Stevens Admissions: Katie's Blog

National Zoo: Washington DC

This past weekend I went to visit a good friend of mine, and a Stevens Alumni, in Washington DC.  I hopped on the bus after class on friday and I was in DC by 6pm.  I have never really spent much time in DC aside from middle school trips to the museums.  I was greatly surprised at how much DC has to offer.  I love how close Stevens is to NYC, it is such a great hub for weekend adventures!

 Being the animal lover that I am, I was super excited to go to the National Zoo.  It is run by the Smithsonian, and thus, its FREE!

 The park was beautiful with all the leaves just starting to change to fall colors.

  There were all sorts of animals out and about.  Elephants, Gorillas, Giant Pandas, Zebras, etc.  Some of my favorite animals were the smaller mammals who were kept inside for the warmth.  There are so many different types of monkeys.  I even saw a Howler Monkey.  (I once held a Howler Monkey in Panama, and since then I have been a little obsessed with them).

Check out some of the animals!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also got to see them feed the Giant Octopus!  (Hint: skip in to about 1:15)

 

Gamma Chi Chapter!

Theta Phi Alpha is now an official chapter at Stevens Institute of Technology! I'm so proud of all the hard work that these girls did over the past year in order to make it this far. Say hello to the third National Sorority at Stevens! Such a great opportunity for future women coming in to Stevens. While 35% of all Stevens students choose to go Greek, I think that it is especially empowering for women on campus to join. Being in the minority on campus, joining a sorority just makes us that much stronger! 

Boeing 787 Dreamliner

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner made a stop in San Diego last week as part of its tour.  Since Hamilton Sundstrand was a supplier for the airplane, they let employees take a tour of the airplane!  The 787 is made of one piece barrel construction, which means less weight, less drag, less maintenance and less fuel consumption.  It is a beautiful piece of machinery and it is amazing that my company played a part in making that happen!  Here are some pictures of the plane:

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!

Vegan Fast Food!!

So apparently in California, they have fast food places that are all natural/vegan!  I stumbled upon a fast food restaurant today (with a drive-through and all) that is strictly vegan!  I can't believe it.  They have all your expected fast food items - burgers, wraps, ice cream, even chili fries - except that everything on the menu is 100% vegan.  I am in love!

Balboa Park

 

My roomate and I just went on an 8 mile hike/walk/adventure through San Diego's Balboa Park.  It was incredible!  There were so many different changes in scenery.  First, there was a typical green grass park, then we dipped down into a drier canyon area.  We ended up in an even dryer area filled with all different types of cactus plants.  I didn't even know that some of them existed!  There were cactus trees, cactus bushes, big ones, little ones, etc.  

We ended up going through a rose garden (although all the roses are out of season) and then through the museum section of the park.  We walked behind the back of the Air and Space museum and through this museum village called the internation cottages.  These cottages are all designated countries and maintained by citizens of each coutry so they really represent how living in such countries would be.  

There was so much to learn in the park just by walking around it.  I still have so much to learn about this city!

Friends :)

I am so excited!  One of my friends from Stevens joined the Marines and is stationed about 4 hours north of me in California.  I haven't seen him in almost a year but today he is driving down to San Diego!  

I love the bonds that I have made in my time at Stevens Institute of Technology.  Attending a school of a little over 2,000 undergraduate students, you really get to know so many people.  Freshman year, I honestly felt as if I knew everyone in my class year. If not by name, I could at least recognize them around campus.  We are such a close-knit campus, and I wouldn't change that for anything. :)