I went to the Spa Night event in Becker House Common Room. I liked how the activities were neatly organized on different tables. My friends and I sat in the circular table where there were manicures and materials to make a sugar scrub. I decided not to paint my nails because I did not want to wipe them off with alcohol and cotton after painting. There were many beautiful manicure colors, and my friend tried on different colors such as orange and copper, one color for each hand. My other friend and I made a sugar scrub by pouring 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of coconut oil, and scented oil into our zip lock bags. Afterwards, we repeatedly touched the zip lock bags to mix the ingredients. We met new people especially the organizers of the event and talked with them about interesting psychology classes, oceanography class, and if wearing the same dress to a party is fine. Overall, it was a fun and relaxing event because we got to de-stress and interact with people.
Author Archives: mjl367
Taking Out Seeds, Cutting out Eyes and Mouth, and Decorating the Pumpkin
The Pumpkin Carving event at the Rose House Dining Hall was entertaining because I have never carved a pumpkin before. We were all given a large plastic trash bag, markers, and utensils to decorate our pumpkins. All the pumpkins were in a cart. I chose a horizontally large pumpkin to work on with my friends. We needed to carve out the stem, so it took two sharp utensils and all the people in our group to carve it out. The most time consuming task was to take out all the seeds, which my friend did a great job at. I was surprised that a pumpkin had many seeds and that pumpkin carving was not easy at all. Two of my other friends and I carved out the eyes and mouth as well as decorated the pumpkin with markers. Although it was the first time carving a pumpkin for my friends and I, we were satisfied with our creation because it was colorful and unique.
Sculpting My Own Mug
The Clay Sculpting event at the Johnson’s Museum was innovative and recreational. I liked how the person explained the steps to sculpt a mug using clay. She showed us how to slap the clay with the table and use utensils to mold shapes. The people who were in my table were enthusiastic and creative in making their creations. I enjoyed playing with clay and making my own mug because it was an arts and craft activity that we don’t do often in college. This activity felt like I was in my art class in middle school where we painted pictures and created different art forms. Overall, I had a great time making my own mug, and I appreciated the beauty of creating something from scratch.
Insightful Discussion on Pharmaceutical Drugs in the U.S. and Other Countries
Professor Nicholson talked about pharmaceutical drugs in the United States and other countries in the Rose Cafe event. It was an informative talk because I did not have any knowledge about pharmaceutical drugs. I learned that there were patents to all the drugs so that they can be legally prescribed to patients. It was insightful because people asked interesting questions about drugs and healthcare insurances. I thought it was fascinating how about forty new drugs were approved every year. I thought there would be more number of drugs, but I think forty drugs were approved because of safety and effectiveness. Professor Nicholson also talked about the export of drugs from the United States to the United Kingdom and how their rates differed. I think it is because each country established their own price system for the drugs, indicating that a country placed different values to different drugs. Overall, the talk was informative and insightful.
Curling: Not an Easy Sport
The Curling 101 event was a fun learning experience. I thought curling was a sport where athletes moved the rock with their broomsticks, but I was wrong. The sport involved releasing the rock towards the direction the spotter was directing while executing a slide movement with one leg and the other leg in a bending position. Two people rubbed the ice with their broomsticks swiftly while the rock moved, but they cannot touch the rock. I am grateful to GRF Ty and Mary for teaching us the techniques and supporting us with compliments and feedback. We had time to play two games, and each of the four group members were able to release the rock, rub the ice with their broomsticks, and act as a spotter. The ice was not in good condition, so most of the rocks for both my team and the other team went outside the lane. Despite that, we all had a great time. We improved our skills from the beginning when we learned the sport to when we played the game.
Networking and Surviving College Talk with Christa Downey
The Rose Cafe event on Wednesday was very informative and enlightening because I learned that it’s important to make connections with one faculty member and one staff member each semester. If I start making connections this semester, I will be making twelve connections by the end of senior year. Christa Downey emphasized how we should expand our network because that would help us get internships, jobs, and other wonderful opportunities after college. We also came across the topic of time management. When other people shared how they managed their time, I was impressed by their effective methods such as spending one hour on each homework to get at least something done, inputting important deadlines on Google calendar, and writing down what you have to do for the week before it starts. Time management is something that many students and I struggle with, so I think it’s important to know how our peers use their time to get things done. The workbook that was given out in the talk would be useful for me to keep track of the size of my network and set goals for myself and towards my future. Overall, I had a great time at the talk, and I hope to expand my network this semester.
Temporary and Lawful Possession
The Rose Cafe event with Judge Scott Miller opened my eyes about the importance of defending the guilty. When a student asked multiple questions to him, Judge Miller answered the questions clearly and shared his first trial experience using the student’s brother as an example. The student’s brother was the defendant, and the defendant was accused of having dangerous items in the car’s trunk. When the defendant told Judge Miller that he was going to talk to his family member about the items, I knew that the defendant had no bad intentions. Judge Miller told us that only he knew that the case was a temporary and lawful possession, which is a rule in New York that a person can come across a possession as long as he or she discards the possession without causing harm https://www.nycourts.gov/judges/cji/1-General/CJI2d.Possession_Temporary.pdf .
I did not know about the temporary and lawful possession, and before Judge Miller explained what it was, I thought that people who possessed dangerous items were automatically guilty. I am glad that Judge Miller and the jury helped the defendant get his justice and prove his innocence. Thus, Judge Miller’s talk gave us all a better understanding of how defending the guilty works.