Author: j.gao6

We were just learning about the tragedy of Jews during the Holocaust in American History class. Hoping to learn more about the atrocity, my friend and I decided to tour the Museum of Jewish Heritage. At first, it was just out of curiosity and of course just me trying to fulfill the academic blog post requirement for Freshmen Seminar class. I expected the trip to be as boring as any other museum I’ve been to (I’m not so much a museum person). However, 10 minutes into touring the museum, I’ve found it to be an amazing experience. Looking more into the events that many Jews went through like that genocide during World War II, I was caught in disbelief. No matter how much I was told about the hardships Jew had faced during that time period, it wasn’t really until this day that it stood out to me. Honestly, it was a great opportunity for me broaden my knowledge about the things in life and learn more about the cultures around me.

-Junjie Gao

Last Friday, I attended the first meeting of the Ascend Legacy Leadership Program that I got into. This program was pretty prestigious and I was surprised when I got accepted. I had applied to this program the night before the deadline after hearing it from a friend. The group interview, in my opinion, didn’t seem to be in my favor since the other two interviewees were both more experienced. But I was glad I got in because I felt I can learn a lot through this program.

Arriving a bit late to the meeting due to train delays, I felt kind of awkward when everyone looked at me as I entered the room and took a seat. It was a day where the mentees were suppose to meet all the mentors. I felt kind of nervous because I didn’t really know anyone, but I also felt excited to meet new people. Although half the mentors were not present, the meeting turned out to be a success because we were able to learn a lot from the present mentors as they were all experienced in their field. Afterwards, we even went out to eat at Nyonya in Chinatown and I quickly became friends with the others.

-Junjie Gao