Gmail notification: “COSMOS Application: Admitted”

“Congratulations! After a careful review of your academic accomplishments, extracurricular activities, statement of interest, and letters of recommendation, we are pleased to admit you to the 2025 COSMOS Program, Cluster 3: Climate Change at UC San Diego.”

As soon as I saw the pop-up email notification on my phone, I was thrilled and yelled to my sister, “I got admitted to COSMOS!” Thoughts of all the various activities I would immerse myself in the second I set foot on campus raced through my mind. 

Nearly two months had passed since I applied, and the memory of my submission had almost faded. One evening, during production night, I was actually celebrating my sister, last year’s web editor-in-chief, Seowon Han’s admission to UC Berkeley. About 30 minutes after her acceptance, I found out I was admitted to California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science [COSMOS] while standing outside Room 138. 

COSMOS is a residential summer camp offered by several University of California campuses — UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC San Diego and UC Santa Cruz — that allows students to explore advanced STEM topics.

The summer camp attracts intense competition for its rigorous courses, high number of applicants and limited spaces. When I was writing my application, I didn’t think much about the program’s competitiveness; rather, I focused on my passion and willingness to participate and learn. 

The application process required two essays, a statement of interest and teacher references. Surprisingly, completing the application wasn’t as tedious or stressful as I expected. I was able to complete essays in one sitting, and I asked my freshman Biology Honors teacher, Monet Taylor, for a teacher reference, which took me another day to complete the submission. Each student must also select one UC campus that offers the program and choose first-and second-choice clusters — groups specializing in a specific topic. After thoroughly reading all the descriptions of each cluster of every campus, I applied to the UC San Diego campus and Cluster 3: Climate Change. 

I remember watching “Octonauts” as a child with my tiny smartphone, and one episode about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch truly shocked me. The environmental impact my daily trash can cause sparked my interest, which motivated me to learn more about it. 

The program lasted four weeks, from July 6 to Aug. 1. All participants were randomly assigned dorm rooms in Argo Hall, on the south side of campus — first and second floor exclusive to boys, third floor mixed genders and the fourth and fifth floors for only girls. 

Upon arrival on campus on the opening day, July 6, I received a lanyard, room and dining cards and a lab coat. All of these welcoming items made me feel like I really deserved my place in the camp. 

I found out that my dorm was assigned on the fourth floor, and my family and I struggled up the stairs while carrying the heavy duffel bags, since the hall only had one sluggish elevator. We set up my room together and met my roommates, who greeted me with warm smiles. 

The regular classes started the next day. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, we had lectures in the morning and labs in the afternoon, while on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we would have science communication — learning about ethics and presentation skills — at Tata Hall and a project lab later. Walking to lectures and labs every day gave me a taste of real campus life. 

• 7:40 a.m. Breakfast
• 8:30 a.m. Morning Lecture/ Science Communication
• 11:30 a.m. Lunchtime
• 12:45 p.m. Lab/ Project Lab
• 4 p.m. Inside Time
• 6 p.m. Dinner Time
• 7:30 p.m. Evening Programs
• 9 p.m. Suite Time
• 11 p.m. Lights Out

During the weekends, some students had the choice to go home, remain on campus for field trips to University Town Center mall, Old Town and Carnival or spend time indoors. I stayed for the first weekend and went home for the next ones. 

I decided to do this because, unexpectedly, I felt homesick. When I left for COSMOS, I told my family, “I’ll be fine, I’ll spend time with my new friends there!” But, earlier than anticipated, I felt the urge to go home and shower in my own bathroom and sleep in my large bed. 

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I’d listen to lectures by professors Robert S. Pomeroy and Brian Leigh on greenhouse gas, renewable energy and aerosols for about three hours and learn about the labs I’ll do later. These long lessons weren’t always the most entertaining, but I was happy to learn new information about climate change. 

These classes taught me more about current climate change issues and their potential solutions, as well as the chemistry underlying the topic. They helped me think more about what I can do as an individual to protect the environment and use more renewable energy.

Outside of lectures, I ate lunch at 64 Degrees with my cluster friends. Options included Chinese food, pasta and burgers. 

On the first day, I loved eating all those different types of food — my favorite was the crispy chicken sandwich with curly fries on the side — but as weeks passed, I grew tired of those foods and craved my mom’s homemade meals.

After lunch, I’d complete the labs related to the topics I learned during the lecture. We did alkalinity, calcium, chlorinity, fluoride, nitrite, oxygen and salinity labs under the instruction of our lab teacher, George Anderson. 

During science communications on Tuesdays and Thursdays, teacher fellows, who supervise and instruct us during the camp, Mike Kurth of Cluster 3 and Tim Towler of Cluster 6, led activities about the ethics project and presentations. For the first two weeks, we broke into groups of four and created a project in which we presented an ethical dilemma related to climate change, providing solutions and different approaches. 

I was able to choose my group, and although I didn’t know them well at first, we became close friends as we worked together. 

These experiences helped with our project lab, which is an assignment that addresses environmental problems, presents a hypothesis and provides a solution. We chose from five different options — solar cell, one-pot-polyol, enzyme kinetics, seawater and biodiesel — and worked on it for the entire month.

The project lab included a final presentation, so the teacher fellows also taught us how to create compelling presentation visuals and develop public speaking skills over the last two weeks.

I chose the seawater project, in which I collected samples near the Scripps Pier at different locations and analyzed temperature, calcium, density, refractive index, oxygen, nitrite, salinity and alkalinity. I explored how small trends on a local scale can represent larger issues related to global-scale climate change. 

Although I had no choice in selecting my assignment since I was the last one to choose, I was glad to be part of the seawater project, as our group was the only one to visit the beach. 

I had fun times at the beach, as I got to see dolphins, jellyfish and large sand crabs. It’s been nearly three years since I went into the ocean, so as excitement rushed through my veins and overcame me, I ran along the shore, basking in my last couple of days at UC San Diego.

On the last day of the summer camp, our group gave a 12-minute presentation in front of our classmates, professors and parents. 

At first, I felt like a nervous wreck, thinking I was shaking during the presentation, but later my family told me I sounded clear and steady, so I was relieved.

Looking up at the audience was a challenge, but I overcame it by preparing and practicing repeatedly. Giving this presentation made me nervous, but it also helped me improve my public speaking skills, allowing me to deepen my analysis as I graphed and compared data from the labs. 

In addition to the regular lecture and lab schedule, we had guest speakers who shared their experiences in creating renewable resources. We also went on a field trip to the Birch Aquarium, Scripps Ocean-Atmosphere Research Simulator and different labs at UC San Diego — Continetti Lab, Biomolecular NMR Facility and Goeddel Family Tech Sandbox.

Additionally, I was part of the newsletter team and worked on the weekly cluster life tab. I wrote about what we did each day and took photos during labs and science communication sessions. Being part of the newsletter team helped me gain more experience in writing and photography, as well as attain a better understanding of what is happening in our cluster. 

The skills I obtained from being part of my school publication, The Accolade, undoubtedly helped me write and take pictures for the newsletter. I will also be able to bring these new skills back as I work as the Opinion editor this school year.

The entire month flew by incredibly quickly, and in that time, I gained valuable experiences and unforgettable memories. 

This camp provided me with a college life experience that will help me as I approach becoming a college student, even making me consider applying to UC San Diego. Additionally, experiencing various labs and expensive instruments typically unavailable to high school students gave me greater insight into chemistry and climate change. 

I met many students from various regions in California, including the Bay Area and Southern California. I made many new friends, and we motivated each other throughout the camp as we shared similar interests and goals. 

Before the last day, we all received summer books, which included photos taken throughout the month. We signed each other’s books and got ready to leave for the next day. On the last evening together, we were scrambling all over the plaza and in front of 64 Degrees, asking each other to sign our summer books. I asked almost everyone in my cluster to sign, and although I undoubtedly felt sentimental, I was reminded of a good opportunity to bond and recall all the things that happened during the camp. 

I left Argo Hall on the closing day, walking down the stairs with my duffel bags, feeling a sense of deja vu to the opening day. Surprisingly, it wasn’t sad, but rather bittersweet.