I have two finals left, yet I decide to write about my Yale experience. After all, what’s more legitimate than procrastinating by reflecting?

I majored in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) at Yale. My grades are mediocre, and I have never been inducted in any honorary society or organizations. I am by no means among “the bright” or “the hardworking” ones at Yale, and very much just an ordinary international student struggling on a day-to-day basis.

However, I enjoyed my studies tremendously and had so much fun learning. Now I have learned how unusual this could be at Yale, as a good number of students wouldn’t rank their academic experience very high (not due to the quality of teaching, but their own mindsets and choices made). Here are just some random bits that I’d like to share.

Gladys' unsolicited advice on choosing courses

  1. Take small classes
  2. Ignore the prerequisites (talking to you, Bio sequence 101-104!)
  3. Try not to overload (almost no course is fun when you are doing 6 credits)
  4. Trust Coursetable more than your instinct (the rating is more accurate than the impression you get from shopping period)

My Favorite Courses

1. E&EB 380 Life History Evolution

Taught by Prof. Stephen Stearns (who has since retired)

I was the only student in this class. I had no one to hide behind when I don’t know the answers. The course is essentially a tutor-led discussion. There was no lecturing, but building upon the readings I’ve done in preparation for my meeting with Prof. Stearns. Man I worked my ass off for this class. I read so many papers and wrote a 30-page review.

But every week I enjoyed 2.5 hours of one-on-one intellectual conversations with Prof. Stearns. Boy, you won’t understand how fortunate I was. Talking biology with a top scientist who is willing to mentor you. Prof. Stearns challenged me to ask good questions and come up with experiments that will answer them. He edited my paper line by line. He tailored class to my interests (practically combined two courses together). I feel forever indebted for the time and energy he spent.

So what is this course about? Life History Evolution sounds like the vaguest topic ever. My high school physics teacher once said “the value of a course is inversely proportional to the scope of its title,” which I believed firmly (true in most circumstances). However, this course is different.

Life History is actually a small branch of evolutionary biology. It studies events related to survival and reproduction of an organism. Some questiosn that it attempts to answer are: why do humans only have one baby when mice often can have dozens? Why isn’t cancer eliminated by natural selection if it kills people? Does Covid-19 put evolutionary pressure on the population?

I learned so much. Most importantly, I learned the confidence to learn.

Prof. Stearns said to me in our last meeting: “You taught yourself an awful lot over the course, and now you should have some confidence that you can learn whatever you want in two or three months. It can be done, easier with guidance, but completely and forseeably doable without.”

2. E&EB 290 Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy

Taught by Prof. Gunter Wagner (leaving Yale as well)

This course is taught completely online during covid, in the lecture format. It’s such a shame because Prof. Wagner’s funny and intense personality would have made his lectures more interesting. But still the content of this class was awesome, exactly what I was hoping to learn when I entered Yale (yet I only took it in my senior year)

The class surveys the development and evolution of vertebrates, covering things from amphioxus (yep I didn’t know what that was either) to humans. Some questions it answers are: how do fish fins become arms and shoulders? Why is the clitoris so far away from the vagina (and thus much harder to have orgasm in women)? Why don’t cats socialize like dogs? Are feathers and hair homologous to each other?

Three things I particularly liked about this class:

  1. The use of published literature, instead of textbooks
  2. The history of biology and intellectual thoughts embedded in the lectures (truly liberal arts)
  3. The focus on reproduction and urogenital systems

College biology textbooks are the worst. They are generally outdated and oversimplified. They don’t reflect the meandering history of science. They offer little opportunity for further exploration. Papers, on ther other hand, offer a real glimpse of how science is done. You can examine the experiments and judge the validity of the conclusion for yourself. You can get a sense of which lab group works in which area (useful if you are going to grad school). You can feel the contradicting hypothesis and the peaceful battle between armys of researchers. Wagner’s lectures are organized in such a system. He gives a narrative supported by papers.

blastocystandart

It’s also a truly liberal-arts course. Look at this painting by Gustav Klimt, an Austrian artist (1862-1918). It depicts a classic Greek mythology story of Danae, who is impregnated by Zeus. The gold falling between her lags represent the sperms. On the right bottom corner, you can see a weird pattern that resembles a blastocyst (fertilized egg)! Prof. Wagner discussed the possibility of Klimt understanding developmental embryology, what the arts and sciences scenes were like in the 1900 Austria. Topics like the biological origins of transgender are also covered. Just great!

This course also has a fair amount on the urogenital system, which I really appreciate. In my previous education, such topics are avoided. If discussed, often with shame, fear or awkwardness. Yet it’s the most important thing in life! There is nothing embarrassing about orgasm, vagina, urogenital defects, mother-baby conflicts etc.

When I was listening to the lectures, I feel like I am not at student at Yale, but a student of nature. I was awed constantly. I developed a great respect for earth’s biodiversity. I just feel fortunate that I have the luxury to learn some secrets about the brain, the eyes, the intestines, the uterus and vagina, the skin, nails and teeth.

3. CPSC 230 Data Structures and Algorithm by Prof. Eisenstat

Prof. Eisenstat is a legend. His courses CPSC 230 and CPSC 323 are the rite of passage for any CS major. He passed away in Dec 2020. I am just so glad I took the second to last course he taught.

Boy this class was HARD. I expected it to be difficult, but not this difficult. Before CPSC223, I didn’t even know what a SSH key was, not to mention memory leaks or time complexity.

But this is also the best kinda of course – incredibly challenging with incredible support. The support system with TA Chris Lim (who unfortunately passed away due to a car accident) and wonderful ULAs (undergraduate learning assistants). Without them I would never have passed the test scripts. The assignments are very difficult, but Prof. Eisenstat has so many office hours and replys to your emails within 12 hours usually. It’s for these reasons that Yale is Yale, that it lives up to its reputation (and maybe tuition).

Two things I learned:

  1. You will get there

    Here are my grades: grade For my first assignment, I was the 125th among 131 students. My last assignment, I was the top 14th. Nothing taught me about “the grind” as much as this class did.

  2. Live like Prof. Eisenstat

    He passed away, not in retirement painting and knitting, but teaching his class and giving his all to his students. He truly did what he loved till the last moments of his life. I don’t aspire to be a professor, but I do hope that I will end my life in a similar manner, giving all of myself to something I love and something worthwhile.

More favorite courses

(I enjoyed the folloiwng courses thoroughly as well, albeit not at the same intensity)

4. FREN 384 Representations of the Holocaust by Prof. Marcus and Prof. Samuels

I appreciated the books and films. We read one book and watched one film per week, and discussed them in class.

I was introduced to Ellie Wiesel, Primo Levi, George Perec, Patrick Modino. I was also introduced to the Shoah (Claude Lanzmann), the Truce (Francesco Rosi), the Fortuneoff Archive (Yale’s collection of survival testmonies). I lack the ability to properly testify the significance and greatness of their work. Shall I say I am just glad I got to read them in my life?

The took away lesson was simple: to bear witness and to never forget. But the act requires deliberation and reflection. Particularly relevant in the context of Chinese contemporary politics.

5. HIST 160J Asian American Women & Gender Since 1830 by Prof. Mary Lui

I don’t remember much about the course. We read many fictions by Asian women writiers, and learned the tragics of Asian diaspora.

It’s the first seminar where I did primary history research and wrote a 20+ page paper. I remember my 2018 Thanksgiving very clearly, because I spent the entire 9 days in the basement of Sterling library, digging up microfilms of San Francisco Chronicles published in the 1860s. I wrote about Beauty Pageant in Chinatown.

It was tough. I was the only sophomore in the class, and the only STEM person. Sometimes I don’t even understand what others are saying (later I learned about Sokal Affair). But without it I would never have known the life of early Asian immigrants, nor have as much of an appreciation for my heritage.

6. ART 005 Blue by Prof. Jessica Helfand

I was lucky. Blue was the most popular freshman seminar, and I won the lottery (16 out of 140 sign-ups). The class is about Blue, but from the artistic perspective. Why is blue associated with sadness? Why are there so few blue vegetables? (blueberries are in fact, purple)

I didn’t appreciate this class while I was taking it. In fact, I hated it. I wasn’t used to the way artists work, think, and do things. I felt the rubric vague and unhelpful. It was only later in my time at Yale I appreciated this class.

Half of the course were conducted at various treasures at Yale – the Beinecke, the Peabody, the Harvey Cushing center, Yale Art Gallery etc. We had guests like Richard Prum and HBO animators (who made the intro of GOT). I also got a chance to interact with the more artistic Yalies (whom I seldom cross path with ever since) and learn to appreciate their talents.

Summary:

Looking back, the courses that I love all have two things: great prof and loads of work. They taught me very different things, perspectives, confidence, attitude towards life, writing skills, critical lens etc. The details will be sifted away by time, but the impression etched in my mind.

I shall be grateful for the opportunities and resources that Yale has given me. I will give back whatever I can.