SWOSU Day 27: My First Fourth of July

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a month since the program began, but I still get excited about each day. Today feels extra special to me because I heard it’s a big celebration in the U.S., and I’ve been really looking forward to it!

My day started pretty early at 5:30AM because Aeka and I had planned to go to CPP together at

6:00AM. But when we arrived, the doors were still locked, so we decided to head back to the dorms and wait for the TAs.

We grabbed some breakfast around 7:45AM, and then Dr. Hubin showed us how to plot our EChem data on Excel. After that, we had the whole morning to work on our paper.

For lunch, we relaxed in the Oklahoma Hall lobby and then made our way over to Oklahoma City. Our first stop was the First American Museum, which Amogh said is the finest in Oklahoma.

Next, we headed to Bricktown, which I found to be really charming and visually appealing. We stopped by Starbucks to grab some drinks before heading to the baseball game.

Me and the eagle are twinning! (Also, credits to Aeka for all the pictures!)

Then, we headed over to watch the baseball game. I’ve only seen this game in the series Young Sheldon before, so I wasn’t too familiar with how the game works. But I still had a great time!

We were also given these really cute OKC caps, so thank uu!

This is also my first time trying dippin’ dots, and it was good! I decided to keep the cap container as it was really cute.

And last but not least, the fireworks truly were the highlight of my day. It honestly felt like a core memory. As soon as the men in purple finished singing, the lights went out and the fireworks show began. As cringey as it might sound, I genuinely loved it and may or may not have gotten a little teary-eyed. It made me realize how lucky I am to have this opportunity to be here in the U.S. Coming from a small province in the Philippines, l’ve always dreamed of exploring this country. And now, here I am, experiencing it and at the same time learning more about the subject l’m most passionate about. It really felt like an “I did it” moment for me 🙂

And that is all for today’s blog.

See you again soon, and maybe next time, I will be writing these blogs as a TA ;).

xoxo, r.

Reya

Hii! I am Reya, a rising senior from the Philippines. I am an advocate for ocean conservation, and I host monthly coastal clean-ups back in our province. I also enjoy listening to music, reading books, and playing mobile games (ML and CODM) during my free time.