By: Pablo R
Hello to everybody who is reading this. It has been three weeks since the start of SSP and way too much has happened. I have learned so much and had so much more fun than I do most years. I was never the type of person to spend extra time hanging out with other people. During the school year I would always hang out with my friends at school and after it was over I would head home and be like a ghost. This led to very lonely summers, but I didn’t mind much.
I have tried other summer camps but for most of them I couldn’t make any connections with the people there. SSP is completely different. I have done so many exciting things with a large range of people. The funny thing is that I was never actually supposed to do SSP.
I signed up originally because I was really interested in having some research knowledge and of course to learn about astrophysics. It interested me because it combined one of my favorite topics, physics, out into the most mind boggling place, space. The fact of the matter was, I really wanted to do something in person (or as I like to call it offline). Especially after spending an entire year online for school. Originally SSP was just a test to see how well I was doing. When talking about it with my dad, we decided that even if I did get accepted, I wouldn’t actually do the program. However, when I read the, ”Congratulations! The SSP Admissions Committee has accepted your application to the 2021 Summer Science Program in Astrophysics.” I just knew I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. Passing it up, I think, would have been one of the biggest mistakes of my life.
People At SSP:
I have met so many people and made so many great friends. Shout out to the CHAMMPS: Caroline, Hillary, Amanda, Morgan, McKenna, and Sarah. They are all amazing people, who I always have fun staying up super late with. One of my favorite parts of our group is that we share our music with each other. Though sometimes the songs aren’t the best, it’s still lots of fun to listen to. Sadly, we spend most of our time doing psets, but on some rare occasions when we have free time, we always have very interesting discussions. Like when we had a 30+ min debate about which is better, New York or New Jersey.
I would like to give a special thank you to my group members, Caroline and Morgan, for being so kind, especially on the first day when I was super shy and nervous. I haven’t changed schools so I haven’t had to meet new people my age for a long time, and they were super welcoming. This sentiment also extends to the rest of the CHAMMPS as well and all the other students at SSP who have been very helpful, even if I hadn’t talked to them ever before.
Also big thank you to the TAs for helping us out all the time and hanging out with us. I can’t wait to see what Alan has planned. It seems like it is going to be really spectacular. I haven’t had the best quality time with the TAs but they’re all amazing.
Activities:
My favorite activity so far is Karaoke. I’ve had so much fun with Saraliba, Beverly, Joey, Sarah, Alex, and Neil, who have all stayed up super late singing Karaoke with me. Though the audio is extremely off sync it is still so much fun. I’m always extremely worried that I will wake up my parents while singing at 2:00 in the morning, especially when I’m loudly whisper singing Let it Go.
All the extra games and events are so amazing as well. I’m so excited to see the talent show because all the people at SSP are so interesting. It’s pretty intimidating, all the crazy things people have done/are doing. I’m so glad that I have met all these people. I hope that I will someday get to meet some of them in person.
Big shout out to Joey and Sarah for making t-shirt designs. They were both amazing and it took me such a long time to pick one. I give big compliments to Sarah though for making an amazing back design with each student having their own special trait on them based on their interests.
Also a HUGE Thank you to Hillary for helping me edit. Dyslexia is not kind to me. np 😉
About Me
Hello my name is Pablo, I like playing video games like Minecraft, Pokemon, and Breath of the Wild. I love watching shows and movies, especially ones done by Marvel. I love doing STEAM and singing. Honestly though you can talk to me about really anything. I’m always interested in learning new things no matter how strange or weird they are.