What I learnt from the study trip of UCB

---- Hetong Gao, 2016 Biology Class, Cuiying Honors College

The University of California, Berkeley is a public research university inBerkeley,California. Founded in 1868, Berkeley is theflagship institutionof the ten research universities affiliated with theUniversity of Californiasystem. Since its establishment, Berkeley has instructed over 40,000 students in approximately 350 undergraduate andgraduate degreeprograms covering a wide range of disciplines.

I remembered that it was a freezing cold night when we arrived at University of California, Berkeley at first time, but the officers were so warm-hearted and my new roommates were so nice that at least I didn’t feel lonely and upset for my first study trip abroad. The officers were always smiling when I asked them questions and they would be always patient to solve my problems. Every time I turned back to my dormitory, I could always receive the warm greetings from my dear roommates, like ‘how’s your day’ or ‘wanna some fruits?’. So spending my six weeks there was really a moved experience.

About the campus

    The Berkeley campus is really a huge area. It encompasses approximately 1,232 acres (499 ha), though the "central campus" occupies only the low-lying western 178 acres (72 ha) of this area. Of the remaining acres, approximately 200 acres (81 ha) is occupied by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Other facilities in the main campus include the Lawrence Hall of Science and several research units, notably the Space Sciences Laboratory, the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, an undeveloped 800-acre (320 ha) ecological preserve, the University of California Botanical Gardenand a recreation center in Strawberry Canyon. Portions of the mostly undeveloped, eastern area of the campus are actually within the City of Oakland. These portions extend from the Claremont Resortnorth through the Panoramic Hillneighborhood to Tilden Park.

One of the cognizable symbols of UCB should be the Sather Tower, I think. It is a campanile (clock tower), with clocks on its four faces. Once I went to the top of the tower, I was really shocked and surprised as the tower was so tall that I could even see the outline of Golden Gate Bridge.

About study

It was free to choose what you want to take in summer school, so I thought it would be better to choose one that is related to my major—biology, and another that matches my interest. Therefore, I chose Introduction to Human Physiology and Entertainment Law, the former for my major and the latter for my interest. The life there was totally different from what I imagined before. Originally I thought it would be a kind of relaxation so that I could travel everywhere, but the lab reports and assignments of Introduction to Human Physiology were too much to finish them on time. Also, we must design and complete an experiment on our own in every group, and introduce what we have done and what we have achieved from the experiment to other students at the end of the semester using PowerPoint. In the Entertainment

Law class, I’m the only one whose major is Biology which has nothing to do with the entertainment or the law. There are many more local students than Chinese students in this class, so it’s a bit of hard to communicate with them at the very beginning. But no matter how awful my spoken English is, they could always get what I was trying to say. And fortunately, some Chinese students whose major is Law were always willing to help me and give me a lot of useful suggestions on how to learn this stuff better. From what they told and what the professor taught to us, I could not only understand what kind of the law system is in United States, how it was established step by step and those important concepts and rules, like copyright, infringement, fair use and the right to privacy and so on, but also basically know the differences between the rules in China and in United States. It was so nice to meet these guys, as they did not discriminate me because of my major, but instead praised my courage to choose this course.

About our life

The most impressive part of the days in UCB is the weather. Although the temperature

there was always low, the warm sunshine could make a great balance. Because the Entertainment Law began in the morning, I had to get up early to catch up with the class. In every beautiful morning with the class, I would buy an apple croissant and a cup of hot milk when I dropped by Sheng Ji Bakery, which is run by some Chinese from Guangzhou province. Then I would sit on the bench which is in front of the Dwinelle Hall enjoying the cool wind, the green trees, the warm sunshine and of course the delicious breakfast. Several squirrels would appear to ask for food every time I finished a half of my bread, and some of them even put their feet on my shoes. “God they are so cute.” I never saw this in Lanzhou University even though there are also some squirrels in the campus. Of course, I would share my breakfast with these special friends.

After moving into the Davidson Hall in Unit 2, there are so many parties held in every week, which was a good chance to make a lot of friends from different countries, different areas and different schools. Antonio, with whom I met in Karaoke night, was one of them, and by the way, he is my best foreign friend now. I always remember how happy we were when we were singing Hey Jude, dancing in Shape of You, having dinner in a Louisiana restaurant which he loves best together. Also, those things about our study, our countries, our differences, our hobbies, our life and our future that we talked in that cool but comfortable afternoon would never get out of my mind.

Here’s what I attained from the study trip in UC Berkeley, Short but unforgettable. If there are any chances, I would try my best to come here again, as it’s the place where so many memories were left. Standing in front of the Sather Gate, “Bye Berkeley, I’m gonna miss you guys”!