Cal State Ƶ students dig in for a productive, enriching summer
White lab coats. Blue gloves. Professional-level gadgets. All part of a summer day for Beach science and mathematics students getting an immersive preview of the researcher’s life.
"I just wanted to get more hands-on work in labs and see what career path I could see myself doing,” said Emily Elizondo, a second-year biology student enrolled in the KURE Summer Bridge Program.
This program introduces students to Cal State Ƶ’s lab spaces and is among several offerings for students who want to spend summer preparing for a new academic year, exploring the world or otherwise getting the most from their time at The Beach.
A few examples showing how Beach students can spend their summer months in the pursuit of knowledge and creativity:
KURE Summer Bridge Program
Scientific research and STEM careers can be a lifelong calling, and KURE Summer Bridge is for students who may be heading toward this kind of challenging and fulfulling work. The program is open to first- and second-year science and math students, as well as incoming high school grads and college transfers.
KURE stands for Keck Undergraduate Research Experiences. Ƶreceived a gift from the W.M. Keck Foundation in 2022 for the program.
The College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics is hosting about 40 KURE students this summer. The program starts with a weeklong introduction to lab practices before students accept lab assignments with faculty in several disciplines. The idea is to welcome students who may not have had any exposure to a university-level lab and help them to develop confidence before working with research faculty. Participants can receive first-hand experience in biological science, chemistry and biochemistry, earth science, mathematics and statistics, physics and astronomy, environmental science or science education research.
“They always say this is an amazing opportunity for them,” said Yuan Yu (Kent) Lee, KURE Summer Bridge director.
Students working in the labs can also receive $3,200 scholarships. The program also involves upper-division student leaders who deliver presentations and demonstrate how to use instruments like pipettes, which researchers employ to collect minuscule samples of liquids.
"It’s awesome,” said fourth-year biochemistry student Nathan Alonso, who helped introduce this year’s KURE students to CSULB. said. “You get to know that you have knowledge that you’re able to pass on. In science, we’re always looking for new minds.”
Summer Business Boot Camp
The College of Business invites students readying themselves for upper-division courses to Summer Business Boot Camp, set to begin July 28. A virtual smorgasbord of free online workshops, this year’s schedule includes sessions on core business concepts, specific technologies and soft skills for success in college and the workplace.
“Building a foundation early makes a huge difference,” said business administration student Kelvin Nguyen, who completed accounting and math workshops in 2024. “I heard business was all about numbers, but I learned communication, critical thinking and strategy.”
Nguyen is in his second year at The Beach after transferring from an East Coast university. The college encourages incoming transfer students, as well as Beach students moving on to more challenging courses, to participate.
Study Abroad: Advanced Life Painting
For the second consecutive summer, Assistant Professor Yulia Gasio led a trip to Ireland for College of the Arts’ course in . Nearly 20 students based themselves at Trinity College Dublin and over two weeks, they visited National College of Art & Design and the Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts in the Irish capital, as well as Belfast School of Art.
In addition to producing about two paintings per day, students visited galleries, took a hike through a rainy forest and spent three days creating art outdoors during the Dublin Plein Air Painting Festival, said Celina Villanueva, a fourth-year drawing and painting student.
“You really do get your practice in,” she said. “There’s no way in heck you’re not going to get something out of it when you’re doing so much work in a short time.”
Graduate Writing Retreat
The Graduate Writing Retreat takes place three times a year, once each during the fall and spring terms, and again in summer. As noted by Graduate Writing Specialist Omar Hussein, the retreats let students dedicate full days to their work, with time to collaborate and find respite from the solitude of academic writing.
About 90 students signed up for the most recent retreat, which took place in late June inside University Library. They included psychology research student Thomas Lopez, who considers the library a better place to work on his academic work than other venues and computer science student Nithya Chandra Mohan, who said the retreat reinforced her ability to focus.
“It’s motivating to see students around me working on many projects,” she said.
See students' paintings created in Ireland
