Daily Life at Cal State L.A.
NASA SHARP PLUS Program
By: Janice Liu
Independent Experience:
At
Cal State LA, we not only learn about MSE, but gain the experience of living
in an independent environment. Unlike other sites which have their students
eat their meals in the cafeteria, we have the opportunity to cook for ourselves.
Every Sunday members of each apartment get together to make a grocery list
for that particular week that does not exceed the allowance given to us
for each week. Learning how to budget money is extremely important in order
to buy enough food for everyone for the entire week.
Also with such a large apartment
(living area, dining area, kitchen, four bedrooms, two bathrooms), knowing
how to clean up after yourself is very important. Still, things don't always
go as they are supposed to and at times we have to learn to be tolerant
of our roommates.
Typical Workday:
A typical workday begins bright and early in the morning. The vans leave for work between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m., so typically everyone wakes up around 6:00a.m.
All Dressed Up for Work
(On a typical workday 7:00am. The commute usually takes about an hour.)
It's a nice long drive from Cal State to TRW or Hughes so, if you work at either of these site you will be able to take a nice long nap. At work you do any of the tasks assigned to you by your mentor. The more you have to do the faster the time will usually pass. The best part of the day is probably the break you get for lunch. This is usually the only part of the day you will get to see your fellow apprentices. Lunch is a time for you to hang out, talk, play cards, or just mess around. Work, for us, ends around 4:30. Once again, except for the people at Boeing, we have a long road trip home, especially with the terrible Los Angeles traffic.
(Sometimes, when nobody feels like cooking, we'll go out for dinner.)
Roommates Hanging Out With One Another
