COSMOS Student Profile Archive

ALISA MACH
Galileo Academy of
Science & Technology,
San Francisco, CA

UC Davis COSMOS 2005
Participated in Earth, Air, Fire & Water - California's Natural Environment Course Cluster

I would like to thank you personally for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime. You made it possible for me to experience college life, which I might add, was the best experience I've ever had.

My name is Alisa Mach. I am 16 and the only child of Mr. Mach and Mrs. Duong. My parents came to America twenty-or- so years ago from Vietnam by fishing boats. My mom didn't receive a high education level in Vietnam.

I have been living in the ( San Francisco) Tenderloin all my life. When I arrived at UC Davis in summer 2005, which was where the program COSMOS was held, I felt relaxed and excited at the same time. The environment at Davis was friendly and inviting, safe. COSMOS is a science and math program and I still feel lucky to have gotten in. 500 students applied to the program but only 150 applicants got in. To get in, students must have good grades, interesting responses to their questions and most of all interest in the science field. The program provided 7 different course clusters. Each course was a specific category of what COSMOS hoped the students attending would be interested in pursuing as a possible career path. I was assigned to the 4 th course, Earth, Air, Fire and Water-it was basically Geology. This wasn't my first choice though. I applied to the 7 th course cluster, which was Biomedical Sciences. My career goal is to become a pediatrician specializing in asthma. I had asthma when I was younger and was very fortunate my own pediatrician helped me get rid of it. I now live carefree, at least where asthma is concerned. But by the time the acceptance letter came, I had completely forgotten which I applied for and went for it anyway. I mean heck, I was accepted and that was good enough for me.

This program has given me the confidence that I can make it in the "real" world alone. I really did miss my parents while there; especially my Mom's cooking. But I adjusted. Of course, I never thought of myself as the type to stay home while attending college. I felt this program also benefited my parents as well. They got the feel of what it would be like not to have me at home so it wouldn't be so traumatic when I do leave for college.

At COSMOS, I learned about the different flows of volcanic eruption, the predictions of earthquakes and how often it happens, as well as about fuel fossils and water supplies. The professors made every topic interesting up to the last second. My group had the privilege of going on many fieldtrips to Lake Tahoe, Napa, San Francisco, gold mine caves, Six Flags and the Sacramento River. Each fieldtrip explained in depth more of the subject at the time. For instance, our trip to San Francisco was an overview of the effect of the big earthquake in1989. The professor pointed out the signs of the aftermath such as the sunken streets, the cracks and the reason for the Exploratorium, which was constructed as a tourist attraction after another earthquake many years earlier. If another big earthquake does occur, the business part of Market Street in San Francisco would be covered with over 60 feet of glass.

The people I befriended were so different from the ones at home. They were smart, interesting, friendly, some well-off, and this made COSMOS fun. My friends at home vary. Some are smart, fun and like me, not financially blessed.

I learned so much. My obsession to have a car has diminished. One of my professors gave a lecture about fuel fossils, mentioned earlier, that the demand for oil will indeed cause the price to go higher. The Earth is running out of oil; he estimated that within six to nine years, we could run out of oil completely. Of course he meant oil on land- the search in the deep oceans would be very costly and technology isn't as advanced for that yet. There is hydrogen power and solar power but these are still unreliable. I now look at buildings with more concern than before. I try to tell if a building would still stand if there were to be a 7+ earthquake in San Francisco.

Thank you so much again for your kindness. You have given me a start of something big.

Alisa