Becki's Video Introduction to the ECP Eagles Blog

Today in our Google Blog Class we're learning to take videos and post them to our blog. In my video I talk about the ECP Eagles Blog and why I love this class. Hope you like the video!

 

"No History No Self, Know History Know Self"

Hey Everyone! 
During my four years at UC Berkeley, I can confidently say I found myself. I'm Vietnamese American and I did not know much about my Vietnamese culture or history before I came to college. My parents are refugees, which means they fled from Vietnam due to fear of political persecution. Their experience immigrating to America was full of trauma and hardship, which lead to them not being too open about sharing their experience. Moreover, from Kindergarten through my 12th grade, I rarely learned about my history in the text book, all I learned was that there was a war in Vietnam and that was it.  


When I attended Berkeley, I was given the chance to take some courses, and I chose to take Asian American Studies courses. Through these classes I learned more about my culture and history. I can honestly say Asian American Studies coures were my favorite classes and they changed me as a person because they helped me realize why I grew up the way I did, and what my parents had to go through just to reach America. I gained a deeper understanding about myself and that is why the title of my post is story "No History No Self, Know History Know Self", because I believe that if I didn't learn my history, I wouldn't really know myself today. 


Thus, when you all get to college. You have the choice as well to take courses to learn more about your history and culture or other people's history and culture. There is a major that actually focuses on learning about stories, histories, struggles and triumphs of people of color. It's called Ethnic Studies, and that was one of my majors at UC Berkeley. 

Study Abroad During College!

One of my (Anna) favorite parts of college was studying abroad. This meant that I got to go take classes and live in different cities outside of the U.S. I got to take new classes, meet new people, learn new cultures, see new sites, and become more independent. At first it might feel kind of scary to be going so far away from friends and family, but seizing the opportunity to take the challenge and push my boundaries has helped me immensely in my life. Onto the fun stuff.....

The first place I studied abroad was Venice, Italy. This city is known for its art, art history, food, and canals going through the city instead of asphalt streets. There are no cars in Venice -- you take boats, called gondolas, everywhere!

Here is a picture of a gondola and a gondolier (the name of a gondola driver). 

In Venice I took classes with students from different colleges all over the U.S. and we studied Art History. Instead of learning about the famous paintings from pictures in a textbook, we got to see the masterpieces in person -- made learning way more fun!!!

Next, I traveled to Sydney, Australia to live and study for the fall semester of my junior year. Sydney is a lot like San Francisco in that it is near the beach, has a bay with a landmark bridge, and people spend a lot of time outdoors. While I was here, I travelled throughout Australia on my own and with friends and gained a lot of independence and self-confidence that has helped me as an adult. I took classes in Global Politics and History that were not offered to me back at Duke, my primary college at home. 

 I recommend studying abroad if you can while you are in college -- its an experience that lasts a lifetime!  

Here is a picture of the famous chapel at Duke Univeristy, just for fun!

The best time of your life = college!

As Jill and Becki pointed out below, going to college is an awesome experience. It's a time in your life when you get to learn new subjects, meet new people, and maybe most importantly, you learn about yourself. Being a college student means different things for different students. A common theme is choices: you get to chose which college or university you want to attend, the subject you want to major in, and you even get to choose how you will spend your day. For me, however, things were a little different.

I was a student-athlete for 4 years at the University of San Francisco. I received a full scholarship to play basketball at USF. My hard work and dedication to being the best basketball player I could be throughout the years allowed this to happen. I majored in Communications and minored in Business. My day was more structured than most college students because I had a number of commitments each day including class, practice, weights, study hall, watching video, homework, etc. I was exhausted during those 4 years but I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to play basketball at a high level at a school like USF.

I received a great education, made lifelong friends, got to travel the world, and truly learned the value of teamwork. I look back on my college years with fond memories. My experiences and friendships at USF helped me get my job at Google. And I'm still able to play competitive basketball. The below picture is for my current club team. We're traveling to Las Vegas next week for a 4 day tournament. Wish us luck!

I had a great college experience and I feel like it's a gift that keeps on giving. I hope you get to experience something unique yourself.

College Opens the World to You

Jill's post about SMU was awesome! I really like how she stressed that in college, you get to study whatever you want. I studied English and Film at Dartmouth College and loved that I got to choose the courses that were relevant to my passions.

Dartmouth is part of the "Ivy League" and is one of the nine colleges founded before the American Revolution - which means it's actually older than America! 

One of the most valuable things that I learned at Dartmouth College was to make connections to the people around me and realize that I have a lot to learn from them. 

The people studying at a college really make that college what it is. Each person you'll meet in college is someone you have an opportunity to learn things from and teach things to.

Dartmouth is a small college in the woods of New Hampshire. Literally in the woods - from time to time, moose will run across the campus green! 

(The moose in the photo below is strolling through what we call "Mass Row".)

Because it's so small and secluded, you're kind of stranded on an island with the other students. At first, I didn't even realize I had preconceptions about people - that I unknowingly made assumptions about other students based on silly things - like they were in a sorority or played lacrosse or were from the Deep South. 

Since the College is so small, after a few months you're pretty much familiar with everybody else. Eventually, because you're all trapped together in the woods, you really get to know each other and realize how little you had interacted before. 

I made real friends with all kinds of people and learned to really give others a chance to share their perspective and ideas. I found that once I could really see where people were coming from, that they were much more open to my opinions and ideas. That outlook is actually a life skill - and if you have that respect for other people, you'll be better prepared for whatever career or projects you decide to take on in life.

Photo above from The Tabard Reunion, Summer 2010. The Tabard is like a co-ed fraternity house at Dartmouth. Becki is the one in the middle holding the flag.

Take me as an example - I got my job at Google through my good friend Sergio who went to Dartmouth. He's Polish and actually married my Jamaican friend Kimmy, who also went to Dartmouth. My two current roommates both went to Dartmouth, one of whom I helped get a job at Google. He's now marrying a Brazilian girl who works for Google and he's moving to Brazil. We're gonna need a new roommate, but luckily my friend Mukul (who's the brother of a Dartmouth friend) is applying for a job at Google and will move in with us if he gets it. (Fingers crossed!) 

Another girl on my team at Google also went to Dartmouth, and I think I know about 20 other people working at Google who studied at Dartmouth while I was there. That's an incredible network that's helped me continue to grow in my personal life and career many years after graduating college.

Thanks for reading my blog post!
*Becki

Jill's College Profile: Study What You Want!

What's the best part about college? You get to pick all of your classes!

Yes, you'll have to get a few basic requirements out of the way, but then your courses are based on what you'd like to learn. So start to pay attention to what school subjects you enjoy.

• Do you read extra pages in your history book? 
• Do you read websites about new technology? 
• Do you finish chapters and books before they're assigned in class? 
• Are you fascinated by earthquakes? 
• Do you enjoy cooking and learning new recipes? 
• Are you interested in how a car or train works?

Where you enjoy spending your time is usually a great place to start when thinking about what you'd like to study at college!

My name is Jill, and I studied advertising and sociology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. When I was in middle school and high school, I enjoyed drawing, writing and playing sports. Other careers I considered: architect, graphic designer, magazine editor.