My name is Rodd Pedrotti. I am from western Massachussetts, my town being located in the heart of the Berkshires. I am currently a second-semster sophomore at Bryant College in Smithfield, Rhode Island and am an English major. For the fall and present semesters, I have been acting as an assistant to Dr. Yang by helping him collect scienctific information about genes and DNA. I am really looking forward to the trip to China; it will be my first experience in traveling to a foreign country. I know it will prove to be a very beneficial and valuable experience. Having Dr. Yang as a professor for two college courses and having had a number of conversations with him, I know he will make the trip extremely of fun and very eduacational. However, I am not too sure how much I will like the food; I like pizza and buffalo wings. I definitely plan on bringing a lot of camera film; my official job during our three-week stay in China will be the still-photographer.