I used to write in a journal, so this is something that feels right up my alley. To be honest though,
I’m not sure exactly what to say, so I’ll start
with something I do know. Here are some of my favorite memories at SSP so far:
Laughing and crying with my roommate at night, when we should probably both be asleep
Going on night walks around the campus (before curfew)
Being in the lab with my group
Running through the rain to lunch
Working together to solve problems
Dying with laughter about anything and everything
Talking with the people in my cohort
Eating ice cream any time of the day
Music playing in the lab
And for the day that I’m assigned to cover:
Today we went to Turkey Run, as our field trip of the week. SSP is nearly half-way over, and at
the end of this week, we will be closer to the end than the beginning. So here’s a thought: how
did we get here? There’s a direct answer to that- because we all applied and we all chose to
come. But what are the chances that we are all here together? What are the chances that we
were assigned to this campus, that each of us are a part of this cohort?
Thinking back to the beginning of when I applied to SSP, or back to April when I received the
news that I was admitted, it all felt surreal. There are moments where it all still feels surreal.
Today felt surreal. Meeting 3 other programs made me think of the probabilities- what if I was in
Purdue, or had chosen to apply for Genomics, or had not been here at all. And that same logic
could apply to any of the 36 of us. There are so many possibilities that things could have worked
out differently. There are thousands of them, and yet this is the one that we’re experiencing now.
I could ruminate on what could have been and what isn’t. But when I think about the people I
have here, the people that I can laugh with both inside and out of the lab, the people that I know
I will miss in a few weeks- I am grateful. I think, in a way, the universe rolled its dice right.
To my SSP cohort, I’m glad that I’m here with you.
-Seiya, July 3rd 2024
