It was a warm blustery day in Davis, California. A picnic was held (October 2, 2021) to welcome the graduate students as we started the Fall Quarter at the University of California, Davis. We enjoyed food, drinks, and fresh air at the Davis Community Park. But mostly we enjoyed each other’s company after more than 1.5 years of isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
About 60 grad students and their families attended the late afternoon picnic. This was organized by KGSA (Korean Graduate Student Association) President Hansol Ku, Vice President Hyehyun Kim, Treasurer/ Secretary Yoobin Kim and Sejin Cheong, and other volunteers. They worked hard to have this event and worked even harder to get 16 KSEA members. As of 10/15/21, we have 24 KSEA grad members at UC Davis.
Steve Lee (UC Davis class of 1990), President of the Korean American Scientists & Engineers Association Sacramento Valley Chapter (KSEA-SVC), was the speaker and sponsor of the event. Specifically, he talked about KSEA graduate student scholarships. He said, “We usually have a winner from UC Davis almost every year. KSEA gives about 20-30 scholarships every year along with the Young Investigator Grant. As a chapter, we participated in the United States Korea Conference (UKC) and have held the National Math & Science Competition (NMSC) since 2007. We have also joined the Northwest Regional Conference (NWRC) since 2007 and have hosted in 2008, 2012, and 2018.” Past KSEA-SVC President Jeff Olson also attended and gave some remarks and his experiences with the UKC, NMSC, and other major events.
It was great to see such young bright faces, eager to learn and maybe conquer the world with new exciting ideas, but in a safe way. As we have learned, all students, faculty, and employees of UC Davis must be vaccinated for COVID-19. This was very reassuring because later we took a group photo and obviously, we needed to be close to each other. After some time of eating good food and a few drinks, we played a game and drew numbers so we can talk randomly with people we don’t know. A treasure hunt was also held at the park. Those who found the treasures were given gift cards.
This yearly event with the UC Davis students has always been great. We share a special bond. In past years, we’ve had various talks from grad students, industry, government, post docs, and others about viniculture, medicine, and new technology. In 2020, we had this event virtually and later President Lee gave 16oz hand sanitizers for all the KSEA members at UC Davis (around 30 grad members last term). This time, President Lee gave out blue and gold KSEA T-shirts to all the KSEA members. And of course, KSEA HQ was the main sponsor of this event.
The power is in the membership. Without members, we cannot do anything. And anything is possible with strong members. Hope to see everyone again, face to face, real soon, not 1.5 years later.
Reported by Steve Lee, President
KSEA Sacramento Valley Chapter
KSEA e-Letters 