Stanford Summer

      Over the summer I went to California--more specifically Stanford--for 10 days. Flying over the mountains with 5 minutes to landing, all I saw were huge brown mountains (save for small green dots settled in the valleys). It was nothing like New Jersey! Stepping out of the airport, it felt ten times cooler than it was back home. Incredibly windy and not at all humid, it was a welcomed change. I got on a bus alongside 30 other kids-- some from Turkey, England, even China. The drive was only 40 minutes, but it felt like hours. I was too excited to finally reach the Stanford campus. When we got there, we were given lanyards with our names and photo IDs, a t-shirt (that I subsequently lost within the next 24 hours), and even a nice notebook (which was with the t-shirt, so that's gone too). We got there at lunchtime, so conveniently enough, we all met each other at the dorm in which we were staying and walked over together to an early dinner. We sat through some speeches, special thank yous and introductions, and finally we were allowed to eat and get to know each other better.

     For the next 10 days we learned different subjects, ranging from creative writing to epigenetics (part of the epigenetics class we visited a lab with a bunch of fish swimming around in grimy little tanks; it smelled like Lake Mohawk). We learned about holograms and the Pepper's Ghost illusion--which I still can't seem to understand--and the light spectrum. Everyday after a class, we'd take free time to walk around. Then dinner, and we'd talk about our days (since different groups had different classes/workshops each day) and if we liked what we learned. We visited popular places in SF, like the Giants Stadium and the Golden Gate Bridge (a given). The program was an experience I'll never forget, academically or otherwise!