We were now into the second week of our USA Summer Camp. By now, all the students were quite familiar with where they had to go on campus, and no one got lost navigating their way from the dormitories, to the classroom and to the dining halls. We even had time to take the students to do some shopping just off campus in the city of Berkeley where they bought some souvenirs from the student store to remind them of the great time they’ve been having at the university.
But now, serious work was starting and the students had to complete their final project and presentations for the climax of the Business & Entrepreneurship program. So this was a shorter week, and we didn’t have as much after-class activities planned for them, mainly due to time constraints, but we still managed to squeeze in a few interesting visits.
One of them was a field trip to Hiller Aviation Museum. The museum features over 50 aircraft from over a century of aviation history, and in its 20 year history, has served over a million visitors. The museum was founded by helicopter pioneer Stanley Hiller Jr., and had its origins in a group of eclectic aircraft collected by Stanley in a warehouse in nearby Redwood City.
We were coming to the end of our USA Summer Camp, but there was still one last icon that the students had yet to visit, and that was the highest structure on the university campus: Sather Tower. Also known as the Campanile, Sather Tower is the third tallest bell and clock tower in the world, standing at over 300 feet. Although it may not look like it, the clock tower is actually one of the most seismically-sound buildings on campus, so it is also where a lot of dinosaur bones are stored for research. We had just some time before the conclusion of the course for a quick visit up the Campanile, and to see the wonderful views that it afforded.
On our approach to Sather Tower:
Inside Sather Tower, there are some memorabilia, including this early schematic drawing of the tower which details the materials that went into constructing the various parts of the tower:
Atop Sather Tower is a 61-bell carillon which is played thrice daily and can be heard throughout the campus. Student musicians have to attend a special class before they can volunteer and be selected to play the carillon.
You would think that for something so serious looking, you would only hear classical tunes. But this being Berkeley, I am happy to say that during my own time as a student there, I have heard many whimsical songs.
Video of Music & Light Show celebrating 100 years
https://youtu.be/5OlyO1UsfLw
And finally, I cannot stress this enough, the natural scenery around the campus is always breathtaking, and there is no better place to see it than from the top of Sather Tower:
