COSMOS Student Profiles
COSMOS is a month-long residential program for California high school students who demonstrate high achievement in science and mathematics and are motivated to explore complex topics in depth. Participants attend classes and live in the residence halls at one of four UC campuses--Davis, Irvine, San Diego or Santa Cruz-- and have the opportunity to engage in social activities during the evening and field trips on weekends. Special events are designed to enhance students' personal, social and academic growth. Each COSMOS site offers different theme-based course clusters that reflect the unique resources and specialties of the campus.
Tatiyana Webb
University of California, Irvine
Major: Biology
COSMOS UC Irvine '02
Cluster: Neuroscience
COSMOS Alum turned COSMOS-UCI Program Coordinator
During my sophomore year in high school I received a videotape with COSMOS written across the top from my Trig teacher. Initially, I was uninterested because I did not care much about the stars, astronomy or anything dealing with space; this is what I thought COSMOS represented. After watching the video I decide to give it a try. Little did I know COSMOS would change my life.
On the first day of COSMOS UCI 2002- I remember being dressed in all purple walking through the quad area when Melina, the program coordinator at the time, approached me and said, "Purple?, you must be Tatiyana Webb!" Surprised by the fact that out of all the students that were there she knew exactly who I was without meeting me prior. My experience with COSMOS since then is history.
As a student, COSMOS opened my eyes to a whole new world of science. Math and Science have always been my area of interest. However, I had never explored these subjects in the way I did during COSMOS. I was in the Neuroscience: Biology Brain and Chemistry cluster. Each lecture and lab left me more amazed then the one before. One lectured in particular focused on the effects of drugs on the brain and the phenomena of overdosing. The information that I learned in this lecture was great; I went home and taught my family on how a person overdoses. To my surprise when I enrolled in my Neurobiology class in 2005 at UCI, we learned the exact same concept. I was amazed because my academic experience at COSMOS had prepared me more for my Biology courses at UCI then did my AP Biology class in high school. During my undergraduate career I had many moments like this where my COSMOS classes came in handy.
COSMOS has this unique characteristic of drawing you to the program. As a college student, I became a Resident Assistant for 2 years. During my senior year I became the inaugural President of COSMOS CONNECT, a campus organization geared to build a network of alumni and pass RA's. I have built relationships with students, RA's and alumni that will last a lifetime.
I have been apart of COSMOS program for a long time and it is very important to me. COSMOS has been more to me than a program to help me get into college, it has help me get though one of the toughest times in my life. Now as the Program Coordinator for UCI campus I feel very strongly about the future success of the program and it is my turn to help make that happen!