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Week 1: Welcome!

To start, thank you for stopping by and checking out my very first post on this blog. The last time I kept a blog was 6 years ago, back in middle school. I attended a STEM program where I worked on numerous hands-on, collaborative projects pertaining to engineering and the arts. Some of my favorite projects included building earthquake-proof shelters and spaghetti bridges, where my team and I received many acclamations. Shoutout to Ms. Garcia for encouraging her students to keep a weekly blog. I wish I had done something to preserve my work back then so that I could still look back on it. Maybe I should email this blog to her (updated 10/19/24: maybe I should clean things up first).

Anyway, you're probably here today to check out my work as a Fung Fellow at UC Berkeley! In some ways, starting up a blog again is extremely bittersweet to me. Will I get the chance to relive my experiences as a collaborative and innovative middle schooler? We'll see. To be honest, the Fellowship doesn't have too many raving reviews from past students (as documented by some very brutal Reddit posts), but I am willing to give it a chance anyway. 

Currently, I am a junior at UC Berkeley finishing up my major in Public Health and hoping to start my secondary major in Data Science (CS61B is kicking my butt). I also recently took a Health Policy and Management class, which I found really interesting, so I want to try and fit in a minor in Public Policy too. 

I applied to the Fung Fellowship in part because I was seeking the thrill and collaborative spirit of my middle school years. I don't think I have found an experience as striking ever since. The Fellowship promises opportunities and tools to develop an idea, synthesize a prototype, and engage with community organizations to solve issues relating either to Conservation or Health. The best part? It promises opportunities to develop my technical and entrepreneurial skillsets. 

My first week at Fung consisted of an 8-hour orientation on a Saturday morning at the Jacobs' Institute of Design and Innovation. I can't believe I was trekking up a hill at 8:45am, but I guess I'll be doing that for the rest of the year in the fellowship. I am part of the Health and Innovation track. So far, I have made many new friends, both far and near (in the sense that I recognize familiar faces from my major's coursework and we tend to bond over our academic struggles). I am excited but also nervous for this opportunity because I am doubtful of my capabilities to balance all of this work. However, growth doesn't happen in the comfort zone! So it's time for me to branch out a little bit. I'll see you soon for my next update :)

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