Summer Highlights // by Monica

In order to enter the top secret building, I had to parachute over and land exactly through a small opening on the fourth floor. Once I accessed the building, I spotted my target, the rouge spy who had previously infiltrated the CIA. We engaged in a dramatic chase scene, through an obstacle ridden room.

Would I ever catch the spy??

I will never know... because at this moment (5:35am) my and Alyssa Lo's alarm clocks went off simultaneously, just like they did every other day of the week. They signaled the end of my action-packed dream and prompted us to get out of bed and head over to Avery Aquatic Center for summer polo morning practice. Living on campus with Alyssa made the morning commute to the pool average a 3 minute bike ride. Having practice in the morning generally meant for an early bedtime, aside from the one night a week when Alyssa and I decided it was worth loosing an hour of sleep to stay up and watch The Bachelorette. Our summer water polo season culminated in placing third at Senior Nationals, which was held in my home town Moraga. Everyday this summer after practice I headed over to Lorry Lokey Labs on campus to continue working on a research project I started in June 2010. The model organism I work with is yeast, which is an endless source of amusement for my parents and their pun-making capabilities, most recently my father telling me I should title everything 'Yeast Meets West.' Between working in the lab and studying for a standardized test (which I must admit I thought I was finished with those after my junior year of high school) I was fairly busy until the end of August, when I moved back home to spend some time with my parents. The last few weeks of summer I'm enjoying relaxing in Moraga and helping out my Mom in her kindergarten class.