Residential Life

The COSMOS residential experience is designed for each student to make new friends, socialize, and enjoy free time while on campus. The friendships students form during these social periods often become long-lasting and rewarding for everyone involved. Resident Advisors (RA’s) are current undergraduate students at UCSD who live on-campus with our students. RA’s are familiar with campus resources, and trained extensively in counseling, advising and activity-planning to help enhance each student’s COSMOS experience.

To supplement the COSMOS academic program, Resident Advisors will work with students to organize events throughout the summer. RA’s within the suites will help arrange activities intended to give students a chance to get to know each other, get some exercise, and have some fun! Signs will be posted regularly in the residence halls announcing these activities. If you have an idea for an activity you would like to suggest, don’t be shy! Share your ideas with your RA’s so that they can plan things that are of interest to you and others. Previous events have included Karaoke Night, Talent Show, COSMOlympics, Ice Cream Socials, Scavenger Hunts, Movie Nights, and a Co-ed Dance.

Expect to enjoy your weekends with off-campus excursions as a COSMOS participant. Some possible field-trip locations are the Wild Animal Park, Balboa Park, La Jolla Shores, Knott’s Berry Farm, and the world-famous San Diego Zoo.

If you like to swim or hang out pool-side, we suggest you bring a swimsuit appropriate for aquatic activities. Since several of our activities may take place at the beach, we highly encourage you to become swim proficient prior to your arrival at COSMOS. (Note that all Cluster 3:Living Oceans participants MUST be officially swim-certified by a lifeguard or swim instructor.)

Meet the 2009 COSMOS Resident Advisors!

		Pat Danylyshyn-Adams, Resident Dean Pat’s last name only looks scary! The "Danylyshyn" rhymes with "demolition," but it usually gets shortened to Pat D-A. Pat is originally from New York, and majored in biology at Gettysburg College in PA… but she roots for the USC Trojans, where she completed her graduate degree in the College Student Development. Pat has served for 30 years as the Resident Dean of John Muir College at UCSD, and lives on-campus in the Muir Residence Halls. (Her two daughters can tell you lots of stories about growing up on a college campus!) She enjoys watching and participating in all kinds of sports (especially bowling), and she collects Hard Rock shot-glasses and magnets.
Mike Shih, Senior Resident Advisor My name is Mike Shih and I am a UCSD Graduate looking onwards! In the past I have worked as a COSMOS Resident Advisor for two consecutive summers and found that that the program here at UCSD is a great program for High School students to go through and it definitely beats sitting at home watching the tube. During my 4 year stay here in San Diego I passionately studied International Relations, Sociology, and Communications. I am an avid runner, upcoming Hip Hop dancer, DJ, and world traveler. I have traveled to several countries in East Asia and Europe but my heart truly resides in Northern California in San Jose, CA where I was born. But don't get me wrong, I am also a true So-Cal kid as well. I look forward to working with you guys as your Senior RA and I'm sure you will come to appreciate the weather, people, and attitude that make up up our beautiful beach-side campus.
		Barbara Sandoval, Resident Advisor Barbara Sandoval is a graduate of UCSD with a major in Communications, a minor in Spanish Literature, and is planning to pursue a Masters Degree in Student Affairs at San Diego State University. Barbara is also a former COSMOS alumni from UCI ‘03 and she’s really excited to go through the COSMOS experience at UCSD. She really enjoys arts and crafts, baking, video editing and relaxing trips to the beach.
Brandon Pleman, Resident Advisor My name is Brandon Pleman and I am going to be a third year at Muir College. After much trial and error, I am aiming for a Cognitive Science and Political Science double major. In my free time I enjoy everything from running and cycling to playing Rock Band and Halo; alright, maybe more than in just my free time… In any case, I look forward to meeting you all and enjoying the San Diego Summer with everyone!
		Erin Sheaffer, Resident Advisor My name is Erin and I’m going to be a senior at UCSD next year. I am a human biology major, human development minor and i hope to go to medical school after I graduate. I’m an RA for ERC college and I like to spend my time hanging out with friends or playing sports. I’m pretty much a sports fanatic. I love football, basketball and baseball and I’m on the UCSD Women’s Rugby team. I look forward to meeting everyone :-)
Clark Campagna, Resident Advisor Hello! My name is Clark Campagna and I just graduated from Eleanor Roosevelt College at UCSD. I am graduating with a degree in Political Science and International Relations. During my time at UCSD I served a Resident Advisor for second year students and on the student government as a senator for my college. I look forward to meeting all of you and to having an awesome summer!
		Julie Stelzner, Resident Advisor Hi everyone! My name is Julie and I am going to be a third year at UCSD. I am majoring in Communications with minors in Photography and Writing. I grew up in the Bay Area, and I love running and swimming! I am also a huge fan of Harry Potter, The Office, traveling, and going to the beach. =) I am excited to meet all of you and have a great time this summer!
Dan Driver, Resident Advisor Dan Driver is senior at Eleanor Roosevelt College at UC-San Diego. He is majoring in Economics and Political Science. Originally from Incline Village, Nevada, Dan enjoys boating on lakes and playing tennis. Recenty he has picked up the ukulele and hopes to some day call himself proficient. He loves to burst into song and wishes that everyday life was a musical. He is looking forward to studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain at the end of August but is also excited to get to know his Cosmos Cluster!
		Janice Tang, Resident Advisor My name is Janice and I am going to be a third year at UCSD. I am a political science major currently going to Sixth College. I love to travel, watch movies, and eat sushi!! I am a COSMOS alumnus from UCSD in 2006. COSMOS was a very rewarding experience for me then, and I cannot wait to experience it again from another perspective. I am looking forward to creating new memories with all of you as well as learn and have fun!
Hieu Tran, Resident Advisor I’m Hieu and I am excited for this summer! I am a junior at UC San Diego as a Visual Arts Media: Film & Cinema Major and planning on double majoring in Human Development. I plan to work for Discovery Channel or National Geographic after I graduate. I am also an alum of UC San Diego COSMOS ’05 so feel free to ask me to show you around! One thing I like to do in my spare time is going for long walks along the streets of downtown San Diego and taking photographs. An interesting fact about me is that I am allergic to olive trees.
		Kelly Zee, Resident Advisor Kelly Zee graduated from UC San Diego this June with a major in Management Science pursuing a career in finance. She was born and raised in the small town of San Marino, a surburb in the Los Angeles area. When she was an RA during her third year, she picked up the nickname kRAzee. She has a hard time standing still so she tends to dance in place a lot. She gets excited easily and loves scrapbooking, cooking, and traveling. She enjoys long walks on the beach and is excited to meet you!
Jimmy Smith, Resident Advisor Jimmy is a graduate of UCSD with a major in Linguistics and a minor in Japanese Studies, and is excited to be working with you all at COSMOS this summer. He loves to travel and experience new cultures, and also loves to stay at home and watch movies all day. He can’t wait to share with ya’ll the San Diego sun and chill UCSD atmosphere, so come prepared to have an exciting summer.
		Lauren Brown, Resident Advisor Hi! My name is Lauren Brown and I have been working with students for about 4 years now. I have over two years of Resident Advisor experience and I love it so much I keep coming back for more. Someday I hope to work with students (shock, I know) as a high school counselor. I LOVE music and one of my rare talents is being able to tell you what movie a song is from. I love all kinds of music except really twangy country and really loud rap. I also love movies and tv (probably too much). I like everything (except for horror) from BBC miniseries to SciFi. I’m also a big reader (when I don’t have to read for class). Some of my favorite books are Pride and Prejudice and the Twilight series. Finally, I wish the world was like a musical with everyone bursting into song so people wouldn’t think I was weird when I do it.
Matt Slavik, Resident Advisor Hi my name is Matt Slavik. I am going into my fourth year at UCSD and am an Environmental Systems major. I was an RA for COSMOS last summer and this past year at UCSD’s Muir college. I am a big time sports junkie and a HUGE lakers fan. I also enjoy running and mountain biking, although basketball is definitely my favorite sport. I look forward to another great summer at COSMOS and hope everyone is excited for it.
		Sarah Raifsnider, Resident Advisor I am a 2nd year student at Marshall College, with a double major in art history and archaeology and a minor in European Studies. I am currently a Marshall RA and an intern for the Office of Student Wellness. I like jogging, taking pictures, and watching movies. I am excited for the summer and meeting the new COSMOS students!
Ryan Potter, Resident Advisor My name is Ryan but most people just call me Potter. I’m finishing my second year here at UCSD and I’m currently majoring in Biophysics with a minor in biology. I love being outdoors and playing just about every sport you could think of, so just ask if you want someone to play with. I’m very random and awkward so you can always count on me making a fool of myself or doing something unheard of. I’d say I’m very much a nerd so you can count on me knowing some pretty crazy stuff as well. All in all, I just like to have fun and make sure others are doing the same so I’m always ready to go exploring or do something spontaneous.
		Scott Toohey, Resident Advisor My name is Scott Toohey, and I will be going into my fourth and final year here at UCSD :(. I’m a Political Science and Chinese Studies Double Major with a minor in International Studies, and I am a Resident Adviser and Orientation Leader for Eleanor Roosevelt College. In my spare time, I enjoy eating bottomless french fries from Islands, practicing my Mandarin on anyone that I can (Even people that don’t know the language!), eating Korean bar-be-cue, and traveling anywhere I can. I look forward to meeting all of you wonderful people and having an amazing summer!