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| So if you didn't know already, I landed a summer job at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and will be working here until August 15th. Yeah, it's my first job so I was pretty psyched to start! But JPL? Isn't that for engineers and scientists who want to build rockets and stuff (who said I wasn't an aspiring rocket scientist)? Well, I applied for the business/administrative summer position and wound up in something more like Research&Development. In fact, I got thrown into a lab! I spend my 8 hours/day helping Quality Assurance on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) project Hardware. The lab that I'm in is an avionics (flight hardware) integration and test lab focused on power related hardware. It sounds really technical because it is!
 
above: the secured badge access door to lab 303-311
On my first day, after completing a horrendous 4 hour orientation, I met my supervisor for a very brief period of time and he handed me this thick binder, telling me to read a section on ESD (electro static devices). I read about the importance of handling hardware and all this procedural stuff that did not seem relevant to business in any matter. Keep in mind that at this time, I had no idea what I would be doing at JPL. I read through it pretty quickly (and thoroughly) not knowing that the next day, I would be working in an ESD controlled lab!! It was pretty intimidating. I have to wear a smock, hairnet, and booties while hanging out with the electrical engineers, packaging engineers...many many engineers as they work on the hardware that will be ON MARS. Unfortunately, I am not certified to handle hardware and will not be certified for the time that I am here. I guess that's good news so you won't be seeing any news headlines about me ruining the entire mission. 
 
above: stylish lab attire
Since I can't handle hardware, I help out Quality Assurance Engineers, Nancy, De, and Greg on their mass amounts of paperwork. My quick job description is...I look over the build books of all the flight hardware we receive from fabrication and check that the Inspection Reports (IRs) and Assembly and Inspection Data Sheets (AIDS) are complete and correct. QA spends a lot of time on this paperwork. There are binders and binders of it all around the lab that need to be labeled, copied, looked over, signed, dated, retested...and I do a lot of it. However, I found that I tend to catch onto things fairly quickly. Working with the books is actually more complicated than it sounds, but I mastered that skill expediently!
 
above: the shelves of build books that I looked over too quickly
After a week of working, QA did not have any work for me to do. I got through the whole book shelf of flight books so Nancy got me working on the less important, non-flight books. She hoped that it would keep me busy for the next 3-4 days. However, no matter how slow I worked, I finished that morning! Only 2 hours to get through the whole bin! That is pretty much what happens when I am given an assignment. I finish it so quickly that I spend the rest of my day surfing the internet and chatting on AIM and gtalk.
I guess you can say I have slowed down lately, doing less and less book work. Other than wasting my day on the internet, I take advantage of the fact that there are a good dozen or so engineers in the area. They are actually really fun to talk to! Days go by really slowly if they aren't in lab. I have taken quite a liking to engineers and engineering! I never miss an opportunity to peek over an engineer's shoulder to watch what they are working on. I ride up in security cars at 3mph while they escort hardware up the hill. I go up to the Environmental Test Lab to watch vibration tests of the hardware. I help out the electrical engineer assisting with his hardware tests, using break-out-boxes, voltmeters, oscilloscope, various colorful cables, and fancy lab software. I learn about the types of damages to the hardware when watching inspections under high power microscope. I ask about the process of fabricating and testing everything before it gets integrated onto the rover. The science nerd in me gets excited at these things.  I think it's the best part of this job!!
 
above: hanging out in environmental test lab for the morning to watch vibration testing. cool stuff.
 
left: secured flight hardware ready strapped down for security escort!
right: one of the lab benches for working on flight hardware
 
left: colorful cables
right: high power microscope for looking at tiny connectors!
All in all, I'm enjoying my time here. For more pictures, check our my facebook album.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59952&l=ad641&id=511405820 | | |
| something remarkable happened.
Around 5:30pm, I woke up from my nap and decided to run for uc berkeley circle k executive office. I've been debating with myself for the past week whether i really wanted to get sucked into the kiwanis officer life again. LTG was way too tiring! So I realized that i had no speech prepared, the general meeting starts at 7pm, elections begin at 8pm. I gotta whip something up in 1.5 hours!! I couldn't believe that I was actually considering doing this.
I called up my lovely boyfriend and we brainstormed and put together something speech worthy. I must say it was pretty darn good under time pressures. Thanks Randall <33 I printed out my speech, grabbed some notecards (it was 7pm), and dashed over to the general meeting to frantically copy the speech on flashcards and memorize it to a certain degree. Whew, the pressure!
I realized that I hadn't eaten dinner...no food since 1pm. I was running off of adrenaline and a few strawberry chews from my purse. I was starving! The president, service vp, admin vp, and treasurer speeches seemed to take forever; secretary speeches were last. By the end, there were 3 of us nominated for secretary: Winnie, Diep, and myself. And I was up first! My speech was...comparably decent. I think I did a pretty good job considering I just wrote it a few hours ago! It's all in the delivery, baby.
And the results...
Virginia Liu for Treasurer
James Lee for President
Joe Lee for Service VP
Yours truly for Secretary
and Joshua Lomeli for Admin VP
My prize was late night at crossroads. My belly felt victorious!
I think we have a pretty good team for next year :)
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| Times my roommate showered next to a couple that was having sex in the next shower: 1
Times I woke up to sex sounds coming from the room next to me: 2
Times I disturbingly saw a fully buck naked guy: 1
That's college.
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| When Summer 2007 came to a tearful end, I was both excited and scared to begin college. UC Berkeley students were a few of the first to leave for school, fresh for the college experience. A few things that I was a little anxious about were:
a) nasty dorm food and missing mom's cooking
b) sharing bathroom facilities with boys
c) tiny twin size bed
d) making a new set of friends
e) huge competitive classes
f) missing my boyfriend and high school friends
Here's my take on things now that I completed a whole semester of college:
on your roommate(s)...
Picking a roommate that I knew was a great decision. We knew each other well enough to not have awkward moments or "soo...where are you from?" basic type questions, but there was still room to discover more about the other person. We had something in common (key club district board experiences) and a set of friends that we shared. It was an easy and comfortable way to start off the first week of school. You really stick with your roommate for the first week...at least I did!
It was also very helpful that we could both fall asleep with the light on. On those nights where your roommate is stuck doing essays late into the hour, you can just knock out without a problem. We share the same taste in music and enjoy the music on! ;] We both have equal standards of cleanliness -- dusting, vacuuming, organizing, doing laundry on a regular basis. In conclusion, Tiffany is very cool.
on dorm life...
The hall that I live in has co-ed floors and co-ed bathrooms. Yeah, co-ed bathrooms. Our floor is very divided. Half is composed of stoners/shady people. The other half is composed of gamers. Then there are some sorority/fraternity party kids. I'm not sure which division Tiffany and I belong to. Anyway, you learn to get along with the people you're living with. It's nice to just knock on someone's door to have someone to talk to or...have someone kill a bug while you and your rooommate are freaking out (true story)! Pot and cigarette smokers are disgusting though. TVs are pretty rare around our floor too. Friends with TVs and microwaves are great to mooch off of <3
on dorm food...
Verdict: It's not that bad. It's actually pretty good...enough to gain that freshman 15. Some dining commons are better than others. After the first two weeks, they start to become monotonous with the menu. Two words to describe Cafe 3: JUNGLE CURRY. Yuck. They cook up some nasty concoction there. Other than that, there is no lack of representation for cultural food. They hit it all! UC Berkeley has all organic fruits and vegetables and no trans fats in their foods. Hippies? Yeah, but who cares? It tastes better and its healthier! I'd also like to add: paninis, rice bowls, and bagels are love.
on selecting classes...
I took Stat 21 for business majors, Econ 1 intro class, Enviro Sci 10
intro class, and Theatre R1A museum display studies writing class.
4 classes, 16 units. Everyone was in awe at the large number of units that I was taking. Here's my advice: don't take two prerequisites for your major during the same semester.
My Stat 21 and Econ1 classes were the hardest and I should have spaced
them out over different semesters. I just thought that since I took stats, econ, and
environmental science in high school senior year it would be easier to manage these classes in college. And
the truth is, it's not that easy in college because of the high
concentration of smart people!! Business majors are feisty, cut-throat competitors.
on classes (the positive stuff)...
I get the full 8 hours of sleep every night. It's amazing. On weekends, I can get 10 hours! There's none of that waking up early to finish work crap that I do in high school. My schedule is designed from monday - friday as follows: 5 classes - 1 class - 5 classes - 2 classes- 2 classes. It's pretty chill, no? Most teachers don't care about attendance, but that doesn't mean you don't show up to your classes! I highly recommend attending all lectures and possibly all discussions (if they are helpful to you...you be the judge). Each class is only 50 minutes long too. Unlike high school, the teachers don't waste time on taking roll or quieting the class or collecting homework. They cut straight to business and hold your attention for the whole 50 minutes. The shorter class period also means less time to fall asleep during lecture :). So yeah, classes start 10 minutes after the hour. If you have back to back classes, you may be able to grab a snack or use the restroom. If not, that means 10 extra minutes of nap time! I go back to my dorm and take naps between my classes. My dorm is only a block away from campus, terribly convenient for nap time. If you leave a gap for lunch time, you can take your lunch back to your room and watch an episode or two of Scrubs before class! It's GREAT. 
on classes (the trickier stuff)...
Find the right professor. If I knew that the stats professor I took last semester was the most difficult grader in the world before I signed up for the class, I probably would have waited to take it with the easiest grader next semester! Gad, I'm an idiot. That messed up my GPA.
Form a study group or study buddy. During the first week of school, I made friends with every person I sat next to. Somehow, in stats, I created a study group of people! A solid group of 4-5 trusty brains is perfect for reviewing for exams. We would meet around two times before a midterm or final to review problems, help each other out with concepts, and be supportive! It's really difficult to study alone. With friends, hard topics become more manageable. In my other classes, I had a study buddy that I could ask for help on questions. They didn't require as much collaboration as my stats class, thankfully.
on Circle K...
There are literally hundreds of clubs, organizations, frats, and sororities out there to recruit you. You just have to find one or two that you like. Key Club was a big part of my high school career so I tried out Circle K. Past graduates told me that Circle K is not the same; it's smaller, not as spirited, not as fun. It is smaller, but at UC Berkeley's Circle K, it doesn't mean it's less fun than Key Club! Berkeley CKI has a little over 100 members, 16 of them being board members (that's a lot of board members). Their system is surprisingly very efficient. I was astonished that they could match the number of community service hours my 1,000 strong Key Club division could do and exceed my division's amount of funds raised for service. Division 25 was pretty awesome too! The members and officers are really accessible. Service, socials, and all types of events are never scarce. There's about 6 events per weekend!!! The coolest thing about Circle K is that as college kids, we can drive anywhere without curfew! We can meet Circle K members from UCSD for a weekend. The perks of being in college!
on keeping in shape...
Gosh, it's really hard. I thought it would be easy since I picked the dorm closest to the gym. My schedule has nice gaps between classes and a workout would fit nicely in there. For some reason, I don't workout as often as I want to. I always find an excuse for myself...too tired, too lazy, have work to finish, quiz to study for, midterm, finals...When I do workout, it is very satisfying for the most part. The recreational sports facility has three stories of fitness stuff: a whole floor for cardio (treadmills, bikes, stair climber thingies), three weight rooms, three big gyms, a gymnastics/karate room, and a room for classes like cardio kickboxing and yoga. It's huge! I take total advantage of my $10/semester membership. 
on the Berkeley/San Francisco scene...
The BART (subway system) is your friend. The free AC Transit (bus system) is also great for students! Public transportation can take you anywhere in NorCal. Traffic on the freeways is much much lighter than LA. However, parking in Berkeley is hard to come by. The thing I like about the Berkeley campus is that it's very compact. You can walk to northside in about 15-20 minutes. A bike isn't a necessity. Berkeley is an urban campus, but it is very naturey at the same time! In fact, a creek cuts through campus! It runs up into the hills where there is soooooo much green! It's beautiful in the hills, such a spectacular view, such a great escape! I sometimes forget that I'm close to the city. San Francisco is a wonderful place. It's different from LA for sure. There are cable cars everywhere. You can take the Muni throughout downtown SF. I haven't been there many times, but the shopping is great and Fisherman's Wharf as excellent clam chowder!
on parties...
Yes, I do party!! (surprise)! My definition of party, however, does not include drinking, hookah, or hookups. I just like to dance and watch people get drunk. Drunk people are hilarious. I went to two parties. 1) Pi Lamb (frat party) during welcome week. It was hot and heavy, but no drinking that I could see. There was a cage and well, it was fun dancing in it ;D 2) Cheriz's apartment party with Circle K people. Nearly everyone drank and people were giving wild lap dances. The dancing was crazyyy. It was very fun for me. I was sober and enjoying the free show. Haha. Parties are avoidable if you don't seek them out. During Halloween, I played guitar hero in my friend's room. I didn't hit up any frats in a slutty costume. Nuh uh. Plus, hangovers are for losers.
on keeping in touch with old friends...
I write postcards and letters. It's just what I do. With webcams and IMs and emails and facebook, there's no way you can't keep in touch! This ain't the olden days where you graduate high school and never see each other again! You will if you put in the effort.
and lastly
on long distance relationships...
I knew I was going to really really really miss Randall. Heck, after the first week of class I flew home on that 3 day Labor Day weekend to see him. It was hard. Once a month visits weren't good enough! We webcammed on Skype for hours each day. I would just leave the cam on and come back to it from time to time. Sure, it sucked up my weekly bandwidth allowance (if you live in the dorms, they only allow 8GB bandwidth usage a week), but it was a necessity. The secret to long distance relationships is to plan things together. The longest I've gone without seeing Randall is...5 weeks I believe. We immediately made plans for the next time we were to meet. From extra kisses and hugs every other second to food dates and exploring the Berkeley campus and meeting people. We're always excited to see each other so there's never relationship trouble with the distance! <3
That's my first semester experiences in a nutshell. I hope that makes up for the lack of posts! On to an exciting second semester......!!
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| Eight days is a long time! But it's okay, you can read the secret post to tide you over (you know which one!). :)
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