Dear Diary: August 11, 2006

Entry By: Susan
“We started off our 3rd day at GET SSET with an executive breakfast in the Science Building. It was very interesting to meet such talented women who have excelled in the area of science. They told us about their lives and how they became to be who they are today.  The woman I found the most interesting was Dr. Sonya Summerour Clemmons, who is the first African- American woman to earn a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from UCSD. She told me that there are not many women in science, but for those who are, it was not an easy road. She’s a great example of how being an African- American female such as I, has not enabled her from being successful.
            During the afternoon, we built helmets and then visited the San Diego Wind Tunnel. There we met a female tri-athlete, who tested our helmets. The objective was to cause less drag so that drag does not cause the tri-athlete to slow down.  Overall, today was another great day!”

Entry By: Dana
“Today was a pretty fun day.  We had breakfast and met some really nice ladies that have made a successful career in the science field.  The ladies were very inspirational and informative.  We also continued to make our helmets to take to the Wind Tunnel.  Our helmet looked neat, but it wasn’t very aerodynamic.  It was still fun though.  We also started to create an ideal shoe for a triathlon and we got to interview a man that runs triathlons.  Creating the shoe and researching how the shoe looked was my favorite part of the day, especially since we got to learn first-hand from someone who runs those.  I had a great day.”

Entry By: Bev
“I had a fantastic time today doing all these fun things.  We started the day with an interesting breakfast meeting women who have cool jobs.  Then we went down to see some labs.  Then we finished working on making our helmet designs.  My design was made out of Play-Doh.  We then learned about tri-athletes’ running shoes.  We now are designing our own shoe.  We went swimming before a fantastic dinner.  We had food from many places.  Some was Chinese and Italian.  I have had a great time here so far.”

Entry By: Emily N.
Today was the coolest day for me.  We designed helmets, tri-athlete shoes and traveled to the wind tunnel.  I learned so much about shoes and I began to understand why shoe designs are so important.  Designing helmets was my least favorite part because it was hard to make a good helmet the way you want out of Styrofoam and Play-Doh.  The best part of the day was the wind tunnel.  I learned so much about aerodynamics and how the tunnel works.  It was so cool!  The thing at the wind tunnel that made me excited was seeing all the pictures of pros that had gone and tested at the tunnel.  I saw pictures of my favorite athletes like Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong, Levi Leiphiemer and Rudy Garcia.  I also read an amazing article about Rudy Garcia who had both his legs amputated above the knee.  I read that he surfs, swims in the Paralympics, is a tri-athlete and is training for the Ironman and he is only 17 and has no legs!  He is by far the most amazing person ever.  This whole day was a really cool and unforgettable experience.”

Entry By: Thuy
“Becoming an Engineer, talking to women in the science field, designing shoes fit enough for a tri-athlete, and diving into a pool are only some of the things in a day of Get SSET.  Today I was able to design a helmet with two other members of Get SSET and was brought to the Wind Tunnel to experiment whether we have improved its drag.  In the start of the morning we were already able to talk to many women in the science field on a personal level and really learn where they come from and what they have made of themselves as women in science.  After a wonderful lunch at USD, Get SSET students were able to meet new classmates to design a fit-able and durable shoe for a tri-athlete.  After the day had mellowed down, students headed towards the USD pool to have a fun relaxing afternoon.  I was able to learn how to stay in the deep end without sinking.  My bravery level has went up, and it was all thanks to my friends and students of Get SSET.  In this program I was able to learn more than just doing activities hands-on, but to interact with new friends and be able to learn from the unique and wonderful girls in the program.  To end this magnificent Get SSET day, we had a buffet with many agricultural foods from India, Italy, Japan, etc.  Get SSET was more than a program to learn, but rather a program to learn to live happy.”

Entry By: Mayra
“Today we became engineers, designing shoes and Penguins helmets we bagan to discover how to build.  We interviewed a tri-athlete to see what kinds of materials and quality they preferred.  We also designed a helmet and tested them in the wind tunnel.  Unfortunately my helmet didn’t improve much but it had an awesome design.  We also interviewed women that achieved in their level, like CEOs and Presidents at companies.  We also viewed a USD lab.  They told us important things like what type of career to pursue and to make goals to achieve.  “Live like its your last day, and Dream like there’s no tomorrow,” something I will never forget.”

Entry By: Perla
“Today the day started with an executive breakfast.  We had the opportunity to talk to women who have succeeded in the science field.  Then we were able to see a USD laboratory.  Then we went off to the lecture on aerodynamics and we were able to create/design a helmet that would create less drag resistance.  We also took a very interesting tour to the Wind Tunnel and we tested how much of a difference we made with the helmets we fixed.  It was so wonderful.  Today was really fun and interesting.”

Entry By: Gloria
“Today I learned a lot of new and interesting things throughout the various areas in science.  Today we started off our day by rising early in the morning at 6:00 and departed at 7:30 to attend our Executive Breakfast which was held in USD’s Shiley Center for Science and Technology.  From this meeting we were very fortunate to meet successful women in science from all different backgrounds and were fortunate to hear their stories and struggles that led them to where they currently stand today.  I believe this meeting was very beneficial to myself and the other girls as well because it boosted our confidence and enabled us to take more pride in how smart we are without being afraid to show it.  Also, knowing that dreams always do come true as long as you stay true to yourself and goal, no matter what people may tend to say.”

Entry By: Kassy
“This morning we had breakfast with executives from leading science associations.  We got to learn about their different jobs, and how they were somewhat related to science.  Later on, we discussed possible designs for our triathlon shoe that we would design.  But first we built our adjusted helmets that we tried to reduce draft.  We interviewed tri-athletes to have a better understanding of what they look for in a shoe then we proceeded to design them.  We went to the wind tunnel to test our helmets which went better than a lot of us expected.  Last, but not least, we had a very international picnic dinner—it was very good!  Overall, it was a great day”