July 16, 2009
Back earlier in summer when I was packing for this trip, I had various thoughts about this summer institute program: ‘How much can science and art possibly be similar? What kind of work am I about to be assigned? Is this more worth it than my regular summer of relaxation?’
The car ride there was only about an hour and a half, but it felt torturing like eternity. When my family and I got to UCLA, we could not find Hedrick Hall for a while and got lost. Irritated, I already began to regret signing up for this summer program. Once I got to the check-in spot, I exhaustedly made my way up to my room. At first I was extremely disappointed since my room was surprisingly terrible; the light was shattered, there were no bottom beds, there were hairs under the pillows and sheets, and there was an unusual stench that would not go away no matter how long I left the window open. I was expecting to have one of the worst summers of my life.
However after meeting the other students and the counselors taking care of us, I enjoyed my stay here. Everybody had fun everyday and the lab visits were very interesting. I learned various amounts of material I never knew before: atomic force microscopes, just exactly how immense the amount of energy the sun exerts daily, plasma machines, the Morph phone concept, ferrofluid, and anechoic chamber.
Overall by the end of this two week program, I am unexpectedly satisfied with this summer institute program. Although it appeared terrible at first, I had laughter and fun every day. I believe I have not grasped the idea, but am certainly much closer to understanding how much similar art and science is from the beginning of this program.