If I had to choose one lesson out of this whole life changing experience, it would be this one:
You can’t do it alone.
And that doesn’t make you weak, that makes you human. Not a single person on this planet is capable of doing everything all by themselves. Those two sentences took me 17 years to digest, and only at SSP did I finally realize their true meaning. This five week journey has made me realize that having a supportive community is the most important thing in life. Yes, more important than getting into that dream school, or getting that dream job, or buying that dream car. You won’t be satisfied with your life until you find people you can count on. I know we keep hearing stories about geniuses from the past who neglected everyone around them and devoted their whole lives to their craft, but times have changed. Science of the 21st century is extremely collaboration-based. Please don’t isolate yourself. Find kind and ambitious people. Try to help everyone out to the best of your abilities, and don’t be afraid to ask for assistance. It doesn’t matter if you need help with coming up with the perfect pasta recipe, debugging your OD code, or dealing with the fact that the last day of SSP is right around the corner. We learn from each other, and as we learn, we grow. Why fight to the top when we can get there together? Once we’re all on the same team, competition becomes unnecessary.
You can’t do it alone, but we can do it together.
-Nadja
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hi!! I’m Nadja, a rising senior from Serbia. Hobbies include researching random science topics at 3AM, playing bass and guitar, building guitar effects pedals and amplifiers, and listening to/talking about music.
