Author: Juwan S.
Last week of SSP already? I vividly remember being terrified by the first Astro Pset, spending hours after the work play block debugging my code, and trying desperately to understand the materials covered during the learning block, but that’s a month ago. Still, I can’t say things changed much.
As Dr. R mentioned, everything we’ve done during the first four weeks was just a preparation for the last week. We are taking everything we’ve learned and making a final product. In a way, it’s really cool seeing how math, physics, and astronomy we’ve learned during the learning blocks come together on the MoG code, but on the other hand, MoG code has caused me a great deal of pain. First, I had to read chapter six of the OD packet about a dozen times, not to mention writing 370 lines of code and staring at your VS code while your OD code fails to run. Thankfully, with everyone who finished their OD code early offering help to those who didn’t, I could avoid pulling an all-nighter on a Sunday night. Every day, everyone at SSP keeps reminding me how amazing of a community SSP really is!
However, even with a crazy workload ahead of me, I still found time to do something fun. I heard about the SSP meetup in Golden Gate Park Saturday at noon, and I decided to go and hang out with SSP people I’ve only seen through Zoom. We walked around the park, and after, we got some Thai food. Seeing and talking to them in person was so much fun!
At the Golden Gate park during the SSP bay area meetup.
Right now, I’m also terrified about my AP scores coming out in a few hours. If you see me come into the learning block crying, you know what happened. But seriously, good luck to everyone who took AP tests! The fact that you decided to take the test, even with all the crazy things that happened during 2021, is amazing by itself.
SSP has become such a big part of my life that I can’t imagine what my life would be like without it. I met dozens of amazing people, I learned what it is like to work as a researcher, and most importantly, I made such wonderful memories I will never forget. So even with a crazy amount of work due by the end of the week, if Dr.R comes into the learning block and announces that we will have three more weeks of SSP for whatever reasons, I’d be ready to dedicate the rest of my summer break for some more fun research!
About me: Hi! My name is Juwan and I am a rising senior at Maria Carrillo high school. I love listening to jazz, Miles Davis and John Coltrane specifically, and I love playing drums.
