During the summer of my sophomore year, I transferred from Northeastern University and attended Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York. Transitioning to a new school was difficult. However, by meeting new individuals in class as well as taking part in extracurricular activities, I immediately found my place at this school. Below are several of the activities I have been a part of throughout my time at Stony Brook.

Vascular Simulations

During the Fall 2016 semester, I was a part-time intern at the company, Vascular Simulations at the Stony Brook University Hospital. This company utilizes a replicator, which is a device that mimics the cardiovascular system. In order to better understand the process of blood flow in the cardiovascular system, blood mimicking fluid known as Replicator Fluid is utilized within the Replicator. As an intern, my job was to determine if certain substances helped the Replicator Fluid obtain a viscosity that was similar to that of blood. I achieved this by adding different concentrations of these substances and determining their effect on the fluid’s viscosity using a rheometer. This was the first time I conducted an independent study project and followed a procedure on my own. It was difficult in the beginning and I had to ask my supervisor many questions. However, as the project continued, I managed to answer many of my own questions by looking up certain terms I did not understand and spending a great deal of time thinking about the questions. At the end of the project, I wrote a report based on my experiment.

 

Philippine United Student Organization (PUSO)

I have been a member of the Philippine United Students Organization (PUSO) for about a year. PUSO is a collegiate organization at Stony Brook whose mission is to create a social environment, in which Filipino culture is advocated, discussed, and celebrated. I am in charge of assisting with event planning as well as general body meetings. In addition, I am a member of PUSO’s collegiate and competitive hip-hop dance branch, PUSO Modern. As a member of PUSO Modern, I am in charge of organizing practices, teaching choreography, and encouraging team collaboration. This year, I am on the PUSO Executive Board as the PUSO Modern Dance Chair. It is my job to be the liaison between PUSO and PUSO Modern, and to ensure that each group stays updated in regards to each other’s announcements and events. My position has allowed me to take initiative because I’ve used it as a way to meet new people in the organization and to make sure everybody feels welcome. Every time I see unfamiliar faces at the weekly meetings, I approach those people and strike conversations with them.