Day 2 Freedom of the Seas

Daven Cheu

July 4, 2016

The ocean has been a part of my life and my dreams for a long time. I soared far above its waves and plunged into its emerald waters, felt the fog rolling in from the sea and smelled the salt thrown into the air and the crashing of waves on rocky shores. The sweeping horizon of boundless blue, especially in the special hour when the sun rises and paints the sky with vivid colors reflected on the water, has an alluring majesty, a shear vastness that no desert sunrise can match. Looking out onto that eternity of water takes my breath away.

Aside from the poetic essence, the beach below the Scripps Pier was fairly crowded and was quite appropriately patriotic. The sky was overcast with the sun breaking through every now and then so the weather didn’t get too hot and the water wasn’t too cold. At first, and I thought this was hilarious, no one in our group wanted to go into the water. That changed when Bonnie one of our researchers appeared with surfboards and boogie boards. I had never surfed before but the basics seemed easy to understand: lay on the board, paddle, turn into a wave, paddle again and ride it to shore. I got up to the facing my back to the wave part, but I couldn’t paddle fast enough to be propelled by the wave. The paddling made my arms tire to where I couldn’t move them behind my back. The few moments I was able to catch a wave I didn’t maintain my balance to where I could even kneel. So, in reality it wasn’t as easy as Bonnie or even Caroline made it appear. Maybe with practice, and if I bought a board and moved to the coast, I could become good at surfing and it is indeed interesting to get into, but it’s not realistic for a person who lives in the desert in the middle of the country. At least not for now.

Still, the surfing itself was pretty fun for the limited skillset that I had. On the waves I did catch, the sense of speed gliding across the water was exhilarating. It was close to flight. We had a good time, and I would like to spend more time at the beach but alas, there are other important things for us to do this week so the beach can wait, but not for long if I don’t do anything to help preserve it.

First football then Frisbee throwing.

The girls are debating whether to go in the water or not- until the surf boards and boogie boards arrived!

Day 1 by CarolineHallee

When my flight landed in San Diego, I was filled with a sense of anticipation and curiosity. I was anxious to meet the small group of other students I would be working so closely with for the next two weeks and step onto the UCSD campus for the first time. Our arrival was followed by introductions, a tour, and our first meal in an on-campus dining hall, but the most memorable experience of the day was the evening’s leadership exercise.

We began by filling in a series of questions about ourselves, our answers eventually culminating to create a “leadership type”. These types, represented by colors, told us our strengths and weaknesses in leadership due to our personalities. Out of the group of nine, three of us, including myself, identified most with “yellow” – social, sensitive caregivers. Two of us were “orange” risk takers, two “green” logical lovers of information, and two “red” responsible workers with a need for security. Even though I am aware that individuals seldom perfectly fit specific archetypes, these colors gave me a sense of the core traits and values of my new community of students and assistants. In addition to helping me understand others, this exercise helped me learn about myself. An informational sheet about my color gave examples of personality patterns I was predicted to have. While not every listed trait of “yellow” leaders described me, I was surprised by how accurate some of them were. The sheet also listed weaknesses that I may be perceived as having because of my personality. To see how we lined up with these predictions in real interactions, we anonymously swapped post-it notes with

a few words about our first impressions of each other.

Though the activity was uncomfortable at first, it was enlightening and formative. One of my most valuable takeaways from the evening was the importance of taking the time to consider how I come across in first impressions and setting unique goals to better the way I interact with others. I also appreciated the straightforwardness of this exercise, because it allowed us to quickly understand each other at a deeper level than can usually be understood at first glance. I hope that we can use the information we learned tonight to create a bonded and well-rounded group as the program progresses.

2016

Welcome to the University of California, San Diego - Global Environmental Leadership and Sustainability (GELS) 2016 Blog

A collaborative program between UCSD Scripps Institution of Oceanography and UCSD K-16 Programs at the University of California DC facility.The UC Washington Center (UCDC) is a multi-campus residential, instructional and research center that provides students and faculty from the University of California with opportunities to study, research, work, and live within Washington’s rich cultural, political and international heritage. The program is housed in an 11-story building in a lively neighborhood a short walk from the White House with room for more than 270 students.

 

With the close proximity to the center of our government, students will be exposed to what environmental legislation is currently in the pipeline, they will meet with our leaders, present an issue paper, and hopefully help initiate important policy changes related to the environment. Students will keep a journal of their activities during the two weeks, and will present their view on how to apply their knowledge towards being “A Leader in Caring for the Earth.”