My Summer At Syracuse

In December of Last Year, I was accepted to the Syracuse Summer College Program. Not only did it provide High School seniors with the college experience, it also allowed them to take legitimate college courses and gain credits for them. I spent six weeks living on the Syracuse Campus, and was able to freely explore the city and the programs that Syracuse University had to offer. It was a writing intensive course; I took an introductory course to college writing and a Media Literacy course, which was extremely challenging. Both my professors were very welcoming of their students, and remained friendly with all of us while maintaining a professional relationship.

I was accompanied by four other BCSM students, who I grew closer to as the summer progressed. Together we experienced the stressful atmosphere of college life, the diversity of the student body, and the entertainment of living by ourselves for a month and a half. I can honestly say that midterms and finals week almost made want to bury myself in a hole; never have I been so stressed in my life. However, all of the experiences that I accumulated have made me a better writer and I have learned some strategies are applicable to both my high school and college careers.

Karyann, Nadia, and Youma, and I on our way to

the pool!

In addition to learning professionalism, I also learned how to interact with other students that I was not familiar with. When I wasn't with my fellow BCSM classmates, I had to talk to other summer college students to get ahead on my assignments and for additional assistance. I ended up making tons of friends that I still talk to!

Between juggling assignments and my personal life, I also learned a great deal of independence.

Summer 2016

Hafsa Mamun

I was definitely expecting a better summer this year. It wasn't completely terrible but it could have been better. I wasn't able to go out much right after school ended because the month of Ramadan was taking place until July 16th. Since, I was hungry most of the day, I had no energy to go outside or do anything. However, I had to go to work during the weekends. I had been offered a job at Dunkin Donuts right before school had ended. I would work from 7 am- 4 pm  every weekend. It was not easy the first few days. I was really nervous to approach customers and was pressured to do things in a timely manner. But, I got the hang of it a few weeks later. It was a great experience because I got to do something out of my comfort zone. The worst part of it was dealing with complicated customers. The few people that wanted everything perfect. No matter how hard you try, it was very hard to please those few customers. However, this position allowed me to grow more patient. If a customer was not satisfied with their order, I would try my best to make it the way they wanted. It just taught me to be more flexible and it gave me a chance to view different personalities. Anyways, after a long day at work, I would come home tired and drained with a empty stomach. These were the days I would really look forward to breaking my fast and eating all the good food my mom had made. Ramadan was a very special month for me because it had just created peace within my family and in my heart. But, I was also very exciting as Eid started approaching closer and closer. It had finally arrived and on this day all my family and friends got together for a huge feast. Everyone had good clothes on and were dressed very nicely. All the kids and teens were very cheerful every time they would receive money as a gift and blessing from someone. My siblings and cousins used their money to go and buy all the candy and sweets they wanted. It was a very lively environment. It was most exciting because my cousins wedding day was coming closer. So all of my family was preparing for the big day. We were busy in buying gifts, making invitations, creating the itinerary, and so on.

Traditional weddings in Indian culture lasts for three days. The festivities and celebrations had began on August 4. On this day the bride applied mehndi (henna) and all the women got together to dance and sing.

My beautiful Cousin, Saleha

The second day was the Nikkah (wedding) day.

The Bride and Groom

The final day was on August 6. This was the reception day. It was also the most exciting because it was the big day. It was the most enjoyable day and it took place in Long Island.

The wedding was probably the highest peak of my summer. It was so much fun and I really wish I can go back.


After the wedding I started working three days a week and started shadowing a dentist twice a week since that's the field I want to go to. Shadowing was a unique experience because I got to view every thing first-hand. I was like a assistant to my dentists. He would make me familiar with all the instruments that he was using and I would see him clean peoples teeth. This has just raised my interest in this career.

Finally, during labor day weekend my family took a trip to Buffalo. I went to the Niagara Falls and did some shopping at the mall. It was just a final mini vacation we took before school started. It was bittersweet because we didn't like the idea of summer ending but we also enjoyed the long road trip.

My summer was not as boring as I thought it would be but, I was hoping for more trips and fun. The wedding and the trip to Buffalo was probably my favorite part and I really wish I had a time-machine so I could repeat everything all over again.

I will really miss all this as soon as school starts and as the stress to applying to colleges begin. Therefore, I am grateful for my summer.

Summer 2016

Hafsa Mamun

I was definitely expecting a better summer this year. It wasn't completely terrible but it could have been better. I wasn't able to go out much right after school ended because the month of Ramadan was taking place until July 16th. Since, I was hungry most of the day, I had no energy to go outside or do anything. However, I had to go to work during the weekends. I had been offered a job at Dunkin Donuts right before school had ended. I would work from 7 am- 4 pm  every weekend. It was not easy the first few days. I was really nervous to approach customers and was pressured to do things in a timely manner. But, I got the hang of it a few weeks later. It was a great experience because I got to do something out of my comfort zone. The worst part of it was dealing with complicated customers. The few people that wanted everything perfect. No matter how hard you try, it was very hard to please those few customers. However, this position allowed me to grow more patient. If a customer was not satisfied with their order, I would try my best to make it the way they wanted. It just taught me to be more flexible and it gave me a chance to view different personalities. Anyways, after a long day at work, I would come home tired and drained with a empty stomach. These were the days I would really look forward to breaking my fast and eating all the good food my mom had made. Ramadan was a very special month for me because it had just created peace within my family and in my heart. But, I was also very exciting as Eid started approaching closer and closer. It had finally arrived and on this day all my family and friends got together for a huge feast. Everyone had good clothes on and were dressed very nicely. All the kids and teens were very cheerful every time they would receive money as a gift and blessing from someone. My siblings and cousins used their money to go and buy all the candy and sweets they wanted. It was a very lively environment. It was most exciting because my cousins wedding day was coming closer. So all of my family was preparing for the big day. We were busy in buying gifts, making invitations, creating the itinerary, and so on.

Traditional weddings in Indian culture lasts for three days. The festivities and celebrations had began on August 4. On this day the bride applied mehndi (henna) and all the women got together to dance and sing.

My beautiful Cousin, Saleha

The second day was the Nikkah (wedding) day.

The Bride and Groom

The final day was on August 6. This was the reception day. It was also the most exciting because it was the big day. It was the most enjoyable day and it took place in Long Island.

The wedding was probably the highest peak of my summer. It was so much fun and I really wish I can go back.


After the wedding I started working three days a week and started shadowing a dentist twice a week since that's the field I want to go to. Shadowing was a unique experience because I got to view every thing first-hand. I was like a assistant to my dentists. He would make me familiar with all the instruments that he was using and I would see him clean peoples teeth. This has just raised my interest in this career.

Finally, during labor day weekend my family took a trip to Buffalo. I went to the Niagara Falls and did some shopping at the mall. It was just a final mini vacation we took before school started. It was bittersweet because we didn't like the idea of summer ending but we also enjoyed the long road trip.

My summer was not as boring as I thought it would be but, I was hoping for more trips and fun. The wedding and the trip to Buffalo was probably my favorite part and I really wish I had a time-machine so I could repeat everything all over again.

I will really miss all this as soon as school starts and as the stress to applying to colleges begin. Therefore, I am grateful for my summer.

My Summer

This summer was probably the most boring one I've had so far; I didn't really have plans and hardly anything to do. One fun thing I did this summer was attend a CodeNow program which lasted 3 days. There, I was introduced to the coding language Ruby. It was confusing to understand, but I had a fun time at the program as I met new people and was given free food. It amazes me how far technology has come, it's everywhere and it plays a humongous role in our daily lives. But for the majority of the summer, I stayed indoors and played games or practice learning guitar. I don't really mind staying indoors, but it can get really boring. I hope next year I make some plans. I'm hoping I could travel to different places in or out of the country or state or get a job.

Summer 2016

               This summer was one of the best summers i have had in a long time. I was able to go to Vermont with my family for two weeks. Vermont is only five hours away from New York but it felt as if we had gone to a new country. Unlike New York, Vermont has many trees and animals. It also didn't have many buildings, it was like a town that one would see in the movies. During that time i witnessed many things that weren't normal to me.

            
















             I saw huge acres of land that held animals, crops and a bunch of trees. I also met a lot of really nice people which is odd to me since the Bronx isn't a very friendly environment. I was so fascinated by the fact that the people would start a conversation over the littlest things. One day my family had went to the grocery store, i was supposed to get cheese and ham while the rest of my family looked for other stuff. While in line, two ladies started randomly talking to me about maple ham. Never in my life would i have thought that i would have a 5 minute conversation about ham, specifically maple ham. Besides that encounter, people would always say hi which was somewhat weird since i didn't know them but nice because i was able to interact with other human beings besides my family.   Overall, i had a great summer with my family. We interacted with each other way more then we did the whole year. This trip was filled of barbecues, movie nights and late night adventures. 







           

My Summer Experience

So my summer could have been better but I really enjoyed working at my dad shop. He's a mechanic and a car dealer and he wanted me to be a secretary in his office. All I did was pick up the phone and take messages. When customers came in, I had to assist them in what they needed. If they wanted a car or also wanted to buy one, I ask for the consent of my dad and went ahead to do so. Buying cars is fun because it's an auction and the customer has to tell me the highest price I have to go on their car. Sometimes I win the car, sometimes I don't. Also me and my sister helped push a car into the street. Yes it was very heavy but it was fun until oil got all over my jeans. That's how my summer went in July. I really enjoyed being able to help others find what they desire and also being around family because most of the customers were people I knew.

Granada Nicaragua 2016!

(Apoyo Lagoon Natural Reserve)

This day was our last day working on our CAP (Community Action Project). It was one of the most emotional days. Looking back to this day I remember the smiles and laughs of all the kids while playing with the pinatas as well as when we presented them with all the school supplies that we donated them with. It was a day that we celebrated all of our hard work on La Escuela Inmaculada. Many of us painted the school, this was to enhance the appearance of the school. Other Glimpsers worked on crafting cement in order to renovate the playground and make a pathway to the kitchen. This helped the school transform into a safe environment for the kids. After this, the leadership team had a surprise for us. This surprise is shown in the picture above. This place was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. It had a beautiful view of the lagoon that we were able to swim in. This view took my breathe away. It was something that I knew i had to cherish because of the complete difference in environment between Nicaragua and New York. That's some of the unfortunate things about NYC, because NYC is a city the only time I see nature is central park and the Hudson River that I can see from apartment window. 

                                                                  (La Casa de Comedia)
         
        This picture shows the house of comedy. This house is a special house with an important purpose. This house is made out of about 20,000 PLASTIC AND GLASS BOTTLES. This house was so beautiful and fascinating. The people who live there work in a circus and create an atmosphere that makes it feel like a home filled with love and joy. They even have a couch made out of plastic bottles, which is actually comfortable (they put cushions on top). One of the residents of this house explained to us that in Nicaragua, water is very sacred. There is also a big trash problem in Nicaragua. I got to experience this problem while being in Nicaragua. This meant closing the water while I was brushing my teeth when it was not needed. I also saw how there was almost no trash cans in the streets. This trash sometimes end up in the rivers which effect people lives. This house relieved some of that problem. One of residents of the house also told us how he reached some of the kids on how to recycle and reuse. For example he turned a pack of gum box into a wallet. After our tour of the house we were able to learn circus tricks. The best thing was doing aerobics, however juggling was challenge for me because I can't even catch and yoga was difficult because of the heat.                                

            This is one of the designs of the bottle house. This house is a two story house filled with beautiful art and amazingly kind people.

Summer 2016

   My summer this year was total different than what I had planned. Everything I had planned most likely will take place next summer. However my summer was actually quite fun. I got to do a lot of things I wanted to do for a long time, meet some amazing people and sleep alot. Time flies, it's hard to believe school starts next week.
     It occurred to me that during the summer I tend to eat the most unhealthy foods. Based on the New York Times researcher speculated that children put on weight more quickly over summer vacation for reasons that might also explain why adults eat more on the weekend and gain weight faster during the holidays. During the school year were more focuse in passing our classes that we don't eat as much as we would if we had nothing to do. Beside the increase of unhealthy food eating during summer,  the weather was something else. It was incredibly hot. So the Air conditioner was definitely on all day if I was home. Recent research has shown that average summer temperatures post-2050 will regularly top today’s records. It's clear that this is an effect of global warming.
   I saw my schedule today and for someone who loves science I'm glad I have 3 period just for it. I ready to start this school year. The summer was a blast but in a week it's back to getting in mindset of school.