March 13 - March27 Journal

STEM:

I was absent Monday and Tuesday of this week as I was out sick so this journal is mainly going to be about my spring break and what I've done since the technical journal. For the technical stuff, I have begun to move towards a middle job area of helping around both with the q learning with Robert and Connie and our game code with Puja, Edmond, and Will. I helped with the debugging of the game with an example of us fixing the game crash when wrong inputs are given. Other work includes trying to develop the reward aspect of the Q learning algorithm. Because Will and Edmond are out for a robotics competition, I see myself working with Puja on the code more this week.


Spring Break:

Over spring break, I went to Italy with my family. We stopped in Rome, Florence, and Milan over the week! Rome was our first stop and we went to see the Colosseum and the Roman Forum which were very historical and impressive. We also visited the Pantheon and I was amazed by the large dome the Romans managed to build given their time. I ate many different Italian foods from pizza to pasta to aranchini and gelato. Another key landmark was visiting Vatican City and seeing St. Peter's Basilica. We also walked through the Vatican Museum and saw many different pieces of art and history stored there. Next to Vatican City was the Castle of Saint Angelo which offered a more militaristic look into the history of Rome and the Vatican. We toured the castle and also managed to get some awesome lookouts from the castle's high walls. 


My family and I then took the high speed rail up to Florence and I enjoyed the chance to compare rail transport between Europe and America. We arrived in Florence and checked into our hotel near downtown Florence by the Duomo, the iconic red domed church of Florence. In the next day and a half my family and I shopped and also enjoyed Florence's gelato. According to my sister, the gelato in Florence is supposed to be the best in Italy and I can agree with that after comparing it to gelato in Rome and later, Milan. My sister and I hiked up to the Palazzo Michelangelo which overlooks Florence and captured the sunning views. Going during spring break, there weren't as many tourist groups as I anticipated and I really enjoyed that. We also walked through the Ufizi Gallery which houses many religious paintings from the Middle Ages and Renaissance.


After Florence, we then took the train up to Milan which would be our final stop. Milan's train station was spectacular and much more ornate than the stations of Rome and Florence. It much reminded me of Grand Central in New York! In Milan, we walked around the city and did some shopping. My family and I also went to see Milan's Duomo, another iconic church pictured below. One day, my sister and dad and I ran a 10k starting at the Duomo and got to see much of the city. The run was not timed and was very fun as I enjoyed the city and people more without needing to worry about time. After Milan, we flew home with a stopover in Switzerland where I got a taste of authentic fondue! 


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