Creator: Joshua G.
When I got into the “Science Summer Program”, part of me was nervous. I heard tales of grueling long hours and endless work. The handbook describes the faculty “intentionally throwing more at you than anyone can possibly absorb”, like “drinking from a firehose”.
The truth is, SSP is all of that. There have been points during this program where everyone was completely exhausted. A few days ago, my group had to redo an hour-long experiment 3 times since we were getting data inconsistent from what we were expecting.
At the same time, SSP is so much more than just academics. In fact, it’s a running joke among participants to make up new acronyms for what SSP truly means. Over these first two weeks, I’ve collected a few of these moments that I feel can offer a glimpse into what it is like to be a part of SSP.
Summer Sleep Program:
This one needs very little introduction. Whether we are running assays in the lab, grinding through activities, or playing ping pong, often, people are up pretty late. As a result, it is fairly common on any given day for someone to be sleeping at odd times. Sometimes, it’s in the lab waiting for experiments to finish. Other times, people fall asleep in the breaks between lectures.
Super Sports Program
Once a week, the game night team gets to choose a game to play with everyone. Today, we played tag! In addition to official games, people often spend free time playing sports of their choice. Some of these have included basketball, capture the flag, arm wrestling, and volleyball.
Super Smash Program
A few nights ago, someone brought out their Nintendo switch, and a group of people got together to play super smash bros!
Summer Soup Program
By finding some mushrooms and collecting vegetables from a free vegetable garden at the field trip to TurkeyRun, some participants gathered enough to try making a soup. Other cooking adventures have included a steak cooking competition.
