I guess I'll take this opportunity to update you on how my summer has come and gone.

Here's the list of things I said I would do:
1. Take a couple classes: ASL, French, Statistics
-->didn't happen! I borrowed some Learn French CD's but they proved to be too advanced for my beginner abilities. I arranged ASL lessons with a friend every Thursday night but that often got overlooked although I now know how to say some basic things like hello, how are you, i'm fine/good/bad/happy/excited/sad/tired/hungry/sleepy, i love you, good morning, how, who, where, when, why, and maybe a few others that I can't recall at the moment. I intend on auditing a stats class in the fall.
2. Work full time
-->YEP! A lot of this! I worked 32 hours a week (M-Th 9-5) June 1-August 14. I was the "Jill of All Trades" for the summer doing all sorts of things from organizing a closet full of science equipment worth more than my life, converting Lonely Planet VHS tapes to DVD's, gave tours of the campus, grant writing, etc. I also did a lot of fun things like work on a script for an infomercial about Ohlone's GIS/GPS program, teach a couple human ecology classes, helped out with some major events. Don't get me wrong I had a lot of fun and I learned a great deal but I will be glad once it's over.
3. Go on some trips:
river rafting-->done!
hike more mountains-->only hiked Mission Peak once more
Mendocino-->went there maybe 2 times and will be going again in 2 weeks for a wine festival!
Yosemite Nat'l park-->nope...but I went to Muir Woods :)
4. Watch Wicked-->going to be 3 times by the end of this summer, I highly recommend it!
5. Catch up on reading all my books!-->that's a slow and steady process

Other than this, I will be going camping one more time and returning the day before classes start, I got to spend more time with my family and friend especially my brother who is going away for college in September (Cal Poly SLO), and I will be celebrating my birthday at the end of this month.

I hope your summer was well spent :) But it's not over yet!!!

Posted by Maria at 11:05 AM | Permalink

HEADS UP! Deadline to waive SHIP is July 15!

What's SHIP? Student Health Insurance Plan
http://www.uhs.berkeley.edu/students/insurance/waiver/welcome.shtml

Every student is required to have comprehensive medical, counseling, dental, and vision coverage. Each semester, UCB will automatically apply SHIP to your account unless you submit a waiver located at the link below. The waiver is your proof that you have outside insurance equivalent to the university's. Unless you submit this waiver by July 15, you will be charged $698 for the Fall semester!

Waiver requires CalNet Login:
https://auth.berkeley.edu/cas/login?service=https://www.uhs.berkeley.edu/waivers/waiverform.asp

I didn't understand this my first semester and was charged for SHIP. I was able to get refunded by submitting the form after the due date but I was still charged $50. So in an effort to save you the $50-$698, WAIVE SHIP, provided you have equivalent insurance.

Posted by Maria at 9:43 PM | Permalink

I really wish I could say this is finalized but that would be a straight lie. So for now here is what I have on the table for summer.

TA in Human Ecology class at Ohlone College in Fremont (M-Th 2pm-4pm)
Work on solar panel monitoring at the Newark Center for Health Sciences and Technology (time??)

What I would like to do depending on my availability:
1. Take a couple classes:
ASL, French, Statistics
2. Work full time-->need to make some money... :(
3. Go on some trips:
river rafting
hike more mountains
Mendocino
Yosemite Nat'l park
4. Watch Wicked
5. Catch up on reading all my books!

I really hate not having things solidified...but good luck to the rest of you and I hope you enjoy your summer to it's fullest :)

Posted by Maria at 2:34 PM | Permalink

Dirt! The Movie will be playing on Monday, May 11 @ 6:30pm in the Pacific Film Archive Theater.

Inspired by William Bryant Logan’s acclaimed book Dirt, the Ecstatic Skin of the Earth, directors Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow employ a colorful combination of animation, vignettes, and personal accounts from farmers, physicists, church leaders, children, wine critics, anthropologists, and activists to learn about dirt—where it comes from, how we regard (or disregard) it, how it sustains us, the way it has become endangered, and what we can do about it. Possessing both a cosmic perspective that reaches into the vastness of time and space, and the kind of warm, earnest energy that inspires small revolutions inside human hearts, Dirt! The Movie offers an important and timely look at the vital relationship between those of us on Earth and something that is easy to take for granted—the soil upon which we tread. Benenson and Rosow find answers everywhere: in tiny villages that dare to rise up to battle giant corporations to trendy organic farms; from prison horticultural programs to scientists who discover connections with soil that can offset the damage from global warming.

Gene Rosow has directed more than 20 documentaries for theatrical and television release, including San Francisco Good Times, Routes of Exile: A Moroccan Jewish Odyssey, Doctora, Routes of Rhythm with Harry Belafonte, and Knights. His feature-film producing credits include the family film Zeus and Roxanne for MGM, along with Silent Tongue and Britney, Baby—One More Time, which both premiered at Sundance.

For more info:
http://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/enviro.html?event_ID=18419&date=2009-05-11&filter=Secondary%20Event%20Type&filtersel=

Posted by Maria at 2:29 PM | Permalink

I'd just like to give fair warning to those of you who may potentially make the same horrible mistake as me. In case you plan on doing research that involves other human beings, you must apply for Human Subject Protocol. It essentially is an approval of your research in the interest of participant privacy and safety. You can get more info at the following website but you must do this before starting your research. I made the fatal mistake of not figuring this vital step out until after.

http://www.lbl.gov/ehs/health_services/harc/hsc.shtml#Human subjects protocols at LBNL

Posted by Maria at 1:26 PM | Permalink

Interested in native plant gardening?

Check out the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour
Sunday, May 3, 10am-5pm
http://bringingbackthenatives.net/

It's a free self-guided tour through 60 native plant gardens throughout the Bay Area. These gardens are managed by a wide range of people: homes, contractors, designers, etc. In addition to getting access to these gardens, you can talk to the gardeners themselves about their techniques and troubles in the creation and management of a native plant garden. The Native Plant Sale Extravaganza will also be going on at several native nurseries!

Pre-registration is preferred but walk-ins are welcome! You may also volunteer to get hands on experience with native garden handling.

Posted by Maria at 5:46 PM | Permalink

ED 189: reflective paper on what I've learned this semester, no paper length requirement
ESPM 111: exam #2 on last day of class which is not cumulative IS the final
ESPM 178B: presence on the last day of class during a discussion about what we've learned this semester

Again...I LOVE MY FINALS!

Posted by Maria at 2:58 PM | Permalink

I have one more year before graduating, before the culmination of my educational career thus far. And much like many of my high school class of '05, the concern is what to do once that phase of life is over. For most people it's either find a job or grad school. But for me, I don't see either of those as an ideal option. I want to explore...not only the world but primarily myself. And that is where the Peace Corps comes in.

How hard it is to answer the question "Who am I?" Let alone, what I want to do with my life. I may acknowledge my passion for the environment but what to do with that passion is another question. And I don't feel I can take a step forward without answering that. Thus, I have concluded that the best way to find myself is by getting lost.

What exactly does this entail? There a number of routes I can take but it's the Peace Corps that won me over. What better way to get lost than to leave my world of familiarity and predictability for a world completely strange to me. Full of unknowns and nothing for me to depend on, at least immediately. A world where all I have a familiar sense of is myself. Yet as fulfilling as this experience potentially is, I find myself terrified of committing to something so beyond me. Of leaving everything and everyone that I hold dear and comforting. Of not having the sense of security of being able to predict almost everything in my current world before it happens. On having people, situations, outcomes that I can rely on. Leaving it all and bringing only whatever scrap of personality I have developed. Leaving it all for a world that may not accept me. And, most importantly, leaving it all to find myself.

A good friend of mine told me that if it's scary, it must be good. The thought of this terrifies me incredibly, almost to the point of debilitation. I'm going through the motions of committing to the Peace Corps yet I feel that with each step I do it with force upon myself. A big part of me is so scared of it that I don't want to go through with it. Yet, I feel that such a step is necessary for me to progress in my own personal development. And it is by this logic that I continue to push myself towards commitment.

It still scares the shit out of me.

"Strength and Independence"

Posted by Maria at 10:30 PM | Permalink

This is a pivotal time for many of you prospective transfers still in anticipation for an answer from the "Big Guys" at Cal. As a transfer student myself, I will speak about the main differences that I have noticed between the two types of educational institutions. I posted this in a previous blog but I will give a simplified version here.

Disclaimer: My perspective is based strictly on my 3 years of experience at Ohlone College and my 1.5 semesters at Berkeley. I will give the Pro's and the Con's of Berkeley in retrospect of Ohlone. The bad should be taken in with the good equally.

Continue reading "For the prospective transfer students" »

Posted by Maria at 12:14 AM | Permalink

Ever wonder what would happen if paper was taken away for a day? Well, this 4/5 classroom tried it and found some interesting results.

Check them out!

http://jstaton.wordpress.eusd.net/2009/03/10/a-day-without-paper/

Posted by Maria at 8:59 AM | Permalink

If you've been thinking about going to grad school, I highly suggest reading this book.

Getting What You Came For by Robert L. Peters for $10.88 on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-Students/dp/0374524777/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1237436284&sr=8-2

It goes through what grad school is like, what it takes to get there, what you should be doing before you get there, what you should do when you're in to get through on time...and all in amazingly insightful yet comedic detail.

Whether grad school is a just a consideration or a definite plan, read this book. It may scare you at first but it's all stuff you should know before going in. It's a big decision and a serious commitment so make sure you know what you're getting yourself into.

Posted by Maria at 9:08 PM | Permalink

Friday, March 6, 2009 at 7:00pm

General Admission $10

Smith Center Box Office

http://www.tinyurl.com/shermeratohlone

Presented by The Ohlone College Psychology Club

Michael Shermer is a genuine ghostbuster, a relentless crusader against superstition, and pseudoscience. In this lecture, he discusses his investigation of paranormal claims and other unexplained phenomena and what makes us believe in them.

Is ESP real?

Does “alternative” medicine really work?

What causes mass delusion?

What’s up with UFOs sightings?

Why are people so gullible?

What’s the evidence for Near-Death Experiences, Alien Abductions, Recovered Memories, Creationism, Holocaust Denial, Race, or God?

Based on his bestselling book Why People Believe Weird Things, psychologist Michael Shermer applies scientific reason to these and many other questions in a witty talk that has been described as a no-holds barred attack on the pseudoscience and nonsense of our day.

Michael Shermer is available for interviews prior to the event. Please check out the web page, and/or email Sheldon W. Helms at sheldon@ohlone.edu for more information.

Posted by Maria at 7:51 PM | Permalink

So I'm taking a practice GRE exam for free tomorrow 10am-2pm in 10 Evans...how did this happen?

Go to: http://www.kaptest.com/practice

You can take various practice tests (GRE, MCAT, LSAT, etc.) for free to get an idea of what you're in for if you plan on taking it for real at some point.

Posted by Maria at 12:03 AM | Permalink

So 2 weeks ago, a cyst the size of a corn kernel was discovered in one of the bones of my right foot. On top of that, the cyst was causing a stress fracture making it more difficult to walk. The podiatrist gave me a brace that looks like a ski boot to wear for 2-3 weeks. This boot has significantly made it more tolerable to walk but has also significantly slowed me down. Today's story is about how I got the boot in the first place.

Continue reading "What's wrong with my foot?!" »

Posted by Maria at 11:17 AM | Permalink

So after 3 weeks of battling through long waitlists, conflicting schedules, and trying to save time for eating, sleeping and showering, I think I've finally got my spring 2009 schedule figured out!

Mondays:
10am-11am ESPM 111 Ecosystem Ecology (Discussion)
11am-12pm ESPM 111 Ecosystem Ecology (Lecture)
1-3pm ESPM 178B (Environmental Ed Practicum) field placement at King Middle School

Tuesdays:
9am-11am ED 189 Democracy and Education
11am-12:30pm SOC 150A Self and Society (audit)
*potential independent research time*

Wednesdays:
11am-12pm ESPM 111 Lecture
1pm-3pm volunteer at Jepson Herbarium
5pm-8pm ESPM 178B Lecture

Thursdays:
9am-11am ED 189
11am-12:30pm SOC 150A (audit)
*potential independent research time*

Fridays:
11am-12pm ESPM 111 Lecture
12:30-3:30 Restoration Internship at RFS

Continue reading "Spring 2009 finally finalized!" »

Posted by Maria at 7:53 PM | Permalink

And as our winter break comes to a close, here's a recap of what I did.

First things done:
1. watched The Gods Must Be Crazy I & II

It's an awesome movie if you get the chance to watch it!

Continue reading "My Winter Break" »

Posted by Maria at 11:20 PM | Permalink

Oh man! Coming from a community college, I've worried about how I would do in Berkeley classes, something with a reputation of being so difficult! And although I did enjoy these classes which definitely helped in my understanding of the material, I was still concerned at times with my standing. After all these months of ups and downs, the verdict is that I've got all A's and a B! I haven't had an A in 2 years! And the class I was expecting to get a C in, I got a B! I've gotten so used to being happy with just getting a C that doing better than a C is almost unbelievable!

Hope you all did well in your classes! And Happy Holidays!

Posted by Maria at 8:39 PM | Permalink

This is something I’d like to share with you, partially because of the holiday season and potentially for your own reflection. Some of you I’ve already told, others I haven’t. Hopefully you will gain something from this. Otherwise, I just wish you happy holidays.

One of my sisters died on the day after Thanksgiving. On her death bed, I was telling her about my plans for the future and she told me “Don’t forget to live.” I wasn’t sure what that meant at first but I started thinking about how I had lived my life thus far and how I was planning to live it in the future. I realized that I live my life very goal-oriented. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s great to have aspirations and to work for them. But sometimes, especially as college students, we forget to appreciate things in the moment. With every minute that we spend studying for an exam or writing our notes in lecture, we tend to think in terms of the goal we are trying to reach whether that’s simply the degree, a well-paying job or future stability. For the longest time, I maintained a mentality of “I need to know this stuff so I can pass the exam so I can get my degree” and I would immediately forget the material as soon as the exam was over. I was wasting time, effort, and money for an education that I would never retain.

Continue reading "A revelation worth sharing" »

Posted by Maria at 12:32 PM | Permalink

This entire semester I've been worried about being able to figure out what's going to happen after I graduate in 2 years. And in the rush of madness between keeping up with classwork, papers, and exams, I've been searching for ways to get my feet wet in my areas of interest. Luckily, I can say I've succeeded in finding such opportunities. Remembering that my interests are environmental education, restoration work, and native plants, I've got an internship at the Richmond Field Station which encompasses the latter two, I will be volunteering at the Jepson Herbarium to learn more about native plants, and I will be working with a local non-profit on educating high school students about restoration and then actually taking them out into the field to apply what we taught them in the classroom. Check on all three!

Continue reading "Hit the ground running" »

Posted by Maria at 12:05 PM | Permalink

I had to write a ~30 page term paper for ESPM 100. I had the entire semester to do my research, conduct my interviews, and compile all of my data into a single document. It seems like this is nothing new for a lot of people, maybe particularly here at Berkeley. But for me, I had never done anything this extensive, let alone write more than 10 pages on a single subject. What's worse is that I have had a horrible history with papers. It would usually take me a couple month just to write a 5 page paper. I've always had difficulty with starting it, continuing it, and finishing it. It was a dreadful experience the entire time.

Continue reading "The Term Paper" »

Posted by Maria at 10:24 PM | Permalink

My terminally ill sister has finally passed. And as expected, my family is severely emotionally impacted. You think you can prepare for these things but when it happens you realize just how much of a false endeavor that is. The family counselor gave us a pamphlet that attempted to explain death with a list of things that are often observed at certain stages (i.e. 1 month, 2 weeks, 1 hour). The very first thing it mentioned was that the details in the pamphlet were not to be expected as true for everyone because even death is unique to each person. Well, it definitely was for her, and for my family.

She has had a long fight with GIST (Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor). She was married for almost 25 years (10 months short) and has a son of 16. The love that emanated from their family was unlike any other. She's always been a healthy person, ran in several marathons, had the heart of an athlete. Her son reflects her athletic abilities with amazing soccer skills. He's even training now for the next Olympics and has had several offers for a professional career. Minnie is such a beautiful person. She has one of those personalities that radiate and make you feel like you've known her forever.

In her final months, her husband stayed home and did his work at her side. Each moment was too precious to let go. The remainder of the family, myself included, rotated taking care of her as she had already reached a point where she could not do so herself. This included bathing, eating, moving, defecating and all the simple things that most people take for granted. She continued to intake food and drink although it was taken up by the tumors leaving her nothing to absorb. Overall, those months were like a rollercoaster ride. Some days she would seem practically normal and have regular conversations with you, laughing along at jokes, as if she were healthy again. Other days, she would have seizures which were scary in themselves because she had a request for no resuscitation. She so longed to go but was often unable to.

About 2 weeks ago, she requested for some key people in her life to be at her side. That included my other brothers and sister, and her parents. Then on Tuesday, everyone returned back to take care of work and other things expecting to return on Sunday. At the time, Minnie seemed normal and said she would be fine until they returned. Even on Thanksgiving, she was still eating despite having some breathing problems.

Finally on Friday, she mumbled some words which made no sense in the order they came out and faded away. There was no pain in her passing and she was in the presence of her husband and son, her two beloved boys.

Naturally, everyone feels a degree of guilt, wishing that they had stayed for her last breath, wishing they didn't miss that phone call, wishing they didn't have other responsibilities at the time. But it's good to know that she is finally free of pain and that she is finally where she wants to be. This is what I try to keep in mind and all I can do is be there for the rest of my family.

She decided to donate her body to research so that others may benefit from whatever knowledge science learns of her case.

Rest in peace, sister.

Posted by Maria at 1:49 PM | Permalink

Much like everyone else, I can finally take a breath, even if only for a short while. Leaving a day early for a flight to NY, I'll be spending my Thanksgiving break with family and old friends. Aside from the traditional Thanksgiving Feast (the season of gluttony begins), I'll be catching up with friends from HS and attending one such friend's wedding.

If anything, the one downside is that I still have to do a paper that is due on the Tuesday we return. On top of an essay due on Wednesday and a presentation on Thursday. How deceiving...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Posted by Maria at 9:32 PM | Permalink

I'm sure everyone's been feeling the crunch. Being bombarded with papers and research and projects and presentations galore! I've got to say, as much as all of this work makes me want to pull my hair out, I actually enjoy the challenge it presents. It's definitely different from the rigor of me education at a community college but I honestly believe it is better for me in the long run. At the same time, I look back on when I would stress out over minute things and realize, in retrospect, how ridiculous I was. I may want to complain but it's just going to get harder and that's a good thing. Good luck everyone and stay strong!

Posted by Maria at 3:27 PM | Permalink

Isn't it just awesome when family crises coincide with peak times in course curricula? I have just spent the past 5 days in Colorado for such an event of which was emotionally, mentally and physically exhausting. What's worse is that even though I'm now separated from it by 2 other states, I still feel like I'm back there. And as much as I want to focus on my upcoming midterm and various research projects and papers, it's proving to be the most difficult feat at the moment. I don't mean to be selfish but my education is important to me, especially since this is my first semester and I'm just getting the hang of things. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has gone through this and similarly everything probably worked out just fine for them. I'm hopeful that it will turn out the same for me.

Posted by Maria at 4:07 PM | Permalink

Woot woot! I finally found a faculty adviser! If you don't know what I'm talking about, CRS majors need to find their own faculty advisory which is someone whose field is closely related to your AOI. Although that relation isn't a requirement, it is highly recommended. For the most part, you need them to sign papers & get adviser codes but I don't want to make them sound like that's all they're good for because that would be completely wrong. They are excellent resources for research, courses to take and a window into potential career paths, just to name a few.

With my AOI focusing mainly on environmental education for positive social change, I found it particularly difficult finding an adviser in the ESPM department. Majority of them are more on the sciences and if anything politics and justice. And although those are great things, that wasn't my emphasis. Evidently, I located my best match in the education department. His emphasis is exactly mine, education as a mode for social change...perfect! I look forward to the knowledge I have yet to gain from him.

If you are in the midst of finding an adviser for yourself, don't exclude faculty outside of ESPM in your considerations because they equally have something grand to offer. The most important part is that their interests match with yours. Best of luck!

Posted by Maria at 4:10 PM | Permalink

All but 1 of the 8 classes I need to complete as part of my AOI (which also includes courses that satisfy the remainder of my university & college requirements) are NOT OFFERED this coming spring! Why does this suck? Because I would like to get everything done in 2 years and this is jeopardizing that possibility. Am I just going to end up wasting a semester? And who's to say that they would even show up again the following semester or even year?! Who knows how long my graduation may be delayed!

What makes it worse is that after talking to my major advisor and other people in my major, they all seemed to agree that classes tend to be flaky like that, especially the classes for CRS majors! It's just frustrating...because now I don't know what to do next semester!

Posted by Maria at 7:14 PM | Permalink

As a junior, I've been very concerned with what I'm going to do after Berkeley. As I may have already stated, I'm switching over to the CRS major with a focus on environmental education & ecology. Some careers I'm quite interested in are teaching at the college level, restoration ecologist and possibly law. With this looming over my head, I've decided to ask those who have already been in my situation and discovered their true calling. I began with interviewing my professors. Along the way, I've found numerous other resources of experienced wisdom including GSI's and class presenters who were in a field I was interested in. At each opportunity, I would jump onto asking for a couple minutes, maybe over coffee (although I myself don't drink coffee), to go over their educational and career paths that brought them to where they are today.

Continue reading "Gaining wisdom through others' experience" »

Posted by Maria at 10:58 PM | Permalink

This comparison is strictly in retrospect to my personal experiences both at Ohlone College and here at UCB.

1. Opportunities
This is one of the first things that hit me. There are so many opportunities that UCB has to offer, which quite honestly I find overwhelming. They have everything from independent research to study abroad to classes about pretty much everything there is to have a class on. But as a junior I feel at a slight disadvantage simply because I, ideally, only have 2 years here which doesn't give me enough time to experience everything I would like. So my suggestion to people coming into to Cal as freshmen is to take advantage of as many of the opportunities as you can because you have no idea at how much of an advantage you really are.

Continue reading "University vs. Community College" »

Posted by Maria at 10:27 PM | Permalink

It wasn't too hard for me to pick a major. I have a very strong passion for the environment so the ES major seemed perfect for me. On top of that, I didn't know what I wanted to go into more specifically (i.e. water, health, forestry, etc.) and a degree in ES gave me the flexibility to go into whichever I decided later on. All in all, ES was perfect and I was quite content with it going in.

A couple months after the application deadline, I discovered the CRS major which highly appealed to me simply because it focused on an aspect that I felt I was devoting more of my efforts towards, at the time anyway...

Continue reading "ES vs. CRS" »

Posted by Maria at 8:56 PM | Permalink

I figured for my first entry I should introduce myself...

Hi! My name is Maria, but I am also known as Lou. I don't really care which name you use because they both refer to me. I'm a junior transfer fresh in from Ohlone College in Fremont. If you don't know where that is, it's north of San Jose and south of Oakland, and consequently Berkeley. In essence, still in the Bay Area. The first 9 years of my life was spent in Union City which is a neighbor to Fremont. For the most part, much like everyone else's I imagine, my childhood was pretty carefree. I went to school, played with friends, discovered new things in my surroundings...

Continue reading "An Introduction" »

Posted by Maria at 5:18 PM | Permalink