What I will miss about SSP/ My favorite memories:

1.The collaborative environment.

Everyone works together, and no-one is behind. If you need help there is always someone there to offer. 

2. Getting kicked out of the computer lab at 12:00 AM. 

3. The constantly changing weather. 

It once rained when there were no clouds in the sky. 

4. Ms.Doyles Fundatory activities. 

Sand Volleyball, A trial, hide-and-seek to name a few. 

5. Mia getting upset at  Mat and thew. 

I believe there has already been an entire blog post dedicated to the very serious trial of Mia vs the Matthews, but basically the Matthews cause Mia very severe emotional distress. 

6. The rec center. 

I had two new experiences here. The first is rock-climbing which I am very proud to have accomplished because I am deeply scared of heights. The second new experience is ice-skating where I lost my balance many times and fell down on my face once. 

7. The fun experiments. 

Where to begin? There were  so many experiments and demonstrations done over the summer that I can’t possibly name each one. 

My favorites were:

And this:

8. Wunna by Gunna.

9. Hearing cheers when a problem is solved. 

10. Grace always being nearby when you have a problem/questions.

11. Sunday Movies – Particularly Kung Fury, which will be my go to suggestion when there is a movie night. 

12. Seeing a random deer by the window of the computer lab. 

* He wanted to talk to us about our cars extended warranty* 

13 . Late night truth or dare, paranoia and interrogations. 

14 . Making memes.

15. Getting bobas courtesy of Peter because me, Ameera, Alison and Milenka are superior to him in bowling. 

Our TA Peter made a deal with the four of us that if two of our scores combined beat his overall score, he would buy all of us bobas. Let’s just say that Peter overestimated his bowling skills. Side discussion – I don’t like boba that much. The difference in temperature and textures makes drinking it unpleasant.

16. Talks with Mia. 

17. The observation deck . 

Being on the observation deck slewing the telescopes, taking the flats, and imaging distant galaxies and nebulae makes you feel like you’re a true scientist (which we are!).

18. Karaoke nights. 

19. Just dance.

Istanbul, Barbie Girl, Rasputin.  

20. The incessant college talks. 

I’ll have to be honest, before SSP I have thought about college applications or even what colleges I’m applying to. These conversations made me realize that I should get on that, and I have! 

Intercession. 

I  will now take a quick break from this list to move on to another short list made specifically for Mia. 

I present to you: 

*drumroll* 

Bad Astronomy Puns. 

Why did Hrishabh get a vegetarian beef patty? 

Because he’s not a meteor. 

What did Mattew Zb. educate us on? 

Asteroid Overdose. 

Credits to Will and Sasha for the next bad pun of the day. 

If we didn’t finish our OD report we would have a semi-major problem. 

Apologies Mia, and I hope you can forgive me. 

Now, Back to memories and things I will miss dearly . 

21. Listening to music with Michelle B. 

 On the day our OD reports were turned in, a  group of us hung out in the study room. Michelle was playing music and I suggested playing night changes by one direction because I felt that described the mood of the night. She put it on, and thoughts of how quickly this summer has passed rushed through my mind. We sat there reminiscing for the entire song, making one of my favorite memories during SSP. 

22. Constantly having stuff to do. 

At SSP there is always something to do, whether it is completing your OD code, or writing your blog post, you are never left without work to complete. When I return home for the rest of the summer, I don’t know how I will function without always having a task that needs to be done.  

23. Getting vanilla icecream with a cookie and an obscene amount of chocolate sauce syrup. (Highly Recommend) 

24. My first talk with Jessica. 

25. Counting off. 

     #6 !

26. Peter’s dinner table.

For dinner we have assigned tables, and one of my favorites to sit at is Peters. This is mostly because of the interesting conversations that occur there like – If we could travel back in time for one minute, where would we go? 

27. The leader of a raccoon gang terrorizing me. 

This is  just a story of a very mean raccoon and its raccoon friends hissing at me. 

28. Maggie and I getting lunch at 4:30 before dinner at 5:15. 

29. Chilling in Arnett hall. 

30. Tyler talking about how much he loves pianos. 

31. Eating Ramen after midnight. 

32. Late night tea talks with Peter. 

33. Identifying my asteroid for the first time. 

My thoughts: WOW! This is so amazing. I really got lucky!  My asteroid is  so bright and visible . It was not; I was looking at a star . Infact, I needed to get my asteroid detected for me, because it was so dim. 

34. Collecting flowers when we went on a dark sky trip. 

35. Dragos drinking insane amounts of peach juice. 

36. Sleeping wherever possible and even sleeping for 18 hours straight once. 

37. Being Sleep Deprived. 

38. My roommate Calista and I rarely sleeping before 2:30 AM. 

39. Waking up late and never getting breakfast.

BREAK TIME AGAIN

While we are on the topic of my terrible sleeping habits. I would like to point out that I am not the only one whose sleeping schedule is completely destroyed.  Enjoy this photo dump of the CUB Crew caught sleeping. (MAKE SURE TO GET PERMISSION FROM THESE PEOPLE BEFORE THIS IS POSTED!)

Beginning this list again. 

40. Dr.Domingue’s soothing voice. 

41. Dr. Dubson yelling to get our attention for announcements. 

42. Learning about my favorite astronomy topic – The big slurp. (Sorry Mia.)

43. Kenna’s terrible music taste. (Its growing on me though) 

44. Chilling in a random hallway by myself. 

 Sometimes I need some time by myself to just relax. Sue me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

45. “Stealing” gogurts on days that aren’t sundays. 

46. “Stealing”  cereal in the middle of the night on days that also are not sundays.

47. Jackbox. 

48. Becoming a gentleminion. 

49. Betraying my roommate for the prisoner’s dilemma QOD. 

Forgive me – Calista. I didn’t know that you wouldn’t be able to get a point. 

50. Getting my eyes opened by Ariella and Gabriella about quantum mechanics, measurements, and estimations. 

51. Whatever this is. 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Hey, My name is Jaile (pronounced :  Hi – Lee) . I am a rising senior at Saint Catherine Academy in Belize ( and  I like staying  and waking up late, doing fun/ potentially dangerous science  experiments, marvel, coding without the math part and watching movies and tv shows. 

The post Beginning of the Lasts first appeared on SSP International.

The End of CUB ‘22

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My name is Matthew V., and I love playing tennis. I do physics and programming sometimes. I’m from Portland, Oregon and I want to major in physics and computer science at MIT or Stanford.

The post Funday Wednesday first appeared on SSP International.

    Laying on the grass staring up at the stars, laughing about Jupiter; sitting under a tree whose leaves carve out a view of the Big Dipper; trying to do the lift from Dirty Dancing; running through the sprinklers showing up to observations drenched; sauntering on Pearl Street in the rain and vibing to Lumineer songs; working on PSets until we are kicked out of SBO to get some sleep; staying up late learning about everyone’s romance with astrophysics; looking at the ground while walking to avoid stepping in mounds of geese poop; making sand angles; wading in a pond full of algae; dancing in the rain just mere hours before observing with a completely clear sky full of stars; running 10 miles while watching the sun rise; playing volleyball in pitch dark; rolling across the turf as fast as you can; biking in the rain and freezing; playing “Hey There Delilah” so badly it’s unrecognizable to the audience; synchronously doing backflips off the diving boards; jumping and successfully catching a rock on a rock climb; hiking up the Flatirons so high that Denver was visible from the top; jamming to the “American Pie” under the dim red glow of the observatory; trying relentlessly for hours to figure out the uncertainty of the number of apples that could fit into the Earth; wearing trashbags for the fashion show; alternating saying “hi” with our eyes crossed; feeling accomplished after scoring five points in foosball; solving the “cornmaze” in two minutes; pretending to be 18 to ride the GoKarts; making a TikTok on the top of a parking garage.

    This montage of memories led me to start thinking one night, while in the mildewy grass, about the way we could slow the passage of time enabling us to spend more time at SSP:

    According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, by traveling at speeds close to those of light, our frame of reference would be slower compared to that of an observer. Although a nice idea to the problem of slowing down time, finding enough energy to accelerate 35 teenagers to the soles of light would be impossible.

Alternatively, I suppose since our campus is located in Colorado, next to JILA, the world’s official time-keeping institution, we could change the oscillations of JILA’s strontium clock slowing down time officially. Breaking into JILA, however, would require breaking quite a few doors, not to mention quite a few laws.

Well, there is always the suggestion of altering space-time itself and changing the properties of time, but I couldn’t begin to tell you how that would work.

In conclusion, there is unfortunately not a feasible way to slow time down. I’ll just have to treasure every moment I have spent with all my smaaaart peers. Thank you, Mr. sir ma’am sir, for making this summer unforgettable.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Anoushka C

I am a junior at Berkeley High School interested pursuing theoretical physics and engineering. I enjoy playing soccer and climbing trees in my free time!

The post If Time Slow Down first appeared on SSP International.

So I am just going to write. Because SSP was not what I expected, and because words can rarely capture all that they are expected to. Eric, this is called stream of consciousness, a defining technique of the Modernist movement. I like it because it lets me ramble.

Anyways. This morning, I woke up with the dim realization that this was our last full day of SSP. I then proceeded to sleep through my alarm (as usual) before somehow sensing that I should reawaken (as usual), and sort of gently falling sideways out of my very high bed to stumble to the bathroom (as usual). I had expected to wake up fully feeling the gravity of this Last Full Day, but even now I am surprised by how … normal … the day feels. Mayhaps evidence that we have really developed some sort of lived-in routine and rhythm to our days here at SSP.

Before CHAS, Della, Sehyun, Eric, and I went on our first last Leaps Coffee run. I tried chia seed pudding for the first time, and we just talked. All I could think about was how wonderfully normal and safe it felt, like we had been and could continue doing these coffee runs for weeks, maybe years. As someone who deeply treasures this feeling of long-term stability and these solid but understated friendships, that means a lot. In terms of actual events happening today, we actually have a lot of down time to finish some last surveys, wrap up report revisions and data records, and pack. For now though, everyone has been pretty mellow, likely all experiencing their own thoughts and feelings regarding today and reflecting on their own individual SSP experience. For me, this constant awareness that I am just one of 36 people, each of us with our own stories, experiences, perspectives, and ways of processing the world, has been the biggest takeaway and gift from SSP. It is what I will miss most, and it is also what I will remember most when I think back on this summer.

I will also remember parking garage shenanigans, late night talking, late night ramen (thank you Alina, Xuan, and Brian) and the impromptu Open House photoshoot. I will remember romanticizing report writing and studying in au bon pain, then walking with Shelby through the horticulture garden as we passionately agreed on how mid Starbucks strawberry acai refreshers are (sorry Sehyun <3). Armory lectures, MOEing MOEments , late lab nights (spotlight on Assignment 2 and Dr. Wu’s organic chemistry lecture), and the best dinner conversations with Dr. Das. A heart-to-heart with Dr. Hall, jamming to the La La Land soundtrack with Jamilla at 10 PM in CHAS, teasing the Fearsome Four, “SOOOO TOUGH,” “THAT’S DIRRRRTY,” “THAT’S CRAAYYYZY” … dozing off on bus rides, Von’s, boba runs, Turkey Run hiking, that afternoon meal at Chinese BBQ … and of course the talent show, where I fulfilled my dual dreams of performing “You Belong With Me” and poetry in front of an actual audience (thank you, Nathan, for your ~beautiful~ poem, and for writing and performing with me).

There are countless other moments I cannot remember yet, and just listing the ones above has made me realize how impossible it is to capture everything that is SSP. Yet it was Dr. Hall’s final lecture during the Evening Program, then my last glimpses of MOE when the inhibitor design competition winners were announced, that finally drove me to tears. I guess I hadn’t realized until then how much I would miss sitting through one of Dr. Hall’s lectures and how much I would miss this specific SSP project and all it has taught us.

After the Evening Program concluded, you can guess where we went next … the parking garage. The déjà vu I felt as I climbed the stairs to the top almost made me tear up again; the Open House night parking garage photoshoot really does feel like both a long time ago and not that long ago. I wish I could be more poetic about this last parking garage trip, but honestly, all I felt as I stood there, snacking on strawberries and taking pictures and trying to commit this place and these people to my flimsy human memory, was an out-of-body surrealness—a prelude to Departure Day, as it turns out. But we aren’t quite there yet. Because SSP could not end before cricket with Dr. Das and our very last night together! Even though we could not pull an all-nighter, I am still grateful that we got to spend time together just walking around campus in the light rain, chatting and trying to soak in more and more “last” sights—of CHAS, the Armory, PMU, the Guest Lecture building, au bon pain, the fountain … Yes, it did feel sadly anticlimactic, but in hindsight, these smaller, seemingly duller moments—where we can all simply exist together and enjoy a shared experience—are the ones I will miss the most.

***

I was only supposed to cover Tuesday, but I am finishing this post on Wednesday (Departure Day), and it feels like a continuation of the Last Full Day. I’ve cried more today than I thought was humanly possible. I really will miss all of you so much. I wish I could say more but this tangled mess of emotion I feel will take me at least 39 more days to process. So I finish this blog now at 10:31 PM, in a different time zone and back in my room …

In “Goodbye to All That,” Joan Didion writes, “It is easy to see the beginning of things, and harder to see the ends.” For different people, SSP was the beginning of some things and the ending of others. We all began SSP with expectations and hopes about what it would be like and what we would get out of it. We are all likely ending it in a less defined or clear-cut way, because the long-term impact of SSP and the people we’ve met here will continue to play out in the coming weeks, months, and years. For me, SSP felt like the beginning of me finally gaining concrete insight into the lives and perspectives of people beyond my sleepy suburb bubble, and finally being able to pinpoint why I love science. I know for others, SSP has led to culture shock and immediate impacts on college plans and career aspirations. They said that SSP never ends, it just expands. I’m not sure because the pain in my chest right now feels a lot like an “ending” signal, but I do plan to stay in touch with everyone I’ve met here. To SSP 2022 in Biochemistry at Purdue University … thank you. The memories we’ve made, pictures we’ve taken, tears we’ve cried, dumb things we’ve done, smart things we’ve done, and relationships we’ve formed are all real, even though right now it all feels like one big dream. I’m going to stop rambling now, and finally end this blog post with, of course … some Taylor Swift:

Hold on, to the memories, they will hold on to you.

Hold on, to the memories they will hold on to you … 

And I will hold on to you.

—“New Year’s Day”

– Aniyah

The post Hold On to the Memories… They Will Hold On to You first appeared on SSP International.

For nearly a week, I have been avoiding the fact that SSP is coming to an end, that I will have to pack up and leave what has come to be my new home, and that I’ll have to say goodbye to all the close friends I’ve made. I’ll miss most of the stupid things we’ve done, like burying people in the sand vollyball court, running through the sprinklers after a long day of psets and lectures, running to the C4C to get breakfast 8 minutes before lecture, or eating 7 bannanas in one day. Most of all, I’ll miss the people here, who are all so passionate about their interests and have always been eager to share their knowledge and experience with others. 

________________________________________________________________________________________

Hello! My name is Evan, and I am a rising senior at Prairie City Monroe High School in Monroe, Iowa. I love FTC robotics. I also enjoy climbing and soccer.

The post July 25th first appeared on SSP International.

Saturday morning started with me waking up early morning. It was the final target run, so I had to get ready for it. I went in a group of 3 with Ethan and Matthew. We drove to World Market, where I purchased a few chocolates and chips. As it was a very warm day, we agreed to eat lunch at a local shop. It was my first time eating pancakes and it was delicious and delightful. Matthew used his toy gun to eat pancakes which made us laugh the whole time. We had many interesting conversations about how SSP is so different from other science programs. At the Target shop, I took more things for my extremely long flight. We waited for a long time before we were picked by Ms. Doyle.

In the afternoon we attended a Wizard show by Dr. Dubson. where he talked about many different topics of physics, some of them being waves and phenomena of IR and UV rays. We went to the the 10th floor of the Physics building where we could see the whole area and it was quite amazing.

 Dr. Dubson then gave us a tour of the Jila research centre, which had a lot of research equipment. Fun fact: 3 Nobel prizes have come from this research center. Finally, we got to know about our TA Peter’s research topic in Optics. He explained about Quantum mechanics and physics behind the experiment that he did during his research. The day ended with challenge problems and me playing table tennis.

SSP is indeed an experience of a lifetime. The academic part of SSP is quite rigorous and I had a nice time with people here at SSP. Most importantly, I learnt to live in a residential dorm and away from my family. The food was amazing during my stay at CUB campus. The staff interacted incredibly well when I discussed my doubts with them.

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Hi! I am Hrishabh, and I am a rising senior at Nalanda Academy, India. I like to do Physics, Math and Astronomy. While I am not doing Physics or Math, you can find me playing Badminton or making new dishes. 

The post Infiltrating federal laboratory first appeared on SSP International.

This morning we all spent our time nervously waiting for the faculty members to review reports. Let’s just say there were positive comments and not so good comments. Some groups got a lot of comments but I am very thankful our group didn’t have much to change. Where I would love to say it’s due to the great lab group I have. Here I would love to include a quote of Xuan where she’s got tired of revising her report.

“William is not here, I don’t have my punching bag” -Xuan (joke) 

Fun Memories: 

Julia Z ate little too many cough drops (maybe overdose)

Michelle forgetting her lanyard two days in a row. 

Julia Z accidently removed Cory from her spam account. 

Xuan and I had a little nail salon and were able to get many customers (Julia Z, Dimitra, Eric, Brian, and Michelle). Our business didn’t do that well as many people did not trust us. But I would love to say my hair salon business is going pretty well. With Brian being the most successful consumer. 

I also got some plants at the farmers market. Here’s their growing process!

Xuan attempted to eat Antiseptic Spray. (not really) 

Since today we wrap our final report I would like to have a little spot dedicated to my lab mates. 

Cory – The lifesaver to our group. Always saving Kevin and me from struggling. He’s also very good at playing piano and he trusted me to do highlights on his hair (didn’t really work but it’s okay). 

Kevin – Who always wants to call me Alaina when my name is Alina and question me why it can’t be Alaina. So next time you see Kevin make sure to call him Calvin. Also if you didn’t know Kevin is in charge of running our instagram page. Make sure to follow @sspbiochempur22. 

My blog is kinda short so I chased people down for quotes. 

“6 weeks of pretending protein proficiency” – Xuan, Sehyun 

“SSP is great” – Brian 

“Alina is from Missouri?” – Phillip (he figured it out two days before the program’s end that we only live an hour from each other) 

“Some people already know this, but i never ordered unsweet tea for any of the boxed lunches, but i felt like trying one so i took one from the cooler. if you didn’t get the tea you ordered once, that’s probably because i took it >:D” -A confession from an unknown person 

“Ahh” – Calvin (Kevin)

“reject biochem, embrace geoguessr” – Julia M

“I would not actually hurt my lab group” – Xuan 

“I love Michelle” – Alina (got forced to put this)

“Nathan it’s work time.” – Dimitra 

“Everything will be fine ~ that’s what I always tell myself when our group goes through chaotic but fun challenges” – Victoria

Credits 

I would like to thank Xuan, Julia Z, and Dimitra. for sending me a bunch of pictures for my blog. I would also like to thank people who provided quotes for my blog. 

Hi my name is Alina (not Alaina). A rising senior from Smith-Cotton High School in Sedalia, MO. In my free time I enjoy reading books and watching TV shows. I would also like to say that I also love eating throughout the day so I bought a bunch of random stuff. Like Michelle would say “Alina you’re really gonna live here for a long time”. 

The post Coming to an End first appeared on SSP International.

Reports pose a constant threat to the brain capacities of subjects of the Summer Science Program. The groans of MOE failure, constant keyboard typing, desperate scribble marks on the whiteboards resembling the format “goofy ahh ___”, and desires to explore the outside world in spite of unfinished reports are present throughout the entire subject area. However, failure to obtain a sufficient amount of sleep as well as a desire to socialize with other members restrict the participants’ abilities to continue to write their reports in a sane manner. This study explores the brain processes of various subjects in their most intense day of writing in the entire program.

Introduction

The Summer Science Program is a scientific program designed to give research opportunities for high school students who push themselves to learn and experience what true research is like. In the case of participants who are in Biochemistry, they then write reports of their experiments at the end of the program, learning how to write scientific reports in addition to earning wet lab experience for a total of around 5 weeks. It is well known that the average number of hours of sleep these participants get on average is not high compared to the average number of hours of sleep, but these reports pose a significant threat to that of the participants near the end of the program. Sleep is necessary for the daily bodily function of the participants. However, it is estimated that the average participant has a negative correlation in terms of hours of sleep and hours of report writing. Thus, an increase in hours of report writing meant a decrease in sleep, which led to some detrimental effects in the participants’ sanity. I studied this phenomenon due to the necessity of having to write a blog for the Summer Science Program on the day of July 24th, 2022, and will detail the following results. The goal of this project is to detail the average participants’ daily activity and function, and describe the effect that reports have on the participants of the Summer Science Program.

Results

All participants were given the same dietary fulfillments of the day, which was Chinese food (Fig. 1). This was done in order to prevent the further descent into insanity caused by their reported daily dose of Wiley dining hall food and weekly doses of sandwiches from the Purdue Food Company, while still maintaining that every participant had the same type of food given. This resulted in an interesting change of pace for the participants, despite some of them getting up late in order to compensate for the late night that had occurred the day prior. 

Many participants continued working on their reports for the remainder of the day, which resulted in increased stress levels and desire to socialize with other participants at their working sites. Despite socializing increasing the time required for writing reports and consequently, decreasing the amount of potential sleep for the participants, they continue to attempt to socialize despite knowing the consequences of their actions (Fig. 2).

In addition to socializing, other aspects of entertainment were seen, which were referred to as “mental health breaks” by the participants in order to cope with their decision to increase entertainment as a replacement for hours of sleep. This included horrific games of unnecessarily stressful Tetris, as well as Other members decided to instead go out of their working environment to “get a breath of fresh air” in order to “clear their minds”. This included going on what the participants referred to as “Target runs” and “Boba runs”. Although these activities shown by the participants did increase report writing time, the average amount of stress present did significantly decrease (Fig. 3).

Although most of the day showed the expected pattern of attempts in decreasing levels of stress, there were times when that was not the case. For example, a participant was seen dropping their boba cup in their working space, causing an extreme amount of stress increase in a short period of time (Fig. 4). As shown, there was an intense conundrum and all the surrounding participants found it amusing, but the participants responsible were seen fleeing the scene. They soon returned to clean up their mess, and the floor is now spotless clean. Other examples of insanity are seen, ranging from random selfies to unfaithful signs written by the participants.

It is safe to assume that these participants are not in their right mind, and need sleep as a treatment. We are hoping to get this treatment out in 2 days.

Discussion

However, despite all that is going on at the moment, the participants have nothing but to say that SSP was one of the most amazing experiences so far in their lives (at least the one writing this does). I have learned so much from just 6 weeks, and despite all the struggles of writing the report and working in the lab, there is no doubt that SSP has changed my life both as a person and as a scientist. I don’t know what will happen to me on the last day, but there will definitely be tears in some form when I leave the life I have created at Purdue University. I truly believe that this experience will prove to be helpful in terms of future research and pursuing scientific studies in any further education this participant might take. Coming this far, I believe that the person on the first Sunday, walking into Honors College is so different from the person, on this Sunday, working on their blog instead of on writing their lab report . I will miss you guys all, and though it’s not over yet, thanks so much, especially to all the faculty and my lab group (Ya and Rut)! <3 

Experimental procedures 

Photos:

Taken using a camera on a phone – additional contributors: Daniel, Maya, and Natalie

Ok I can’t think of anything else to put here, I got tired and have to write my actual report

References

Hi guys, my name is Joseph and I’m a rising senior at Troy High School in Fullerton, California. Some of my hobbies include playing the cello and playing video games such as Tetris and Valorant. I also listen to a lot of music (mostly jazz, classical, and kpop) and being a part of the front ensemble in my marching band. Oh, and I also like science (I almost forgot about that one lol).

The post Evidence shows that “tomfoolery” decreases stress in participants who are writing lab reports first appeared on SSP International.

It was, after all, report submission day. Everyone was typing away furiously in the SBO from morning to right before the papers were due at 7:30. Even when we were kicked out of the computer lab midafternoon, there were still people tapping furiously away on their phones trying to squish in as much into their final OD reports as humanly possible. It was quite a sight to see. My own team worked right up to the deadline of the paper, trying to add as much detail as we could. As such, some normal tasks had to be sacrificed; I learnt that speedrunning dinner is best when you grab two slices of pizza and stack them on top of each other. Some other groups had much more calming dinners, having finished editing most of their report before dinner.

SSPers Hard at Work in the SBO Computer Lab

In the end, however, regardless of how we got there, every single group submitted an OD paper. After endless days of sleepless nights, scrambling to finish Psets, OD code assignments, astrometry, and photometry, it was a moment of exultation to see our final OD reports, a culmination of everything we learned at SSP, come out of the printer one page at a time. 

Team Celebration at Completion of the Final OD Report (Photo Credit: Ariella)

While the actual completion of the final OD report was a satisfying moment in its own regard, it was not the only celebration that occurred. While us SSPers all know how to get work done, we also all know how to have a great time. Right after the last team submitted their OD report, we all headed off to Dairy Queen. It felt like we were in a fairy tale as we experienced a beautiful sunset, garnished by a cloud – a cloud that represented all of us, having risen up to all the challenges of SSP. It simply felt so relaxing to have not a single worry about an upcoming assignment for the first time in weeks. Instead, we all got to enjoy our Blizzards (or in Matthew’s case, he got to enjoy splitting his banana split).

Sunset During the Walk to Dairy Queen

Of course, the fun didn’t end there. After getting back to the dorms, we were given free reign where we could truly goof away without a single worry. While we all thought there would not be anything particularly exciting for the rest of the day, there was quite a surprise coming for us. Deciding to go play sand volleyball in the dark, a small group of us headed to the sand volleyball court where we were quickly interrupted by a series of fast moving bright dots in the sky. Sasha’s first reaction of “Santa’s Sleigh” probably encapsulated the fever dream we were in the best. However, being students of science, that conclusion was quickly eliminated, being replaced by the conclusion that the fast moving dots were simply newly launched Starlink satellites. Taking the moment to redeem himself academically, Sasha explained how the dot lagging behind all the other dots was simply the second phase rocket. It all just seemed so coincidental that we would be lucky enough to catch a sight of Elon Musk’s satellites on the day we finished our OD Reports.

“Santa’s Sleigh” (Photo Credit: Alison)

Having been distracted long enough by Elon Musk’s creations, we decided to take advantage of all the sand in the volleyball court, and gave Tyler his deepest desire of being buried with Sasha on top of him. Finally getting the chance, Evan got to demonstrate just how profound his gravedigging skills were. We now all know that Dragos and Evan would make the perfect team to get away with murder.  

Yet, the day didn’t even end there. On the way back to Arnett, our small group all chose to run through, sit under, or lay under the sprinklers to clear away all the sand residue (although Tyler’s choice of an alternative water source was a little more dubious). Being no strangers to late nights, a bigger group of us gathered in the Arnett lobby enjoying ourselves until the early hours of the next morning.

Late Night Shenanigans

As I laid in bed, I started to feel a tinge of sorrow. Yes, it was so satisfying to have completed the main objective of SSP, but it felt like the completion of the final OD report was heralding an era away. Yes, it was a ton of work. Yes, there were many sleepless nights. Yes, we constantly felt like dumpster fires. But, it was just so much fun. From experimentally determining the density of graphite rather than Googling it to counting the number of hairs on a 1cm³ square on Tyler’s head, SSP was full of spontaneity. Spontaneity that we all did as a group. The group setting and craze we all constantly carried from the lack of sleep was an equalizer, allowing for all of us to truly bond.  

However, like each era in history, the era of SSP must come to a close. Perhaps, however, that might be for the better. The opinion of wanting SSP to last longer can be said to be ubiquitous among all of us, yet upon reflection, the finite end of SSP is perhaps for the better. Time is what motivates us. The finite end of the program is one of the most important aspects of the program that has helped build the amazingly integrated and supportive environment. When there is such a finite end, people are motivated to act – it has often been said that it is time that makes life truly amazing. The monotonous, long lasting nature of school makes people act slower and take less risks. However, the brief time that each of us had at SSP after going through all the effort of applying made SSP so much valuable to us and as such, every single one of us threw ourselves at the program, not wanting to regret a thing. In such an environment, we got to see the true selves of each other fostering new connections unlike any others.

Even in acceptance of the importance of time, the sorrow of such a wondrous, transformative experience of SSP disappearing is not alleviated by any degree. However, I can go into the final days of SSP without a regret.  I have always been an introvert – I still am, but SSP has shown me how that nature of mine doesn’t have to define my experiences. Each instance among the diverse range of conversations and interactions I had with others has helped evolve myself into a slightly more extroverted and open individual. That transformation that SSP has given me will forever stay as a part of me and for that I am grateful. It is, after all, the summer of a lifetime.

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Hello! My name is Gilbert, and I am a rising senior at Sir Winston Churchill High School in Calgary, Canada. My primary interests are in STEM fields, however, I also enjoy writing, playing piano, playing table tennis, and collecting Pokemon cards (it’s called an investment).

The post The Fever Dream first appeared on SSP International.

Unlike usual, we had Indian food for lunch!! (No more sandwiches!) It seems that people enjoyed the food, and some of us decided to have Indian food for dinner. Although it looked unappetizing, it tasted really good. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s Chinese food at lunch! After lunch, we went to Gabby’s TA lecture. She talked about situations when lying is a good idea. She said that  when you want to hide the unsavory details of life, win the approval of others, or spare the feelings of your loved ones, lying is a good idea. I was listening so carefully and then she told us that what she just said was a lie :(((((( But overall her lecture was very interesting. After the TA lecture, most people went to CHAS to work on their final reports. 

We had talent shows today! We started with a super amazing string’s orchestra performance by Alexis, Diego, Grace, and Joseph. Then, we had a piano show by Cory; magic show by Konnor; K-drama by Seyhun; another piano show by Ritvik (extremely amazing, basically it showed the result of his years of constant practice); ballet performance by Payton; poetry recitation by Nathan and Aniyah; HIV protease inhibitor design by Eric; singing performance by Colin; Tetris visual feast by Jamilla. After that, we had a large group of people doing karaoke together. Our four dear TAs also performed a song by Lady Gaga (I like Colin’s body twisting). We had another karaoke group singing a Chinese Song. Finally, our talent show ended with Dimitra’s guitar solo.

Quote of the day: 

1. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha (roaring). — Colin (during Gabby’s lecture)
2. Hahahahahahahahahaha (roaring). — Colin (during Seyhun’s talent show)

Hi, my name is Zibin (William). I am a rising senior from Princeton International School of Mathematics and Science. I love chemistry, especially organic chemistry. I was doing organic synthesis in my Junior year. I like to play League of Legends, and I am super good at Yasuo (my friends call me YasuoKing).

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