Entry By: Tiffany C
“Today we started off the day having breakfast with the executives from San Diego. We talked and discussed about a lot of things and it was really great seeing so many successful people, including women. Then with Dr. McNitt-Gray she introduces us to biomechanics. We learned that positioning in sports is important. With my partner Damaris, we decided to see where the positioning of your feet mattered in doing a lay-up, but since the gym was not open for us yet, we changed our project to throwing a ball and if following through with the pass vs. stopping would make a pass go farther. With the software Dartfish we were able to compare the two trials and both of our videos looked completely the same. Then with the software we measured the angle of our arm when throwing. We then went on a trolley to a really nice golf course where we learned how to putt and chip. They also had a really cool virtual reality thing where you could see how you were swinging. We ended the day with pizza. Yum!”

Entry By: Lily
“On the second day of the program, Get SSET, we had a very exciting and interactive schedule. Ti start off we had an early rise-n-shine which kicked off our day with a very luxurious breakfast with local executives. We got to personally speak with them about their fields and careers. After some experience with engineering and talking with these professionals, I decided that I am interested in engineering. After that, we learned about the biomechanics of sports. We actually got to video our motion while in action in a sport. We eventually got to bring the video into a computer lab to analyze the biomechanics. Finishing off our day we traveled by trolley to the Pro-Kids golf course where we learned how to putt, chip an got to experience a virtual reality golf course. It was a pretty tiring day traveling from place to place, but in the end, we got pizza so it was alright. :)”

Entry By: Silvia
“Today I learned so much, but it was so much fun. In the morning we went to breakfast and got an opportunity to talk to different people that do different jobs, some were computer engineers, electrical engineer, I got to learn about different kinds of jobs, it was fun. Another thing that I learned which was very interesting was biomechanics, we got to pick a sport and figure out what the motions were, what muscles you have to use and which ones you are using, that was interesting. The last thing we did was learn how to play golf that was so much fun, I learned a lot. At the end we had pizza, that was soooÖ good omg. I had a great time.”

Entry By: Lindsey
“Today was Thursday. We woke up early to have a breakfast with executives from local companies. It was fun. The food was actually really good and we learned a lot by talking to the executives. I had the opportunity to talk to women who owned their own businesses, a woman who was a math professor and a woman who writes for the Union Tribune in the sports section. We all had a great time, and we realized that jobs like the ones they had were not that far out of reach, because they started off just like us. After our breakfast we learned about biomechanics and motion capture analysis. We each split up into groups and took videos of ourselves doing specific moves that are common while playing the sport, such as kicking a soccer ball. Then by using a program called Dartfish, we were able to compare actions side by side and make hypotheses and conclusions based on the questions we came up with. Later we applied what we learned when we took a trip to the Pro-Kids golf course. We had lots of fun-not to mention our transportation was the trolley system. We all played sweet and sour and waved and screamed to people as we passed. It was so much fun. We got back to the dorms and watched 13 Going on 30 and now I am rushing to finish this journal before bedtime. So itís already getting really long-I guess Iíll just stop there. So basically we learned a lot today, applied it, and had lots of fun while doing it. Yay for us!”

Entry By: Maddy
“Earlier in the morning we had breakfast with some local executives that have a wide variety of jobs and careers. I learned a lot from these people and I plan to use most of their technologies in real life. Next we were introduced to biomechanics and we had to do a test on different techniques of doing the sam thing. These videos were put into the computer and we analyzed the different trial runs we tested. We determined the differences and similarities between two different techniques. The last thing we did in our busy day was go to the Pro-Kids golf academy. There we learned how to putt, chip and we got to check out the latest technology. It was very fun and educational. Then we came home and went to bed. That was our whole day!”

Entry By: Toni
“Today we woke up to get ready for a breakfast with some executives. I really enjoyed talking to the executives and listening about what they did for a living. I thought the breakfast was really good too. After that we went to the classroom and were introduced to biomechanics. Then we started to do our projects by choosing a sport and a task in that sport. We then went out to the field to go video tape us doing the task we picked. After we spend some time we left for lunch. It was really good food this time. We went back to the classroom and created our PowerPoint presentations. We got to go golfing at Pro-Kids gold center on a trolley. It was really fun at the center and we got to eat pizza for dinner. Then on the way back we were screaming and waving at everyone we passed by and most of them waved back at us except for a few people. At the end of the day we just got to relax. The End.”

Entry By: Bailey
“Today we had a very early, but educational breakfast with local executives. Just being around them made me feel smart. I felt my IQ jump. We were also introduced to biomechanics and using that information we took events, for example, I used the difference between speed vs. speed/accuracy applied to a soccer ball compared to accuracy vs. speed/accuracy. Each team was sent to video tape a person doing each event, then we were able to place the videos on the computer and overlap them to see what she did differently or what she did the same. After which we had lunch in the cafeteria, and then we were off to Pro-Kids. Pro-Kids is a golf academy for kids 7-17 of age. We started off playing this putting game, to teach us how to putt correctly. Next we rotated to a station where we did this chipping exercise, after which we played a game called snag baseball. It is played like baseball but instead of a bat and ball you use a giant golf club and a tennis ball. And after that station we went to this room with a large screen and virtual reality-like game. I got to wear the best and belt and be analyzed by the rest of the class. They told me what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong and how I could improve my shot. It was so much fun I had a blast. As quickly as the day started it was over."

Entry By: Kim
“We had woken up and gone down to the executive breakfast. The food was good and it was a great experience! There was a newspaper writer and she was telling us about a football player who had survived a drive by and had a bullet in his back and still played football. Then we started working on our presentation on motion capture and analysis following learning much about biomechanics and lunch. We then put together our video and slide shows. But then I had to go to practice, came back and hung out with some of the girls."

Entry By: Jessica
“I learned that trying to make a PowerPoint with no video file is pretty hard to do! Haha I also learned how to make PowerPoints is hard to do with no experience byt you get the hang of it. I learned how to putt and chip golf balls. I had a lot of fun today. If you find a certain technique for a sport in biomechanics you could get whatever youíre trying to do right every single time."