#excomm

Aerial photos of a medium-range ballistic missile base in San Cristóbal (Cuba, October 1962).

These photos were taken by an American U-2 spy plane, and showed Soviet nuclear-tipped missiles.  This discovery set off the Cuban Missile Crisis, which lasted for 13 days.

The president spent a week deliberating with a group of advisors known as ExComm.  At the end of the week, he announced the discovery to the world, and imposed a naval blockade on further armament shipments to Cuba.

During the second week, neither the US nor the USSR backed down.  Kennedy worked out a deal with three parts: 1) America pledged not to invade Cuba if the USSR withdrew its missiles (a public deal); 2) it would attack Cuba within 24 hours if the offer was rejected (a private ultimatum); and 3) America would withdraw their missiles from Turkey within six months in exchange.

Khrushchev accepted the offer on October 28th, and removal of the missiles took until November 9th. The naval blockade ended on the 20th.

1. Name, Year, Major, and Hometown

Sally Wu, Third Year Psychology & Human Development, San Francisco

2. What is your earliest childhood memory? 

Getting Mcdonald’s soft serve with my dad before dinner, it was like our little secret.

3. What’s stopping you?

Money, mostly. And the fear of being judged… but you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

4. What is something about yourself that you’re proud of?

Putting myself through college!

5. If you could have any one question answered truthfully, what would it be?

What I’m meant to do with my life

6. Who is your celebrity/fictional crush? 

n/a (Bridgit Mendler)

7. How would you spend your ideal birthday? 

I didn’t grow up celebrating birthdays, so probably the same way I’d spend my ideal day! I’d start by walking my dog in the morning by the beach or on a calm trail, getting brunch with my best friends, then splurging on a nice dinner before a cozy movie night indoors.

8. What food that starts with the first letter of your name would you only eat for the rest of your life?

Sushi! but with no raw fish sry

9. What’s one niche interest you have that you must share with the world?

Decorating your home/room on a budget and doing rent-friendly home improvement projects! I think it’s so important to make your space YOURS and you don’t need a lot to do so.

10. What is a memory with your closest friend and how does it exemplify your friendship together and how you value friendship as a whole (250 words minimum)

A memory that stands out with my closest friend took place during a road trip we impulsively decided to take one summer. We were both stressed from school, so we packed snacks, created a playlist, and drove to the coast without a detailed plan. The trip was filled with unexpected detours: getting lost on scenic backroads, singing at the top of our lungs to our favorite songs, and stopping at a small-town diner where we had a heartfelt conversation about our future hopes and fears. That trip was a perfect mix of adventure, vulnerability, and laughter, exemplifying the core of our friendship.

1. Name, Year, Major, and Hometown

Brendan Lin, third year CDM major

2. What is your earliest childhood memory? 

KN95 black masks and monster energy

3. What’s stopping you?

Someone told me I give good advice :)

4. What is something about yourself that you’re proud of?

Horror. Let me be the dumbass character that gets killed first

5. If you could have any one question answered truthfully, what would it be?

Tattoo even though I am probably getting one soon.

6. Who is your celebrity/fictional crush? 

Smart food white chedder popcorn and skipping class

7. How would you spend your ideal birthday? 

Playing games and losing track of time with Edwin Wu :)

8. What food that starts with the first letter of your name would you only eat for the rest of your life?

学雪花飘飘北风啸啸，天地一片苍茫， 一剪寒梅傲立雪中，只为伊人飘香

9. What’s one niche interest you have that you must share with the world?

Sonny Angels are overrated and midparts blow

10. What is a memory with your closest friend and how does it exemplify your friendship together and how you value friendship as a whole (250 words minimum)

1. Name, Year, Major, and Hometown

Christian (CJ) Carino, Psychology, Vallejo

2. What is your earliest childhood memory? 

Crying at the mall because I had to take a picture on Santa's lap.

3. What’s stopping you?

Nothing, I'm unstoppable.

4. What is something about yourself that you’re proud of?

My professional work ethic.

5. If you could have any one question answered truthfully, what would it be?

What is your favorite color?

6. Who is your celebrity/fictional crush? 

my ex

7. How would you spend your ideal birthday? 

getting all my responsibilities delegated to people that can do a great job at it.

8. What food that starts with the first letter of your name would you only eat for the rest of your life?

Chicken katsu/bbq

9. What’s one niche interest you have that you must share with the world?

Resumes and recruiting

10. What is a memory with your closest friend and how does it exemplify your friendship together and how you value friendship as a whole (250 words minimum)

1. Name, Year, Major, and Hometown

5th Year Psychology Major (B.A), Minors in Education & Sociology

2. What is your earliest childhood memory? 

When I was selling goods for an elementary school fundraiser, my uncle ordered white chocolate covered pretzels that I couldn’t resist. I ate like half the box before I could deliver it to him. When he opened the box at a family party to see half of it gone I was so embarrassed as if he wasn’t going to notice.

3. What’s stopping you?

Self-doubt, my fear of judgement from others, of rejection, and of failure.

4. What is something about yourself that you’re proud of?

I’m proud that through all of my life’s hardships, I have remained a genuine and authentic person. I have made mistakes, I haven’t loved every version of myself, but my love for others and community has always remained.

5. If you could have any one question answered truthfully, what would it be?

When, how, and why will aliens reveal themselves?

6. Who is your celebrity/fictional crush? 

NLE Choppa

7. How would you spend your ideal birthday? 

Spending time with friends in nature, connecting and having great conversations, and just having fun being away from our responsibilities

8. What food that starts with the first letter of your name would you only eat for the rest of your life?

Acai bowls

9. What’s one niche interest you have that you must share with the world?

Squishies - foam fidgets that are realistically shaped like food

10. What is a memory with your closest friend and how does it exemplify your friendship together and how you value friendship as a whole (250 words minimum)

1. Name, Year, Major, and Hometown

Katelynn Phy, 3rd Year Psychology and Human Development Major, San Jose 

2. What is your earliest childhood memory? 

When I was 4 years old, I almost drowned in the pool. To this day I still don’t know how to swim. 

3. What’s stopping you?

Money is stopping me because if I had money I would be able to freely do so many things, such as travel, buy food, buy smiskis, etc.

4. What is something about yourself that you’re proud of?

I’m proud of my resilience because no matter what I’ve been through in my life, I always push through and strive to be the best version of myself for me and the people around me. 

5. If you could have any one question answered truthfully, what would it be?

I would like to know What happens after death? I’m very curious about more specifically where our mind goes.

6. Who is your celebrity/fictional crush? 

Mark Lee

7. How would you spend your ideal birthday? 

My ideal birthday would be spending time with my close friends and family. It wouldn’t be my birthday if I didn’t end up crying. 

8. What food that starts with the first letter of your name would you only eat for the rest of your life?

I would choose kimchi fried rice because I could customize it every time I make it.

9. What’s one niche interest you have that you must share with the world?

A niche interest is watching competitive baking shows. I feel like I’ve watched almost all the baking shows on netflix. 

10. What is a memory with your closest friend and how does it exemplify your friendship together and how you value friendship as a whole (250 words minimum)

A memory of my closest friends is when we reconnected after being apart from each other as we all went to different colleges in different areas. Not only did the distance make it difficult, however all of us each had our own busy lives to take care of, balancing busy schedules, new responsibilities, and new friendships. It would naturally be hard to stay in touch. Nevertheless, when we finally met up with each other, it felt like nothing had changed at all. We picked up where we left off, sharing stories about our time in college, all our troubles and struggles and our dreams and aspirations. 

What made the moment so special was the deep mutual understanding we shared, even though we all were living separate lives from each other. The changes in our lives-new friends, different experiences, new challenges-didn’t matter as much because we had this foundation of support and a bond built over the years that was always there, no matter how far apart or busy we get. We didn’t need to explain ourselves or give excuses as we just understood each other. 

1. Name, Year, Major, and Hometown

Elson Wong, 3rd Year, Math Major, San Mateo

2. What is your earliest childhood memory? 

My earliest childhood memory is when I dropped a hot dog with ketchup and mustard on my sleeve and started crying in the school cafeteria in pre-school.

3. What’s stopping you?

I’m poor

4. What is something about yourself that you’re proud of?

I’m proud of how fast I type

5. If you could have any one question answered truthfully, what would it be?

“Dinosaur?”

6. Who is your celebrity/fictional crush? 

Ziggs

7. How would you spend your ideal birthday? 

I would spend my ideal birthday with my friends and family. We would do fun activities like bowling or golf together all day.

8. What food that starts with the first letter of your name would you only eat for the rest of your life?

eWatermelon

9. What’s one niche interest you have that you must share with the world?

Scrolling through Facebook marketplace for cars that I can’t afford

10. What is a memory with your closest friend and how does it exemplify your friendship together and how you value friendship as a whole (250 words minimum)

1. Name, Year, Major, and Hometown

Welton Czhang, 3rd Year, Animal Science, San Gabriel

2. What is your earliest childhood memory? 

the earliest childhood memory i have is when i was 3 years old and my mom sat my older brother brandan and i to take a photo with her digital camera. she would keep a photo album of pictures (consisting only of my older brother haha) but i remember she wanted me in the photo and kept trying to get my attention to look into the camera !! i was playing with this small cute baby bracelet so i was distracted, but eventually i did look directly at the lens. most of the times i don’t know where to look at in a photo, but i very clearly remember looking directly back into the big camera staring back at me. i smiled too!! proof of that is captured in the photo that she printed out and hung on the closet doorr. it’s a very cute picture and i cherish it sm bc ion hav much other baby photos of me

3. What’s stopping you?

myself. as much as ion like to admit it, i am not always at my best or immune to everything that happens to me. i can bat an eye at sumn n dismiss it, but the issue will still remain. and that is something unavoidable. its always a problem i cant disclose to other ppl bc it is an internal struggle that i deal wit and only i will understand. this is why i feel closed off sometimes when it comes to telling other ppl what is currently upsetting me, bc it genuinely is not sumn that the words of another could fix. some days are harder than others, n its hard for me to get up and change the thing bothering me jus bc i already deal wit a lot and i am at a total loss when i cant immediately fix a problem in minutes. some days, i jus wan to bask and feel the weight of it all. but i sit back up eventually and take care of it. i never rlly stop the hustle for too long

4. What is something about yourself that you’re proud of?

im not rlly proud of anything, but i am fond of the fact that one can accomplish anything that they set their minds to. i would say i am very hardworking so that any task can jus be a task set as the current objective or for the near future, and make my way through a lot of hoops and bounds to get to the final destination before planning towards another goal. thinking like this makes everything seem doable, no matter the difficulty

5. If you could have any one question answered truthfully, what would it be?

does the world revolve around me? i feel like im reading a film reel. life moves like im flipping through the pages of a book. it all comes together, yet so slowly. as if the words are falling in place and writing themselves. i think i hav already died and i am experiencing the looongest flashback possible rn as i relive everything, or maybe i hav been put into a memory of mine as i reconstruct and arrange the storyline where i live an outcome not yet explored. im doing things differently this time around 😌

6. Who is your celebrity/fictional crush? 

im not like this 😭😭 ion crush on ppl.. SAD but the ppl will not hear from me ab how freaky i amm !!

7. How would you spend your ideal birthday? 

oh em gee. how would i?? well of course wit the ppl i lov so all my friends, and also cats (hopefully they are mine, or pets my friends bring over !!) i wan to take sm cute pics of not jus me but wit everyone and i wan everyone to feel like they had the best time ever and not bc they are celebrating the special occasion ! we either cook food tgt or eat out for all meals of the day and go well into the night laughing, exchanging stories, and enjoying the one day of the year where all my friends are in one place. the ideal is surrounded by everyone who ive ever gotten the chance to kno and care for, n even if i jus hav that n only that is okay 😌😌

8. What food that starts with the first letter of your name would you only eat for the rest of your life?

OKAY. so i definitely got nerfed wit this questionn n maybe you’re expecting me to say watermelons but ACT i will say waffles, bc they are >>> yummier than pancakes, hav fun grids on em, and taste yummy n are super cool and awesome. so yeah waffles, i lov waffles YURR

9. What’s one niche interest you have that you must share with the world?

freak. so basically i lov how every show, movie, book EVER has an expansive compelling story created by authors or producers with i m a g i n a t i o n so that everything can be enjoyed by any one audience. im not going to nerd out on any series specifically, but my niche interest is learning ab diff series by consuming the material itself, or hearing ab it from other ppl so i can talk to them ab their interests :) i like hearing what ppl hav to say ab things they like ! one takeaway i always wan to carry wit me n the world to kno ab me is being someone knowledgeable on any sort of topic so that i can hav conversations wit anyone who happens to be discussing fictional or nonfictional works. i’ll be like oh! are you guys talking ab ragtime, one of the precursors to the origin of jazz 😃😃 what made you start listening to buddy bolden ?? things like that

10. What is a memory with your closest friend and how does it exemplify your friendship together and how you value friendship as a whole (250 words minimum)