tainos were enslaved and forced to find gold in the rivers, where the mineral was plentiful. Now, the rivers do not have gold in them besides specks of glitter among the rocks in the riverbeds. The culture of the Tainos is alive today in Puerto Rican culture, though. Not all is lost.
  • Plantains come from Africa. Different foods come from different parts of the world, and make their way into Puerto Rican cuisine.
  • The indigenous population called their land Boriquen, and they were Boricua.


We visited the Yokahu Observation Tower, where we could see far away and above the tree tops.
We also stopped at La Coca Falls, Angelito Trail, and for a late lunch/early dinner, we ate at one of the 60 restaurants at Los Kioskos de Luquillo.

At 5 PM, we arrived at Laguna Grande Bioluminescent Bay, which is one of the bays that people can visit to see the bioluminescent creatures and their blue/white glow. As the sun was setting, we were given a demonstration/overview of how to kayak correctly and safely. We would proceed single-file-kayak through the mangrove forests to the bay, and then back to shore. This entire process would take about two hours. I really enjoyed kayaking, but I was nervous about doing so in the dark. My partner Briana and I hit the trees just a few times. Other pairs also ran into the trees. Once everyone emerged in the lagoon, our eyes slowly adjusted to the deep blue night sky and the twinkling stars that dotted it. I had never seen that many stars before. The company took out a large black tarp to cover people with, and once under the tarp, I swirled my hand in the water. While kayaking back to our start location, it felt faster and I saw some bats fly overhead.

I wore the wrong outfit for kayaking. My sides and entire bottom half were soaked, as were my shoes. Sandals would have been more appropriate.

Around 9 PM, we arrived, soggy and exhausted, at our hotel. I quickly went to sleep after such a tiring but terrific day.

Tuesday, December 18th, 2018
We had our service project in the morning from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM at Banco de Alimentos, a food bank! MUNDO frequently volunteers at food banks for our service sites on our breaks. Long pants, t-shirts, and closed-toe shoes were required to participate. I had much fun while volunteering, even though I was tired. At first, I helped sort food to see if they were expired or not. If not, I put them onto the appropriate shelves. Later, the whole group participated in labeling cheese and putting them back into boxes. During the 10-15 minute break, I sat on some wooden boards, propped my left arm up on my knee, and closed my eyes. We went through hundreds of boxes of cheese. We made a lot of progress and helped the food bank tremendously.

We had the rest of the day free until 6 PM, when we’d have to meet up again as a giant group to walk over to our alumni dinner at Princesa Gastrobar. We were able to have dinner with six alumni. We were split among four tables, and this allowed for more intimate conversations. Two of the alumni who came out were actually high school best friends, who remained close to this day! When we left dinner, I could hear the sounds of the coquis, which are frogs. I never once saw this frog while on the island, but I definitely heard them throughout my experience. A small group of us went to Poet’s Passage to hear live spoken word

Our group enjoyed meeting with OSU alumni!

Wednesday, December 19th, 2018
We had our ‘free day’ today, which meant the group had nothing planned and each participant could go wherever they liked (within reason) and do the activities they wanted to (that were appropriate). I walked around to the Museum of the Americas, which I highly recommend! With a student discount, my price for admission was just $4.00. I spent an hour or two here, exploring the different exhibits. Some were dedicated to art, while others discussed African heritage, different cultures of the Americas, and colonization in Puerto Rico. Later, I visited Casa Blanca. This is a sprawling estate that I also recommend people see. I made it back to the hotel to try to nap, but decided to grab a light meal with friends before our afternoon activity.

In the late afternoon/evening, I embarked on a sunset boat tour with five other students. We were at sea for two hours, and saw along the coasts of Old San Juan.

From the boat, we could see the colorful cluster of buildings.

This sunset tour was another favorite aspect of my experience. It provided truly remarkable views and allowed me to relax.

I packed an OSU tank top and OSU shirt for my trip. As an OSU student, pack a few school merchandise for anywhere you go. We always ran into Buckeyes and Buckeye fans.

Thursday, December 20th, 2018
We had to leave Puerto Rico for Columbus today. In the morning, we took a group photo at the “I <3 PR” sign close to our hotel. Then around 1 PM, we made it to the airport to check our bags, which took an hour or so of waiting. Then we waited even longer for security. There were so many people at the San Juan Airport. I had never waited so long to go through security before. We had some delays and dilemmas, and stayed in the airport longer than we expected to. Nevertheless, we were happy to finally move along and get back to Columbus.

Friday, December 21st, 2018
At around 3 am, we made it to the Columbus airport, a few hours later than expected. One participant stayed behind in Puerto Rico to be with her family in Ponce. It was a great experience, and on the weekend, all participants would get the chance to fill out a survey to share their thoughts on the experience and offer suggestions for future trips to Puerto Rico.

REFLECTION

I felt fortunate to visit Puerto Rico and see all that it had to offer. I learned more about the history of its colonization and the different influences from Spaniards, Africans, and Tainos that shaped the identity and cultures of Puerto Rico. Throughout the trip, I also made some public health observations:

  • The Walgreens under our hotel has a sign on their checkout counter that says that they check everyone for their ID when they buy alcohol, regardless of age!
    • This was interesting to me! I didn’t see anywhere else that did this, so I want to look further into this.
  • Sidewalks in Old San Juan are overwhelmingly not accessible for people with wheelchairs or other abilities. The up-hill trek can also be difficult for people. Some sidewalks and some streets cannot be visited altogether.
  • I saw advertisements on buildings for San Juan Health Center and Molina Healthcare. I made notes of what healthcare resources were available. At a bookstore, I also was tempted to buy a book on public health in Puerto Rico, but decided not to, so I could spend more on more filling meals.
  • We could easily find food trucks and food stands offering fried snacks, pizza, and popcorn. Even our food tour guide Danny said that people’s diets consisted of fried foods, starches and carbs, with little vegetables. This was reflected at many restaurants that I went to. Some restaurants did not offer a lot of vegetables; if there were, it was usually light-colored lettuce with some shavings of carrots and some pieces of tomatoes. People could still be at risk for malnutrition and lack some nutrients that they would get from vegetables.

Overall, I am very pleased with my experience, and proud of myself for playing a part in it coming to fruition. My experiences here have encouraged me to think about what I treasure and value: my cultures, my family heritages and histories, and the languages that my family members speak. Another thought that arose from my contemplation was that I hope people do not visit a place just because of its allure, its “exoticness,” or its tropical climate or warmer temperatures. People should also take the time to learn about the stories of the individuals who live in that place. How did that place get to where it is today? Were things always like this? It is important to make keen observations and to interact with the locals.

This appears to be a red hibiscus flower. There’s beauty everywhere, especially around Puerto Rico, which is also called the island of enchantment,

I want to thank my student organization, MUNDO, and the peers and staff for making this experience enlightening and enriching for me. We had plenty of conversations about our own lives and our perspectives. It was also inspiring to witness how Puerto Rico was recovering and thriving once more. I have a deeper and broader understanding of Puerto Rican history, culture, and society, especially around Old San Juan.  This trip also inspired me to think about being proud of your heritage and always remembering your roots.

The University of Iowa – Summer Research Opportunities Program – Part II

July 2018

When July came around, I was halfway completed with the Summer Research Opportunities Program at The University of Iowa; four weeks down, with four more to go! This second month, I finished as much research as I could do, and then the last week was spent wrapping up the program: presenting posters at the annual undergraduate summer research symposium and recognizing all the Scholars for our hard work and contributions. This half of the summer felt like it went by much quicker than the first half.

WEEK FIVE
July 1st – That weekend, there was the Jazz Festival downtown, and fireworks were shooting off at night. Plenty of people flooded the streets of downtown Iowa City to enjoy the sizzling, fuzzy heat and hear some music. Some crowds were huddled all over the lawns on campus with their blankets on the grass. I did not go outside at night to watch the fireworks, but I could hear them from the dorm. A few Scholars did go to see the fireworks, even venturing into the neighborhood of Coralville to view the fireworks displays.

Photo credit: http://www.accalendar17.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/iowa-city-jazz-festival-iowa-city-downtown-district-iowa-city-calendar-of-events-logk.jpg

July 2nd –
At the “Grad School Admissions” panel, six graduate students shared their experiences and advice for us. These students were pursuing MFAs and Ph.Ds. in history, higher education & student affairs, and counseling psychology. They spoke on their transition from undergraduate to graduate school; some went straight through with their schooling whereas others had some time off for employment first. Some of these students were people of color, and I really appreciated seeing and hearing from POCs, because these were people like me who went on to graduate school.

Some tidbits of wisdom they mentioned during the panel included befriending your fellow graduate students because it is unfeasible and foolish to not do so, and to email professors and people for letters of recommendation immediately, even though it was summer and school had not started yet. One student said that one recommender should know you well personally, one recommender should vouch for your professional experiences, and one should be a “hard-hitter,” which is someone who is highly respected and esteemed in their field. There should also be a person available at the ready to write a back-up recommendation, in case one of the main three recommenders happens to not submit a letter on time, or at all. The panel was very informational. I made a note to myself to contact my recommenders right when school started in August; I wanted to meet with them in person to talk about our summers and then ask them if they would be willing to write me letters.

July 3rd –
We had a GRE study session in the evening.

July 4th –
SROP had a Holiday Picnic planned for us, but this was canceled, and we all just had the day off. It was eerily quiet downtown on the actual holiday, with barely any cars passing through the streets. A group of us played a few hours of Dungeons & Dragons and then walked downtown to see what was going on. About a dozen of us spent some time in a frozen yogurt shop, and we played a game called Headbands. Those who were over age 21 went to a bar to play billiards. It was a relaxing day.

Our D&D group within SROP used this Starter Set to play our campaign.

July 5th –
Our Research Seminar revolved around “Conferences & Publications,” presented to us by a speaker who was very engaging and captivated everyone’s attention as he spoke about types of papers, journals, and authorship. This Chemistry professor was very passionate and stated that this was not a lecture but a discussion; he wanted us to speak during class. Despite it being the end of the day, he did not show any physical signs of fatigue.

I learned that there are three types of research papers:
1) a letter (for general audiences, and the most brief type of paper at two to three pages, including figures and references)
2) a full-length article
3) a review of many articles (this is more rare)
The speaker said that it is common for professors to publish two to ten times a year, depending on their discipline. He also vouched for the value of attending conferences, networking, and attending society meetings. He mentioned that growing a thick skin would be beneficial because “academia is critical of ideas.” What surprised me was that this professor read academic articles every day, including weekends and holidays to keep up with the literature! In addition, journals have impact factors, which are numerical factors for the prestige of the journals. Higher impact factors are better. He also talked about for-profit journals being predatory, as they charge researchers to publish, without thoroughly reviewing the submitted work. Open-access journals on the other hand provide public access to articles; for example, the NIH mandates that NIH-funded research be posted on PubMed, a year after its publication date, so that the public can read this year-old article.

July 6th –
For our Speaker Series, a professor in the Sociology department whose research is primarily on social stratification and public policy! She discussed her research on implicit bias training in some schools in the Iowa City Community School District; her hope is that educators will recognize their own biases (every human being has bias, whether they know it or not) and ensure that their biases do not lead to disproportionate educational outcomes for different races of students.
Students and teachers filled out surveys as part of the professor’s research. Students were asked if they had mentors at school, and if they felt safe and supported, among other questions.
One result revealed that 19% of Black students enrolled in the school districts for 2016-2017, but 63% were suspended. This is an outrageous statistic, and indicates a disparity in disciplining students. Another finding was that white students had the highest rates of race-matched mentors, meaning they were the students who often had a mentor of the same race. Furthermore, LGBTQ-identifying students disclosed that they did not feel supported or understood by their teachers. Even 25% of all students surveyed reported that teachers do not recognize their hard work.

There are multiple areas to address in these schools, and diverse stakeholders must be involved when making decisions. Besides training teachers and staff (the implicit bias training in schools is contracted to last three years), a handful of schools are trying a restorative justice approach to discipline instead of suspending students. Also pertinent is recruiting and retaining diverse staff and students. Yet another suggestion raised by the researchers was to arrange school calendars so that testing would not occur on/near any religious holidays, not just Christian holidays like Christmas or Easter.

Source: https://www.lwhs.org/page/news-detail?pk=1140689

I support implicit bias training for school educators and staff; having grown up in the inner-city and attending public schools for my entire life, and often being the only Asian-American student in class, I witnessed bias and microaggressions from teachers who had little experience interacting with Asian/Asian-American people. For example, I have had teachers insist on knowing where my parents were born, and teachers who commented how my name did not suit me because it was “too American” for me. This lecture spoke to me, and I hope that teachers nationwide can be more educated and aware of their own biases and lack of knowledge and cultural sensitivity.

WEEK SIX
July 9th –
Sunny gave a professional development presentation on “Professionalism on Social Media.” What we post on the Internet has a permanent presence, even if we delete our photos or statuses. We must be vigilant of what we say or share, because you never know who could screenshot something and send it off to other people. Sunny asked us what social media networks we use, from Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and LinkedIn, to some others. Most of us use a few social media networks! I use a wide array of social networks, and am very connected to the Internet. When I post, I keep in mind that I do have past teachers and older adults as friends or followers of my accounts, so I ask myself if things are appropriate for me to share.

Photo credit: https://ontargetinteractive.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/social-.jpg

July 10th –
Another GRE Study Session consisted of practicing vocabulary words and doing practice problems from our Kaplan books.

July 11th –
The evening session “If I Knew Then What I Know Now“ was a speed meeting with past SROP students who were in graduate school. The scholars were sitting at six tables, and we sat down the entire duration, while a graduate student circled around to each table every 10 minutes, and each of them had a specific topic to discuss with us.
One student, Maya, did SROP at University of Iowa some years ago, where she studied African-American mothers and stress. She talked about “building your cabinet” of people, or basically a support system.
Charles was pursuing a Ph.D. in higher education, and commented on “wearing multiple hats” and juggling various responsibilities. He aims to be a faculty member and administrator for student affairs. When he finished reading for the day, he would then focus on self-care and play basketball as his reward.
Nicole is in the process of achieving her MFA in Painting and Drawing, a three-year program. She talked about “department politics” and power structures.
Danielle was in her Ph.D. program for civil engineering, and was researching flood predictions. She commented on being a “Teaching Assistant (TA) versus Research Assistant (RA) versus Graduate Assistant (GA)”. TAs are popular for science disciplines while GAs are commonly found in the social sciences and liberal arts. She is an RA, and wants to do consulting after her program. She is also involved in graduate student government, so grad students can still be involved outside of the classroom! Danielle mentioned that she is the only woman in her classes, which is still a reality in STEM, but is slowly dissolving.
Lastly a student who I think was named Deron (De’Ron?) discussed “time management” in his MFA for printmaking program. He suggested we try to complete assignments one to two weeks before the given deadline, to allocate more time since procrastination is real. He was attracted to UIowa’s program because of the funding and stipends; also, the school’s printmaking program is third in the nation.
I was impressed by the diversity of graduate students and how they all came from various fields and states; a few went straight from undergraduate to graduate school, and it was interesting to hear all their perspectives.

July 12th –
This Research Seminar was on Poster Construction Do’s and Don’ts. Scholars were given a guide for designing our research posters, which we would present at a conference just less than two weeks away. We also received several handouts showing different posters; we went through almost all of them and critiqued each poster. All posters should be concise, with minimal wording and carefully curated diagrams or photos.

Elements of a poster should include, but are not limited to:
– Abstract – Why was this research necessary? What happened? What were the results? What are the implications for this research? This should be a short paragraph or two and should be easily understandable by anyone who reads this abstract.
– Introduction – What is the issue being addressed? What is the gap in the literature?
– Hypothesis – What do I predict will be the outcome(s) from the research?
– Methods – What methods did we use for the research? Was it qualitative or quantitative? This should be very specific and delineate how this research was conducted.
– Results – What were the results? Diagrams would be helpful here in visually representing the results.
– Conclusion – This section is a summary of what the results suggest and what future directions can be taken.

This is a sample research poster from my very own university! White space is necessary for a poster. There should be a balance between white space and the amount of text and images on a poster. It should overall look neat and have an organized structure.

There should be some models/diagrams/photos on the poster so that it is not entirely composed of text. People need to see visuals! Visuals can help draw people in and also aid people’s understanding of complex concepts. Some other elements could include Discussion and Literature Review. References are also another popular section. For my poster, I add in an Acknowledgements section, because I always want to give thanks to people who have helped me with my research. Furthermore, I have to thank Professor Welburn and Sean for allowing me to help them with their project and giving me guidance.

When presenting a poster, there are also some guidelines. Students should practice presenting the data in front of peers, before they present at a conference. Do their peers understand the information and can logically follow the points made on the poster? Students should prepare a two-minute version and five-minute version of their poster speech. They also should not simply read off the poster, but briefly explain the research and then give specifics if people ask. Another piece of advice was to be enthusiastic and lively about the research and the work accomplished. If people come up to you and see that you are energetic and excited, they would feel like you really care about the topic.

This lecture’s presenter also showed us sample letters of recommendation that he wrote for students he has worked with. He even handed out a copy of a student’s personal statement for a Ph.D. program. It was very insightful to read these papers and get the perspectives of a recommender.

July 13th –
A Biochemistry professor spoke to us on the molecular mechanisms of epigenetics. She introduced herself and her educational background. She spent four years in undergrad, four years for her PhD, six years doing postdoctoral work, and five years ago, she established her own lab. Then she gave us a mini lecture on her work. She explained how she studies how epigenetic factors influence gene expression and how the environment (stress, nutrition, exercise, etc. impact a person’s epigenome).

Source: https://harvardmagazine.com/2017/05/is-epigenetics-inherited Learning about epigenetics reminded me of public health, and how environmental exposures and other facets of people’s lives impact their health, even the health of generations of offspring.

Although I took introductory biology and chemistry courses, I never had instruction on epigenetics, so this material was new to me. A fact I learned from the lecture was that there is evidence that genes from a famine in Denmark are affecting people today. The professor said that epigenetic marks are reversible and have substantial therapeutic potential. Her lab works to understand more about chromatin biology and human disease, and help develop therapeutics, which are used for people suffering from disease, pain, or injuries. The professor noted that when seeking funding for research projects, the funders need to be motivated and excited about your topic or your research. I will keep this advice in mind, not just for when I am applying for funding for my research, but for scholarships; I have to make readers excited for me and want to help me achieve my goals.

WEEKEND –
Scholars who had missed a session for various reasons were required to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity again. This was no issue for me; I appreciated the opportunity to get to help out at the warehouse area. We helped restock furniture, move furniture around, assemble some furniture and appliances (lamps and lighting fixtures in particular), measure door frames, sort recyclables, and unload a few truckloads of even more furniture. It was my first time going inside a Habitat for Humanity ReStore, and seeing the array of items that people donated and would be eventually reused. We even built a bunk bed. Furniture sold here is marked at affordable prices. For furnishing my own homes/apartments in the future, I now can add a Habitat for Humanity ReStore to the list of places to visit.

This is just one small area of the large warehouse of the Habitat for Humanity – Iowa Valley.

WEEK SEVEN
July 16th –
Natalie conducted our session on self-assessments; it was called “Know Thyself.” This was important because we have to know who we are to write our personal statements and to express ourselves in interviews. She started with asking us if we can define ourselves in one sentence. Statements from scholars like “I am 21 years old,” “I am studying [insert subject/field],” were shot down. Natalie inquired, “What if education and everything else was taken away from you? Who are you then?” What were we besides students?
“You can exist without your achievements.” This statement spoke volumes to me. I am more than my almost-perfect (3.966) GPA, my leadership activities, and my honors and awards. We must not define ourselves by a test score or other numbers or accolades. I define myself by values like “trustworthy,” “caring,” “kind,” and “inquisitive.”

Natalie gave us each a worksheet and a paper with a long list of values, from A-Z order. Using values from the list, we first listed five values that are the MOST important to us, then five values that were important to us, and finally five values that were the least important to us. Furthermore, Natalie wanted us to jot down why these values were important to us and how do we use these values or employ them in action.

My most important values are, in no particular order:
– Adventure
My life craves excitement and discovery. I want to travel the world and to different nook and crannies in America. I love adventure and learning about the world around me. So far, I have done some traveling, and that has kept me eager for more adventures.
– Happiness
I strive to be happy, and this has been a great area of struggle for me, with so many challenges I have encountered in life. Happiness is a universal feeling, but oftentimes I do not find myself in a happy state. To try to achieve this value, I spend time with loved ones, and they contribute positively to my mood. I also can make myself content when I am not with other people; blogging is a source of pride and happiness for me. Helping other people generally makes me happy.
– Friendships
What is life without friends? I have made many new friends in college and they have enriched my life. They have supported me and helped me get through school, and I have just had fun with them as we explored Columbus and hung around school. I make sure to see my friends at least once a week, and I often have a class with at least one of them!
– Family
My family have always been a part of my life, and they are there for me when I need them. My family has helped get me to where I am today. I make time to see my family a few times a semester. I return home for one to two weeks for winter break. Sometimes I am busy traveling to new places and forgo visiting Cleveland. Still, I call my mother once a week, mostly on the weekends, so I can hear her comforting voice.
– Knowledge
Education is one of my lifelines, one of my necessities just like blood. I call myself a lifelong lover of learning; I will always be reading books and online articles to better myself and increase my knowledge of various topics. Many subjects catch my interest. I have a major and two minors because I want to be more well-rounded and educated. While traveling, I try to visit a few museums so I can deepen my understanding of art, history, and different cultures.

For my one-liner, which I did not share out loud with the class but silently wanted to, I wrote down,
“I am someone who found her strength from her struggles.”

Photo Source: https://graceoutreachcenter.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/what-defines-you.jpg                                                                                       What defines you? Can you describe yourself succinctly in one sentence?

July 17th –
We had our usual GRE Study Session, which we all attend after we eat dinner at Burge Hall.

July 18th –
This day, I had a draft of my research poster ready and talked through the layout and content with my mentor, Professor Welburn. I sent her a PDF of my poster and she printed it; I would pick it up later in the office of the Sociology department.

For our session, we had Research Roundtable presentations. We printed out copies of our research abstracts to share with the Scholars at our table, and one faculty mentor/member from University of Iowa was present at each of the four tables around the room to hear us present our abstract and our research projects, and provide us with feedback. This was preparation for the conference next week, and it was also one of the most stressful sessions for me, since I do not like presenting in front of others. Nevertheless, I appreciated getting the chance to hear what my peers were doing and how some of them are really strong presenters and seem to not show any anxiety in front of audiences. Each table would select the scholar from that table who presented the most well, and to eventually stand in front of the entire room to present once more, and be judged. The four scholars presented and the four faculty members decided who was the best presenter. The scholar with the best oral presentation of their research that night was a fellow Buckeye, who I did not meet or know until we both began SROP together in the summer.

July 19th –
Our scheduled session was cancelled, so Scholars had this day to work more on research.

July 20th –
Our last Speaker Series session was presented by a professor in Astronomy and Physics. That night, we had a SROP Talent Show, where scholars had a space to show off their talents and skills. One scholar did a dance and later that night, a SROP-themed parody of an R&B song. Another scholar played his own musical piece on his flute; throughout SROP, when we walked down the hallways of our dorm floor, we would hear his whimsical flute-playing. Another scholar sang a cover of Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie,” and one scholar presented a slideshow of her artwork and she even completed a painting during SROP, and passed this around to the audience. I also volunteered for the talent show; when I submitted my name that I was participating, I only had in mind that I would perform a poem. After I elected to be a part of the show, I hurriedly began to brainstorm my poem. It was finished in two days, and then the few days before the show, I was revising the poem, only allowing two SROP scholars to read it and provide me with feedback. The talent show overall was very fun, and just like how multifaceted and unique each of us scholars are, our talents are different as well.

The Arts Building West building holds the Art Library. It is a tranquil place to study. The small pond sometimes will have ducks splashing around in it.

A link to my poem is found here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lOQTGLslC5KJqb4pMxXsraARf24LRaubsaPxletvm3w/edit?usp=sharing

WEEKEND –
On July 21st, Scholars took a GRE Post-test, from 10 am to 2 pm, to compare our scores from the beginning of summer. I was relieved to earn higher scores for both the quantitative and verbal sections. However, the test we took was the same as the diagnostic test, except I did have some unfamiliar sets of questions because I knew how to answer a few previous sets. I scored in the 80th or so percentiles for this test, an improvement from last time when I scored in the 44th and 70th-something percentiles. When taking practice tests, I did not write essays, but in hindsight, perhaps I should have spent the time to do so. We printed off our results for the SROP staff’s records.

WEEK EIGHT
July 23rd –
Graduate assistant Sunny presented a session on self-care and support. For this interactive session, Sunny strongly encouraged us to discuss with him about our perceptions of self-care and what questions we had about the topic. We defined what self-care means for us. One scholar said for her, it meant “treating yourself.” Others said that for their self-care, they needed “music,” “solitude,” “stopping and thinking,” and “hanging with friends.” We then did self-assessments, which I believe were related to stress.

During the session, I took some notes related to self-care:
“Start a compliments file.” Sunny practices this activity, and I actually did this back in middle school when I would screenshot compliments that people gave me online. If someone posts something especially sweet and meaningful to me online, I still screenshot it and keep it on my phone in my Photos album.
“Mini-meditation.” I do not currently practice meditation, but it can be something simple and not even time-intensive. It could be something I do right before bed, or when I wake up.
“Unplug for an hour.” My world revolves around using technology and staying connected to my networks through my phone or laptop. I am almost always looking at a screen, if I am not sleeping or doing my personal hygiene routines. I even scroll on my phone as I eat though, so my everyday life activities seem to be consumed by my use of technology. However, by playing games with my friends, I am engrossed in the games and end up not using my phone. Unplugging can be a challenge, especially when I love social media and want to see/know what other people are up to. Unplugging is important and I hope to remember to engage in activities that do not involve me using technology.
“Notice your breathing.” By noticing my breathing, and focusing on only that, I can calm myself down.
“Walk around outside.” This is important and should be done daily. I am sure I can commit to this action and get my daily dose of fresh air.

Near the end of the session, we created our own Distress Tolerance Boxes, which are boxes containing items for self-care and stress-relief. Sunny brought some mini boxes that resembled rectangular take-out containers. He also had some rocks engraved with words like “Friendship” and “Love” and some Chinese finger trap toys. There was also some candy to stash in the boxes. We could decorate our boxes with construction paper and markers. While I liked the concept of the box, I knew I would not be able to bring a box with me in my luggage or in my backpack. I then came up with the idea to make the box into a care package to give to individuals suffering from homelessness; there were some we encountered in Iowa City, and I felt like presenting them with a small box containing goodies and toiletries would be very helpful for them and make their days.

Photo source: https://68.media.tumblr.com/acdc653d145b2cdc879b98933da1d78a/tumblr_nvexc6eF2W1uhd96jo1_500.png                                           A personal care robot from the Disney film Big Hero 6 wants to make sure his owner is taking care of himself. Likewise, he wants others to monitor their wellness, from physical to mental.


July 24th –
Instead of GRE tutoring and preparation, all the Scholars were in one room and we learned about some handy and helpful websites to aid us for graduate and/or professional school.
These websites are:
beyondtheprofessoriate.com – career advice for PhDs, by PhDs – this requires money to join

myidp.sciencecareers.org – my Individual Development Plan –  an account must be created to access materials –
The site provides the following:

  • Exercises to help you examine your skills, interests, and values
  • A list of 20 scientific career paths with a prediction of which ones best fit your skills and interests
  • A tool for setting strategic goals for the coming year, with optional reminders to keep you on track
  • Articles and resources to guide you through the process

Imagine PhD – https://www.imaginephd.com/ – FREE career exploration and planning for the humanities and social sciences. An account must be created to access assessments and other resources

versatilephd.com – Helping graduate students and PhDs envision, prepare for, and excel in non-academic careers since 1999
They have a PhD career finder, discussion boards, job listing boards, local meet-ups and more.

Slack – https://slack.com/ – a chat app used by graduate students to collaborate and to chat, and is also utilized by teams/groups of people in workforce and business
This is FREE for small groups of people, for unlimited time. The other two plans cost money, monthly.

The GRE instructors we had for the summer informed us to go to conferences, to look at success stories, and to not let the competitiveness of a program deter us from applying! They also told us about academic Twitter; we could have a separate Twitter account for academic and professional purposes, to network with other people in our fields and disciplines and to share our achievements, aside from our personal and private accounts.

July 25th –
We had a SROP Closing Luncheon, where Scholars and their faculty mentors and some graduate students had lunch together and mingled. Ms. Diana gave a speech and thanked everyone for being in the program. At the end of the lunch, I presented my poem!

After this luncheon, the summer undergraduate research conference (SURC) began; it was from 1 to 5 pm, and students were placed into one of two sessions, so they were not presenting for a full four hours, but only two hours. Still, I was extremely anxious and did not want to present. I often have a concern that my research is not good enough, that I did not get enough research done and could have done mucmore, and other worries. I had several people stop by my poster. One sociology student who was at University of Iowa came up to me to discuss my research. I even printed out 20 business cards to hand out to people.

I appreciate the poster having a glossy finish. It should be resistant to water and other damages. It is also text-heavy, which can deter people from approaching the poster. I just like providing ample information for people.

July 26th –
This was a free day for many scholars, besides our awards ceremony that evening. Some scholars were busy printing their posters somewhere around campus. With two friends and my SROP roommate, we went to the medical side of University of Iowa’s campus and got food from food trucks. I tried some delicious gyros. Then we went to the mall to purchase a gift for Ms. Sproles: a Bath & Body Works candle, soap, and lotion, all wrapped up in pretty paper. I also went to some stores downtown for the last time. I really liked the White Rabbit boutique and the Blick Arts Materials, which was where I purchased my tube to hold my research poster. I also quickly toured the Natural History museum on campus; I had been meaning on going to the museum for all of summer, but on my very last day, I finally was able to venture in and look at the history of Iowa and the many taxidermied animals in its various exhibits.

At the beginning of summer, I saw a mere outline of this mural. On my last full day in Iowa City, I finally got to see the finished product.

In the evening, we had a Closing Session and Awards Ceremony. Earlier in the week, we all turned in completed sheets of “SROP Superlatives,” where we nominated scholars for various awards such as “Best Motivator,” “Best Trio,” “Most Likely to Achieve World Peace,” “The World Traveler,” and other fun awards. There were about a dozen superlatives in total. The SROP staff also gave out certificates of completion to everyone, and then gave additional awards to the scholars who did exceptionally well in the program. I received “Best Motivator,” and tied with another scholar for “Most Studious.” I also received the highest votes for “People’s Choice Award for Talent Show.” Outside of the visual arts building where the ceremony was held, a bunch of scholars took group photos, and we walked next door to the arts building to view an art showcase, with art from high school students who were also here in Iowa for some time during the summer. At night, a small handful of us went to a rooftop restaurant to see what Iowa City looked like from up above. While I was feeling sad that SROP was ending, I was still trying to make the most of my limited time and enjoy every moment with my friends.

I will miss my peers so much.

July 27th –
This was Departure Day, a very bittersweet day, and the last time I would likely see all the Scholars in one place. In the early morning, three scholars from Puerto Rico began their journey home. The remainder of us were able to eat breakfast at Burge and gather in the lobby to check out of Burge Hall, where we waited to be picked up by Ms. Sproles, Natalie, and Sunny to be taken to the airport in Cedar Rapids.

We exchanged many hugs, said goodbyes/see you laters, and shed some tears. While we waited in the airport terminals, some of us played card games, while others listened to music. I was about to board my plane before I turned to see my closest friends from SROP yell out “Bye” and wave at me.

The Cedar Rapids airport is fairly small. The staff are all pleasant from the encounters I have had.

Reflection

My summer was fruitful and full of learning, new experiences, and challenges. I am thankful for the myriad of opportunities to learn about a variety of fields, from biochemistry to physics to public policy, and to speak with some graduate students and faculty members. I also am grateful to have gotten to know some academically competitive, talented, and kind scholars from across America and Puerto Rico. Because of my eight-week experience, I am better prepared for my graduate studies, and have a strong CV and personal statement for my application to my program. I understand much more of what being in graduate school is like, what the process is for finding funding, and what it is like to be in academia. I really enjoyed getting to hear multiple perspectives each day of the program.

Also important, this was my first intensive experience conducting research, and contributing to a faculty member’s work. I engaged in qualitative research coding and analysis, which helped reinforce my desire to pursue qualitative methods. Although my research project was not explicitly public health, it related to public health because it involved studying experiences of a marginalized and vulnerable group: first-generation college students, with living, working, and attending school at The University of Iowa. I was able to read 15 interview transcripts and learned a considerable deal of these students’ backgrounds and some of their challenges, like substandard housing conditions (doors not locking, mold, and general uncleanliness), and 60% of them working two jobs to help make ends meet. These interviews were eye-opening and contributed to my understanding of how the quality and affordability of housing are especially influential in students’ health and wellbeing, and even their academic outcomes.

Besides the academic and professional growth, I also experienced personal growth, as I developed relationships with people. My interactions with friends and staff helped me become better aware of different cultures and backgrounds. My worldview has tremendously expanded because of my friends from California, Arizona, Texas, Illinois, Indiana, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Washington, D.C., and Iowa. Even my fellow Ohio State scholar was someone who I had never interacted with before SROP, and I learned so much about him; he is in a different public health specialization than me, and he is also pre-med, so I was able to learn about the perspectives of a pre-med student and support him as he took his MCAT halfway through SROP. I highly suggest for undergraduates to get involved in research, including immersive and transformative experiences such as a Summer Research Opportunities Program.

Resources
Link to University of Iowa’s Summer Research Opportunities Program: https://www.grad.uiowa.edu/ogi/srop

Please see an upcoming post on “Applying to SROP” for details on the months-long application process and how I prepared for SROP! Hopefully the post will aid in people getting accepted to a program. More resources will be listed in the post.

The University of Iowa – Summer Research Opportunities Program – Part I

The University of Iowa offers the opportunity for first-generation college students and/or students from disadvantaged backgrounds/students who are historically underrepresented to take part in their annual Summer Research Opportunities Program (called SROP). Through the eight weeks of SROP, not only do the Scholars prepare for graduate school through GRE workshops and informational sessions on various aspects of graduate school, but they also enhance their academic and personal skills through engaging in a research project with a faculty mentor whose interests align with theirs. The Scholars also partake in volunteering and social events that augment their experiences while in Iowa City, Iowa. Students are challenged daily and are expected to uphold values of professionalism and integrity. Scholars are also expected to show respect and open-mindedness as they meet with other students from across the country. There is a great deal of work required of the Scholars, but there are many benefits to be reaped. All the hard work I put in was worth it, and Summer 2018 turned out to be one of the best summers of my entire life!

The campus loomed large at first glance but I quickly learned how to navigate it. I learned how to use the buses! Source: the university’s admissions office

This blog post describes what I did in June.

WEEK ONE
DAY 1 – June 4th

After landing in the United States, I was back home in Cleveland for six hours before I had to depart for Cedar Rapids/Iowa City! During that short period, I did laundry and packed my suitcase as full as I could; I had to lean on it to zip it up. I appreciate my parents for going through this exhausting ordeal with me and taking me to the airport, the last time they’d see me again until eight weeks later. I flew from Cleveland to Atlanta to Cedar Rapids, arriving at my final destination at 11 am.

While most students came to campus on June 2 or June 3, I came on June 4th. I was the latest student and felt terrible for missing out on orientation and a welcome picnic. But I was thankful to be there! I checked into the residence hall, set my things down, and went right to lunch, as I was famished. I made a new friend immediately; at the elevator, she greeted me and talked with me. We had lunch together and also went with a few other students to the library, where we had a session at 1:30 pm.

A librarian introduced us to the University of Iowa library system. There’s seven libraries there on campus and planned to go to each of them. The librarian showed us how to find research databases and contact library staff members. This session was very helpful in orienting us and the resource guide she provided will be a resource for our research this summer.

Fun fact: For every pig in Iowa, there are two books at UI.

I frequent the Main Library; it has a café, plenty of desktop computers around the building, and study spaces. You can also reserve rooms!

Then one of the two Graduate Assistants, Natalie, talked about professionalism and respect with us. We were expected to check emails regularly; it is not polite to ignore messages and we should respond within 24-48 hours. Afterwards, the SROP Scholars visited the gym and got a tour. I liked the facility and was impressed by the tall rock wall; it’s the tallest in the country for a college. We could purchase monthly or summer-semester memberships. (I passed on this chance, as I was unsure of my availability with my time spent between research, exploring Iowa, and studying for the GRE. I know that exercise is a vital part of maintaining good physical health, but because I perceived that I would be too busy, I did not work out at all.)

Right after that, we took our photo IDs! They are called HawkIDs and we use them to swipe into buildings for access. It’s similar to the BUCKID I use at The Ohio State University. I really like how I look in my photo.

This card has several uses! https://idcard.uiowa.edu/iowa-one-card

We had the rest of the night to ourselves. Back in my dorm, I unpacked and rested before eating dinner with my roommate and other scholars. Everyone was very friendly and open to conversation! In my room, I wrote down deadlines into my planner. SROP provided each of us with a poster-size calendar of the program that we can hang on a wall. I had no tape or staples or thumbtacks so I kept this on my desk. SROP also gave us brand new GRE prep books and some booklets on Iowa City and the University of Iowa. I love reading, so all of these materials were great, and they helped me navigate campus and learn about recommended restaurants and places to visit. Then I reviewed the SROP syllabus to familiarize myself with our program’s schedule and the assignments. Here was how our schedule generally went:

Mondays – Aspects of Graduate School sessions (We had presentations about CV’s and personal statements, graduate student panels, and more)
Tuesdays – GRE Study Sessions (We were divided into two groups: Verbal or Quantitative; we switched subjects halfway through the summer)
Wednesdays – Question and Answer (Q&A) Discovery sessions
Thursdays – Research Seminars
Fridays – Speaker Seminars

DAY 2 – June 5th

I got breakfast with friends and walked the quick seven minutes to Seashore Hall, which houses the Departments of Sociology and Psychology. I would start research the next day but I learned the route to my building beforehand so I would not get lost.  I walked around campus by myself and went into the campus bookstore to browse the books. I then went to the Main Library to sit down and work on emails (and this blog!).

SROP provided every scholar with a GRE Prep Plus book to aid us in our studies!

On Tuesday evenings, SROP Scholars attend GRE prep workshops. We were presented with the basics of the GRE and then took a practice set of Verbal and a practice set of Quantitative Reasoning. This activity frustrated me so much, because it was so much more difficult than the ACT and SAT; I excelled at the ACT back in high school, but the GRE’s challenge level surpassed the previous standardized tests that I took by a landslide. Nevertheless, I persisted and answered each question because guessing wrong does not lead to any penalties for my score. Feeling defeated, I went home to Burge. In my room, I conducted an online search for fun things to do in Iowa City and around campus; I compiled a bucket list of restaurants to check out and museums to visit.

Day 3 – June 6th
After breakfast, I met with Sean, the graduate student who is working on the project with my faculty mentor. My mentor is Sean’s advisor for his graduate studies in sociology. He introduced himself and explained how we would be coding for the majority of my research. I became acquainted with Dedoose, an accessible and extremely user-friendly computer app. I can use Dedoose on any laptop or desktop, so I can be anywhere to work on the research!

My faculty mentor is Jessica Welburn Paige, Assistant Professor of Sociology as well as African American Studies at The University of Iowa. Professor Welburn’s research revolves around studying race and ethnicity, social mobility, urban inequality, cultural sociology, and qualitative research methods. Here is more about her (retrieved from https://clas.uiowa.edu/sociology/people/jessica-welburn-paige) 

Her work has focused on the experiences of African Americans in the post-Civil Rights era, including how they conceptualize their social mobility prospects and their strategies for navigating persistent racism and discrimination. She is currently working on a book tentatively titled Keep on Pushin’ that uses in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations to explore how working class and middle class African Americans in Detroit, MI navigate the city’s crumbling infrastructure. In addition, Professor Welburn is working on a book manuscript co-authored with Michèle Lamont, Joshua Guetzkow, Hanna Herzog, Nissim Mizrachi, Elisa Reis and Graziella Silva. The book draws upon over 400 qualitative interviews to compare the destigmatization strategies of blacks in the United States, blacks in Brazil, and several groups — Ethiopian Jews, Mizrahi Jews and Palestinian Citizens of Israel — in Israel.

She is a Summer Research Scholar at the Public Policy Center, and she is collaborating with another Scholar there on a project titled “Housing Inequality in Iowa City: Examining the Experiences of Community Members and University Students,” which I am helping with during my eight weeks here. The project is community-based and mixed methods and the principal investigators are Megan Gilster, Assistant Professor of Social Work
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For this week, I am coding one student interview and understanding how to use Dedoose. The website provides plenty of video tutorials and written out explanations for me should I need support. Sean also provided me with a manila folder of packets of readings to help me gain background knowledge on housing insecurity, food insecurity, qualitative methods, coding, and reading scientific/academic journal articles.

A screenshot of a Dedoose home page (from themidnightcoders.com)

Our evening seminar entailed working on our LinkedIn profiles and ensuring that we are presenting ourselves as well as we can on this professional social platform. I changed my introduction and edited some profile sections. As I become older and continue developing my professional career, I check my LinkedIn more regularly and I receive emails when there’s notifications for me.

Day 4 – June 7th
On this day, I worked on coding the interview and reading some assigned papers. In my planner, tasks are color-coded: red means research (look at databases, begin literature review), blue means doing readings, purple means meetings with Sean and/or Professor Welburn, and orange means coding using Dedoose.  Another proactive action I did was that I created an email signature for my University of Iowa email, and I downloaded the Microsoft Outlook app on my phone to make sure I could read emails quickly.

The SROP seminar was one of my favorite seminars thus far; it was about intercultural sensitivity and our various identities. Because of this, I learned more about my peers, and it helped make me feel less nervous.

Day 5 – June 8th
On Fridays, I meet with Professor Welburn for up to 45 minutes before I dash to the seminar at 4 pm.
Our speaker, Dr. Darrel Wanzer-Serrano, presented his research on the Young Lords, a group of mostly Puerto Rican youth activists. Many of them were second-generation Americans, so they were born in America and had immigrant parents. This group was dedicated to raising awareness for injustices in their communities in New York. They worked for positive change in their community health, environmental, and political needs. Through rallies, speeches, political education, and messages on the radio and in newspapers, the Young Lords made academic and physical impacts; they once were able to mobilize 10,000 people. They were able to get lead and TB testing programs, the first door-to-door program in the country. They also got meals to people in need. However, in the 1970s, they changed their group’s name, which hurt them deeply. They also stopped doing community work and shut down their clinics.

After dinner, about half of the scholars met up to go to the Coral Ridge Mall. On Thursdays and Fridays, the bus to the mall is free for UI students; with our HawkIDs, we were able to take advantage of this opportunity! The ride was about 20-30 minutes. When we reached the mall, we split up. I tried Zombie burgers and side of fries and loved the taste of it; the sauce was some mixture of mayo and ketchup. On the bus ride to and from the mall, I was able to talk to my peers and learn more about them. One scholar’s parents both attended The Ohio State University (my home institution) for their master’s degrees! Late at night, I looked up resources to make a GRE study schedule for myself. My plan was to spend 1-2 hours each weekday doing GRE prep, and then 6-10 hours over the weekends.
(Resource: https://gre.magoosh.com/study-plans)

WEEKEND
On Saturday morning, we all took a GRE diagnostic test (a Pre-Test) to gauge where we all were for quantitative and verbal strengths. This was my first time taking the entire GRE exam, minus the essays at the beginning. When we were done, we printed our scores and handed them to the SROP staff. I do not remember what I did the rest of the day, or the rest of the weekend, but I believe I was in my room working on blog posts relating to my study abroad, and the lengthy PowerPoint slideshow for my study abroad travels. 

WEEK TWO

June 11th
I researched more about the GRE; I plan to take it in mid-August because I am applying to a Combined Bachelors and Masters program at my school and this requires me to take the GRE before my application is due on December 1. Taking the GRE before the school year begins seems optimal for me because my mind will mostly be occupied by the test; if I take the test later on when classes are in session, I would feel more stressed.

Our evening session was about choosing a graduate school. The first step in this process often involves developing a list of criteria and assigning weight to each criteria. Some criteria to keep in mind when looking at programs include regional/geographic location, professor-to-student ratio, costs, financial aid/assistance, support and resources, faculty mentors, program reputation, duration of program, and physical facilities.

For me, I preferred a graduate school program in the Midwest, close to home. Ohio is all that I have known, and although it’s suggested to venture out and get a change of scenery, I believe in blooming where I am planted, and continuing to develop relationships with the people I have met in Columbus. I knew that at Ohio State, I’d benefit from the robust financial aid and my strong support system.

June 12th
This day was spent doing readings and coding another interview. I had a meeting with Ms. Diana Sproles, the director of SROP.

I was placed in the Quantitative group for the first half of the GRE study sessions; this placement was commensurate with my low quantitative score on the diagnostic GRE exam (I was somewhere in the 40th percentile, and was not too disappointed, taking into account that my last math course was Calculus in the twelfth grade and it had been a few years.) This session was challenging and engaging; we began it with a 10 minute quiz, which I was not expecting. The instructors are very passionate and present; they ask students about our reasonings behind approaching a problem. I felt like I was really learning (well, relearning math concepts I had learned back in high school.) After the session, I worked on our math quiz; we get a math quiz each week to practice our knowledge.

June 13th
On Wednesday mornings, I meet with Sean in Seashore; we go over coding and we strive to achieve intercoder reliability. I also have the space to ask him questions about graduate school. After lunch, I met with Mr. Joseph Henry, who I call Joe. He is in charge of Recruitment and Outreach for SROP. He asked me questions about myself, my passions, and my academic interests, as well as what I hoped to gain from SROP.

After dinner, we attended a session on “Life as a Faculty Member” and met six faculty members from various disciplines.

June 14th
In the late afternoon, we had a presentation on Research Collaboration, from two graduate students. One was pursuing a degree in Political Science, specifically racial and ethnic politics, and the other was in Geography, studying hazards. The PoliSci student told us how during undergrad, she went to Mexico to conduct research, funded by the National Science Foundation. She studied conflict and peace management. While she was rejected the first time she applied for NSF, she applied again and was waitlisted before eventually being accepted. Everyone applying is heavily and highly qualified; your proposed project should meet what the funders are looking for. When it comes to collaboration, she suggested that we make sure we are accountable to ourselves, and that our collaborators are also accountable to you. She also said to not be afraid to ask for help and help others on social media.

The geography grad student explained how he studies the social vulnerability to natural hazards. He taught us some types of collaboration, in his words:
1) Vertical – you are given a job and you fill the part
2) Horizontal – the collaborating sides have similar interests, and work together but still in their own silos
3) Integrative/interdisciplinary – this is the hardest collaboration

After the session, everyone in SROP, including the staff, took a group photo! Pictured are Ms. Sproles, Joe, and Sunny. Natalie is not pictured. People also had professional headshots taken.

June 15th
After breakfast, I conducted an informational interview with a faculty member here so I could learn more about public health and her own experiences. It was a great conversation! Then I had lunch at Bluebird Diner with my faculty mentor, Professor Welburn. We discussed the research project we were working on and also Iowa City and life in general.

I worked more on an assignment on my laptop before I went to the Speaker Series session that afternoon. The session was about “Attention: The Mind’s Bouncer”, presented by a professor in the Psychological and Brain Sciences. I learned new terms like “target templates,” which guide our attention to things relevant to the item we are searching for; if we were locating some ketchup, our eyes would look for things that are red, in a bottle-shape, and relatively big. There is visual, manual, and cognitive attention. The speaker gave us some tips for the GRE and school. When reading a book or writing, preview it, and think about what the writing is about. Then summarize it. Next, evaluate it; is this writing true, in whole or in part? Sometimes I will read something and then by the time I have finished with the excerpt or the chapter, I fail to recall what I read.

The weekend was very fun. On Saturday, my friends and I went to Iowa City’s Pride Festival! I was pleasantly surprised that the festival was the 48th celebration of LGBTQ+ people in the community. With my friends, I witnessed the parade procession that began at noon. People on parade floats and bikers and walkers waved to the onlookers and passed out items such as condoms, health and beauty products from P&G companies, and candy. This day had blistering heat. In close-to-100-degree weather, my friends and I constantly quenched our thirst with water.

That night, I turned in my assignment: Introduction to your Discipline. This paper briefly covered when and how public health became a recognized profession; career options in public health; best schools and companies for public health professionals; current issues and new developments; major journals and publications; and how I see myself in the future in this discipline.

WEEK THREE

June 18th –
I read more interviews as part of my research during the day. Our session was about searching for internal and external funding for graduate school. I took notes on some funding opportunities that could pertain to me; one in particular was the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, for which first-generation and second-generation Americans are eligible. Later, I discovered I could not apply because I am pursuing a combined/joint degree.

When I think about graduate school, I am very concerned about how I will fully fund my education. In addition to being a full-time student, how would I cover living expenses? Financial aid stays on my mind as a potential barrier for me in completing my Master degree. Nevertheless, I will be proactive and persistent, and apply for both small and big funding, and look into both internal and external sources.
Helpful Hint: The 1-year-rule: The deadline for scholarships and fellowships is usually a year BEFORE you need the funding

June 19th –
I attended my GRE Quantitative Reasoning session. The session starts with a 10 minute quiz and then we review the answers. The instructors ask the scholars to explain how we arrived at a solution. It was always challenging but I was able to reinforce mathematical concepts and learn how to think smart, and not to think hard.

June 20th –
The evening session was about “Integrating Scholarship & Service,” presented by a graduate student in Education. Service during college should be done consistently, and not in spurts of activity, but one or a few activities that are sustained for years at a time. The presenter also mentioned how service trips could be problematic because the impact could be temporary, and possibly even detrimental to communities. This prompted me to consider how my alternative break trips were impacting the communities we visited, and if we were doing more harm than good.

June 21st –
After eating dinner together, the Scholars were transported by Ms. Diana, Sunny, and Natalie to Sycamore Mall Cinema to watch movies! This counted as a mandatory group social outing; we could choose to watch Incredibles II or Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. While SROP provided transportation to and from the movies, we each had to pay for our own tickets. Thankfully, Thursdays are discount days for students. We paid $6.00 admission and popcorn was free for us! What a deal! This mandatory movie night soothed my soul as I was waiting for 14 years between the first Incredible movie and its sequel. I was immensely impressed by the film and the Pixar short, Bao, that preceded it. We had a conversation during the car ride back to our dorm about Bao and culture.

June 22nd –
Our presenter for the day was a professor in the Civil & Environmental Engineering department. His presentation “Water Quality and Public Health” began with a photo of John Snow, the father of epidemiology. He talked about public health and how his work in engineering would help improve public health in Iowa City. I was happy that we had a speaker mention the field I’m pursuing! I learned that the University of Iowa uses the Iowa river for their drinking water. There is a water treatment plant on campus that tests and treats the water. One of my fellow Scholars is the mentee for this professor, and she talked with animosity when she told us how she would actually go down to the river and collect samples for the lab! We regulate and treat water for a few purposes: for human and ecological health, for aesthetic purposes (cloudy water can still be clean, but people may not drink because of perceived impurities), and for economic purposes (acidic, corrosive water erodes pipes and the costs add up). This was another lecture that I really enjoyed. Furthermore, I already knew some of the information presented. I still took two pages of notes because there was a wealth of information that I did not know beforehand.

After dinner, I put on a long-sleeve shirt because I was going to visit a pet store. Two friends and I took a Lyft to PetLand at Sycamore Mall, just a couple miles away, for some pet therapy. Interacting with animals is soothing to many people. I love seeing fluffy animals who are just as excited to see you as you are to see them! I loved the bunnies and puppies the best. All the kittens had been bought, but there were still plenty of pets to be played with and sent off to good homes: ferrets, parakeets, guinea pigs, rats, reptiles, and fish. My friends and I spent an hour or so here. My favorite dog we spent time with was a Shiba inu puppy who was female. We looked up a Japanese name for her, and found that Haru seemed fitting. Haru means spring, and to me, it fits the puppy because when I think of spring, I think of flowers blooming and happiness in general. Spring means new beginnings, and this puppy was just starting her life. It was such a pleasant experience and I was relieved to get away from campus and to see animals. This excursion contributed to my self-care.

WEEKEND –
On Saturday, after a day of doing homework, with an hour-long nap in between, my friends and I went to Iowa City’s Downtown Block Party. This second annual block party involved many constituents. There were a plethora of games, including giant Jenga, Four Square, mini golf, and sand volleyball. We spent an hour outside exploring what the party had to offer; we returned to the dorm dining hall for dinner before we explored more of the party. Many of the Scholars attended the party. I enjoyed playing Four Square; it was my first time playing this game. We went to the public library to sign up for the Mario Kart tournament; there were many youth signed up to play the game, so after almost an hour of waiting, most of my friend group left the library. One or two stayed behind to actually play the game. After reuniting with some friends at Blaze Pizza, we walked around downtown some more. However, the streets were getting more crowded and the night was getting darker. We went back to Burge. That night, we had our usual Hallway Hours, where we hang out in the hallway and chat about anything. It is nice to unwind at the end of a long day by discussing life matters with your friends.

Iowa City is actually quite pretty.

On Sunday, I took a full practice GRE test using the Kaplan website. The downside of this was that I was in a coffee shop and music played nonstop. This was not an ideal environment in which to take a test. While I improved by seven points in quantitative reasoning, I dropped around twenty points in verbal, which was an extreme shock to me. Verbal should have come easily to me. After eating lunch, I reviewed my answers and looked at the explanations for the problems that I got wrong. I learned what I did incorrectly and how to correctly approach problems. After dinner, my friends and I played Betrayal at the House on the Hill, my new favorite board game. We played in one of the lounges on the floor. We went through two rounds of the game before we returned to our respective rooms to sleep and recharge for another eventful week.

WEEK FOUR

June 25th –
I spent most of the day working on my research and reviewing the interviews that I already had coded After lunch, I continued my review of past interviews in order to find themes and analyze the findings. Research is a continuous process and even if I code an interview, revisions often occur. The seminar for the day was about curriculum vitaes (CVs) and crafting statements of purpose, presented by a Ph.D. student in the Communications department. This session was very helpful for me as I learned how to write effective CVs and statements.

Some helpful advice this grad student gave was to reach out to potential faculty that I would want to work with, and email them to get to know them and ask if they are taking on new advisees for the year I plan to enter grad school. I should communicate with this faculty member multiple times to determine if the relationship as advisor and advisee would be compatible. Additionally, the CV tips were the most helpful because I had never made a CV prior to SROP.

Some CV tips:

– No bullet points. Those are for resumes.
– CVs and personal statements should match in terms of content, fonts used, etc.
– CVs should include headings like name & contact details; education; experiences; extracurricular activities; awards and honors; conference presentations, etc. 
– CVs get longer and longer throughout a person’s undergraduate, graduate, and professional careers.
– Keep them black and white, unless in the graphic design field.

After the session, one of the graduate assistants Natalie returned our “Introduction to Your Discipline” assignments to us. She commented that I had a “Nice Paper!”

After dinner, my friends and I visited the Van Allen observatory, which is on top of the physics and astronomy building.

We watched the sunset from six stories high. 

We also played the haunted house board game again, and I appreciated getting to bond some more with my friends.

June 26th –
I had no scheduled meetings but continued reviewing interview transcripts. I also viewed additional data from the college students; this data consisted of questionnaire answers, and it provided me with a better understanding of the subjects. Some questions pertained to health, such as exposure to radon in the home, and safety. My research question would most likely relate to health and housing; I still only had a vague idea of my topic and research question. I came up with a research question for the time being, and would refine this question through my research. That evening, the Scholars attended our GRE sessions, and I went to my last Quantitative session. The next time we meet, I would attend my Verbal session for tutoring.

June 27th –
Our session was solely on personal statements, and was presented by the Writing Center. Our personal statement should not be our whole life story condensed onto one to two pages, but it should reflect a couple parts of our lives that we want to highlight. To jumpstart our brainstorming, we were asked to describe ourselves using adjectives, and I think I chose “Persistent.” The Writing Center presenter showed us some samples of introductory paragraphs, and we voted which statements were the most compelling and intriguing. There is no one correct writing style; each person writes differently, so naturally we disagreed on which statement made us want to read more. These statements also gave me some insight into how to start my own statement, whether through a shocking one-liner or through immersing the reader into a scenario from the past.

Some tips I took away from this session:
– Use simple and elegant prose.
– Do not make sentence structures complicated.
– Read your writing out loud to catch more mistakes or clunky sentences.
– Read many examples of statements, but be sure to not plagiarize!
– Avoid generic statements such as “I just want to help people.”
– Do not use “I believe” or “I think.” These just take up more space and are not necessary.

June 28th –
The Scholars learned about ethics and research integrity, from a staff member from the Human Subjects Office. Even though we all did CITI training online before we even arrived on campus, we refreshed our memories of how to be ethical researchers.

June 29th –
At this session, we had a professor speak on the Art of Black Students for the first half, and a professor discuss her work with marginalized students in education for the latter half. The first professor asked which scholars attended schools with African-American studies or Black studies programs? Only about six of the 24 of us had African-American studies programs at our institutions, whereas none of us had something called Black studies. I was unsure of the distinction between the two. This professor’s dissertation had been on defining Black studies; programs dedicated to this area of study began in 1968. During class, we read a poem called “For My People” by Margaret Walker; the poem was one piece of a book she wrote for a Master’s thesis. She was the first African-American woman to earn her MFA in Writing. This was a powerful poem and encouraged me to read more of her work in the future.

The second half of the session, a professor presented “People, Place, and Policy: Examining Access to Opportunity for Marginalized Students,” and this was a lecture that I particularly enjoyed because of my interest in education and my experiences in education as a marginalized student myself. She talked about school choice, school testing, desegregation, discipline, health policy, standards-based accountability, and immigration. A startling statistic she shared was that 400 school districts are still under desegregation orders, in 2018! This equates to over a thousand schools, the majority of which are in the South. This impressive woman is working on seven studies; one of them is about the intersection of education and immigration policies, and this is very important in order to accommodate and meet the needs of immigrant and refugee students. This professor also suggested we find “academic crushes,” people in our fields who we look up to, and see how they got to where they are. She also said that we do not need to plot out our entire life!

WEEKEND –
The Saturday morning involved some physical exertion. We had our first volunteering event, and it was with Habitat for Humanity! Half of the Scholars had a shift in the morning, and the other half had an afternoon shift. It was hot and sunny that day, but thankfully my partner and I were on the area of a roof where we were underneath some shade. This was my first time working on a home; this house will eventually go to a family of five: a couple with three high-school or middle-school aged children.

Part Two of this blog segment will be posted shortly. (It was intended to be posted at the end of July, but I did not have the time to work on either Part One or Part II this summer.) I apologize to all my readers for this extended hiatus!

Public Health Abroad: Finland and Estonia – Part 2

“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher

Day 7 marked the halfway point of our study abroad program. In the morning, we took a bus to the Estonian Open Air Museum, designed to resemble a real-life rural village in the 18th century! This was one of my favorite parts of the program. This museum included 14 different farms to show aspects of village life. I saw cottages, a teepee, a giant windmill, a church, and more. One path lead to the seashore where my peers collected seaglass and waded their feet in the water. I really enjoyed this opportunity to be immersed in nature.

Cottages were primarily made of wood and hay, both of which are extremely flammable!

The group had a guided walking tour of Old Town; Joosep was a wonderful human encyclopedia as he showed us to spots we had not been to before. He taught us what the colors of the flag of Estonia meant: blue for the sky, black for the dark forests and the dark times Estonians have been through, and white for purity and hope for a brighter future.
2018 marks a special year of celebration for Estonians because this is the 100th anniversary of their independence as their own republic, free from endless rule by different countries.

The symbol represents 100 years AND 20(18). Great design.

I boarded a tram by myself to a nearby cat cafe. I have never been to any cat cafe before, and I wanted to see if cat breeds differed in Estonia. When I went to Nurri Cat Cafe, only five other people were present, with about 10 cats in the room. I did not see any unfamiliar breeds. My time at the cat cafe was very therapeutic for me. Although I did not get to pet the cats much, I enjoyed eating my pesto pasta and watching the cats interact with one another. I even witnessed the cats at dinner time (6 pm) and they each pounced their tiny paws over to their own bowls to feast.

Two cats were perched on top of the table where I was sitting. It takes a while for cats to get accustome to you and be comfortable with you approaching them to pet them.

Day 8 meant traveling to another city. We hopped on board a train from Tallinn to Tartu! Tartu has 99,000 people as of this year. This sleek train got us there in less than two hours; I napped the majority of the time. After setting down our belongings, we had a quick walking tour and lunch.

The Town Hall is a landmark of Tartu. Bells ring from the hall each day. The fountain of kissing students is in the lefthand corner of the photo; the fountain was erected in 1998.

We spent an hour at the KGB Cells Museum, which showcases the basement of a building that was used to house prisoners! Men and women alike were put together in a cell. Cell walls were so thick that no noise could be heard between rooms. Rooms lacked lighting and ventilation, and often had as much as 30 to 40 people within such a confined space and with just four beds!

For the rest of the day, I browsed around souvenir shops in Tartu. We were conveniently located right across from a University of Tartu building, and right by the town square. Tartu sidewalks are very wide and can fit three to four people in a row. After popping into a small bookstore, we went to the Botanical Gardens, which was founded in 1803. It is such a beautiful place and I would have liked to see the greenhouses but we were running out of time. Nevertheless, the grounds were great and the garden included a pond. We saw people taking photos for graduation and weddings here. For dinner, the class ate at Meat Market, which does not solely serve meat.

A classmate took a beautiful portrait photo of me in the gardens.

Gardens are a valuable part of any city. People need green space for not just oxygen but for stress relief.

Day 9 was a free day for everyone. Two friends and a program coordinator/graduate student accompanied me to the Upside Down House that was about 30-45 minutes away on foot. We crossed the river and went into the outskirts of the city of Tartu. The house was built upside down AND on a slant, so it was disorienting and dizzying. The house included a sauna and that was neat!

This house stood out from its surroundings in remote Tartu. There was an abandoned aircraft hangar in proximity, and also a designated walking path among some trees. Buses do run along the street but not frequently.

 

This photo can confuse people at first glance! There are actually some Upside Down Houses around the world, such as Germany and America. (I had no idea they existed in my own country!)

Nearby was the Estonian National Museum, which is a tremendous facility where we spent a few hours looking at artifacts related to Estonian life. We paid 10 euros as a student discount and could access the entire building. We received cards encrypted with a technology that allowed us to swipe the card over a screen connected to an exhibit/piece. The screen would then automatically translate to English. This is so innovative and I hope that museums elsewhere in the world could incorporate this! I enjoyed viewing prehistoric and Metal Age tools. Estonia has been inhabited by people for the last 11,000 years! My favorite exhibit hall was the one featuring Uralic people, a people I had no knowledge about beforehand! They lived between Scandinavia and the Ural Mountains, so were primarily in the forests. They carved symbols into trees and their tales often involve bears and other woodland creatures. The exhibit showcased a people and facets of their lifestyle, but this was just one small sliver of Ugric studies. Also in the museum was an exhibit about 19th century clothing. Women’s clothing was preserved more because not only were they more beautiful and colorful than men’s clothing, but they also reflected diversity among different regions of Estonia. I learned about the usage of headpieces and necklaces. I am glad to have visited this museum! The facility was marvelous.

After our fun free day in Tartu, I worked on a homework assignment that addresses how walkable the city of Tartu is. Now that I have been to the more touristy areas of Tartu and the more remote parts, I was able to come up with a convincing argument for how well-designed the city is so that people can enjoy it whether they walk or use a wheelchair. Sidewalks have ample space and curbs/ramps have good inclines. When you get to the less-inhabited parts of town, some sidewalks are harder to tread on, but it still is pedestrian-friendly. After returning to the hotel, I got dinner and dessert with other friends and then about half of the class played games in one of our rooms.

(Please see my assignment on the walkability audit of Tartu here:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1EG8vBf1EuKn0Uz01klxOo9fXyKOzhBr_r0CJsku_0Hg/edit?usp=sharing)

I was also able to complete another homework assignment comparing cigarette sales in America, Finland, and Estonia. Throughout the program, we were expected to observe how cigarettes were sold (where and for how much money) and what the packaging looked like, including what information or graphics were put on the warning labels.
(Please see my work here:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1kR8W4sjJjBN53qEh1lHJvOIS9BMUfnb9Uz_z770khhs/edit?usp=sharing)

For Day 10, the class visited the Ahhaa Science Centre, which reminds me of COSI in Columbus! I love science centers and this one has four floors! The ground floor had a LEGO town of Tartu and exhibits related to water. It included tech spaces, a play area with giant building blocks, music/acoustic space, and tanks with real fish in them. In a dark room were lifelike animatronic aquatic creatures such as dinosaurs with fins and a whale shark. There are some steps leading up to a balcony that had ant farms and an incubator for chicks! This was the highlight of the science center for me. I love baby chickens. The chicks were either a day old or two days old, and some eggs were close to hatching!

FUN FACTS: Jellyfish have existed even before dinosaurs roamed the planet. A group of jellyfish is called a bloom.

FUN FACTS: Whale sharks are the largest fish. They are giant but gentle and eat plankton and small fish. Their skeletons are made of cartilage, not bone. Female whale sharks are actually larger in size than male sharks.

On the second floor of the science museum were glass jars containing human and animal body parts and embryos so visitors could learn about anatomy but also body anomalies. For example, there was a goat skull with four horns. The third floor had interactive activities testing health, from grip strength to memory to balance to processing speed. (I performed poorly on all of these, and despite appearing healthy, I have to make dramatic changes to my lifestyle and actually exercise in order to be fit).

When our group returned to our hotel, we met with another tour guide who took us around the University of Tartu. The different buildings are within walking distance; sometimes it seemed like a hike. She also led us to cathedral ruins. One interesting part of our tour was going into an attic of the main building of the university; this attic served as a lock-up for students who misbehaved and did not conform to student conduct. Students could be sent to this room for cheating or for disrespecting a woman on the street. Punishment could mean just a few days in the lock-up to a month! There was no supervision for the lock-ups, but students were still expected to serve their sentences and actually be in that space.

The attic can become humid and balmy in the summers but leave people trembling in the winters.

After our tour, we had another group dinner in a restaurant that looks like a wine cellar.

On Day 11, we traveled to Parnu, an even smaller city with 40,000 people. It is a summer resort town so it is more heavily populated during that season than others. It is located by the water so people frequent the beach. The water is shallow for an extended distance before it gets deep. Our hotel was a resort & spa in one, and we were able to use the sauna, pools, gym, and spa. I did not take advantage of these amenities but I did go outside to the beach to dip my toes in the water and step in the soft sand.

Our other completely free day was Day 12. I went to the mall by myself, and the trek was not scary as one might perceive. Parnu is tiny and quiet, and I do stick out as a foreigner among the mostly blond(e) Estonians, but I was safe. The walk from the hotel to the mall was about 20 minutes, and it was pleasant. The mall was actually a complex made up of about three tall buildings. One building had a grocery store and a few beauty stores. Another building had most of the clothing stores and restaurants. After making a few purchases, I headed back to the hotel and stopped at a woman’s home business, where she operated a beauty & hair salon. She offered manicures, pedicures, and hair styling. After getting a manicure, I had lunch at an eco-gourmet cafe with some friends.

On Day 13 (May 31), we had a short visit to the University of Tartu-Parnu to learn about their Spa & Wellness management program. The program director and a graduate student explained that the program is offered at a master’s level and it encompasses not just spa design, but also financial accounting, visual communication, and even the history of wellness.

The two-year program offers not only a strong theoretical foundation for students, but also opportunities to put the skills and knowledge into practice!

After the informative presentation, the group packed up and took a charter bus to Tallinn. From there, we boarded the ferry to return to Helsinki. Once we were all checked into our hotel, the program officially ended. Students were free to go back to the United States after the experience, or continue to explore Europe. Some of my peers stayed in Europe and traveled to multiple countries such as Germany, the Czech Republic, and England. My intention was to go straight home, but I had a stop in Iceland on my way to Cleveland. That 50-minute stop transformed into a 48-hour detainment in that country, but thankfully I finally made it home to America! What matters is that I am home safe and sound.

Our group had reserved seats that gave us up-close views of the Gulf of Finland!

I appreciate this opportunity of a lifetime because of the myriad of experiences and memories. I also am more well-informed about Finland and Estonia and am better prepared for future international travel. To my surprise, I was independently exploring and still survived.

I would like to thank the Office of International Affairs for executing this program, for providing me with a few scholarships, and for assisting me when I was temporarily stranded in Iceland for two days. I am glad that OIA has emergency hotline in place for students who find themselves in difficult situations. Thank you to @osuglobal for liking my photos and featuring one of our class photos on the Instagram page!

Thank you so much to Dr. Wallace and Amanda Jovanovich for coordinating the program’s activities and guiding us throughout Finland and Estonia. It was a wonderful class that had structure but still plenty of free time for us to explore. Thanks for showing us a part of the world that many people do not visit.

Thank you to the Office of Diversity & Inclusion for your scholarships and support for my study abroad. Thank you to my family and friends for your never-ending support as I navigated this adventure with equal amounts of trepidation and excitement.

Thank you to Finland and Estonia, for everything you have to offer to the world. Thank you to Iceland for also being a wonderful country. Everyone I met was friendly and willing to help.

If it were not for STEP and for the three other scholarships I received, in addition to some grants and gifts from loved ones, going abroad would not have been a possibility for me. I would not have fathomed the idea. I am forever grateful for this chance to take part in the Public Health Perspectives: Finland and Estonia program. I truly hope that other first-generation college students and first-time travelers such as me will have opportunities to study abroad as well. The Ohio State University’s education abroad office offers ample resources for interested students, so take the leap and venture into the unknown.

Go Bucks!
Xoxo
Melinda

P.S. To see hundreds of photos taken along the journey, my comprehensive PowerPoint will suffice! It may take a while for it to load, and this could mean refreshing your page to view the entirety of it. It runs close to 300 slides!
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZadYR7-uztv6jY9-VD06o8QwYZijtWDAhAiN8taGPN0/edit?usp=sharing

P.P.S. Here are some photos of my stop in Iceland:
While I was there by myself for two nights and a day, I was not able to do much to lack of funds. I walked around to the seashore by my hotel and was captivated by the water. I saw some species of birds frolicking around. The Elder duck is common in the area. Although I wanted to step down and get closer to the water, I was wearing flats and also did not want to slip on a wet rock and get injured. I even saw a bright mustard-orange lighthouse that was used before and is now sitting stoically overlooking the horizons.

This was the plane I boarded from Helsinki Vantaa Airport to Reykyavik Keflavik Airport.

 

From my hotel room window, I saw a gorgeous sunset and could see edges of the water that surrounds the island of Iceland. Also, the country gets so much sunlight that the sun does not set until close to midnight.

This location was breathtaking and I am eager to return to Iceland.

Honors & Scholars Essay – My Essay and Tips for Yours!

In fall of 2015, I was preparing my Common App application for Ohio State (I submitted September 30 – so early!), and I wanted to enhance my undergraduate education by being in either an Honors program or a Scholars program. Both have their merits and benefits; it just depends what each individual seeks in their college experience. To me, Honors is a more academic-focused experience. Pros are that you can schedule earlier than the vast majority of students (even before some seniors), take classes that are smaller and cover a greater amount of material on a deeper level, and live in Honors housing. Of course, Honors courses are harder than regular classes, but some welcome this challenge! However, Scholars also offered some appealing traits; there are 17 themes for the Scholars programs, catering to different interests. You also get to live and learn with your Scholars cohort your first year on campus (it’s a requirement!) and in addition to that, you all take a 1-credit hour seminar course that counts for grade and credit! Both programs allow you to be more involved because they have activities and events exclusive to those programs.
I liked Health Sciences Scholars the most, based on what I read about on the Honors & Scholars website. (https://honors-scholars.osu.edu/) However, you are not able to choose your preferences for what Scholars program you are placed into until winter or spring. (Around Christmas time, I found out I was offered to be in Scholars, and then I was told that I can choose my top 3 choices for Scholars programs at a later time.) Then March 31, I was emailed saying I got into my first choice! So yay!

It is not mandatory for those applying to OSU to apply to Honors & Scholars as well; it is a supplementary essay! If you are interested in applying, continue reading:

The prompt I had to answer for applying to Honors & Scholars was: How would your five-year-old self see you today? Considering your past experiences and your future ambitions, who do you feel you are becoming now? In what ways are those two images congruent, or divergent?   (350-500 words)

I have included my entire essay for my readers! (The one I submitted to OSU) It gives you a glimpse of my life and how my childhood experiences have shaped who I am today.

Green Eggs and Ham

    “Let’s read Green Eggs and Ham, Mei Yi,” my mom said as she pulled out a slim hardcover book and patted her hand on the sofa, motioning me to sit beside her. I was five years old, and learning English along with my mom. At this time, she was not a U.S. citizen, so both of us were trying to understand more about American culture. I have fond childhood memories spending rainy afternoons with my mom surrounded by boxes of books and reading to my heart’s content.

During elementary school, I was shy and struggled with learning two languages simultaneously. I would recede into the comforts of my mother’s arms. I would also try to conceal that I was bilingual, because I felt different and wanted to be more like my peers. When students would ask what my Chinese name was and for me to speak in my dialect, I felt like they were pointing out how different I was. When I got older, I began to realize that being different was not a bad thing.

My five-year-old self would be surprised at my intellectual curiosity. I immersed myself into situations outside of my comfort zone, and soon I became accustomed to talking to strangers. In ninth grade, I completed a year-long school project collaborating with a team from the American University of Paris. I even spent a week in college dorms 100 miles from home, which forced me to adjust to unfamiliar settings. Now I am more comfortable with meeting new people and find it easier to strike up conversations.

Today, my five-year-old self would see me as a role model to others and be proud of how I transformed from a timid, hesitant caterpillar into a resilient, powerful butterfly. I am becoming more confident in myself and my abilities. Although I may be nervous about conquering challenges, like public speaking, I still step up and face them head-on. Now, I take control of my future and engage in my community by volunteering at the hospital, tutoring my peers, and being a senior mentor to two freshmen. It is important to set an example for others and I want to share my experiences with them.

My past and present self are congruent because we both love reading and place a high priority on learning. However, these two images are also divergent because I am more responsible and outgoing. I seize the moment and take advantage of all opportunities. I feel like I am turning into a person who doesn’t follow in someone’s footsteps or who hides in the shadows, but who forges my own path. This is part of growing up. Maybe one day I will even be courageous enough to try green eggs and ham.

Image result for green eggs and ham

This is what my childhood copy of the book looked like. I can still vividly remember where I was sitting with my mom in the living room when she read to me. (I was on her left, and I was closest to the front door.) It was sometime in the evening, with the sun slowly sinking into the horizon. Thanks Mom for my earliest memory.

 

Tips for writing your H&S essay:
–Do not make it a repeat of your resume or the rest of your application. Do not just list out a slew of achievements. Instead, focus on one particular aspect of your life (a slice of the pie) and talk in depth about that.
–Brainstorm. I take pieces of plain white unlined paper and draw bubbles to make a mind-map diagram. I spend at least a half-hour freewriting, jotting down whatever pops into my head.
For this specific essay, you can divide part of the paper into sections. One part can say “Five-year-old self” and “Present day self” and then list all the differences and similarities. Also, I thought about what my dream job was when I was five, and I remember myself saying “Mermaid” to my relatives. I didn’t use this idea in my essay, but it helped me recollect what I was like as a child: very imaginative yet quiet.
–Ask family and friends about what you were like as a child and what they have noticed about your growth (academically, personally, etc.) They can help spark memories you may not know you have about yourself! Pull out the old scrapbooks from your house attic if you want to as well.
–It may not be complete in one sitting. My essay writing took a process of a few months. Just start early and continue working on it a bit at a time. I started in August (August 1, I believe), being the proactive person I am by nature.
–Have three people review it. (Just make sure you have others proof-read it besides yourself.) Actually, this number can be adjusted based on what you feel is right for you. I think I had at least five people look at my essay: my upper-class English teacher, the English teacher’s assistant, two college advisors, and my close friends.
-Use Google Docs or an equivalent. With Google Docs, you can share it with others via email with a few clicks of a button, and they can comment on it while you are simultaneously looking at the document from your own device. Also, Google Docs saves your document automatically so it will not be lost if your power suddenly shuts off.

To future OSU applicants, best of luck with your essays! I hope my essay provides inspiration and my tips are helpful to you!
P.S. I still have not tried green eggs and ham.

P.P.S. (7/28/17): I went to the restaurant Hangover Easy which has a wide selection of creative brunch items, and I finally tried the dish Green Eggs and Ham! It costs less than $8 and is a huge portion!