As I walked into Herty I was surprised with a birthday song and board. I had totally forgotten it was my birthday! I never realized how awkward having happy birthday sung to you is…

We downloaded all our hard work from the SSP laptops and took pictures with our precious child (our PAPER!)

Back at Bell everyone began to pack up their things. Kal, the last to pack, dragged out all his clothes into the hallway to pack while next to everyone, sitting out singing songs.

Later in the afternoon everyone got ready together for final day photos. And after a series of fit check pictures we all walked out together in style.

Group photo, silly photos, but amidst taking the regional photos it started to pour. Rainy day pictures!

Unsurprisingly, during our last supper, everyone sprung into a happy birthday song yet again. 

On our way to the closing guest speaker, the worst news was delivered to us. Gwanpil would be leaving in less than 30 minutes, as we said our last goodbyes and gave final group hugs, tears rolled down our faces. 

“Till next time pebble boy”

After the guest speaker the TAs surprised us with PAPER PLATE AWARDS! “Muscles and Microphones” “Most attentive” “Programmer Moyen” “Snazzy Jazzy”

The rest of the night we spent singing songs and reminiscing about the early SSP experience. As expected everyone cried, as we would all be leaving the bonds we made over the past 5 weeks. I think I might have cried the most. As the clock ticked by we counted down to our last SSP sunrise.  

-Lauren

The post Astro GCSU: The Little Pebble first appeared on SSP International.

Not actually Thinh btw

After the presentations and the amazing lecture from our SWRI guest speakers, we headed to
Chick-fil-a for lunch, where Sahil the goat bought me a Spicy Deluxe Meal as my birthday
present. THANKS BUDDY! It tasted like chicken.
Then we got the pleasure of having Dr. Carbon explain his fascinating research topic to us.
Basically (if I understood it correctly), there are noise signals in every data point that an
astronomer takes, and the large data set would be limited to the picture with the highest noise
signal, making only one data point possible. What Dr. C did was that he ranked the pictures in
order of the strength of their noise signals and took the one data point. Then, he deleted the
picture with the highest noise signal and plotted the new data set, which gave another data point
that was different from the original one, and repeated this process until the end. HE WAS THE
FIRST EVER PERSON TO DO THIS!!!!! When he explained this to us, the whole class started
clapping out of amazement. I truly feel blessed for having had the opportunity to learn from
these amazing professors for the past 5.5 weeks. This was also the last academic lecture we
would have at SSP, so it was bittersweet. It was nice in that it meant we would have no more
work, but all of us felt like the program went by extremely quickly and we would all miss each
other.
After the lecture, we wrote thank-you letters to SSP sponsors and cleaned up the classrooms.
It’s cool to think about how SSP impacted these people so much that even decades after this
shirt 5.5-week summer program, they still deeply care about the program and actively support it.
I want to be in a position in which I can help out the program in the future as well, just like these
generous donors.
Then we ate dinner, where my table made fun of me for not knowing my travel plan by heart and
not knowing when my school starts. And then we went to the hive and chilled for a bit. Here are
some things we did:

Kal using Sour as his gym equipment

Human pyramid with Aditya, Gwanpil, Sahil, Andrew, Kal, and Eduardo

Spelling Bee (Darnell won!)

SSP shirts and hoodies!

Jonathan waving at the camera (he never does this)

And then we played tag from 10pm to midnight, when it was Lauren’s birthday and the day
ended. Of course, we sang happy birthday to her as soon as the clock struck 12.

Happy birthday Lauren!

-Gwanpil

The post Astro GCSU: Presentation Day first appeared on SSP International.

Nevertheless, there was no better way to start the day than Dr. M’s E&M lecture; we went through Biot Savart Law (Bee-oh Suh-var according to Pierre – the French guy) and magnetism in general. Learnt new great concepts. However, perhaps the funniest part of class was witnessing the confused dead-silence after Dr. M repeatedly said “I know most of you had already seen this before” when going over the differential forms of E&M equations when in fact the majority of the class, if not all, was seeing these equations for the first time in their lives. The lecture ended at approximately 11am and we had work time until lunch and after lunch to 3.30pm – this was when we went back to the dorm to dress up for our guest speaker Dr. Barrientos. And just before Michael C. attacked Andrew N. with a compressed water bottle, everyone seems to be fed up of Michael C.’s violent demeanor. (just joking Michael is probably the nicest and kindest person I ever knew)

Anyways, thanks to Dr. Barrientos’s beautiful presentation on the effects of surgery and high fat diets on rat’s declining cognitive abilities, I decided to avoid getting surgeries and eating burgers for a life-time. Not so sure on how to avoid surgeries but we’ll work on it hopefully. The group promptly headed to the dining hall when Dr. Barrientos finished answering questions; we sang Happy Birthday a multitude of times while having dinner as well. Thanks to all my fellow cohortmates! We of course went to work after dinner; this work session proved to be particularly fruitful to me because I learnt how to draw LaTeX diagrams – I wanted to learn this for over a year but never had the opportunity to do so. It is a little sad that the only visual I have from the day is a scientific diagram, but all sadness turns into the purest form of joy when you look at this diagram – look at this beauty!!!

-Kaan

The post Astro GCSU: Kaan’s Birthday Post first appeared on SSP International.

Jasmine – (As your bestie I will be writing this – Sour) Even though it was your fault we missed the flight to SSP, you are an amazing and thoughtful person. I really enjoy being friends with you and getting me addicted to nerds gummy clusters. Hopefully I or we don’t miss our flight back… (As your actual bestie Divya, not Sour) You’re genuinely one of the sweetest people I have ever met in my entire life. I’m always going to miss our late night nutella sessions (sorry everyone for eating the whole jar and maybe Sour for putting it on his face, strong on the maybe) and hopefully you get over your fear of flying a Boeing. Anyways HAPPY 17 I can’t wait to go home and make Wawa trips while you drive (please don’t kill me). YAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY. – Divya and Sour

Aditya – You always light up every room you walk in with your infectious smile and the belief that if you think you are happy, you will be.

Alan – I enjoy your pool technique, and it is funny seeing how you win every time!

Andria – You always tell the most hilarious stories and I won’t forget about the time you stood at the MAX’s door for 2 minutes holding the door for everybody.

Andrew B. – Eating ramen and Nutella waffles is much less lonely at midnight when you are also hanging out in the kitchen!

Andrew N. – I am always so jealous of your delicious Chinese ramen in the morning lectures, but you make up for it with your kindness whenever I ask for help.

Arya – We will miss you! I really loved your pink dress that you always wore to dinner.

Daniela – You are seriously the sweetest person I know, and you always offer your help to anyone who needs it.

Darnell – Never have I seen someone work so hard to understand a difficult topic, and I really admire your patience and dedication. Special shout out for creating the Darnellian.

Delal – You are so sweet to everyone during every interaction, and your laugh is so contagious.

Devan – Thank you for noticing me staring at your cookie at the aquarium and giving me some – you’re the GOAT.

Divya – Our late night Nutella and cookie dough parties in the Hive have been the highlight of SSP for me, and you always make me so comfortable to be myself! I’m so excited to hang out after SSP!

Eduardo – Thank you for wishing me happy birthday 13 separate times today. You are so hilarious, not to mention insanely smart.

Emma – You are so sweet, and the best suitemate ever. Your Oreo shelf is my comfort place, and you are always so generous.

Gwanpil – Your hair is majestic, and your smile is always so infectious, even when I’m stressed out about PSETS.

Isa – Your paper boat story at dinner today was one of the most creative things I’ve seen so far at SSP, and you never fail to make me laugh. Thank you for always being so patient with me!

Jonathan – Watching you get slightly frustrated while coding and then figuring it out right after is the highlight of PSET time for me, and thank you for always being patient when I ask questions.

Kaan – Slay queen! Playing tennis with you is so much fun, and it is definitely worth waking up at 8 on a Sunday morning for.

Kal – Watching you deadlift Darnell last night has really motivated me to hit the gym, get those gains, and become as buff as you one day.

Katie – You are one of the most hardworking people I know, and also one that I know I can come to with anything.

Lauren – You’re the best roommate I could have asked for, and hanging out with you is always the most fun.

Lindy – Before we even got to SSP, I admired you for your 7.7 UTR, but now, I admire you even more for being someone who never fails to make me laugh and who gives the best advice.

Michael C. – You are such a kind person, and even though I can’t really keep up with you in tennis, you always make me feel capable.

Michael N. – SWAT wouldn’t be complete without you, and you are always so patient and kind. You also have the best taste in music ever!

Olivia – You are so sweet and such an amazing suitemate. Thank you for always opening the door for me when I forget my key, and for helping me with anything and everything.

Pierre – I, too, communicate through sarcasm, and I find it so hilarious every time you answer with something out of pocket.

Pranav – You are one of the sweetest people I know, and your smile even during super stressful situations always reassures me that everything will turn out in the end.

Sahil – You were one of the first people to sing happy birthday to me when the clock turned to midnight, and you gave some pretty solid advice about you-know-what.

Sai – Sai, look over there! *turns head back slowly as music plays in the background.

Sanjana – You are so sweet to every single person you encounter, and I really admire your intense dedication and patience to making sure you and everyone else understands the material.

Sara – Your violin in the Hive at night always calms me down after a long day, and our conversations are always so funny and never fail to make me crack up.

Jean – Your obsession with consciousness and philosophy will always intrigue me, and you inspire me to be more thoughtful every day. 

Sour – Even though you made us miss our flight here because of your Hi-chew addiction, I’m really glad we both made it. Metro Boomin’s waiting for us when we get back!

Taja – You are one of the funniest people I know, and your work ethic is something to look up to. I can’t wait to hang out after SSP is over.

Thinh – Our conversations are always so interesting and goofy, and I really enjoy having you around!

Viktoriia – I don’t know what we would do without you here, and you are always so funny and humble that I sometimes forget you are genuinely a genius.

Evan – Sorry for the late blog post, but what I lack in untimeliness, I hope I make up for in good writing! Thank you for putting up with our tennis in the morning, and I always look forward to being at your table.

Ian – Mew and mog king for real. +1000 aura points

Claire – I’m inspired to learn juggling now, and even though I’m not the best at it, you definitely inspire me to learn.

Maura – Thank you for being such a girl’s girl and being as much of an Olivia Rodrigio fan as we all definitely are.

Dr. Ice – You’re the GOAT (greatest of all time), and nothing else can really be said. Thanks for literally everything and making our SSP experience truly unforgettable. 

Dr. M – Your lectures are always so interesting, and even though it was intimidating having to answer our own questions at first, I’ve found that I really have been able to learn so much and retain all of the information you have taught us.

Dr. C – I hope it’s okay that we taught your son Lagrangian mechanics on the bus yesterday. I really enjoy all of your lectures, and especially enjoy talking about philosophy at the guest speaker receptions.

Dr. D – Your orbital determination lectures are some of my favorites, and your stories about cosplay and making costumes is so incredibly interesting!

Dr. Adams – Even though you were only here for a couple of days, I hope we made as much of an impression on you as you did on us. 

The post Astro GCSU: A Day Not Totally About Me first appeared on SSP International.

But let’s start the blog on yesterday, July 4th. After a day of lectures on optics and orbital determination, I went to the computer lab to work on my data reduction. Currently, our team, named the Wacky Wiggling Worms (the best and longest team name, with me, Michael, and Taja), is working on analyzing the pictures we took in a week before. Our team has a bittersweet relationship with our asteroid — although it is like 2 times as dim compared to other teams’ asteroids and annoying to track, we’re up for the challenge! I was surprised that there were a lot of fireworks throughout the night; it seemed that the entire town of Milledgeville was celebrating the eve of my birthday! But while I was working on the asteroid data, Dr. Ice told everyone to meet in the main classroom. Out of nowhere, Ian brought in a huge cupcake cake (a cake made up of many cupcakes as a base with frosting over them), and we celebrated my birthday a day early! Everyone sang Happy Birthday MULTIPLE TIMES (it is tradition to sing the happy birthday song as many times as how old one is turning).

After that Ian invited us to go to the observatory to take some cool pictures! I went to observe with Kaan and Michael and we got absolutely fantastic pictures of the Whirlpool Galaxy! It was too cloudy though for other objects like the Ring Nebula. And I did not attempt to give Michael frostbite with compressed air, that is disinformation; it was actually the other way around. I attached the stacked image below. Hopefully we can observe more cool things when the clouds go away! Afterwards I went to sleep around 1 AM after a few matches of Brawl Stars (I am NOT addicted to that game).

Fast forward to the morning of July 5th, I woke up around 8:20 AM, which is typical for me. I had the most satisfying and nutritious meal for breakfast — a cup of instant noodles and an energy drink.

After getting ready, I headed towards the lecture hall at around 8:50 AM to come across a beautiful birthday message on the whiteboard! After a few more rounds of Happy Birthday songs, we began a normal morning of lectures. It truly is amazing how supportive the SSP community is!!

After our lectures, it was College & Career Day! To start off, we wore our semi-formal clothes and had a scrumptious lunch at a fancy auditorium. I enjoyed the potatoes and the chicken wrap. Through Zoom, we listened to admission officers from Caltech and Harvey Mudd about student life at the colleges and the application process. It was very informative as we could ask questions to the admission officers directly. (PS to all AO’s: it would be a nice birthday gift to give me admission to your college )

I sat with Pranav, Kaan, Jean, Delal, Daniela, and Viktoriia for lunch. Jean asked the most important questions, such as would you rather live eternally, stop time, or travel back into the past. I also learned some questionable Turkish from Kaan.

Then Ms. Belote came to give a speech about college admissions.

Here’s the main highlight:
YOU WILL GET INTO A GOOD COLLEGE.

And say that over and over again for 10 times.

I thought her speech was very reassuring because everyone was a little nervous going into the college admissions process. We got this!! Let’s put that worry elsewhere. We headed back to the dorms after lunch.

Finally, we had dinner around 5 PM. Today was the fanciest dinner by far; the grilled broccolini and chicken was delicious. We wore even fancier clothes than dinner. After another Happy Birthday, we all settled down in groups of 5. An admissions officer from GCSU came down and gave a speech on student life and the admissions process at the college. Then we listened to a speech about life. Life is not linear, and a growth mindset is important in overcoming challenges and achieving success and happiness with your life. I also sat with Evan the GOAT, and I mowed down some cake.

Afterwards we headed back to the dorms. Sour delivered a stunning kazoo performance of Happy Birthday at my dorm door. We went back to the classrooms around 8:30 PM to work on our problem sets. I went back around 11 PM to where I am now.

It’s crazy that SSP is already half over. Although SSP felt a little overwhelming at the beginning (Lagrangian mechanics left me in a state of bewilderment), I’ve gotten used to this amazing and supportive community. I’ve learned so much through collaboration with my peers, and I’m so excited for what’s to come. I heard that since our dark sky viewing was canceled due to rain, we are going to WALMART for an HOUR 30 MINUTES tomorrow!! Anyways it’s 1:23 AM now so I will wrap it up here. Night!

Afternote: Nevermind, the thunderstorms are absolutely terrifying. This is probably the most intense thunderstorm I’ve ever witnessed, and both my suitemates (Pranav and Kaan) were woken up by the thunder. The lightning is striking very close by, I swear it hit our building one time. Crazy

-Andrew N

The post Astro GCSU: College Day + Birthday first appeared on SSP International.

Fortunately, this Saturday matched my celebration and all the students together with TAs went downtown FOR THE FIRST TIME during the program. Firstly, we decided to go to CVS to buy some stuff in the dorms for ourselves. Being a Ukrainian in the US sometimes brings challenges in my life. For example, 600!!! q tips in one box will remain in my memory forever (as well as in memory of my Brazilian roommate Isa) However, this was far from the end of our exciting trip. Cafes, Chinese food shops and interesting antique stores did not hide from our attention as well. Second place I tended to visit was a coffee shop where I decided to celebrate my birthday with a cup of coffee and (continuing our rubric of huge stuff) a gigantic cookie. Spoiler: It was delicious. Third place I went to was a big antique store where I and my other friends hang out just for entertainment.

At the end of the day, everyone was focused on the second Problem Set which should be finished by June 24. In addition to this, three groups of young researchers (including our team) had an opportunity to go on with our asteroids’ observations. And everything would have seemed successful but the frustrating clouds did not allow any of us to get some great photos. But, despite these issues, we spent time finishing our Problem Set. At 11:45pm, I headed back to my dorm full of emotions and excitement getting ready for a peaceful Sunday:)

-Viktoriia

The post Astro GCSU Birthday first appeared on SSP International.

Today was participant Delal’s birthday, so as we did with Thinh we sang Happy Birthday 17 times throughout the day.

Tonight is the third night of observing asteroids, so good luck to those who are.

So far, 5th night of SSP is very fun and interesting to say the least

-Eduardo

The post Astro GCSU Day 5 first appeared on SSP International.

Thank you SSP for a memorable 17th birthday and the experience of a lifetime.

Thank you Jasmine and Lauren for making this

-Thinh

The post My Birthday at SSP first appeared on SSP International.