College Blog! Get to know me :)

The sole purpose of this specific new blog is for college.

I've created and dedicated a blog for YOU - yes, the college admissions committee - to check out, hopefully to gain a better spectrum of what I've done, who I am and who I plan on becoming! On this blog, there will be various pictures and documents. Topics covered will be ranging from school essays on novels to lab reports from AP Bio to pictures from my internship to photos of projects I've made.

Things I Love

Top: My yellow labrador Yoda, my sister
Bottom: Math, beach (where I currently live), Flamin' Hot Cheetos (always tasty)

AP Biology - Laboratory Book

In my AP Biology class, we did various labs to integrate our knowledge of bio with experimentation to get a broader understanding of concepts learned from the textbook. One of the most prominent labs we did was the Vertebrates and Invertebrates lab. My lab group dissected a crayfish, grasshopper and cat.

cat dissection - mouth

thoracic cavity of cat & heart

invertebrates

crayfish & grasshopper

AP Biology - Formal Lab

We also learned how to format a lab, so it was typed, professional and in standard lab format. Here we did the Potato-Enzyme lab where we measured the effects of changes in temperature and enzyme concentration on reaction rates of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction.

Animal Dissection

In my AP Biology class during 11th grade, we did a vertebrate dissection. Most kids got a small rat or bird, but my partner and I chose the cat. We learned about the muscular, skeletal & digestive systems. It was rad.

Beauty of Art - Musical, Artistic, Creative

In addition to sports and books, I enjoy art. Whether it's musical art by playing the piano or visual through drawing, I love enriching the world with more beauty.

Some of my favorite piano songs include "Prelude in C Major," "Moonlight Sonata," some Disney songs, "Titanic Theme Song" & "A Thousand Miles." I also enjoy collaging in my room - ticket stubs, pictures of places, tags, quotes, brochers, posters, etc.

Favorite Books

Some favorite books:

• “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" - Eggars
• “The Millennium Trilogy" - Steig Larsson
• "Infinite Jest" – David Foster Wallace
• “Blink" and “The Tipping Point” - Gladwell
• "Catch-22" - Hellers
• "The Bell Jar" - Plath
• "The Brain That Changes Itself" - Doidge
• “One Hundred Years of Solitude” - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• "Sense and Sensibility" – Jane Austen
• “The Time Traveler’s Wife” - Niffenegger
• “White Noise” by DeLillo
• “The Glass Castle” by Walls
• "A Portrait of a Young Man as an Artist" by Joyce
  

UCSD Math 20C

This fall I took a UCSD mathematics course on multivariable calculus to extend my learning. I got to experience both the lecture-style teaching and fast pace of college. Whether it was learning about vectors, polor coordinates or ititerated integrals, my brain got to relish in the world of numbers :)

An Essay on Fubini's Theorem

By: Erica Lee

When I taught my sister how to solve for a variable’s answer when given two simple equations, I realized how philosophical math could be. By teaching her a method of substitution - putting “x” in terms of “y,” solving for “y,” then getting “x” – I realized that there were multiple ways of getting an answer.

A more complex version of this substitution strategy is derived from Fubini’s theorem, which I recently learned in my UCSD calc class. Fubini's theorem computes double integrals by allowing the order of integration to be changed.

By being able to switch the “x,” “y” and “z” variables when I tediously solved the equations, I came to the realization that in life – just like math - one can take different routes to find the same solutions. The answers to life are not always easily accessible, but for those who pursue them often find them rewarding.

Internship at Harvard

This August, I went to Harvard School of Public to study science. Whether it was epigenetics or stem cells or impromptu lectures on Physics, I got to learn from the lab environment. I also
visited main Harvard's campus, the Science & Widener library, Medical School, etc.

Life Motto

"Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you." - Emerson

An essay on my life's philosophy: freewill
By: Erica Lee

I would have never guessed that I’d based my life off of a chocolate Nutella sandwich and a Hebrew word. Well, at least a major part of it. Anyway, back in elementary school I would wake up with confidence, knowing that my mom had packed my favorite chocolate Nutella sandwich snuggly into my backpack. While everyone else sported PB&Js and turkey subs, I faithfully munched on my Nutella sandwich, ravenously biting into the tender pieces of bread that were glued together by the rich chocolate spread.

Boston, Massachusettes

Summer Trip to the East Coast

Top to Bottom:

- flight to Boston, my dorm #233, Emmanuel College where I stayed

- Quincy Market, North End (Mike’s Pastry), tallest building of city

- Rufus Wainwright Concert, Boston Opera House, Penguins from NE Aquarium

- Museum of Fine Arts, paintings, Granary Burial Grounds

- Fenway Park: Soxs vs. Indians, Park Street Station

- Duck Tours, Charles River, me on a boat

- Harvard Museum of Natural Science & Peabody Museum, Museum of Science exhibits