Radha Madhav Dham- Chase Ossenkop

During the summer of 2013, I spent almost every weekend traveling throughout the United States on fun road trips. During one of those road trips, one where the destination was Salt Lick Barbecue near Austin, Texas, I came across this Hindu temple. It was a hidden gem to come across, as I would not have known it was there without the road signs on the way. I decided to check it out.

When you turn into the property, you drive along a tree-lined path that is absolutely breathtaking. After a minute or two, you see the top of the temple. Eventually, you drive up to the main temple, and it was huge. Before I got there, I did not know what to expect. But, there was no way I could have prepared myself for what I saw. It was beautiful. The main building was absolutely gorgeous and the detail was amazing, and the grounds were covered with wildlife and small shrines. There were also peacocks walking around everywhere. The building had all stone tile, and shoes were not allowed to be worn inside. There were shoe cubbies on the outside wall.

Upon walking inside, it reminded me of my home church. There was a sanctuary, a kids' area, a receptionist desk, etc. The only differences were the Hindi paintings and statues around the building. I walked around for a while and fell in love with the architecture and the beauty of the building. I am so glad I took the backroads on that road trip, otherwise I would not have seen this beautiful building.

Texas State Capitol Building- Chase Ossenkop

I was born and raised in Texas, and I am definitely a proud Texan. The Texas State Capitol Building encompasses the beauty of Texas. It is a gorgeous building, and it is located in a park location in the city of Austin, Texas. The doors of the building are grand, and walking inside is quite the experience.

Last summer I took the opportunity to take road trips every weekend to places around the United States, and one weekend I went down to Austin to explore. I ended up getting food from a food truck for dinner and eating it on the front steps of the Capitol. It was a peaceful night and it is a very fond memory. After I ate my meal I went inside to explore. One of my future career goals is to be a politician, so walking into this building was truly exciting and I appreciated it more than the last time I visited when I was eight.

When you walk in, you find yourself in a round room with a domed top. Every floor has a walkway traveling the perimeter of the room with paintings. It is a beautiful space, and if you stand right on the center of the star on the floor in the domed space, the acoustics are very interesting. Traversing the halls you can see the offices of all the Senators. Every doorway has a plaque with a name on it. I spent at least three hours walking around this building alone and soaking it all in. It is truly remarkable.

Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium- Chase Ossenkop

Coming from a Texas high school, I was used to the importance of football to the culture within a student body at a public institution. However, I did not truly realize the magnitude of the passion for Sooner football until attending my first game as a freshman.

One reason I initially looked at OU for college was because I was a fan of their football team. So, naturally, upon stepping foot onto campus for the first time as a freshman, I was ecstatic to experience my first home game. I was in the Pride of Oklahoma Drumline as a freshman, so I got a somewhat different experience than the typical freshman. I got to practice in the Everest training center before the game, and then we marched a parade through campus en route to the stadium. Marching through the fans and into the stadium was an amazing experience. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps. As we walked onto the field for pre-game, I looked into the audience. I had never seen that many people packed into one space in my entire life. The pure adrenaline combined with the volume of the fans was truly exhilarating. When you are on the field, looking up at the pure height of the stands and the mass of fans occupying every possible seat is intimidating.

I love our stadium, it seems unique. Not a lot of stadiums have the open corners and the taller stands across from the press box like this stadium. This stadium is a part of the Sooner family and I absolutely love it.

Il Colosseo- Chase Ossenkop

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to visit the Colosseum in Rome. My little brother and I used to read books about it together growing up and pretend we were gladiators fighting in front of the emperor (our dad). We played video games that had the Colosseum in them and we both few up with a fascination for this structure. Seeing this building has been on my bucket list for as long as I remember.

A couple of weeks ago, I finally got a chance to visit this building. I studied abroad in Italy for the last 3 weeks of May directly after finals week, and Rome was the last city we visited as a group. Looking at the schedule, I saw that the Colosseum was on our agenda. I was ecstatic. The day that we went to the Colosseum, we spent four hours just walking around and looking at all the things they had on exhibit as well just looking into the Colosseum and how it was built. We learned about the structure of the underground chambers and how they were separated for animals and humans, we also learned about the plumbing system and the inlets that historians believe allowed water into there Colosseum for aquatic battle reenactments. The size of this building is amazing, and seeing it in person is an experience I would not trade for anything. It was one of my favorite experiences in Italy, and I will cherish it forever.

Cox Convention Center Kanong Yang

Cox convention center was were FIRST robotics competition were held at when I was still in high school. Its really just a regular convention center but the memories made is irreplaceable. Its amazing how they can just turn the arena into about anything. I like how it looks out to the garden and just down the street from Bricktown. It has a great location!

Ely Cathedral - Austin Heyne

The Ely Cathedral, or formally, The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely, was the first and one of my favorite cathedrals I visited in europe. Located in Cambridgeshire, England it was close to where I lived and was a common local landmark. At night local and military pilots would use it as a point of reference when flying. While living there I was lucky enough to attend a Christmas Eve service. It is hard to describe and you really have to be there to appreciate it but the sound quality inside a cathedral is astounding. Between the choir and the pipe organ, it is no wonder people of the middle ages found these to be a piece of heaven on earth. Concerning its architecture, while it was very symmetric over all, I really appreciated the asymmetry when view from the front, as it makes the building more interesting in my opinion.

Pei Mansion Hotel--Guo Sun

I.M.Pei is one of the most famous master of modern architecture in the world. But few people know that actually Pei has the imposing family background. His father Zuyi Pei, who is the president of Back of China, which was one of the earliest and substantial financial group in Chinese modern economic history. Before Pei immigrated to the United States, their family lived in the private luxury mansion located in the richest neighborhood in Nanyang road, jingan, Shanghai. 

Pei family mansion is the mixture of Chinese classical and western modern. It is designed by Swiss architecture group, and made by the best materials. Pei mansion also has a huge Suzhou classical garden. One of the earliest elevator in Shanghai was installed in the Pei mansion at the same time, which is OTIS. In general, Pei mansion is one of the best protected classical Shanghai building in 1930s, when is a complicated era, filled with people from all over the world , in Shanghai.