A Day Not Soon Forgotten

Before today, when I was looking forward earlier this week, I was going to begin my blog like this, "When you are in the midst of your day, it feels as if the day is a never ending cycle of events; until you realize that is is already Friday." I wrote that not because I'm not enjoying myself or unsatisfied with my daily events, I wrote it because the days, quite simply, feel very long. But today there is nothing to complain about. I have had the most fun today than I have had since coming to Columbia, not that Columbia isn't fun.

Today started just like the four previous to it, routine style. Jackee and I met for breakfast and then went to class. In lecture today Professor Mesznik discussed the history of loans and the use of collateral. A major part of the lecture was that, in America, today's mortgages are loans that are backed by the collateral of real estate. Before today I really didn't understand what a mortgage was and how it worked. In seminar, we mainly discussed money. Money is anything that is generally accepted as a medium of exchange. Money simply is a means of payment, a store of value, and a unit of account. The value of money is endowed by its government.

We pose in front of the ladder to success.

At 4:15 I met with Mrs. L and my cohort for the daily meeting. Today instead of talking about our days, we met the director of the summer course program. We each introduced ourselves individually and talked briefly about our class and our experiences. He is a very nice man and I think he was impressed by everything we had to say. Because, as he said, he usually only interacts with students that are about to be expelled, he seemed refreshed by being able to see the other side of the spectrum of students.

 Because its Friday, curfew is midnight rather than 11:00, and it's Friday, my friend from class, Jackee, and I decided to go on the RA trip to the Metropolitan Museum. This museum is jaw-dropping and breath-taking and amazing in every way. Before going I knew that I was in for a treat and that I would enjoy myself but I really wasn't sure what to expect. My mind was blown. Not only is this museum huge, it has all different kinds of art from all over the world, more than you would ever want to see. I greatly enjoyed myself.

At the Met, I fell in love. I walked into the Nineteenth-Century European Painting gallery and was instantly mesmerized by Pierre-Auguste Cot's painting Springtime. This painting depicts to young people on a swing in the forest. Based on their body language and facial expressions, I believe, that they are greatly in love. True young love. This painting is how Romeo and Juliet should have ended. I love the painting so much that I bought a print.

Springtime

Along with Springtime I was able to see original Picasso's, Monet's, and Manet's; I was in heaven. Jackee and I also toured the featured exhibit of Punk: Chaos to Couture which was really interesting. At this exhibit you had the chance to analyze punk fashion and how it evolved over the years. It was fun to compare their crazy fashion statements to today's fashion. We were also able to visit the Roof Garden which is an open area at the top of the Met. From here you had a gorgeous view of the city. When leaving the museum we quickly walked through the Greek area. Other than the European Renaissance/Impressionist paintings, the Greek area has to be one of my favorite places. In the Disney animated movie Hercules there are these black and orange vases and pots; the real ones are in the Met. It was pretty surreal to see these things in real life. I love art museums and I rarely have the chance to go. Although I am not an artist myself, I definitely can appreciate art and the Met is the best place to do so. 

Jackee and I at the Roof Garden

At one of the transfer stops on the Subway on our way back to Columbia, we saw Anne Hathaway! She is even more beautiful in person. I think she was doing an interview for an upcoming movie. I'm not sure. Whatever she was doing, I have no idea why they chose to do it down in the hot Grand Central Subway station. 

Anne Hathaway!!

After this long day full of excitement, wonders, beauty, and surprises, I came back to my dorm to relax with my suite mates. I love New York City. I have only just begun to peel back the skin of the city and really explore and relish in the beauty and fun it has to offer. If I don't come back here for school, which I would love to do, I will definitely visit and create new unforgettable memories.

We Meet The Met

After experiencing my first East Coast thunderstorm of the year yesterday night, I woke up to bright sunlight shining through my window. I was excited for the day ahead. Not only were we going to discuss free speech in class, but we also planned to go to the Met after class.

Today during class we discussed three cases having to do with the rights of free speech. These cases emphasized the progression of the law overtime and how wartime affects the freedom of citizens. The three cases, which we discussed, took place during World War I and emphasized the state of panic which man felt due to the treat of communism. In each case, the justices based their rulings of off the idea that speech that will result in harm of others is not protected by free speech. These three cases really illustrated the progression of the law during the early 20^th century.

In the second section of class, our discussion focused on political philosophy and the extent to which speech is protected in the constitution. There are several different rules that decide if speech is protected under the constitution. Furthermore, there are several principles, which have been developed to argue towards or against the protection of speech. For example, under a certain principle any speech regarding science is constitutional because without freedom of speech in science progression of science would be limited.

After class, we had the opportunity to meet up with the head of the Columbia summer programs. We introduced ourselves to him and told him about the wonderful experiences we are having at Columbia. After the brief meeting, we took a picture and then headed to the Met.

After a surprisingly large amount of subway transfers, we arrived at Central Park and entered the Met. Usually I am not much a museum person, but the Met was absolutely amazing. The architecture of the building alone was breath taking, but the art inside was even better. We saw everything from the new Punk Exhibit to the permanent Egyptian art exhibit. The Met was truly spectacular. I can’t wait to see if other museums in New York are just as amazing. 

Meeting the Director

After a long week of getting used to college life and meeting a lot of new and amazing friends, Friday had finally arrived. The road to this day had not been easy at all and really involved a complete change of lifestyle for me. Not only did I have to become accustomed to the level of academics that my class was teaching me, but also the whole college aspect of being on your own and independent. Over this last week I have had to change my life immensely to conform it to college life.

The day seemed to start off very differently compared to all the other days during my stay here. Unlike our suite's usual schedule of eating together for breakfast, we all chose to sleep in a bit longer and skip eating. Thankfully, earlier in the week, we had bought some food to keep in the kitchen inside the common room, for necessities such as this. Once we were all ready we headed out to our classes.

My professor was still out for the day and therefore we once again had a substitute instructor. During both sessions we went over the specifics and the extent of the freedom of speech clause in the first amendment. The instructor went over the scope of what is and is not protected under the freedom of speech clause. I found this lesson particularly interesting because the instructor linked the lesson to how far we are able to go with freedom of speech in secondary schools.



Group photo with the director of the program



After the end of the evening session, we had to meet at Lewisohn Hall, which is conveniently located a few buildings away. We were supposed to meet there because we were going to meet the director of the entire high school program here at Columbia. I will admit, I was a bit nervous meeting such an important figure to my experience here at Columbia. However, I was confident in my abilities to speak to new people and especially people of such high importance. This is all thanks to the communications skills that I have gained from the ILC program.

When we went up to the directors office, we all waited until he became unoccupied. Eventually, he came out and politely invited us all in. Once there, we each took turns saying our names and giving some information about the experiences we have had so far in the program. I talked about how this program has helped me with my time management and organization skills. Also I described the amount of different cultures I have been able to learn about thanks to the many people I have met during my stay here.

After we concluded with the session, we took a group photo and then proceeded back to the front of the building where Ms. L had important information to tell us. She gave us detailed information on the plan for tomorrow and when we would need to be at the gathering point tomorrow morning. Aside from that she gave us all money to get food over the weekend and explained the cataloging process we had in order to keep track of our expenditures.

After the meeting concluded, I headed back to my dorm. Unfortunately , my suitemates had left for SoHo a bit earlier and I therefore missed the opportunity to join. In retrospect, however, I feel like even though I did not go on many excursions this past week, I did successfully manage to get ahead in my class and get closer to my suitemates. I do plan on doing absolutely as much as I can with the little time I still have left here, and will certainly be exploring New York City in much greater detail. I hope, that by the time I leave, I will have been able to fully comprehend the beauty of NYC and the rich and lush culture that lies behind it.

Me and my very diverse suitemates

I still can not believe that it has already been one full week into this adventure. It feels like only yesterday that I was waking up and heading to El Cerrito High School to await the shuttle that would take us to the airport. I have met, so far, many significant people and I feel that I am a better educated person now. I only have a small amount of time here, but I will certainly make the most of it while I still can.

White House Discussions and Meetings

It was our first Friday at Columbia today! The week has been going fast but slow at the same time. I feel as though I have been here for weeks now, not just one week.  I feel like I have lived in this dorm, ate this food, and been friends with these people for weeks upon weeks. We have all opened up so much and it's so surprising how living together can do this to someone.  This makes me really excited to actually go to a college where I will dorm in and meet all those new people as well.  I think meeting new people is a really daunting task but it's also a whole lot of fun! 

Today we met someone new in my American Presidential Powers course.  Our professor invited a former White House employee to speak to us about life in politics.  He covered topics like presidential campaigns, advertising, and also working in the White House. I never would have thought there were so many different aspects of politics. I mean, I knew that there was but no one really gives any thought to it.  I actually find all these aspects of presidential campaigns very interesting.  There are so many details that go into forming campaigns and making advertisements that the average person does not notice or think of. 

Once classes were over, we went to meet with the director of the high school summer program at Columbia! We were able to speak to him about ourselves, our classes and what we were doing right now. It was really nice to meet him because I doubt I would ever meet him otherwise. He a very nice man, but I know he can be strict as well since he does deal with expulsions.  After the meeting we had a short meeting with Mrs. L about our tour of NYU and then we were off to our dorms. Some of the cohort went to the Met, while the rest of us lounged around the campus. 

 I had originally planned to go to Soho but we decided to take it easy and walk around the campus.  We sat in the grass even though it was humid and sticky.  All of my hall mates are so easy to talk to, and we talk about the most random things.  We talk about different countries, accents, and we bond over these things. I feel like I have known every one here for so long even though it has been less than a week.  I have met people from France, Russia, Poland, Hong Kong, Korea, Sweden, Colombia, and so many other countries! They all have special places in my heart already and they have made me more comfortable talking to others.  We all started off as strangers but now we are the closest of friends!

The Met

The first Friday of the trip was bittersweet. It means we're almost a third of the way through the class so far, but also hey - TGIF! Today was a good day all around, class was fun, food was good and my after class experience was enjoyable as well.

In class today we discussed yesterday's article - which was about the dispute over whether Lincoln actually violated the constitution. I found the article interesting - it was not as easy to interpret as the day before - there seemed to be a multitude of arguments presented in the article and though the author presented a thesis early on, his position seemed to evolve and new arguments were presented. In class, Professor Porwancher addressed the different ways of interpreting the constitution, which brought about a lot of thought on how Lincoln may have personally interpreted the constitution. The article also discussed the possibility that Lincoln actually regarded the Declaration of Independence as the primary document of reference when considering how the founders wanted the country to be governed. The bottom line of the discussion today was promoted by the (not rhetorical) question our professor asked us - how can we really know what our subject was thinking? This is something I will have to keep in mind when doing my research. 

After the discussion a guest speaker, who had worked on Hillary Clinton and then Barack Obama's campaigns came to speak to us. We learned a bit about what it's like inside the White House, and what sort of things went into making a campaign work. At the end of class we split into groups and designed our own ads. I think it's interesting how strong the focus on politics is in our class, because I totally expected it to be a history class. 

After class I went to the Met with some of my classmates and suitemates. At first I was a little skeptical about spending 4 hours in an art museum, but my friend Claire and I spent 2 hours alone wandering around the European painting exhibit. I was unfortunately unable to see everything in the Met (not even close). 

Finally at night I had a great bonding session with both my group of suite-mates and the girls down the hall. We talked about our high points and low points and everybody was very bubbly and funny the whole time. 

A Day of Luck!

Today's class saw us looking into a couple freedom of speech related cases. The frist case was Schenk v. United States. It involved a man named Schenk, leader of the socialist party in Philadelphia  who was charged with trying to incite insubordination within the military under the Espionage Act of 1917. Oliver Wendell Holmes gave the unanimous opinion of the court. The court decided that because the pamphlets (which urged resistance to the draft because it violated the 13th Amendment) were sent to men who had been drafted, Schenk had the intent to cause insubordination. We discussed at length different methods of monitoring when speech should be illegal, including the bad tendency test and the clear and present danger test. Under the bad tendency test any speech that intends on causing illegal actions is in itself illegal. In Schenk v. United States, Holmes used this method to rule against Schenk. However, Holmes developed a new method, the clear and present danger test, in a later ruling in Abrams v. United States. In this case Abrams was charged, but justices Holmes and Brandeis dissented. Abrams was charged with trying to incite a revolution of workers within the United States to protest the US involvement in the Russian Revolution. In his dissent, Holmes declares that the intent of the papers was to support the revolutionaries, not to incite violence within the US. He also believed that because Abrams was an unknown publisher with a "silly paper", no one would likely listen to him so he posed no clear and present danger to the security of the United States.

Before we left for our excursions we had a meeting with the director of the high school programs at Columbia. We all introduced ourselves and told him a little bit about what we though about the program thus far. He seemed genuinely excited to hear how much we were enjoying the program and he took a nice photo with us afterwards.

In the evening after class I went on an RA sponsored trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. On the subway ride there I made new friends with a girl named Melody who is also in my Constitutional Law class. As the 1 train rolled down to 42nd street we got a surprise dance show on the train by a few kids playing "Moves like Jagger" by Maroon 5. It was certainly entertaining and made the train ride seem shorter. As we slowly made our way to Met I realized just how gigantic the whole museum atually was. It extends for hundreds of yards down the side of Central Park with its iconic stone pillars all around it. I walked with Melody throughout the museum covering the classic Greek and Egyptian art exhibits to the Civil War in photography  and the Arms and Armor exhibits. Finally we took the elevator to the top of the Met to visit the rooftop garden. We were lucky because they had literally just reponed the garden when we arrived due to a party that had been happening earlier. The roof provided a stunning view of the tops of the trees in Central Park and an incredible view of the skyline of the city. I took some fantastic photos and was finally ready to return back to the dorm.

But the day was not over yet. In fact the highlight of my day was yet to come. As we arrived at Grand Central Station to transfer to the S line, we noticed lines of people along the walkways taking photos. We all rushed over to see what the commotion was about. It turned out Anne Hathaway was filming a movie in the subway tunnels! We all stood around like the annoying paparazzi we tell ourselves we would never become, and took photos of her. When the train came we piled into the window seats so we could keep photographing. She laughed when she saw all the people shoving their faces and cameras against the windows to take her picture, but when she saw me waving at her, SHE WAVED BACK! Probably one of the more exciting things that has happened to me, and a moment I will not soon forget. Today was a fantastic day full of surprises and I am excited to visit NYU and the 9/11 memorial tomorrow.

The World Through Economics

Other than my after class excursion, today went along like any other day; and when I say 'any other day', I mean  the past three days. A routine has definitely set in. Other than lecture and seminar topics, and today's outing, nothing special or out of the ordinary happened. 

After meeting with my cohorts and Mrs. L, two of my suite-mates Emmi and Alicia, my friend from class Jackee, and I went to Times Square. To get there we took a cab and split the fare. It was an astonishing experience that hasn't really sunken in yet. I was in Times Square, New York (across the country from home) with a couple of other teenage girls and we were just roaming around and enjoying the city. I feel like I've been productive because I was able to get some souvenir shopping done.

My afternoon excursion.

In lecture today Professor Mesznik discussed such things as financial collapse, bonds, and shares. This is all pretty interesting but it is all a little confusing. I understand the simple gist of the point he is trying to make but I don't really understand everything. I have never studies econ before! So all of the vocabulary and the concepts (many of which make sense after you think about them for a while) are completely new to me.

 In seminar, Meiping, the TA, discussed international trade. In this she talked about how countries will produce and export the products that they are most efficient at producing and that make the most profit. Even if the country is more efficient at producing a product that they import from another country, they will put their resources into the highest profiting product. With this she also discussed the comparative value of different currencies and how this factors into trade. For example, if a country's currency worth less than  that of another country, the other country can import more product for less money.

As far as work I have to put into the class goes, it is relatively easy. There is not much work other than reading, but there is a lot of reading.

I sit in my classes and realize how grateful I am to be here and to take this course. I again thank the ILC, the WCCUSD, the donors, and the supporters of this program. Even though an Intro to Business, Finance, and Economics really doesn't sound interesting, it is. This class presents how the world works and cooperates with itself from and economic point-of-view. Everything that I learn in this course will be applicable in the real world. Although I don't understand the specific mechanics of it all, anything I gain from this course is helpful.