PRISE 2010: A Summer in Photos

Pictures, pictures, pictures!!

2010-08-23T15:14:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I've put up nearly all of the pictures (some were too risqué, some were plain bad so I left those out) that I took this summer in a picasa album, organized into separate albums by event. The majority of them were uploaded in their original size, so the quality will not be lost if you choose to download the pictures. For those of you bored at home, you can now kill a few hours looking at pictures... Enjoy!

Also, here is the link to Zach's picasa album, which has a lot of pictures from the opening day activities, such as Minute to Win It and The Amazing Race (Thanks again Zach!)

Feeling a little PRISE nostalgia, but strangely excited for school to start :) Hope to see you all very soon.

-Jenn

Thank you, PRISE

2010-08-16T09:50:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to thank you all again for such a wonderful summer. I had a great time taking pictures, did a lot of things I had never done before, and made a ton of life-long friends. This truly was the best summer experience I've had (and I was doing thesis research, what??). Can't wait to reunite in the fall!

Over and out,

Jenn

PRISE Closing Dinner

2010-08-12T22:44:00.000-07:00

They really transformed the basement of Northwest Labs...

And the table set-up was really beautiful.

Dry ice at our table! (in a little beaker!)

Enjoying the reception.

Look at how "grown-up" we look...

Jane, I had an awesome time doing that exercise work-out routine thing with you earlier today :)

Rob Lue joined us from Shanghai!

Lawrence- you the man. I knew you were going to be the speaker!

Who's PRISE--These guys!!

Craziest, loudest table ever. Dinner was delicious.

Thank you Greg, PAs, Proctors, and PRISE fellows for such an amazing summer!

But really, HUGE thank you to Greg--you made research a great experience for over 120 students :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACH!

2010-08-11T11:24:00.000-07:00

suPRISE study break!

2010-08-11T08:04:00.000-07:00

Kick-ass cupcakes! (I swear I had like 10 of them, they're so bite-sized!)

PRISE people are very inventive with their games.

Signing Greg's calendar.

The "We're going to get MGH-fleeces" crew.

Having fun with the balloons.

Marianne and Logan at their "non-engagement" party!

Proctors :)

More fun with balloons.

Special Thank You Dinner

2010-08-10T22:44:00.000-07:00

PRISE fellows invited their PI's, post-docs, grad-students, and fellow undergrads to dinner--Dudley was completely packed!

I didn't take many pictures because I didn't want to impose on people's conversations... great food, as always. The Dudley dining hall staff was amazing.

PRISE final student presentations

2010-08-09T22:43:00.000-07:00

Wonderful job on presentations everyone. It was great getting a chance to hear all the work everyone has done all summer :)

Greg at the presentations!

Susan Seav- MCB- "The developmental basis of sexual shape dimorphism in Anole lizards"

Joshua Wortzel- Neurobiology- "A new microcephaly gene and its effects on brain development"

Paul Yarabe- CPB- "Potential synergistic effects of p73 activation with poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibition in treating refractory breast cancers"

Corinne Tu- Astrophysics and Statistics- "Blazars: the most violent phenomena in the universe"

Matt Zapf- Social and Cognitive Neuroscience- "Ube3a copy number variations: a mouse model of autism and angelman syndrome"

Afoma Umeano- Biomedical Engineering- "On being 'big hearted'- IPS cell disease modeling for neutral lipid storage disease-M subtype"

Jake Weatherly- Engineering Sciences- "Using clinical data to inform medical device design"

Johanna Lee- Neurobiology- "Non-cell autonomous effects of glia with altered levels of SMN on motor neurons"

Dan Mark- CPB- "Investigating lipcalins as mouse pheromones"

Chris Devine- Neurobiology- "Neuron subtype-specific genes: development of sub-cerebral projection neurons"

Rachel Hinman- Physics and Math- "Muon reconstruction efficiency in the ATLAS experiment"

Kate Dobos- Neurobiology- "Dog days of summer"

Kidus Asfaw- Engineering Sciences- "Spray drying, release study of nanoporous and microporous alginate based gels, magnetic gels"

Acky Uzosike- MCB- "A new experimental paradigm for extending telomere length without tumorigenic genetic recombination"

Eric Shieh- MCB- "The role of TRPC6's carboxyl-terminal domain in mediating focal segmental glomerulosclerosis"

Sarvagna Patel- CPB- "Elucidating the mechanisms of the Alzheimer's Disease relevant y-secretase complex: interactions between alpha-and gamma-secretase"

Leverett Master's Open House

2010-08-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

The Georgi's hosted a wonderful open house!

We all enjoyed multiple servings of the famous monkey bread!

Happiness :)

They just kept replenishing it!

Thanks Greg for a wonderful 10 weeks of PRISE :)

PRISE talent show

2010-08-08T10:22:00.001-07:00

Amazing performances everyone :)

Allen and Shwinn- Rap/Piano duet - "28 Bars Later" (from the upcoming mixtape Coin Toss) and "Move Makers Music" (Official PRISE anthem + promotional single by Shwynfinite)

Zach- The cool things you can do with math!

Shwinn- "Get My 1.3" the hot street single by Shwynfinite

Justin and Adrian- Franck sonata in A major for flute and piano, 4th movement

PRISE Formal 2010

2010-08-07T22:43:00.000-07:00

Dance floor.

Group picture! Everyone looked so stunning :) (Photo credit: Helen Yang)

Helen, Chioma, Kelly (Photo credit: Helen Yang)

Sar, Sumit, Dan (Photo credit: Sumit Malik)

Dance floor and decorations.

There was an incredible amount of food/desserts served at formal.

And a chocolate fountain!

Hi Greg :)

Preparing the cheesecake.

Taking a break from dancing to make use of the empty cups. (Photo credit: Rose Cao)

Thank you to the PRISE 2010 formal committee- Jane Baldwin, Corinne Tu, Ritchell van dams, Paul Yarabe, Kayla Berry, Ryan Christ, Marion Liu, Angela Zhang, and everyone else who helped out...everything came together so wonderfully! It was such an amazing way to end an awesome summer :)

Sailing Lesson

2010-08-07T15:00:00.000-07:00

UMass Boston sailing instructor, Chris, showing us how to rig the sailboat.

Sumit actually reading the liability form before signing it. Good boy.

Best picture ever. Sumit getting hit in the head by the boom.

Setting up the boat.

Sunscreening.

Sails up!

Sarah standing at the front of the boat.

There wasn't much wind, which gave us plenty of opportunities to lie down and chill on the boat.

Chris had a lot of trouble keeping his eyes open for the pictures.

Adrian actually JUMPED into our boat!

Sumit got covered by the sail as we were taking it down.

Sailing back into the dock.

Folding up the sails. We still had a great time even though the weather wasn't ideal for sailing (we did more...floating). Thanks everyone for coming with!

Distinguished Speaker Series: Professor Margot Selzer

2010-08-05T22:43:00.000-07:00

Charles, before the final distinguished speaker talk, encouraging people to be a part of HCURA.

In Sever for the last talk of PRISE.

Professor Margot Selzer tells us about Diana, an undergraduate who worked in her lab, and her medical data mining thesis project.

If you're interested in this kind of medical informatics, you can get involved in Professor Selzer's lab! Contact her at Margo@eecs.harvard.edu.

Greg gives Professor Selzer the final PRISE 2010 t-shirt of the summer.

Shoutouts

2010-08-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

Hey PRISE,

Got a little absent-minded with picture-taking the last few days, but I just wanted to say great job during the Presentation Practicum everyone, there are some incredibly interesting projects that fellows are involved with this summer!

Also, I just wanted to give a shoutout to Chris Devine, who hosted a faculty chat with Professor Jeffrey Macklis in Lev JCR. Approximately 25 people joined for good conversation and yummy Thai food. Sorry I didn't get any pictures!

-Jenn

Tanglewood

2010-08-01T22:42:00.000-07:00

There were so many people out on the lawn! And colorful umbrellas!

Adrian was very resourceful and made himself a cape out of the program to protect his back from the heat (Note: Lauren's expression)

It was really hot...

All settled on the lawn and ready to enjoy some classical music.

We took plenty of pictures while listening to the Boston Pops and Yo-yo Ma.

Rockin' the shades.

Picnic!

Thanks Jake for this picture!

Red Sox v. Detroit

2010-07-30T22:42:00.000-07:00

Beautiful picture with the Prudential Center in the background. At Fenway Park for the Red Sox vs. Detroit game. This was my first baseball game ever!

Doing the wave! (It went around the entire stadium 4-5 times)

Group pic.

Corinne and I had way too much fun with the red body paint that we bought (and learned that body paint is a football thing, NOT a baseball thing...oh well!)

More group pictures! (Thanks Chris!)

Somewhat close-up of the action.

The pitcher got hit really hard in the shin and was down for a while...

Fenway!

Good times :)

Distinguished Speaker Series: Professor Adam Cohen

2010-07-29T22:41:00.000-07:00

Professor Adam Cohen, from the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology (as well as Physics), talked to PRISE fellows about his current research, which focuses on developing new tools to to probe the physical properties of complex molecules.

He also talked about his efforts to modernize science education teaching in Northwest Africa.

Not only did Professor Cohen talk about his research, he also gave us dating advice along with 10 tips for research:

1. Listen and read actively (take notes after talks)

2. Keep a list of important problems

3. Generate a lot of ideas

4. Once you have a project, be obsessive

5. Choose your addictions carefully

6. Be brave

7. Take control of your environment

8. Choose whom to spend time with (hang out with inspiring people!)

9. Learn to talk and write clearly

10. Be nice to people

Putting on the 2010 PRISE t-shirt!

Faculty Chat: Dr. Nancy Rappaport

2010-07-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

Faculty chat with Dr. Nancy Rappaport over sushi at Cafe Sushi.

Dr. Rappaport took some time to get to know each of us and the research we were doing this summer before telling us about herself.

She discussed her memoir, In Her Wake: A Child Psychiatrist Explores the Mystery of Her Mother's Suicide, as well as answered any questions that we had about her profession, interests, and how she got where she is now.

Not only was a TON of sushi ordered, we also got ice cream for dessert!

Thanks, Akansha, for organizing this faculty chat and Dr. Rappaport for taking the time to talk to us :)

PRISE: Captured and Shot

2010-07-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

Hello, Ernie :)

Sumit performing in the courtyard.

Not sure what game this was, but it looked like fun!

Chillin' after the closing dinner.

So much happy :)

One of the most epic pictures of the night- Lawrence is awesome!

Brandon plays some tunes for us on his guitar :)

Lauren is amazing and climbs mountains. Look at all her gear!

Chris, proudly showing off the stuffed mouse that his post-doc gave him. Not creepy at all.

Josh and his new creation: Strawberry yogurt with pears and tofu!

Cirque du Soleil- OVO

2010-07-27T22:41:00.000-07:00

PRISE trip to see Cirque du Soleil: Group picture in front of the Ovo billboard.

We had a little time to kill before the show...

Tents!

Waiting patiently outside the Door 6 entrance.

"Ovo"- notice Afoma's open eyes (to compensate for her closed eyes in the first attempt at this picture!)

Inside the tent (Thanks Jessica for the picture!)

Playing with masks during the 30-minute intermission.

Such an amazing, mind-blowing show...Thanks Greg!

Distinguished Speaker Series: Jenny Hoffman

2010-07-26T22:41:00.000-07:00

Professor Jenny Hoffman, a professor in the Department of Physics, talked to PRISE fellows about her research in superconducting.

Explaining the opposite spins of electrons.

Her research is based around scanning probe microscopy of correlated electron systems, with a focus on scanning tunneling microscopy of novel superconductors.

Greg presents yet another 2010 PRISE t-shirt!

Massive Subway study break!

2010-07-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

PAs...you guys are awesome! They got SO MANY SUBWAY SANDWICHES for the study break!

Getting it all to Lev...

Thanks Francesca for the pictures! (Was so starved and tired after Six Flags that I didn't take any of my own)

Trebuchet catapult building

2010-07-24T22:39:00.000-07:00

Some more Trebuchet building pictures, Thanks Justin!

Catapult.

Justin and his tools.

In the courtyard, ready to launch.

(Haha, I can't figure out what was going on here)

PRISE fellows Justin and Tom organized an amazing and incredibly successfuly Trebuchet catapult building contest!

Thanks Helen for the pictures :)

All the equipment necessary for successful trebuchet building.

Team Adrian and Helen. Neither had ever wielded a drill or a saw before, respectively.

Adrian putting on some last minute adjustments to the trebuchet.

Team Ashok and Corinne.

Group picture of all the teams!

Mt. Lafayette hike

2010-07-24T22:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Lucia, for all the pictures!

Props to you guys for waking up early and getting some physical exercise in!

Looks like you all had a great time!

New England Aquarium

2010-07-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

We spent a nice afternoon at the New England Aquarium.

Gorgeous Jellyfish.

A feeble attempt at flying. (or more likely, drying its wings?)

There were so many penguins at the aquarium!

This looks almost like a background screensaver.

Turtle :)

Flavor tripping with Miracle Berries

2010-07-23T22:41:00.000-07:00

The berry that started it all...

PRISE fellows Corinne, Tom, and Sarah organized a very successful flavor tripping experience (real berries were purchased!)

Cheers!

Some foods that were consumed included tortilla chips, sour patch kids, pickles, Tabasco sauce, vinegar, lemons, strawberries, oranges, tomatoes and cheese.

Everyone had a great time hanging out and experimenting with their newly altered taste buds. When life gives you lemons, pop a miracle fruit... it really will taste like lemonade!

Taking a shot of vinegar and Tabasco sauce.

PRISE salsa night!

2010-07-23T21:31:00.000-07:00

PRISE fellows and ballroom dance team members Adrian and Jackie organized a salsa and merengue night in Dudley dining hall.

Teaching the moves step-by-step.

They were wonderful teachers :)

We all learned quite a few moves, and had fun dancing and rotating partners!

Distinguished Speaker Series: Professor Shah Khoshbin

2010-07-22T22:40:00.000-07:00

Sever Hall was packed for Professor Shah Khoshbin's talk, the last of three lectures this summer that was open to the entire university community.

Professor Khoshbin is affliated with the HMS Department of Neurology.

His talk was titled "A neurologist's portrait of Van Gogh"

Answering a question from the audience.

Professor Khoshbin holds up his 2010 PRISE t-shirt.

Distinguished Speaker Series: Professor Scott Edwards

2010-07-19T22:40:00.000-07:00

Senan introduces Professor Scott Edwards, one of the speakers in the 2010 PRISE Distinguished Speaker Series.

Professor Edwards, a professor in the department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, talked about his latest ornithological research.

His lab studies the evolutionary biology of birds and relatives, combining field, museum, and genomics approaches to understand the basis of avian diversity, evolution, and behavior.

At the end of the talk, Greg presented Professor Edwards with the 2010 PRISE t-shirt.

Annual PRISE Whale-watching Trip

2010-07-18T22:39:00.000-07:00

PRISE, excited and energized to watch whales! (little did we know how...draining doing nothing would be)

(Dan, Afoma creeped on you and took this picture)

CHEESY SMILES!

On the boat. Many people took pills to prevent motion sickness!

It took an hour plus to get to the whale feeding area.

Jonathan and Sumit on the very top deck.

I'm very good with the zoom function on my camera :)

Patiently waiting for whales to surface.

Windswept hair!

Nap time!

Group nap, I guess now we know how tired looking at whales makes you.

Fin?

This was the best picture I could get of the whale...

Though it was a 3-4 hour trip and we only got to look at whales for about 30 minutes, it was still fun and a great bonding experience. Thanks, Greg!

PRISE gone wild: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

2010-07-18T21:06:00.000-07:00

Waiting outside the Harvard Square theater, all dressed up and ready to partake in the Rocky Horror Picture Show!

Finally inside the theater. It was a sold-out show!

Having some fun before the start of the show.

We had many Rocky Horror Virgins tonight :P

Notice Chris' dress...

SO MUCH FUN (though I was superr tired, it was 2:30am after all). Thanks Chris for getting us all to go!

Finale's Study Break

2010-07-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

Afoma French-braided my hair while we were waiting for Finale's.

Tiramisu.

Blueberry cheesecake.

Raspberry something?

PAs James and Francesca carefully cut the Finales' cakes into slices.

Everyone waits patiently for yummy dessert!

Vijay, Lisa, and Phoebe satisfy their sweet tooth.

Besties.

How can you not be happy after free Finales? :D

PRISE at Revere Beach

2010-07-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks Helen for organizing a trip to Revere Beach during the sand sculpting festival!

This was definitely my favorite one. I wonder if it ended up winning...

Group picture!

Somewhat matching Forever21 swim suits!

Yea, strike that pose.

Thank you, Adrian, for demonstrating the importance of applying plenty of sunscreen :)

Being AZN.

More sunscreen application, this time in spray form!

Helen volunteered to be buried. As you can see, everyone had a little too much (mature) fun.

Great day, great weather, super relaxing! (though next time I'm definitely going to remember to sunscreen my back)

Distinguished Speaker Series: Professor Alyssa Goodman

2010-07-15T22:39:00.000-07:00

Check out www.worldwidetelescope.org!

Professor Goodman talked about the WorldWide Telescope Ambassadors (WWTA) program, which got fantastic results among middle schoolers, increasing interest in astronomy, as well as interest in using a real telescope.

"How many people have heard of...?"

We all now know about Boxee!

Thank you, Professor Goodman, for a very fascinating talk (and for showing us some amazing things on WorldWide Telescope!)

Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream

2010-07-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

Vijay pouring liquid nitrogen into Afoma's bowl.

Everyone hard at work making ice cream.

Up-close shot of the liquid nitrogen.

Goggles were important...as were the mix-in toppings!

Sarah, one of the PRISE fellows who helped to organize the event :)

Greg Tucci also helped out with the liquid nitrogen.

Excited to eat ice cream?? :)

THANK YOU Fiona for sending me all these pictures!!

Seminar Series: Planning for a Life after Harvard

2010-07-12T22:38:00.000-07:00

PRISE proctors Zach, Jannis, Prajakta, and Ernie talk about plans after graduation and how they got where they are now.

Have one-on-one conversations and ask open-ended questions to really get at an individual's thought process.

Zach will be going to graduate school for math, and Jannis will be working on user experience design at a Health Technology company.

Ernie will also be going to graduate school for math, while PJ is currently applying to Medical School and will be working at Stanford doing research in the meantime.

Question time!

Advice from Greg: World from the deadlines backwards to avoid doing everything last minute.

Overarching theme of the night: Realize that not everyone has a hard and fast plan. It is important to really think about yourself and what you've really enjoyed doing and to be aware that you ARE going to change over the course of your college career!

World Cup 2010 Finals

2010-07-11T19:49:00.000-07:00

Excited for the world cup finals :)

There was so much mochi ice cream! (Thanks, PAs :D)

Many PRISE-lings and friends hung out in the JCR to watch Spain play the Netherlands.

Getting some food before the game.

Afoma knows how to get comfortable. Sort of.

Spain 1, Netherlands o. Viva ESPAÑA!

Sodis testing

2010-07-11T13:47:00.000-07:00

Project initiated by PRISE fellow Zar Zavala! All testing took place on Sunday, July 11, 2010.

Lauren and Zar testing the water.

They took 1 ml of water and poured it on the red petri films in the picture. The films were then incubated for 24 hours.

Bottle B2 after 3 hours of Sodis. The blue colonies are colonies of e.coli, and the red colonies with a bubble around it are coliform colonies.

Same bottle as pictured above, but after 8 hours of Sodis. As you can see, there are no more blue dots, and only one red dot with a bubble associated with it.

The X axis is the time of day. Testing began at 10 AM and the last measurement was taken at 8pm. The poland spring bottle labels are as follows:

Bottle 1: .5L

Bottle 2: .7L

Bottle 3: .75L "sport"

Bottle 4: 1L

Bottle 5:1.5L

Bottle 6: Huge 3L

If you have any more questions about the Sodis experiment or what Engineers Without Borders does, please contact Zar at bzavala@fas.harvard.edu!

Bastille Day in Harvard Square!

2010-07-11T13:26:00.000-07:00

Schedule of Activities:

2:00 - 5:00 p.m. – Family Events - Face Painting, Chalk Art, Jugglers, Magicians, and Balloon Art. French Food and a public viewing of the final game of the World Cup!

5:15 p.m. -Traditional French Waiters Race.

5:30 -8:00 French bands that will make you want to sing and dance!

8:00 - 10:00 DJ Kamal from the "Boston French Party" !

Day-to-Night block party on Holyoke Street.

I didn't get a chance to go, but it seems like Josh, Peter, Kidus, and Helen did! Looked like a ton of fun, thanks Helen for the pictures :)

Santarpio's Pizza in East Boston

2010-07-10T23:52:00.000-07:00

Half cheese and garlic, half cheese and sausage pizza at Santarpio's. Great pick, Francesca!

Mmmm....look at all that cheesy goodness! (and Peter proceeded to shake on more cheese)

We were all starving.

Girls in the front + Paul-- sorority squat!

Ice Cream dessert at Quincy Market (trying to avoid the massive downpour)

PRISE Arcade Night!

2010-07-09T22:37:00.000-07:00

Senan DDR-ing in the Lev D-entryway classroom.

Justin has drawn quite a crowd!

Karaoke in the JCR.

Senan was trying to tell a joke. Something about a hydrogen atom walking into a bar? Not sure who else was laughing :)

Intensely playing the Wii in the courtyard.

Afoma is so pro she doesn't even need to look at the TV screen for the lyrics.

Taking a break from singing to pose for the camera.

Breaking it down to the music. (The Karaoke room definitely had the most energy!)

Shoutout to the PRISE fellows Chioma, Lisa, and Paul and PA Francesca who organized and really made arcade night come together :) It was amazing and it it seemed like everyone had loads of fun!

Despicable Me

2010-07-09T00:08:00.000-07:00

Midnight showing of Despicable Me at the AMC in Boston Commons. (Thanks Dan Mark for organizing!)

Apparently, this is how big "Large" sodas are now...

They were having some technical difficulties playing the movie in the beginning, so we were all given re-admit passes!

2:30am...yea, we're all going to be tired tomorrow.

Juan bringing the Minion back to where it belongs after Denise and Serena tried to run off with it :)

Distinguished Speaker Series: Professor emeritus Dudley Herschbach

2010-07-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

The second PRISE open university event- Noble Laurette Professor Herschbach spoke to us about his life as a scientist.

"Science is an intrinsically social enterprise"

"Objective waits patiently"

Professor Herschbach explaining to Lester, a physics concentrator, why a physicist would say that HCl has no dipole moment! Up close and personal.

Professor Herschbach concluded the talk by saying that the best thing you can do to balance your life is to find a spouse who is wonderful :)

He ended by playing the song "Experiment," by Cole Porter, 1933. PRISE theme song??

(Sorry about the video, this was the only copy of the song that I could find on YouTube!)

PRISE Six Flags Trip

2010-07-05T22:41:00.003-07:00

2 hour bus ride...finally at Six Flags New England! Thanks Helen for organizing :)

Chris torturing Jake by describing how delicious the Birthday cake Remix at Coldstone was. Quite hilarious, all Jake could think about was how much he wanted Coldstone!

Finally satisfied.

One of many group pictures.

So many wonderful expressions.

Another group picture (Photo courtesy of Helen Yang)

Having fun on the ride (Photo courtesy of Helen Yang)

(Photo courtesy of Helen Yang)

Teacup ride. I have no idea how you guys were able to stand spinning around in so many circles...

Senan and Sumit dancing with the 6-flags man.

Getting food.

Sumit and his "kiddie lunch"- equipped with a lunch box, sippy cup, fruit snacks and more.

Nom nom. An entire day at Six Flags is quite exhausting, but fun nonetheless :)

90s Study Break

2010-07-05T08:42:00.003-07:00

Jannis, super excited about all the food?? (I can't really tell from her expression...)

Francesca, James, Denise, and Senan...best PA's ever! You guys weren't lying when you said there would be a lot of sugar! (P.S. nice t-shirt Senan)

Admiring all the snacks...

Pizza, Kool-Aid, Hi-C, fruit-by-the-foot, gushers, cookies, chips and 90s music...what more can you ask for?

Lauren, the expert masseuse :)

Scientists vs. Zombies

2010-07-05T08:42:00.001-07:00

I was in lab all afternoon today so I wasn't able to participate... if you have pictures, please email them to me (jychang@fas.harvard.edu) so I can include them!

Happy Birthday, America!

2010-07-05T08:41:00.007-07:00

PRISE at the Esplanade--Thanks Peter, Rose and Lauren for being there since 1:30pm to get a good spot!

(Notice the cherry in Lauren's hand...Peter is doing his seductive pose)

Gorgeous sunset.

FIREWORKS!

This one looks kind of like a face...

I've got a feelin'...that tonight's going to be a good night :)

Distinguished Speaker Series: Dean Stephen Kosslyn

2010-07-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

Dean Kosslyn shows PRISE fellows how to give an effective and memorable presentation in his talk "The Dirty Dozen- Common PowerPoint Errors and How to Avoid Them."

All PRISE fellows received a copy of Dean Kosslyn's book "Clear and to the Point: 8 Psychological Principles for Compelling PowerPoint Presentations"...and some even got theirs signed!

PRISE bowling

2010-06-27T08:41:00.000-07:00

At the Alewife T stop, on our way to Lanes and Games (Thanks Greg for funding and Ritchell for organizing!)

Ladies and their colorful balls.

Dan showing off his underhand, between-the-legs bowling skills.

Excited to bowl :)

Everyone looks so happy!

Josh has an audience

PRISE love :)

A group of us headed over to the North End for dinner at La Famiglia Giorgio's after bowling (great choice, Francesca! 20% discount with student ID)

Bellies full (GNOCCHI=YUM)

Dropped by Mike's Pastries to pick up 100 cannolis for the study break later that evening.

Cambridge Dance Party

2010-06-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

In front of city hall, beautifully lit up at the Cambridge Dance Party Friday evening. (Thank you Chris Devine for the picture!)

A feeble attempt to take a group picture.

The street was completely packed...

Viking Vendetta

2010-06-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

Our fearless leader, Three Whiskers the Cabbage Slayer, going over the route of pillage and explaining the rules of conduct.

Hard at work making viking costumes in Lev JCR the night before the race.

So many horns!

It was amazing to see the mass of ~ 35 vikings walking through the Square to the T.

And getting on the Red Line...we definitely got a lot of amused stares!

On the water. (Photo courtesy of Phoebe Kuo)

Childhood Flashback

2010-06-19T18:03:00.000-07:00

It has been over 10 years since Toy Story 2...

We all sported our spiffy 3D glasses...would this sequel live up to its predecessors?

As you can see, we were all very excited to watch Toy Story 3 in IMAX 3D. Was it as good as everyone said it was? Yes, indeed. (Peter made fun of me for crying...)

Bonding over Shooting

2010-06-19T18:02:00.000-07:00

The indoor field at Boston Paintball in Everett, MA.

Paintballing was a first time for all of us...we were all really excited to get onto the field and start shooting!

Matt showing off his battle wounds.

The group :) We're all looking forward to doing this again with more PRISE-lings!

Very thirsty after several hours of paintball.

Grease Sing-A-Long at the Hatch Shell

2010-06-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

The Pink Ladies of PRISE, hanging out on the Hatch Shell waiting for the Grease Sing-along to start

Yes, Afoma actually went up and competed against 7-year-olds...

And whaddaya know, she won a limited edition Princess and the Frog souvenir! (Like stealing candy from a baby)

Summer Lovin'...had me a blast

Free Flicks every Friday at the Hatch Shell!

Boston Pops Concert- Gospel Night

2010-06-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed dinner at 9 Tastes before catching the #1 Bus to Symphony Hall.

Gospel Night!

Melinda Doolittle from American Idol performed with the Boston Pops.

Gorgeous view, beautiful music, and wonderful company--a good time all around :)

PRISE Amazing Race

2010-06-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Zach, for all the pictures!

Breakfast in the JCR before the Amazing Race.

Cracking the code: Mail center in the basement of the Science Center.

Using the computers in the computer lab to help solve the problems.

Bringing PJ water and telling her a funny joke.

There was so. much. running.

As you can see...

Hard at work to try to unscramble the final clue.

And it paid off, we won!

Run, run, run!

Crossing the finish line at the end of Weeks Bridge.

Shoutout to James Pelletier- you did an incredible job organizing this!

Opening activities: Minute-to-Win-It

2010-06-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

Tom Luo beasted the Minute to Win It challenge and got two Oreo cookies into his mouth in record time using only his facial muscles! (Photo courtesy of Chris Devine)

Shooting down empty coke cans with rubber bands while other PRISE fellows watch on...it's harder than it looks! (Photo courtesy of Chris Devine)

Thank you, Zach, for the rest of the Minute-to-Win-It pictures!!

BA focuses as he tries to get the water bottle to land on the table.

Look at that air!

Knocking down empty coke cans with rubber bands.

Stacking golf balls.

Action shot!

Cup stacking with alternating hands.

In Lev dining hall for the minute-to-win-it competitions.

The task: getting the brown bags onto the table using just your mouth.

The flying nametag is proof that Phoebe was moving fast!

Cup pyramid.

PRISE: The beginning

2010-06-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

Jannis, with all our boxes, in the basement of Lev!

And off we go!

2010-06-01T17:35:00.000-07:00

Hey PRISE,

The photoblog is finally up and running! If there are any pictures that you have taken that you would like me to include, please send them to jychang@fas.harvard.edu :)

-Jenn