An Average Day

My name is Danni and I am a senior at Brown University. I am concentrating in Neuroscience with a focus in Behavioral Neuroscience.  Although I was born in Germany and have lived all over the country (military brat), I claim Atlanta, GA as home.

At some point in time I’ll go to medical school but I have some things I want to do before that happens. Like most seniors I’m focused on graduating, and what I will do after graduating. Currently, I’m in the process of completing my medical forms for the Peace Corps. Really excited about being able to spend two years in another country helping and learning about health there! Not sure where I am going yet but that’s part of the excitement. I love traveling and I love global health so finding something to connect those two interests is great!

This semester is crazy and I think the best way to show what I am involved in and how my experience at Brown is to recount the events of my day:

8:15 am     Woke up and got ready for my first class. Hard to grab breakfast so I usually grab a granola bar (which is what I did today) or stop by the Blue Room and grab a muffin.

9:00 am Strolled into COGS1460: Computational Cognitive Neuroscience. We talked about the brain’s ability to learn through Hebbian learning in which neurons learn to collectively fire due to certain environmental stimuli.  There’s a saying that “neurons that fire together wire together” and it’s true. It’s how memories are consolidated in the brain (through neurons that automatically fire every time a particular feature, memory, stimuli is activated). Though I was tired, I did manage to comprehend a lot of what the professor was saying.

10:25 am Went to the “Sci Li” (Sciences Library)  to knock out a chapter for my “Intro to Cognitive Science” course.  Ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in a while and made plans to hang later on this weekend.

12:00 pm Went to my job at the Admission Office. I am one of three interns who are liaisons between prospective students of color and the Brown community. Talked about cool new ways to interact with prospective students.

1:00 pm At “The Rock” (Rockefeller  Library) deciphering equations to use for my Physics report due tomorrow.

2:00 pm Went to talk to Dean Kisa Takesue. No official business, just to catch up on life. Haven’t talked with her since sophomore year! I love the faculty student relationships that are formed here. They are extremely genuine and allow you to feel like you have someone to turn to and talk with. Really helped set things in prospective.

3:00 pm Went to Physics Lab professor’s office hours to get clarification on the lab report due tomorrow. He was very helpful and made sure that I understood how to do the equations.

4:00pm Grabbed a sandwich at “The Gate“, an eatery that serves pizza and sandwiches, along with drinks, cookies, soup, chips, etc.

8:00pm Typing up lab report and getting ready for play rehearsal tonight @ 9pm. I’m in a musical and we have 5 weeks until it goes up. First play I have ever been in, so I want to do well. Last night  we had choreography practice and I attempted to learn an Irish Jig (we’ll see how that turns out). Tonight we will just continue to perfect the songs (I have a small solo….very scared!). Then around 11pm I’ll start on my lab simulations for Computational Cog  followed by starting on my writing exercise for Intro Cog. Looks like a long night. See ya!

Multiraciality and Me

Hey!

My name is Christopher Belcher, and I’m currently a junior at Brown University. I’m a concentrator in the Neuroscience Department and hoping to pursue a future career in medicine. Originally from the lovely state of Hawai’i, I’ve definitely been able to find my niche here at Brown with its vast number of student groups and extracurricular activities. I’m on the executive board of the Bruin Club, a Minority Recruitment Intern, Co-President of the Hapa Club, a lab assistant in the Chemistry Department, an EMT with Brown University’s Emergency Medical Services, and a part of Brown’s very own Hawaii Club. =)

Multiracial Identity Week 2009 Poster

This year I am co-coordinator of Brown University’s Multiracial Identity Week, which runs from October 12, 2009-October 26, 2009. The goal of the week has traditionally been to address issues that foster dialogue on race and identity, to reach Brown’s diverse population, and ultimately to establish bridges across racial differences. This year my co-programmer, Alexis Moreis ’11, and I wanted to maintain this aim, but also broaden its scope by introducing fresh topics for discussion and by including new and creative events.

Chris, Alexis, and Dr. Ralina Joseph '96

Thus far we’ve had a few events, all of which have been very successful! We had our opening convocation with Dr. Ralina Joseph ’96 as our keynote speaker. We were very fortunate to have Dr. Joseph return to campus to provide a retrospective on the landscape of multiraciality in the United Stands in the past decade and a half. We had an opening for our Art and Photo Exhibit consisting of artwork by students depicting their multiracial identity as well as images of students and their families. We also had a Student and Alumni Reception and a brunch for students and their family members, which ran concurrently with Brown’s annual Family Weekend.

Art and Photo Exhibit

Family Weekend Brunch

More updates to come soon. Take care folks!

Chris Belcher ‘11

the highs and lows of fall at brown

My dad and me at Fall Family Weekend

Hi everyone!

My name is Natasha, and I’m currently a senior at Brown, double concentrating in Ethnic Studies and Political Science; originally I hail from New York City (Queens!) and Demarest, NJ. I’m Co-President of the Hapa Club at Brown (for mixed-race students of partial Asian ancestry — more on that below), a research assistant at the CSREA, an executive board member of the Bruin Club, a Brown tour guide and information session leader, as well as a Minority Recruitment Intern. During my time at Brown, I’ve also been a Meiklejohn peer advisor, an MPC Friend, English tutor, and programmer of Multiracial Identity Week. That’s a little bit about who I am here at Brown…

Although autumn officially began a few weeks ago, I still haven’t quite eased into the season yet. Everyone still wants to sit out on the Main Green, and to be honest, despite having grown up in the Northeast, I’ve never gotten used to any weather below 65°.

Despite the 64° weather these days, there are lots of things I really like about Fall semester at Brown. The trees are starting to change color, which is pretty beautiful, and we have a great little Farmer’s Market on Wriston Quad every week  — apple cider doughnuts are pretty much a New England autumn staple crop. Another fall event that I love in Providence is Waterfire (it’s spring/summer/fall, but I think it’s really the best in the Fall when the heat is welcome). If you go to Brown and haven’t been to Waterfire, it’s actually a must see.

Another great thing about Fall Semester is that there’s a new group of students on campus – the class of 2013! I think that freshman can really help to bring new energy to campus, especially in terms of extracurricular clubs and activities. We just had our first Hapa Club meeting a few weeks ago; I made huge batches of curry noodles and lots of new faces showed up. At our most recent meeting, we talked about interracial relationships and Hapa identity, and we’re also really excited for Multiracial Identity Week, which is coming up next week! You’ll probably be hearing more about that event in a later post.

It’s time for me to run to my American Immigration Policy class, but I’ll be back soon with an update!

-Natasha Go ‘10

Welcome!

If you’re considering Brown University and are interested in what some of Brown’s students of color have to say about their life here, you’ve come to the right place. Brown’s student of color community encompasses a wide range of experiences, with students coming from different cultural, geographic, and socioeconomic spheres. This is a student-run blog, though from time to time we will feature University-run events that students are a part of.

Thinking of applying to Brown? For some official information, the Admission Office is the place to go. If you’d like to find out a little bit about cultural groups and activities for students of color, the Third World Center is a great resource (explanation of the term “Third World”).

We encourage you to leave comments, questions, and thoughts — we want Brown to be accessible and real to YOU!

P.S. Check out this CNN profile of Brown’s President, Ruth Simmons!