Volunteer. Study abroad. Get to know your professors.
Above all, get involved.
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Chancellor Marye Anne Fox speaks
Sept. 17 during UCSD's first campuswide convocation. |
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Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, Associated Students
President Harry Khanna, faculty and alumni welcomed
freshmen and transfer students with advice and
praise during UCSD’s first campuswide convocation
ceremony, held Sept. 17 on the Sun God Lawn.
“You’re now part of a group of very
exceptional people: uncommon scholars and global
citizens,” said Jorge Huerta, the campus’
Chief Diversity Officer. “You represent
the best of the best.”
UCSD's first-ever campuswide convocation kicked
off campus Welcome Week activities, which included
the Triton Power Hour, a meet-and-greet with Chancellor
Fox, several dances and many barbecues.
Because California pitches in $10,000 for each
UC student, all UCSD students are scholarship
students, Chancellor Fox said. Fox also highlighted
some of the campus’ strengths.
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Associated Students President
Harry Khanna speaks in front of the Sun God statue. |
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“We have a tradition of innovation here
at UCSD,” she said.
Faculty and alumni have created about 250 companies,
including about one-third of local biotech businesses.
The Department of Theatre and Dance is ranked
third in the nation and UCSD-TV has won several
Emmys. Last spring, about 100 students spent their
spring break helping the poor and needy all over
the world. Many went to New Orleans to help Hurricane
Katrina victims, Fox said.
“Our students’ commitment to education
extends beyond the classroom,” she said.
“UCSD students think and act with passion.”
A.S. President Khanna also urged students to
get involved. In January, students from all UC
campuses rallied at UCSD and successfully lobbied
the Board of Regents to withdraw UC investments
from companies doing business with Sudan, Khanna
told students.
“Make friends, study hard, and party hard,
but never forget that you are a citizen of this
world,” he said. “Find your way of
making a difference.”
Travis Silva, who graduated from UCSD this summer,
decided to make a difference by joining Teach
for America. He is now working in a San Francisco
Bay Area middle school where many children come
from immigrant families. Silva had gone to Mexico
to research illegal immigration during his time
at UCSD. He encouraged students to study abroad.
“Look around you and see what is wrong
and go out and try to fix it,” he said.
“UCSD allows you to expand your world view
and truly be a global citizen.”
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| Ralph Keeling, a professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD, talks about global warming. |
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Students also can make a difference in the classroom
and the laboratory, said Ralph Keeling, a global
warming researcher at the Scripps Institution
of Oceanography at UCSD.
“It’s a very exciting time to study
the earth,” Keeling said. “Humans
have never faced a challenge on this scale before.”
There are a few simple things everyone can do
to help fight global warming, he added. For example,
offices could turn off air conditioners and conserve
energy if everyone stopped wearing coats and ties
in the summer, said Keeling, who was wearing a
short-sleeved casual shirt. Chancellor Fox promptly
removed her coat, drawing laughter from the crowd.
Finally, Keeling had some career advice for students.
Find a job you’re good at, that you like
and that is valued by others, he said.
“In some sense, this treasure hunt must
remain a lifetime quest,” he said.
After the convocation, freshmen Samuel Bostick,
Ashley Risch and Chelsea Petker said they liked
the event, particularly Silva’s speech.
“You got motivated to get involved,”
Risch said.
