Stevens Admissions: Katie's Blog

Surfing!

San Diego is home to the top (#1 and #2) surfing beaches in the country. But I went to neither of those my first time out. I found a quiet little cove with waves just big enough to learn on. And I loved it! It's SOOO much fun. The water is too cold in the Pacific Ocean to go in without a wetsuit, but once you have one on, you barely notice the temperature. The waves just kept coming at me - I never had to sit around and wait for the perfect chance. Instead, I was continuously jumping back on my board to try and try again. And I did succeed!  I can now officially stand up and surf! Not for very long, and not on very big waves, but I can do it :)  I look forward to many more surfing experiences while I am here on the west coast during my amazing co-op.       

ACE

I have spent the past 2 days in an ACE training session for work.  ACE is the Operating System that Hamilton Sundstrand, as well as the rest of UTC, uses.  It was so much fun.  We spend two days at a hotel running through different types of tools that the company uses to measure metrics and solve problems. 

By the time I leave my co-op job this semester, I will be fully certified as an ACE Associate, which will be GREAT once I start applying for jobs later on :)

Farmers Market

Farmers Markets are really common out here.  On Sunday I ventured out to the local Farmers Market in my neighborhood expecting to see a few tents set up with some people selling fruits and veggies.  Boy was I wrong.  There were SOOO many booths, with so many different types of foods.  The majority of them were even giving out samples!  I got try try foods that I had never even heard of before.  There was every thing from fruits, veggies, dipping sauces, homemade pastas, freshly made smoothies, vegan desserts, dried meats, etc.  It was so nice just to spend an afternoon strolling around my neighborhood sampling the local cuisine.  California sure is showing me a good time :)

 

Roller Derby

Apparently Roller Derby is a big thing out here.  This past weekend a friend took me to go see the San Diego Derby Dolls match up against a team from Los Angeles.  It was such a cool expirience.  I didn't know the rules of Roller Derby, so it took some time to get used to - but it was all very cool.  The girls on the teams looked so intense, but it looked like they were having a blast as well.  

It all boiled down to the last 'jam' which is just the last round.  It was a very close match (or as they call them, bouts) and the San Diego home team ended up losing by only a few points. 

It was such a cool expirience to learn about a sport that you rarely hear about on the east coast.  It is such a common thing out here I may just want to give it a try!