Hi everyone! My name is Megan Griswold, and I am a second year Human Bio Major in Revelle College. I grew up in San Diego, and I go to the beach pretty frequently, whether it be to kayak, surf, or to just read a book on the sand. I have played piano for ten years and played the flute throughout all of high school. My career goal is to become a Pediatric Doctor.
My favorite book in the Hum series so far is The Odyssey because while reading it, we enter a world infused with imagination and excitement where no dream is made too fantastic for humans to access. However, woven through all of the horrific, non familiar creatures and scenes, there is additionally a theme of traveling home, a feeling we all can recognize. This is why I find The Odyssey to be so entertaining, as well as relatable to all who read it.
This was a picture I took while hiking near where I live during winter break.
Hi everyone! I’m Ashley. I’m currently a human developmental sciences major. I like watching Netflix, going on hikes, and snorkeling. My favorite book in the HUM sequence has been the Odyssey. I don’t really like reading though tbh
Heres a picture of my friend’s weird Ponyo bottle. I think its scary and cute and funny at the same time lol.
Hello everybody! My name is Nabi and I’m a Computer Science senior. I love the work I do and I’m very optimistic about the future. The reason I love the field I’m working in is because of the power it gives me to influence a wide variety of segments of society and enhance their living conditions in some ways through my software skills.
My favorite book in HUM has been the dialogues by Plato due to a couple of reasons: firstly, I came to the realization that some of the biases and presumptions we make might be wrong in their fundamental argument. This made me question myself and the ideas I had to make sure to eliminate these biases that come from my background. Secondly, the HUM series in general has helped me have a clearer idea of who I am and my core values. Thanks to this new skill I’m able to have a clearer vision for my future and am able to be a better person overall.
Herro, my name is Jimmy Nguyen and I am a second-year biochemistry student under the Chemistry Department. I am trying to switch my major to Human Biology this quarter and I want to pursue a career in the medical field (I just don’t know what yet). I guess some fun facts about me are that I have a very large stuffed animal collection on my bed, I used to play tennis, and that my favorite High School Musical movie is High School Musical 2.
My favorite HUM book experience has to be the Old Testament back in HUM 1 because I enjoyed relearning the stories that I was taught in Bible School as a child. It was very surprising to find out how many stories I actually remembered as we were discussing the books in discussion.
Here’s a photo of like 1/4 of my stuffed animal collection on my bed
Hi! My name is Nicole Hom and I am a second-year biochemistry student. I’m aiming for a future career as a forensic scientist, but I have yet to figure out which discipline I want to pursue. A few fun facts about myself are that I used to do gymnastics, I currently do martial arts, and I’m a casual gamer 🙂 I also love boba too!
I think my favorite HUM book would be The Odyssey because it’s such a classic epic that demonstrates amazing character development and portrays vital aspects of the hero’s journey very well. Homer does an excellent job of utilizing several literary elements to create a powerful story that I could simply read over and over again.
Anyways, I hope to get to know y’all this quarter. Enjoy a gym video from high school 🙂 sorry about the bad quality lol
My name is Rafael Vasquez. I am a second-year Chemical Engineering major. I have different hobbies such as playing guitar and piano, reading philosophy, and gaming. I am also a big fan of the band, Radiohead so if you like Radiohead too, let me know. I am also a big fan of Albert Camus and his work so if you want to talk about him, let me know.
So far in the Humanities series, my favorite book is The Odyssey. It was a long read but the story of Odysseus and his son, Telemachus, was really captivating.
Like I said before, I am a big fan of Radiohead so if you’re interested, here’s a link to one of Radiohead’s best concerts.
Hi! My name is Fateh. I was born in India. I have lived in Michigan, and now in San Diego. So far, my favorite place to live at has been San Diego mainly because of the weather. But I still think India had the best food. My goal in life is to excel at things I am passionate about. I am passionate about mechanical engineering and fluid mechanics more specifically. I fell in love with mechanical engineering back in high school when I first learned about physics. I was also fortunate enough to have the opportunity to talk to a bunch of professors in my field. After talking to them, I learned that mechanical engineering is something I would love to do for the rest of my life. I enjoy learning about how F1 cars and planes work. This is the first humanities class I have taken at UCSD. I have enjoyed Candid a lot so far. My favorite thing to read out of all my English classes had been Learning to Read by Malcolm X. This essay inspired me to read more and learn more. I love to learn because I feel like it grows me as a person, and it helps me push my learning abilities. Also by reading, I gain a better understanding of the world through the eyes of other authors.
Hey everyone, my name is Leyly (lay-lee) and I’m a 2nd year human biology major. I’m on the UCSD Figure Skating Team, and I work for the UCSD Pediatrics Department as a video editor and graphic designer and am a proud single mother to two cats. In my free time I like to scroll on Twitter, listen to Beyoncé, and be an active energy drink connoisseur.
My favorite book that I’ve read in HUM so far has been the “Lais of Marie de France,” because I liked the themes of love, and courtship and the whimsical aspects of each story. My favorite story specifically, was “Guigemar” because of the happy ending which is oftentimes a rare occurrence when reading HUM books.
Hi class, my name is William Luu and I am a second year Cog Sci ML major. I don’t mind if people call me Will, William, or even Bill. I was born in here in sunny San Diego and have been living here all my life. I enjoy playing video games, gyming, and racing people on typing racer.
My favorite book in the HUM series was Shakespeare’s The Tempest because of its nature of a play. The relationship between the stranded island characters was enjoyable to read with Prospero’s relationship to Caliban and Ariel along with his plotted revenge on the ship. It highlights some of the history of slavery with the subtle inferiority complex between Prospero and Caliban and the effects of European settlement to new places such as Prospero’s arrival to the island. Overall, it was nice to read a play that had a lot of drama.
I like listening to electronic music so here’s a song from one of my playlists.
My name is Jennifer Fuentes and I am a psychology major. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and honestly i really miss living there with my parents. I came to San Diego because of school. Something about me is that I love superheroes. So anything that has to do with DC or Marvel I love. Everything about them amazes me. I also have a guinea pig and his name is Loki. He’s the cutest!!!!! As to a favorite book in the HUM sequence I honestly don’t have one. I don’t like HUM LOL. Here’s Loki 🙂
I’m Meghana Ottur (I also go by Meg if you can’t pronounce my name :)), I’m a sophomore, and a neurobiology major. I’m from New Jersey and came here just for the beach (Joking. Kind of.) I’m pretty lazy so most of the time I just hang out indoors, though if I have the energy to move (which is rare), I do go out with friends. So as for my hobbies, I write fictional novels, draw a bit, and game. The novel I’m currently working on is a science fiction thriller about a technologically-progressed future world where people can create and control physical objects (and creatures) using their minds, along with a bunch of other crazy abilities. I’m also planning on improving my artistic skills to post concept art about my story. If you share any of my hobbies or you’re just interested, feel free to come talk to me about them! 🙂
My favorite book in the HUM series would have to be A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I already read it in high school but I found it to be one of Shakespeare’s funniest and weirdest works.
Here’s a really good electronic song with vocals from a game I like. Trust me, it’s good.
Hi! My name is Catherine Nguyen, but I go by Cat 🙂 I am a third-year biochemistry/chemistry major. When I’m not in a class, I am working in my research lab doing assays on human plasma samples. My research focuses on the discovery of new small molecules (a.k.a. metabolite). Outside of school, I do powerlifting as a hobby. I love cooking and trying out fine dining in my spare time!
I really enjoyed HUM 2 with Professor Caciola because I learned a lot about French authors (which is great because I love French Literature). I really enjoyed reading The Lais by Marie de France in that course!
Here’s a picture from my last fine dining experience – a tasting menu at Kali, a Michelin star restaurant in LA.
My name is Jacky Lin and I’m a data science major. I was born in China but lived in the U.S. since I was one. I’m from the LA area and I like swimming, spontaneous hangouts and games. I don’t have a single favorite book in the HUM sequence but I like the philosophical works of Plato and The Lais of Marie de France. Attatched is a recent song that I like.
Hi! My name is Jasmine Okereke. I’m a Clinical Psychology major and Health Social Issues minor, but I have only taken one (1) class that is relevant to my major/minor despite being a Sophomore because I have too many gen eds and prerequisites! Go Revelle College! All joking aside, my interests include writing and performing and visual arts. I have played saxophone(s) for eight years, and I make pottery and stained glass projects when given the supplies. I have also been writing a story and drawing its concept art in my free time for a few years. Of course, with all the art that I dabble in, I refuse to make a career out of them because my parents told me not to.
My favorite book from the HUM series would have to be Montaigne’s The Essays. Montaigne’s first chapter openly discourages readers from wasting their free time by reading his book, going so far as to to a book about himself frivolous. Montaigne’s sense of humor can be seen throughout The Essays, and it even made me laugh out loud a few times. I know. It’s weird. (Another great book that isn’t from the HUM series is Murder in Perspective by Keith Miles. Check it out, it’s the only book I bothered to finish in high school.)
Finally, here’s a song from a Norwegian experimental jazz group called Jaga Jazzist. Have a day!
Hi everyone! My name is Isabella, and I am a third year Human Bio major in Revelle. Some fun facts about me are that I recently picked up a Political Science minor, I am from LA, and I am a huge foodie. I also have two younger brothers and love watching sports with them (mostly NBA and NFL games). I love music and going to concerts; I have been to Coachella, Rolling Loud, and Day n Night which were all festivals and so much fun!
My favoite HUM book I have read so far is Confessions by Augustine in HUM 2. I attended Catholic school from K-12th grade, so I found it interesting to look at Augustine and his work from a literary and historical point of view because it was so different from what I was accustomed to. I also found it refreshing that someone highly regarded in the church was humanized in his biography and made mistakes just like everyone else.
I mostly listen to hip-hop/pop music, but I am also obsessed with Frank Ocean. I took a music class at UCSD and we learned about him and his music style, so I posted a song I had never heard by him that I think is amazing!
Have you ever felt like a blog post will make or break your grade? Well I have, Hi, my name is Randy Apan by the way. I am a third year international business major, in Revelle obviously. I am a really big gamer, so I like to both play and stream at the same time. My favorite genre of games are FPS games and I also happen to play for the UCSD Counter-strike Global Offensive team. Other things that I like to do is pick up random new hobbies, lately I’ve been wanting to pick up bar tending and am hoping to go to school for it once I turn 21.
I think my favorite book from the Hum series was The Divine Comedy. This was because of how it seemed to almost be like a fan fiction of Dante’s favorite heroes and philosophers from times past.
As I mentioned counter strike global offensive is my favorite game and here’s some clips from past tournaments. *shameless plug kinda* if anyone wants to catch one of my streams yall can ask.
Hi everyone! My name is Shangshu Shi. I usually use the name “mint” and you can call me mint if you want. I am a second year ICAM music major student and I have been playing and making music for many years. I love metal, progressive rock/metal and lots of orchestra stuff. I also love digging into different kinds of history stuff, especially Chinese’s Three Kingdom era and Japanese Sengoku Era. I can tell you lots of things if you are interested!
My favorite book in Hum series till now might be King Lear. I wasn’t really interested in the language of the book due to the technical difficulties but I definitely love the plot and the way how Shakespeare conveys his message through the plot. I am always fascinated by awesome plots and stories.
I put an old piece I wrote half year ago below, just to show you what kinds of music I am into and I truly hope you’ll like it!
Hi everyone! My name is Melissa Heredia and I am a second year Molecular and Cell Biology major! My major interests would include music, cancer research, and Disney! In terms of music, the main instrument I play is string bass, and I am involved in Chamber Orchestra and The Intermission Orchestra here on campus. I also enjoy playing the other instruments I know how to play, such as electric bass and a few others, and I also am learning how to arrange pieces for The Intermission Orchestra which is a new experience I thought I would never have.
One of my favorite books in the Hum series so far was The Essays by Michel de Montaigne. I think it is really interesting how he is very individualized and is not too worried about others listening or disagreeing, but rather, he is only telling others so they can be aware of what he believes. Furthermore, one of my favorite essays highlights that “to philosophize is to learn to die.” Montaigne makes a really good point in saying that anything one means to get done before they die should be done today, for we do not know when we will die, and thus, must act while we still can. Overall, I think Montaigne is very relatable in current day issues and how I would like to address issues, and therefore, I have liked his works the most so far.
As I mentioned, I love music, especially different types of it. Here is one of my favorite bands (Coldplay) performing Adventure of a Lifetime. Their music videos are always interesting, so I thought I should share this one since it is quite unique. Enjoy! 😀
Hello, my name is James Dayanghirang and I am a 2nd year structural engineering major. In my free time I like to play video games, listen to music, and play my guitar. My favorite book from HUM would have to be Oedipus Rex because I liked thinking about whether or not people really have free will or not.
Hello everyone, My name is Raju Ivaturi, and I’m a 4th Year Cognitive Science major specializing in Human-Computer Interaction. I’m from just north of LA, and my interests include Basketball, lifting, making music, playing soccer, and playing video games. My favorite book in the HUM sequence so far has been Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. I quite enjoyed the theme of repentance and how Faustus’ remorse kept gnawing at him as he continued to sin, showing that people ought to listen to their hearts and minds and live without regret. This book also showed me that even the greatest of humanity can fall victim to worldly vices, especially when they are greedy or want too much power.
Here is my favorite song ever (probably), and an inspiration in my own musical endeavors:
Hello! My name is Zijia Guo and I am a second year Electrical Engineering Student. Recently I am trying to declare double majors with Applied Math. I come from China. When I have leisure, I like to play TRPG and video games with friends. My favorite TRPG game is Dungeons & Dragons.
My favorite book in the HUM series is The New Organon by Francis Bacon. I really like this book because in this book Bacon basically established the fundamental opinion about modern scientific study. What is more, I believe his opinion about the four idols of human beings can help me a lot.
Hello! My name is Rebecca and I am a second year aiming to major in human biology. I’m from Oakland, CA which is right across from San Francisco. When given the opportunity, I love to solve puzzles, from the jigsaw ones to sudoku to wooden brain teasers (I can’t help myself when I see jigsaw puzzles at Geisel). This is irrelevant, but I prefer lattes over boba (sorry, not sorry to all the bobaholics ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).
I like many of the works in the HUM sequence, but my favorite text so far has to be Gorgias by Plato. While some parts of Socrates’ argument may not be sound, he does bring up some interesting points, especially about rhetoric, power, and the distinction between doing something a person should do versus doing something a person wants to do. I found the dialogue to be an interesting read.
Here’s a short by one of the Youtube channels I watch. Fun fact: the creators of the channel are UCSD alumni.
Hello, my name is Jiaqi Feng and you can call me Judy. I am from Tianjin, China, a city next to Beijing. My mom and dad are both engineers but I somehow interested in mathematics and am an applied-math sophomore. I like music and playing the guitar and also playing with my cats.
My favorite book is hum sequence is definitely Marie de France. I really enjoy those love stories that always give us interesting endings out of our expectations and there are always something meaningful lies behind the stories, which are very worth considering.
Hello everyone, my name is Hsin-Yi (Sidney), and I am from Taiwan. I am a senior majoring in business psychology. I love traveling, yoga, and boba. The last place I visited was Quebec in Canada and it was a great experience. I was able to explore the beautiful landscapes and experience a distinct culture.
My favorite book in the HUM series is Seneca’s On the Shortness of Life because the book changed my perspective on life in some way. The book urged me to think about how I have lived so far and made me notice how much time I have wasted. The idea of making better use of time often reminds me not to get distracted by unworthy moments, which I think is valuable.
My name is David Richman and I am a fourth-year double major in Philosophy and Political Science. My plan is to attend a doctorate program next year and attain a PhD in Philosophy and/or a PhDiv in Theology/Philosophy of Religion with the eventual goal of teaching at a university level–I am currently waiting for my admissions results as I’ve already submitted all of my applications. I am primarily concerned with topics in moral and political philosophy, existential phenomenology, theology as paradox, and the philosophies of Immanuel Kant and Søren Kierkegaard. My interests include reading (philosophy and theology), writing, and snowboarding.
My favorite book within the Humanities sequence thus far is Augustine’s Confessions. The Confessions explores topics such as introspection, guilt, sin, individuality, the nature of time, and so many more. It is complex, deep, thought-provoking, passion-provoking, and completely original (especially form a historical perspective). Augustine offers himself in such a bare and naked way, elucidating his inner struggles and relating his sense of isolation with being an Individual before God, that one cannot but be absolutely gripped by every word. Beyond mere passion and self-reflection, Augustine also philosophizes in a dispassionate manner on topics like time, where he espouses a systematic and defensible account of presentism (viz. that only and nothing but the present exists).
Below I’ve attached the statue of Søren Kierkegaard in the garden he used to visit often in Denmark. A fun fact about Kierkegaard is that, while he was the first existentialist, and literally invented the dialectical category of “the individual,” he used to walk around the streets of Copenhagen for up to four hours at a time, talking with every person he could. He was highly sociable (at least on the outside) and extremely funny–what made him first prominent in Denmark was his writing a satirical hit-piece on his own first published and pseudonymous work (Concluding Unscientific Postscript) in a newspaper in Copenhagen.
My name is Siara, I am a second year, and I’m a molecular and cell biology major. I’m an out of state student from Chicago, Illinois and some of my hobbies include photography, traveling, and painting. My favorite book we have read in the HUM series so far were the Lais of Marie de France. I really enjoyed the how each of the stories had an entirely different subject matter with an underlying lesson to learn from each story.
The picture I included are one of my photographs from my photoshoots. It is performance portraiture representative of feelings experienced by people with anxiety.
Hello, my name is Shaun Tayaba. I was born in Japan, but I moved to Southeast San Diego when I was a one-year-old and have lived here ever since. My hobbies include playing basketball, dancing, and working out.
My favorite book from the HUM sequence so far has been The Prince from Machiavelli. Although I didn’t agree with some of his viewpoints, his perspective was interesting to see and I found the text very intriguing.
Hey guys! My name is Thomas! I’m a Linguistics (Speech and Language Sciences) major, but I’m planning to acquire a second major in Religion (Christian Tradition) within this academic year.
As for my personal background, I was born in the Philippines (specifically Manila). However, I moved to the Bay Area (Dublin) for a brief time before spending most of my life in New England (specifically, Connecticut). During high school, I returned to the same place in the Bay Area and now I find myself here in San Diego–you can say I like change, even welcome it!
A major interest of mine is researching the Linguistics of Religion. Ever since I was young, I was always enamored by the way divinity and language interacted with each other to create a nexus of phenomena and preservations of human behavior. If this is something that intrigues you, I am always more than happy to talk about it!
My favorite book that I’ve read so far is John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Although I would say I’ve had a ‘favorite’ for every HUM course I’ve taken, I would say (with some trepidation) that this one is indeed my favorite over all! Aside from masterfully wedding together concepts which are of great fascination to me (linguistics and religion), something which I consider are the contextual factors around which this piece of work was made in. Paradise Lost was made at a time when Europeans were colonizing foreign lands, and when read with this in mind, an anti-imperialist narrative can be uncovered. However, what interested me most was Milton’s own condition when writing this work. Milton at this time was going blind, and I believe his visual impairment adds an additional layer of complexity and tragedy to his work. Seeing as how Paradise Lost frequents in illustrating flower fields and other Edenic imagery, I can’t help but wonder if Milton’s tendency to over-emphasize natural beauty is a representation of his desperation in seeing it again.
The media I chose to select is Maria Callas’ performance of Habanera from the opera Carmen. I generally choose this song to recommend, namely because many people know the melody of this song but don’t know its name. Additionally, Maria Callas (in my opinion) is one of the best operatic vocalists known to us. She was even bestowed the name ‘La Divina’ (‘The Goddess’) because many described her voice as being sublime and otherworldly, even godly.
I’m Theodore Sacamay but I go by Toby and am a second year student. I am currently majoring in Human Biology. I was born and raised my entire life here in the city of San Diego; however, my parents are both Filipino. I love playing video games, doing art, and listening to all kinds of music (mostly EDM or rap). My favorite book of the HUM series was probably The Odyssey, I had some exposure to it already from High School and liked reading about the Greeks again.
Hi guys, my name is Paul Guo, my actual given name is Tianze but it is hard to pronounce, so I choose this one-syllable name instead. I’m an international student from Beijing, China majoring in Bioengineering(Biotechnology). I am interested in the natural sciences, I can spend a whole day exploring natural history museums. For literature, I am interested in Camus’ absurdism, ‘The myth of Sisyphus’ is always my top favorite and it helped me when I’m down. Another fun fact about me is that I’m ranked world top 15,000 in Pokemon Shield.
My favorite book in the humanities so far is the ‘Consolation of Philosophy’ I liked how lady Philosophy reasoned to Boethius that wealth, fame, etc are not the ultimate good, only God is. Though I personally do not hold any religion, I still found the reasoning part interesting. It makes me believe that wealth and fame may not be my goal, and it contributes to my optimistic view that sometimes I can use that reasoning to persuade myself that grades are not that important, and it can release some stress for me: )
The stray cat I adopted in high school and had him being a school pet there
Hi everyone! My name is Athena Skoufias and I’m a second-year Revelle student majoring in Urban Studies and Planning and minoring in Economics. I was born and raised in a town in Maryland right outside of Washington DC, so it’s easier to remember me as the girl from DC. As my name suggests, I am Greek but only half. My dad is Greek and my mom is Indonesian so I guess that’s where my interests in different cities and cultures might have stemmed from.
My favorite book from the Hum series is Montaigne’s The Essays from Hum 3. I really enjoyed reading and learning about this book because it was refreshing to read about a “normal” person’s thoughts and observations about life and death and everything in between rather than a book instructing a reader how to live one’s life. It was different than all the books I had read through Hum because of Montaigne’s frankness and honesty about the human experience.
Here is my dog named Zeus. Yes, my parents really did name their dog Zeus and their daughter Athena.
Hello everyone. My name is Yang and I’m a second-year chemical engineer major. I was born in China but grew up in Canada. Recently, I’ve been addicted to a deck-building video game called Slay the Spire. This game completely consumed me during the winter break and I’m only now starting to recover.
My favourite book in the HUM series has to be the Odyssey. I grew up reading the Percy Jackson novels which were heavily influenced by the Odessey and Greek mythology. It was very interesting to read what inspired my favourite childhood books.
Here is a photo from a cypress mountain, a ski resort near my home in Vancouver.
Hello! My name is Kalo, and I am from Encinitas, which is a 30 minute drive north of UCSD. I am a sophomore in Revelle and a literature major, and business minor. I really love creating things with art and sewing, and I am currently creating an etsy, and will take requests if you want me to make you something! I also love to reading and playing video games.
My favorite book so far in the HUM series was probably The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius. I really liked how it dealt with very complicated issues in a clear and concise way, however, it was not abrupt or choppy. I also really liked the flow of the story and how the purpose of it was also to be engaging and not to just teach people about philosophy.
Hello everyone! My name is Vera and I am from San Diego. I am a sophomore at Revelle and my major is Pharmacological Chemistry. I’m interested in playing/watching sports, hiking, and trying out new foods. In general, I just really like trying out new things.
My favorite book from the Humanities sequence thus far is a book I read from Hum 2 with Professor Markman called Lysistrata. This book wasn’t really emphasized on as the other books but I really liked it. This book was such an easy read and it focused on how women were able to rise and start their own revolution to make a change in their society. I liked this book because we don’t really come across a lot of books in hum that focus on women.
I took this picture the last time I hiked Cowles Mountain!!
Hi everyone, my name is Rosie. (I’m your TA 🙂 I am a PhD student in the music department, which is a little misleading because the work I do aligns more with the work done in communications or American Studies departments. My interests include critical theory, techno, and wellnessculture. My MA thesis was on this crazy phenomenon Daybreaker! Has anyone heard of it? Comment if so :o)
My favorite author so far was definitely Montaigne. I found his essays relatable and insightful; I think it was the most relatable read for me thus far in the HUM sequence. I particularly liked Montaigne’s essay on death. It was also refreshing to read a critique of European imperialism and oppression of indigenous people, after all of the other non-critical texts we’ve read thus far (the Greek’s obsession with “barbarians” comes to mind).
I mentioned that I like techno. One of my favorite artists is Detroit- based Omar S. Enjoy!
