This is my second summer in Corvallis. As far as I remember, this year’s summer has higher temperature, but also has more rainy days than previous one.

Besides being busy working on our research, here in Oregon State University (OSU) we also have a lot of opportunities to attend scientific seminar and symposium held by the university, with famous guest speaker from all over the world.

On October 2018, I attended the Annual Rising Lecture Series and Research Retreat in Seaside, Oregon, that was held by the College of Pharmacy. College of Pharmacy, consist of PharmD (for Pharmacists practice health science) and PhD program in Pharmaceutical sciences (research-oriented graduate study), always try to mediate the communication between research groups. So, they held this annual retreat where the students involved in research, postdocs, and their faculty mentors giving a talk about their research. It was a 2-days-1-night-event to keep us update about the other groups research and achievements.

Group picture of Pharmacy's annual retreat attendee

OSU only has one graduation ceremony for the whole year, which is held on June. This year, I enjoyed my experience to witness the grant celebration of the year. The commencement was held in Reser Stadium, the football stadium (or known as American football in Japan) own by OSU. Approximately 4,000 out of 7,200 graduated students participated in commencement. As you can see from the picture, it is a giant stadium and there were more people that you can even imagine attend graduation ceremony in Japan.

OSU commencement

Living in Oregon, of course I could not stop being fascinated by its nature. Although I have not been so much around, I visited several famously beautiful places in Oregon. One of the seven wonder of Oregon, so they called, is Crater Lake. It is the deepest lake and one of the clearest waters in United States, formed after massive eruption of Mount Mazama. I also went for hiking at Smith Rocks in Central Oregon area on a very hot day when Dr. Arakawa came to visit me. Some easier hiking track like Mary’s Peak in Philomath is not even less stunning.

Crater Lake

Hiking trail at Smith Rock

Sunset at Mary's Peak

Studying in OSU will be very enjoyable for those who like to spend time and enjoy the beauty of nature. Corvallis itself is a very small town that suitable for campus life, but on weekends we can balance our live by doing outdoor activities. Just remember to drink more water, since the weather here is much drier than Japan and can dehydrate you easily.