Photos by Allison Cheng (1-2), Professor Shaowei Chen (3-4)
Donning our bright blue COSMOS shirts on a sunny Friday afternoon, COSMOS students gathered in the quad to present their final projects, ranging from scientific posters, to insect collections, to computer games. All 293 COSMOS students and nearly 100 staff members, including our beloved professors, cluster assistants, and cluster fellows, walked among the 81 posters pinned up and taped to the wall, listening to students present. Some clusters presented their own research and experiments, while others synthesized existing research to answer scientific questions. In addition to their research on local flora and fauna, Cluster 3 displayed their pinned cicadas, mosquitos, June beetles, owl pellet bones, and more. On computers and Game Boys, Cluster 5 showed off their gorgeous graphics, complex code, and skillful sound design through their addicting rhythm games, difficult escape games, haunting mystery games, hilarious love-story visual novels, and more (you can find their game collection on itch.io). The STEM Symposium was an incredible introduction to the world of scientific inquiry, research, and presentation—we all learned something new, and can’t wait to keep learning!
By Allison Cheng
Cluster 5 Game Design Final Projects
(Click on the poster images for the itch.io link!)
Solus
Anikait Srivastav, Jyanna Tesoro, Lynn Gen
Musomnia
Dana Yang, Alice Yoon, Yvette Chen
Slash
Kai Herbst, Charles Tian, Ethan Kim
Shattered
Grace Nam, Katie Li, Hayoon Song
My High School Romance
Kallie Kuang, Huiwon Jang, Keira Wang
Hazelnut Forest
Sam Street, Maddy Benton
Photo by Professor Shaowei Chen
Graduation Day
Wearing the same blue COSMOS shirts as our first day, now adorned with signatures and heartfelt messages from our friends and teachers, COSMOS students filed into the Multipurpose Room (MPR) for the closing ceremony. We were embraced by the triumphant sound of “Pomp and Circumstance,” accompanied by a photo slideshow of the past four weeks aptly titled, “The Golden Moments.” Each photo sparked flashbacks of all the unforgettable experiences of our lives here at COSMOS: the opening day ceremony, lounging on the beach, visiting the boardwalk, hiking to Discovery Lecture each morning, cluster field trips, and karaoke and lip sync battles. Together, we awwed at the endearing memories, laughed at the silly ones, and felt grateful to share this moment together one last time.
Professor Shaowei Chen went onstage to deliver a heartfelt speech on the past month at COSMOS, conveying his deep praise for the incredible students and staff alike. Smiling ear-to-ear, he proudly congratulated each and every one of us, expressing, “This is a time for appreciation.” Professor Chen even gave a special shoutout to our 2023 Macrocosm Team, showing off our website on the projector and detailing the history of the COSMOS e-newsletter (Macrocosm began in 2019 to depict the student perspective of life here at COSMOS). Members of the Macrocosm team were invited to stand up and be recognized for our efforts!
Afterwards, Professor Chen gave everyone a few minutes for an open mic, allowing us to say something to our fellow students and address the program at large. COSMOS students and entire clusters came up to thank their RAs, professors, cluster fellows, and the amazing friends they made along the way. There were both earnest speeches that made us appreciate our time here, and humorous speeches reminding us to “slay on god for real,” which made Shaowei cringe and jokingly shake his head.
Finally, it was graduation time! COSMOS students went on stage cluster by cluster to receive navy blue and black folders with our certificates of completion, shake hands with our cluster fellows and professors, and take a cluster picture to commemorate our amazing accomplishments and final moments together.
Just like on our first day, Professor Chen ended the ceremony by snapping a photo of all of COSMOS. He compared how scared and quiet we were at the beginning—we didn’t know anyone else—to today, cheering for our close friends and wishing we had more time. Though COSMOS has to end, the long-lasting friendships and memories we made together will never.
By Allison Cheng
Cluster Photos
Cluster 1
Cluster 3
Cluster 5
Cluster 7
Cluster 9
Cluster 11
Cluster 2
Cluster 4
Cluster 6
Cluster 8
Cluster 10
Cluster 12
Photos by Jamilet Coronel (1-8, 10-12), Emily Wang (9)
Letters from the Macrocosm Team
Dear Macrocosm 2023,
It’s been absolutely incredible working with all 33 of you as one of your Editor-in-Chiefs these past 4 weeks. From a chaotic first meeting (during which Professor Shaowei Chen mispronounced my name and almost handed Editor-in-Chief to the wrong person) to repeatedly getting locked out of our meeting place, Macrocosm 2023 has been a rollercoaster and a half, and that only makes me prouder of us and what we’ve managed to accomplish in a short period of time.
Firstly, thank you to my fellow Editor-in-Chiefs. A lot of responsibility was thrust upon us unexpectedly, but I’m happy to say that we were able to fill in each other’s blanks and ultimately pulled through. Thank you to our editorial team for your steadfast devotion to ensuring we put out the most quality content, even at somewhat ungodly hours. Thank you to our web design team for the amazing website and for always being reliable. And of course, thank you to all our staff writers, artists, photographers, and videographers; Macrocosm 2023 wouldn’t have been possible without all of your wonderful contributions.
Finally, to COSMOS, I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading our newsletter while at COSMOS. And for the future, I hope that you’ll be able to look back upon Macrocosm 2023 and revisit all the memories you’ve made.
(P.S. To future generations of Macrocosm teams…spreadsheets. Use them. They’re amazing. I love spreadsheets.)
Best wishes, Kallie Kuang (Cluster 5)
Dear Macrocosm 2023,
I joined the Macrocosm team on a whim by filling out the interest form the night before our first meeting. I just wanted to meet new people; I did not expect to be selected as an Editor-in-Chief. With this new role I was immediately stressed, as I had barely written an article before, and I definitely did not know how a newspaper or newsletter worked. Quickly, I learned I could rely upon and trust the ridiculously talented Macrocosm team, who have helped me time and time again and surpassed my wildest hopes and dreams for this newsletter. And of course, the Macrocosm Google Drive, spreadsheet, email, and Slack channels were lifesavers!
Thank you to my fellow co-editors-in-chief for being the best people I could ever ask to work with. Thank you to the web design team for your tireless efforts to make our website look stunning and always being on top of things. Thank you to the editors for your diligent work in perfecting our articles, even at late nights and past bedtimes. And thank you to all our writers, photographers, videographers, and artists for your hard work. Although I didn't get to meet all of you (and had to miss a lot of meetings while being trapped in the lab), I’m so glad I got to know you all a little bit better these past four weeks, even just through your outstanding articles, photos, videos, and art. I’m not sad to leave COSMOS because I feel like I got so much out of my experience here from trying new things and going outside of my comfort zone (though performing Colleen Ballinger’s apology video at the talent show was not on my bucket list). Finally, thank you to Professor Shaowei Chen for happily advising the newsletter and supplying so many great photos.
My advice to the future Macrocosm team, and everyone at and outside of COSMOS, is to take advantage of every opportunity you get, and to create your own. Introduce yourself to that friendly-looking person in the dining hall—they may become your best friend. Ask to interview your scary professor—she may give you invaluable life advice. Try new things and make the most of your few weeks here and out in the real world. Remember to have fun with Macrocosm and your time here at COSMOS, and to not be so serious! The ultimate goal really is to have a good time, not for everything to be perfect. Yes, you can really publish anything UCSC COSMOS-related, including a collection of photos of your stuffed dinosaur doing things around the COSMOS campus (shoutout Pesto Pascal). I still wouldn’t call myself a big writer, photographer, or editor, or very experienced at this whole newsletter thing, but I’m so grateful for my experience at COSMOS and that I at least tried everything. And I hope that we could preserve some of these feelings and keep these memories alive through Macrocosm.
All my best, Allison Cheng (Cluster 8)
Dear Macrocosm 2023,
I am so proud of everything we have accomplished this month. I do have a background in journalism through my school newspaper and I am amazed by how much we have been able to do in four short weeks compared to what my newspaper does in a whole year. I am honored that I was selected to co-control this newsletter as Editor-in-Chief and it has been so fun having this freedom to make the newsletter into whatever we wanted.
I love our jokes, I love our hidden messages, I love our meetings where we can all agree that Cluster 4’s chant was the worst.
I have met such amazing people through the newsletter that I don’t think I would have gotten to know otherwise and I honestly feel like we are some of the people with the most diverse set of talents at COSMOS.
My biggest takeaway from this experience is that journalism should be fun and you should always report on something you care about. My favorite articles have been about events that I genuinely had so much fun attending and my articles allow me to relive them again.
If you are considering joining Macrocosm in the future: DO IT!
Not only do you hone skills like how to write about STEM and how to convey information to all types of audiences, but you also get to have something tangible to look back on your time here and remember all of your favorite moments and people.
I am so sad that I have to leave. I wish I could stay here forever and never go home or go to school again, but even so I feel like I made the most of my time at COSMOS, especially by being a part of Macrocosm.
Good luck future Macrocosm people!!
Love, Lily Schroeder (Cluster 12)
Macrocosm 2024 Web Designer Survival Guide:
Index the site on Google Search Console so that it shows up in search results (unless there’s a problem with <meta name=”robots”> or robots.txt like with M2023, in which case I’m sorry and nobody can help you.)
Ask everyone for pictures. All the time. For every event.
Take your own pictures, all the time, for every event.
Don't stay up till 2 A.M. and then work on the newsletter during morning lectures.
The hex codes for the UC colors are #003c6c (blue) and #fdc700 (gold).
Use one of Weebly's poll apps to make weekly polls. I didn't have this idea till week 4 and I'm so immensely sad I missed out.
Weebly is a Rube-Goldberg content management system but there's absolutely no way I would've been able to make this entire website on like Wordpress or whatever. I would've died without it. But if you're confident in your ability and your efficiency, don't be afraid to switch to another platform.
I like to think my work as a Macrocosm web designer has allowed me to touch the pulse of COSMOS itself. I'm not a very social person—even now, I regret not having talked to my cluster mates and people outside my cluster more. But I've read every article twice to check for typos, spent hours trawling through images, and probably gotten on the nerves of like three RAs that I barely know. Because of this newsletter, I don't just see what happens to my cluster, roommates, or friends. I see everything. This opportunity is one of the most valuable things I’ve taken away from COSMOS. The silly pictures of their friends that people sent me when I needed more content for the website, the poetry by other talented COSMOS students I was given to feature in Issue #3, the cluster playlists I helped Kyan compile that were ridden with inside jokes I will never understand but still appreciate nonetheless—this is how I will remember COSMOS, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Thank you to RA Roberto for the poetry and RA Montse for COSMOlympics scoring data, to Daniel Hughes and Ben Worley for not being weirded out by the 400-word poem I wrote about their talent show performance, to my fellow Macrocosm web designers, and, of course, to the amazing EICs, editors, writers, artists, and photographers. I cannot remember all the friends I have met any more than the meals I have eaten or the books that I've read; even so, they have made me.
Celina Chen (Cluster 2)
Dear Macrocosm 2023,
I was thrilled to get to work with this year's team!! Before joining Macrocosm, I was afraid that it would take too long to write articles or that the interviews would be scary. It turns out though that I had enough time to write and I was able to have fun in the process. I'm really thankful for our editors for their leadership, our web design team for their speediness with transcribing the articles, and all the photographers and writers who made Macrocosm a success!
My advice to the future Macrocosm team is to try to interview people who aren't your friends and who you don't know that well to get authentic and diverse responses for your articles. Also, make sure you interview people the day of or day after the event happened so you can capture their feelings or excitement in that moment. Moreover, be realistic with how much time you have to write your articles before you commit to writing them as the publishing cycle is pretty short. Finally, videos are very valuable assets to your article so remember to take videos or ask around for some!
Have fun and go banana slugs!
Ava Seto (Cluster 6)
Dear Macrocosm 2023,
Thank you for solidifying in me that communicating your passions is just as important as having them. Writing articles for this newsletter helped me reflect on the aspects of biology and chemistry that I enjoy the most. It also forced me to interact with new people, which ended up being fabulous for my collaborative skills. I loved working with such an amazing team.
To any lovely person joining Macrocosm in the future, I have a few words for you. First of all, yay! Putting in the extra effort is worth it; you will have a collection of well-written memories to look back on from your experiences at COSMOS. I kept a diary of everything my cluster did each day, which really helped with compiling all the details into one article at the end of the week. Also, remember to take photos! I highly recommend doing a mentor interview; I’ve learned so much from the more experienced people surrounding me. Lastly, remember that your voice at such a unique camp is so important; always be yourself in your articles, especially when you are describing science you don’t fully understand (yet).
Thank you again for this opportunity.
Xoxo, Ana Cabrera (Cluster 7)
Dear Macrocosm 2023,
I can’t believe four weeks passed this quickly. It was great to be a part of Macrocosm 2023 and feel like a part of something bigger than myself. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to be the cluster reporter for Cluster 6, and to interview professors and beyond in my time with the newsletter.
Procrastinating deadlines became a lifestyle here, but I still don’t regret signing up for Macrocosm. Although I feel I could have involved myself more, and do regret not signing up for more articles, I’m happy to have continued my writing outside of school journalism.
I’m eternally grateful to all the writers, web designers, editors, and editors-in-chief that came together to help put together this newsletter, and as COSMOS comes to an end my work on the newsletter makes me feel as if I have staked out a memory of my time here.
Although I leave this program with a heavy heart, I’m happy that my time here was well spent with all the friends I’ve met and the knowledge I’ve gained, and I hope that any future COSMOS students feel the same.
Signing off, Kyan Wang (Cluster 6)
Dear Macrocosm 2023,
Thank you for making the past 4 weeks of COSMOS as an amazing experience. I enjoyed being the cluster reporter for Cluster 2, taking photos, and doing a couple of interviews with the COSMOS staff. Everyone in the Macrocosm team was so kind and supportive and I had an amazing time working with them. The newsletter gave me the opportunity to share my perspective and helped me improve my writing skill over the course of the program. I am so grateful for everything I have gained from being a part of the Macrocosm team!
Some advice I have for the future Macrocosm team is to step out of your comfort zone and try new things. When I first joined, I had very little experience in journalism, but I decided to try something new by being the cluster reporter.
Overall, I am so glad to have been part of this team and I am thankful for all the wonderful memories I created being a part of it!
Shrijani Buruganahalli (Cluster 2)
Dear Macrocosm 2023,
I eat a lot so I write food reviews, and I can’t wait to get home to eat more. Thank you for everything.
I love food, Tran Bui (Cluster 9)
Dear Macrocosm 2023,
It’s been a really fun month, writing and editing articles for everyone. At first, I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to volunteer for the newsletter, but in the end, I’m pretty glad that I chose to do it. It was incredibly fun interacting with different people for interviews on events and editing/reading everyone’s different articles. And on that note - to everyone who wrote for the Recreational Life column - you all are great! I’ve enjoyed every single article that you guys have written, and I’m happy that I was able to edit them. Honestly, it always felt fun reading every part of the newsletter. Thanks to everyone who put their time and effort into writing these articles every week. You’re all awesome.
But overall, thank you to everyone who participated in the newsletter, whether you worked on writing, editing, photographing, video recording, web design, or something else entirely. I made some wonderful memories while here, and I’m really grateful to you all!
Sincerely, Cindy Lu (Cluster 10)
Dear Macrocosm 2023,
Time has flew by like a Dark-eyed Junco, it feels like it has only been a month since I joined the newsletter team. It has been a blast writing the Birding at COSMOS series and I encourage future COSMOS students to join the newsletter team. Writing an article on a topic that you are passionate about can be very fulfilling and make your COSMOS experience remarkable. The only thing that is more awesome than birds is the newsletter team with its amazing web designers, editors, writers, and photographers.
For any future COSMOS participants reading this, enjoy and cherish the 4 weeks you have. Being away from home for a long time and meeting new people can be daunting, but by the end of COSMOS you will wish you did more. So while you still can, attend the evening activities, talk to friendly strangers, and go birding in OPERS.