SYMPOSIUM AND CLOSING CEREMONY
Alvin Cheng and Andrew Yu
It was a bright Saturday morning as students finished their last meal at the Cowell Stevenson dining hall. For the last day of the program, COSMOS organized a symposium where students were able to showcase their final project posters at the walkway surrounded by the Ivéta cafe and Bay Tree Bookstore. Posters were hung up and students began to feel uneasy because the end to a fulfilling experience was approaching. Many parents had already arrived, and the place quickly became crowded as students began to present their final projects.
Cluster 1 researched several different theorems and interesting patterns, related to number theory and discrete math, devised by famous mathematicians. Meanwhile, students in Cluster 2 performed their own experiments and created gold and silver nanoparticles, quantum dots, ferrofluids, and much more. Cluster 3 completed their final projects on the portrayal of several topics related to zoology, climate change and ecology by the media. One group compared various sources that reported on climate change on mammals. Cluster 4 explored the galaxy through research of dark matter, stars, and much more. In front of the bookstore, students from Cluster 5 brought their laptops for visitors to play video games they made. Jingwen, Richard and Krish created a game called C.U.T.E. in which the user controls a mouse that must shoot evil cats and mice to stay alive. In addition, killing the enemy rewards you with several items used to fend off other adversaries. Towards the cafe, a playpen filled with robots was surrounded with curious visitors with Cluster 6 demonstrating their machines. Cluster 7 did their final projects either on microbiology or toxicology. One group tested water samples for E. coli and used the DNA to find what animals it came from. Cluster 8 looked at climate change and its effects on the ocean, marine ecosystems, and oceanography. The machine learning models of Cluster 9 predicted housing prices, classified amazon reviews, tweets, blood cells, heart disease patients, and pets. Cluster 10 researched several semiconductor materials and presented on overcoming several issues with them.
CLOSING CEREMONY
As students left their posters from the symposium to sit with their clusters during the closing ceremony, the knot inside of their stomachs tightened as they prepared to say farewell to the best four weeks of their life. Faculty Director Shaowei Chen began by briefing the parents on what COSMOS life was like for the past month and what the students managed to accomplish.
He introduced Program Director Raul Ebio to a crowd already too familiar with his face, stealthily placed in osu! games, at the end of student videos, in memes, and even in final presentations. Raul gave a heartfelt speech about his reasons for leaving COSMOS. Though we all knew him as the keystone of our UCSC COSMOS administrative team, he insisted there was no longer use for his efforts and that he had done the best he could to help students with their academic careers in COSMOS. His departure, though sorrowful, is still just a beginning. Raul has started to work with other programs that help increase awareness of college in the neighborhoods around UCSC. Smiling through tear-blind eyes, the crowd watched as Shaowei gave Raul gifts from the rest of the COSMOS staff while Raul waved goodbye.
After Raul had walked off the stage, Shaowei handed the podium over to our very own Editor-in-Chief, Allie Huang. Allie’s speech included just enough inside jokes to make the audience laugh while tears streamed down their faces. She made us realize just how much had happened in this 4-week-long blink of an eye and just how important the relationships that we had made were to us.
Each cluster was then asked to come on stage and perform their chant. One by one, the students of COSMOS walked up and shook hands with Raul. Lining up in their cluster, they screamed unintelligible words brimming with philosophical meaning and inside jokes for the last time.
EPILOGUE
While we worked, laughed, and enjoyed life together, we often lost sight of the fact that our time here was limited. It was a fact most of us were determined to face. It was a fact that merely inspired us to work harder, laugh louder (ye ye huh!), and cherish the time we did have with our friends.
When the time came, I’m sure saying goodbye melted even the most antisocial of us (stop looking at me like that). But this doesn’t mean we should give up on the friendships we worked so hard to forge. Keeping in touch with people you’ll rarely or maybe even never meet again seems counterintuitive, but it helps you out so much in the long run. Arrange reunions. Help with college applications or SAT prep. Maybe just video call them. Even saying hi once in a while will make these four weeks so much more worth it.
This program was temporary, but that doesn’t mean our connections have to be. Keep your knowledge and your wisdom that you’ve gained from this experience, but most importantly, keep all of the friends that you've made along the way.
Cluster 1 researched several different theorems and interesting patterns, related to number theory and discrete math, devised by famous mathematicians. Meanwhile, students in Cluster 2 performed their own experiments and created gold and silver nanoparticles, quantum dots, ferrofluids, and much more. Cluster 3 completed their final projects on the portrayal of several topics related to zoology, climate change and ecology by the media. One group compared various sources that reported on climate change on mammals. Cluster 4 explored the galaxy through research of dark matter, stars, and much more. In front of the bookstore, students from Cluster 5 brought their laptops for visitors to play video games they made. Jingwen, Richard and Krish created a game called C.U.T.E. in which the user controls a mouse that must shoot evil cats and mice to stay alive. In addition, killing the enemy rewards you with several items used to fend off other adversaries. Towards the cafe, a playpen filled with robots was surrounded with curious visitors with Cluster 6 demonstrating their machines. Cluster 7 did their final projects either on microbiology or toxicology. One group tested water samples for E. coli and used the DNA to find what animals it came from. Cluster 8 looked at climate change and its effects on the ocean, marine ecosystems, and oceanography. The machine learning models of Cluster 9 predicted housing prices, classified amazon reviews, tweets, blood cells, heart disease patients, and pets. Cluster 10 researched several semiconductor materials and presented on overcoming several issues with them.
CLOSING CEREMONY
As students left their posters from the symposium to sit with their clusters during the closing ceremony, the knot inside of their stomachs tightened as they prepared to say farewell to the best four weeks of their life. Faculty Director Shaowei Chen began by briefing the parents on what COSMOS life was like for the past month and what the students managed to accomplish.
He introduced Program Director Raul Ebio to a crowd already too familiar with his face, stealthily placed in osu! games, at the end of student videos, in memes, and even in final presentations. Raul gave a heartfelt speech about his reasons for leaving COSMOS. Though we all knew him as the keystone of our UCSC COSMOS administrative team, he insisted there was no longer use for his efforts and that he had done the best he could to help students with their academic careers in COSMOS. His departure, though sorrowful, is still just a beginning. Raul has started to work with other programs that help increase awareness of college in the neighborhoods around UCSC. Smiling through tear-blind eyes, the crowd watched as Shaowei gave Raul gifts from the rest of the COSMOS staff while Raul waved goodbye.
After Raul had walked off the stage, Shaowei handed the podium over to our very own Editor-in-Chief, Allie Huang. Allie’s speech included just enough inside jokes to make the audience laugh while tears streamed down their faces. She made us realize just how much had happened in this 4-week-long blink of an eye and just how important the relationships that we had made were to us.
Each cluster was then asked to come on stage and perform their chant. One by one, the students of COSMOS walked up and shook hands with Raul. Lining up in their cluster, they screamed unintelligible words brimming with philosophical meaning and inside jokes for the last time.
EPILOGUE
While we worked, laughed, and enjoyed life together, we often lost sight of the fact that our time here was limited. It was a fact most of us were determined to face. It was a fact that merely inspired us to work harder, laugh louder (ye ye huh!), and cherish the time we did have with our friends.
When the time came, I’m sure saying goodbye melted even the most antisocial of us (stop looking at me like that). But this doesn’t mean we should give up on the friendships we worked so hard to forge. Keeping in touch with people you’ll rarely or maybe even never meet again seems counterintuitive, but it helps you out so much in the long run. Arrange reunions. Help with college applications or SAT prep. Maybe just video call them. Even saying hi once in a while will make these four weeks so much more worth it.
This program was temporary, but that doesn’t mean our connections have to be. Keep your knowledge and your wisdom that you’ve gained from this experience, but most importantly, keep all of the friends that you've made along the way.
Closing Ceremony Speech
Allie Huang
Four weeks ago, 232 COSMOS students stepped foot on this campus, not knowing what to expect or what our lives would look like for the next month. Between waving goodbye to our families, contemplating over which bed to choose and meeting our cluster mates for the very first time, none of us could have expected all of the memorable experiences that would come.
As our bodies adjusted to waking up at seven o’clock every morning, or 5 am for those who had the guts to face Santa Cruz’s dense morning fog, and perhaps more terrifyingly, voluntary exercise, we slowly found ourselves falling into the rhythm of COSMOS life. Our circadian rhythms adjusted to revolve around each other, and our leg muscles strengthened as we trekked to and from the Cowell Stevenson dining hall multiple times a day. Of course, it was all worth it to get our daily dose of ice cream, or to smuggle tissues filled with cereal to snack on during lectures. Labs, field trips, and biweekly discovery lectures became staples of our routine, and we thrived off of the fuel of perpetual excitement, sleep deprivation, and our eagerness to spend another day meeting new friends, learning about deep sea creatures and chirality, and getting to know the COSMOS community.
By definition, COSMOS is a place for us to exercise our love of learning, and what better place to do so than to be surrounded by peers who are equally as passionate about your cluster topic as you are? Throughout this month, we spent hours with our cluster mates, teacher fellows, professors, and teacher assistants, who supported us through every moment in class, from our very first introductory lecture to the presentation of our final projects. They helped us understand class lectures, answered question after question, and remained patient and supportive through it all; for all that we’ve learned from our professors and from each other, I hope that COSMOS has inspired you to want to know more. Personally, everyone in cluster nine has helped me immensely with learning about neural networks from the ground up, and our shared nonsensical jokes and strong cluster bond has made me look forward to spending each day with them. As we bid goodbye to our closest classmates, supporters, and friends today, remember all of the memories that you share and all that you’ve learned from each other that will linger long after tomorrow comes.
Being here at COSMOS has pushed many of us to venture out of our comfort zones, whether it be learning to do your own laundry, riding the typhoon on the Santa Cruz boardwalk, or asking for help in class. While you may have been frustrated when you weren’t able to fully understand the class material or accidently paid for the wrong washing machine, this month has been an opportunity for us to learn and grow with the support of each other. Thank you to everyone who tried something new, like the Macrocosm newsletter team, who weren’t afraid to push through the uphill battle of establishing the first ever UCSC COSMOS student run newsletter. While life at COSMOS most definitely wasn’t always smooth sailing, we thrived through it all, learning valuable lessons along the way. And truly, we couldn’t have done it all without each other.
I’m sure that my fellow students would agree that what made this experience special was the people that we were surrounded by; waiting in long lines in the dining hall or participating in various evening activities has given me the opportunity to connect with new friends that I might never have met otherwise. Your friends here at COSMOS have seen you stressing over your final project, half asleep at breakfast, and downing instant ramen like Chonky the Squirrel-- yet they love and support you anyways.
As we head off to lead our separate lives, I hope that this brief intersection of our life journeys has made a lasting impact to all of you; and that years from now, you’ll remember the sense of community that COSMOS has fostered in all of us, and can genuinely say that you are proud and grateful for having become a member of this community. When we meet our family members today, we might ask if we look any different, taller, stronger, or tanner, but it’s only been four short weeks since we parted and on the outside, we might look exactly as we did a month ago. But something inside of me has definitely changed for the better from this experience, and I hope that you can all say the same.
Thank you!
Allie Huang
Cluster 9
As our bodies adjusted to waking up at seven o’clock every morning, or 5 am for those who had the guts to face Santa Cruz’s dense morning fog, and perhaps more terrifyingly, voluntary exercise, we slowly found ourselves falling into the rhythm of COSMOS life. Our circadian rhythms adjusted to revolve around each other, and our leg muscles strengthened as we trekked to and from the Cowell Stevenson dining hall multiple times a day. Of course, it was all worth it to get our daily dose of ice cream, or to smuggle tissues filled with cereal to snack on during lectures. Labs, field trips, and biweekly discovery lectures became staples of our routine, and we thrived off of the fuel of perpetual excitement, sleep deprivation, and our eagerness to spend another day meeting new friends, learning about deep sea creatures and chirality, and getting to know the COSMOS community.
By definition, COSMOS is a place for us to exercise our love of learning, and what better place to do so than to be surrounded by peers who are equally as passionate about your cluster topic as you are? Throughout this month, we spent hours with our cluster mates, teacher fellows, professors, and teacher assistants, who supported us through every moment in class, from our very first introductory lecture to the presentation of our final projects. They helped us understand class lectures, answered question after question, and remained patient and supportive through it all; for all that we’ve learned from our professors and from each other, I hope that COSMOS has inspired you to want to know more. Personally, everyone in cluster nine has helped me immensely with learning about neural networks from the ground up, and our shared nonsensical jokes and strong cluster bond has made me look forward to spending each day with them. As we bid goodbye to our closest classmates, supporters, and friends today, remember all of the memories that you share and all that you’ve learned from each other that will linger long after tomorrow comes.
Being here at COSMOS has pushed many of us to venture out of our comfort zones, whether it be learning to do your own laundry, riding the typhoon on the Santa Cruz boardwalk, or asking for help in class. While you may have been frustrated when you weren’t able to fully understand the class material or accidently paid for the wrong washing machine, this month has been an opportunity for us to learn and grow with the support of each other. Thank you to everyone who tried something new, like the Macrocosm newsletter team, who weren’t afraid to push through the uphill battle of establishing the first ever UCSC COSMOS student run newsletter. While life at COSMOS most definitely wasn’t always smooth sailing, we thrived through it all, learning valuable lessons along the way. And truly, we couldn’t have done it all without each other.
I’m sure that my fellow students would agree that what made this experience special was the people that we were surrounded by; waiting in long lines in the dining hall or participating in various evening activities has given me the opportunity to connect with new friends that I might never have met otherwise. Your friends here at COSMOS have seen you stressing over your final project, half asleep at breakfast, and downing instant ramen like Chonky the Squirrel-- yet they love and support you anyways.
As we head off to lead our separate lives, I hope that this brief intersection of our life journeys has made a lasting impact to all of you; and that years from now, you’ll remember the sense of community that COSMOS has fostered in all of us, and can genuinely say that you are proud and grateful for having become a member of this community. When we meet our family members today, we might ask if we look any different, taller, stronger, or tanner, but it’s only been four short weeks since we parted and on the outside, we might look exactly as we did a month ago. But something inside of me has definitely changed for the better from this experience, and I hope that you can all say the same.
Thank you!
Allie Huang
Cluster 9