This interview was conducted with Kyle Rhodehouse, a junior in the Alumni Memorial Scholars Program majoring in Molecular Biology and minoring in English. Kyle has been researching the developmental biology of C. elegans with Professor Van Wynsberghe. Read more
Ryan Rios, holding his Baritone Saxophone, in Starr Rink, where the Raider Pep Band rehearses. Ryan is the secretary for the band.
This interview was conducted with Ryan Rios, a sophomore in the Alumni Memorial Scholars Program intending to double major in Japanese and Computer Science. This past summer, Ryan researched how websites determine what language to display their content in.
Could you tell me a bit about your high school experience? What kinds of things were you involved in? How has that translated into your involvement at Colgate?
I went to a small all-male Lasallian school known as Cathedral High School in the heart of Los Angeles, right by Dodger Stadium. The school didn’t really have any clubs to speak of, but I was involved in my high school’s pep band- where I learned to play the sax- concert band, drum line, and jazz band- where I started playing bass publicly and not just in my room. Jazz band was my favorite extracurricular activity because it’s how I came to love jazz music, and there aren’t many more things that I like more than playing bass in a jazz setting. I’m still in pep band and jazz band at Colgate, and I honestly think that if it weren’t for joining pep band last year, my experience here would be very different.
This interview was conducted with Jacob Pilawa, a sophomore in the Alumni Memorial Scholars Program intending to major in Astronomy/Physics. This past summer, Jacob researched quasars with Professor Balonek at Foggy Bottom Observatory.
Could you tell me a bit about your high school experience?
I went to a high school in Cleveland called Saint Ignatius High School. It’s an all-male Jesuit school, so it was pretty unique in that sense. I spent most of my time in high school doing Science Olympiad, robotics, those kinds of STEM extracurricular activities. I was also a diver for a little bit, on the swimming and diving team. I think it was like the high school experience of most students at Colgate, where you’re taking as many AP classes as you can, trying to get college credit, and things like that. I pushed myself pretty hard in high school.
Was there anything in particular that motivated you to work hard?
It was really that I wanted to prove to myself that I could do things. Probably the most important teacher I ever had was named Father Lawrence Ober. He taught my art history class, and you wouldn’t think that would be something that an astronomy/physics major would want to study. But it was the most inspiring class because he really gave me this love of learning and not just love of school. He was very motivational and would always say things like “Charge on,” or “You’ve got this, you know everything.” He taught me a love of learning, not a love of good grades. That is what kept me going during really tough classes. I would tell myself, “Hey, I’m taking this class because I love learning it, I just have to keep going.”
I really found learning fun and looked forward to learning new things, so when I came to Colgate, I decided I wasn’t going to do anything halfway, I would go all out. I would do it, do it well, and love what I’m doing. That’s not to say that I always enjoy hard weeks or finals time, but it’s always in the back of my mind that I’m doing this because I love it. There’s that expression, “Do what you love, love what you do, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” So that love for what I’m learning is what really keeps me going.
Jacob adjusts the telescope in Foggy Bottom Observatory
Can you tell me what kinds of things you’re involved in at Colgate outside of class?
I did research here over this past summer, and now I’m continuing it into the academic year. I’m in Star ‘Gate, which is the astronomy and astrophotography club. I’m in running club- I like running, so why not? And I’m in physics club, of course.
Of the classes you’ve taken, what have been your favorites?
My favorite class so far has been Introduction to Mechanics with Professor Levine in the physics department. In high school physics, you talk about a ball rolling down a hill or something. But, in that class, we took those same concepts and applied them to the movements of the stars and things like that. In a typical problem, instead of a ball going in a circle, we’d have a planet orbiting the sun. Having that real application to things that I love talking about was really great. So that was far and away my favorite class.
What made you decide to conduct research at Colgate this summer?
The computer where Jacob and Professor Balonek collected their data this summer
This comes back to what I was saying earlier about a love of learning and a desire to learn more. Last year, it came time to apply and I was thinking about what I was going to be doing with my summer. I saw that summer research positions opened up at Colgate and I thought that I might as well give it a shot. I was a first-year, so I wasn’t expecting to get anything because there were probably way more qualified people.
I applied to this and a couple others, but this was my top choice. I wrote an essay about why I wanted to do this research and what my future interests are. And then I got the email in February that I’d been selected and I freaked out in the library. I was doing a physics problem set and I was like, “This has to be a joke. I’m going to make money doing things that I love doing in the summer and learn more from it.” I guess I just gave it a shot- it’s better than an office job.
Could you tell me a bit more about what you researched?
This summer we worked on these objects called quasars. Basically, at the centers of super far-away galaxies, there are supermassive black holes: black holes with a mass hundreds of thousands to millions of times our sun. So, these are incredibly big objects, the most massive things we’ve ever discovered in the universe. And in super distant galaxies, around some of them there is this gas and plasma that’s falling into these black holes. Because of things that Einstein did with special and general relativity, this actually shoots out two beams of light from the black hole. We study how that light changes over time. Basically, we’re looking at the centers of galaxies and seeing how their brightness changes.
Jacob: “This is a photo of the object NGC 6946, also called the Fireworks Galaxy. It’s a spiral galaxy 22 million light-years away and is called the Fireworks Galaxy because of how frequently stars undergo a supernova. Over the last 100 years, we’ve observed 10 stars explode in this galaxy. The photo was taken with Foggy Bottom Observatory’s 16″ Cassegrain telescope and FLI CCD camera.”
So, most of my nights this summer, I worked from about 10pm to 5am at this computer. We’d focus on about six objects a night and take pictures of them. We’d get our data from these images and we’d generate curves of their brightness over time. I’m continuing to research that during the academic year. When I find time, I come up here at nights and work. Hopefully, we’re going to write a paper about our findings of a specific object called OJ 287 and then I’ll be presenting at the KNAC (Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium) Conference in October. That’s at Colgate, so that’ll be pretty cool. This is the research that Professor Balonek has been researching here for the past thirty years, so I’m just carrying on the torch.
I have. One of the reasons that I got into astronomy in particular is that I used to be really into photography. I’d see those cool pictures that NASA or the Hubble Space Telescope would take of these cool galaxies and nebulae and things like that. So I did some research about how to do shots of the Milky Way
Jacob: “This is an image I took of Jupiter, the largest planet in our Solar System. It was taken by attaching my camera to the back of our 12” telescope, taking 350+ “frames” of the image, and then “stacking” them together to produce a more refined image. It was my first attempt at something like it.”
or shots of the sky with my camera and I found out that I love that and the concept of being able to look at these things. So what I really want to do is some kind of trip to Europe or the West Coast of the United States- someplace cool- and do a bunch of astrophotography and compile it all into a presentation of some kind. It would help my own skills in producing good images, which we do here. But, it would also just be a really cool thing to do and I’d have something to show for it like, “Hey, look at this really cool picture I took.”
I’m also thinking about maybe doing an observatory tour of Europe because there are really cool observatories there. I’d like to go, look at these observatories, and find out what it is that they specifically do, what they research there, and the kind of technology that goes into it, in case I ever want to go into telescope design. So, it’s either astrophotography or an observatory tour.
Are you planning on studying abroad while you’re at Colgate?
I do want to study abroad. I’m actually trying to see if I can do an astronomy/physics and French double major. Next year, I’m trying to plan out going to an approved program in Paris. I’d like to live in Paris and continue my physics work while immersing myself in that culture and language to improve my skills.
What are some of your favorite things about being a student at Colgate?
Speaking for the physics and math departments specifically, we do almost all of our work together. Most of the learning that I did wasn’t in class, but in tutoring sessions with juniors and seniors or just meeting with my friends to go over a problem set. The way in which people work together here is great, and it’s great to be around people who are as driven as you are. Because at the end of the day, we’re all trying to learn this material and become experts in it. So, it’s not hyper-competitive and people will help you.
There have been times when I’ve asked a friend, “Hey, will you sit down with me and go over this problem set?” and then we’ll sit and talk for two hours about some cool problem that we did. I really like how the students here are willing to work together and want each other to succeed.
I also really like how accessible the professors are. That’s something that I can’t stress enough. Every day, I’ll see Professor Crotty doing research on the fourth floor of Ho, and I’ll stop in to say hi or to ask him about a problem, and he’s more than happy to drop everything that he’s doing and talk to me. I literally just did that earlier today. The accessibility of the professors and the eagerness of the students to work together, that’s what I love about studying at Colgate. And also, it’s pretty.
Are there any things about Colgate that you think could improve?
I wish we’d change the Core Curriculum around a bit. For example, I’m a STEM major, but I still have to take a Scientific Perspectives class. I think we should reshape our Core Curriculum and have it not be as much of a requirement as encouraged. I think Challenges, Legacies, and Communities and Identities are good to keep, but I’m not sure if STEM students are going to get anything out of a Scientific Perspectives class.
I also think we need to diversify our Core, in the sense that most of the authors that we’re reading are from Europe, they’re white men, things like that. That’s such a limiting scope of perspectives that we’re getting. Of course, that trend is broken in some classes, but for the most part I feel like we’re reading Eurocentric literature. Our claim is that we’re preparing our students for the global world, but how can we do that if we’re only reading from Europe?
I’m also not a fan of the Global Engagements requirement. I think if you study abroad, you should be able to get the Global Engagements requirement, but that’s not always the case. I think if you take a foreign language for an extended period of time, you should be able to get the Global Engagements requirement. I don’t think we have to have this separate class because that means if I take a Core every semester, into my junior year I’ll be taking a Core. My junior year, I want to be focusing on my major, what I’m interested in.
Have you thought about what you’d like to do after Colgate?
I think I like talking to people too much to not teach. I’d like to teach at some level in physics and astronomy. But on the same token, as evidenced by this summer, I also really like researching. So, I think my heart does belong in academia, but I’d like to do it at a small college. I like teaching people, I like being taught, I like the college environment. Everybody is here to learn- I really like that and I’m really inspired by that.
Jacob: “This is an image of the galactic core of the Milky Way, our own galaxy, taken near the Foggy Bottom Observatory. The structure is actually a spiral arm of our own galaxy and the tan region is a combination of dust and a high-density region of stars.”
In the original blog series XYZ with Q, Quanzhi “Q” Guo ’18 visited current and former Benton Scholars to learn about their interests, passions, and accomplishments. Now, Alumni Memorial Scholars have joined the party! In this post, Q visits Michael Rodriguez ’19 to give out free hot chocolate on Friday morning.
It’s getting chilly at Colgate—the time of year when the air lets you know it will soon be fall. And nothing, seriously, can beat a complimentary cup of hot chocolate (with marshmallow melted on top) handed out near the chapel steps on a brisk Friday morning.
Little did I knew that Alumni Memorial Scholar Michael Rodriguez ’19, from Grandview in Washington State, was that guy who made the race to 8:20am classes so much more comforting, especially in the middle of the snow.
On a bright Friday morning, I joined Michael for hot-chocolate. To every person who passed by, he flashed a big smile. To Michael, small acts of kindness are one way he gives back. “When people need help, I usually go all-out to help them,” he said.
If you are scrutinizing a Colgate map and Michael walks by, chances are he will not only tell you the way, but also take you wherever you are going, for real.
Back in his hometown church, Michael volunteered as a waiter for Christian camps, worked as a dishwasher and server for local high schools, and helped the elderly as a handyman by washing cars, changing light bulbs, and installing new appliances.
When I asked Michael why he does all these kind things, he was actually a bit puzzled. “If people need help, why let them suffer. Why not try to help?”
To Michael, to help is to give someone a little bit of happiness. “We are all human beings, we all have emotions, we all go through the same sort of things. I think lots of issues today are caused by people not being nice to each other,” he said.
Michael is really humble about his deeds, and it took a while to coax him into telling me what he has done. “You can say all you want without doing anything. And I remember my father always telling me ‘do your best, forget the rest,’” he said.
Outside of class, Michael is also an admission tour guide and hosts prospective students overnight, because his positive visit convinced him commit to Colgate. “I want to give back to the Colgate community by helping others discover the wonders of Colgate,” he said.
Now a prospective molecular biology major and a German minor, Michael wants to be a healthcare professional in the future, probably in family medicine. “Though it’s not the most glamorous (in the medicine field), I like the doctor-patient interaction,” he added.
As an AMS scholar, Michael hopes to attend the Freiburg Study Group and use his AMS funding to study the German healthcare system. “I want to see the differences between the US healthcare system and the German one. From what I learnt, they prioritize preventative measures so you’re not sick in the first place and don’t need to go to see doctors. If you feel overstressed, you can go see doctors and they will prescribe you a vacation!” he said.
Michael’s interest in healthcare comes from seeing his grandmother working at a family clinic when he was a child. To him, this is another way of giving back to more people. And as the hot chocolate barrel is emptied and the last cup of hot chocolate is given out, I am convinced that giving is better than receiving.
The following post is by Alanna Ticali ’16, a Cellular Neuroscience major. Ticali used her AMS grant to volunteer and do research for Unite for Sight in Chennai, India.
During winter break of my senior year, I used a portion of my Alumni Memorial Scholars grant to volunteer and do research for Unite for Sight in Chennai, India. The mission of this organization is to reduce preventable blindness in countries such as India, Honduras, and Ghana by providing free cataract surgeries and optical consultations to patients who would otherwise not be able to afford eye care. As a pre-med student interested in global public health, I was very excited to be able to be involved with and observe the operations of an international medical organization from an insider’s perspective. Unite for Sight works with local doctors and eye care specialists in order to foster sustainable medical intervention in each of the communities that the organization interacts with. It was important to me that Unite for Sight enabled local doctors to help their own communities, instead of repeatedly sending in foreign healthcare workers from the US who had no connection to the communities; creating true change in the health of a community depends on the empowerment of the members of the community, not on the abilities of a few foreign practitioners.
During my 2 weeks in Chennai, I spent most days at eye camps in various regions of the city. At the mobile eye clinics I was in charge of organizing the eyeglass station, handing out glasses, and occasionally taking patients’ blood pressures. Interacting with the patients was a great experience, and I learned how to say a few important phrases in Tamil, the official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu (although the local people would often laugh at my shoddy pronunciation). The ophthalmologists, optometrists, and local volunteers with whom I interacted were all very welcoming to me and gladly taught me things about their practice and about their knowledge of the state of public health in India. I also got the chance to observe cataract surgeries funded by Unite for Sight in both urban and rural hospitals. Perhaps one of the most unique experiences I had was performing cataract surgery on a cow’s eye; I now fully appreciate how difficult the procedure is and how amazing all of the surgeons are who perform these surgeries on a daily basis.
Before traveling to Chennai, the team at Unite for Sight had informed me that the local Indian doctors had identified a particular topic that they would like more information on; I agreed with Unite for Sight that it would be best to research a topic that had been pointed out by the local officials with knowledge of their communities. Therefore, my research goal was as follows: to characterize the extent of patients’ understanding of how to use the medications that they had been prescribed (usually antibiotic eye drops). I also sought to find out if patients knew the purpose of their prescribed medication. In order to accomplish this, I interviewed post-operative cataract patients, using a set of survey questions, after they had been given their medication instructions. In general, I found that patients had a good understanding of how to correctly use their medications, both in terms of the timeline of medication usage and the application of medication to the eye. My data was pooled and sent to Unite for Sight, where the US team is keeping a record of the data collected in Chennai for future analysis. My experience utilizing a translator to conduct research was interesting and definitely different from the type of research experience that one would have in the US.
While I was not volunteering at the eye camps, shadowing physicians, or conducting interviews for my research, I was able to go out into the city of Chennai and experience some of the local culture. The other American volunteers and I ate a variety of Southern Indian restaurants (with Dosa and Idli being the staple foods), visited both modern and ancient Hindu temples, went to the zoo, and saw a Bollywood movie. My time in India was very fulfilling and I am grateful that the AMS program gave me the opportunity to experience a different way of life while simultaneously advancing my interests in global healthcare delivery.
