3! 2! 1! RINGGGGG!!!!!!! BAM!!! CRASHHHH! WHOOOAAA!!!! BOOOOMMMMMM!!! BRRR!!!BANG! CLAPPP! DRRRR!! WHOOSHHHH! DUMMM!!!!………”ominous silence”….crrrreaakkkk……AND AN Hour later and I’m out the door with a smile on my face, my shades on, and taking myself with a brisk (more like run) to our final lecture with Dr. Le.
If you told me, even a week before June 23rd that I’d be running to a class on black holes at 9 in the morning on a sunny Friday morning during the summer, I’d have taken that info and thrown it out the door. But here I am, a month and a couple days into the Summer Science Program(sometime wish it was Summer Sleep Program😴).
Two hours into a hands on, brain exercise, my boy Sean and I are cracking our heads at some differential equations problem that relates to some celestial entity. I am genuinely tweaking because I’m tryna get this done and play some brawl stars with my homie Joey. But, at least Dr. Le calls time and then gives us the most fascinating talk about not science, but himself. We knew there was some lore in his life, cause his mysterious aura doesn’t go unnoticed. We truly learned about the “gravitational forces” in his life. 😁
And then we’re off, early even today. My def-not favorite TA Lucien and a couple of us start heading towards the Panda Express on campus, the only eatery other than our dining hall on campus. We got some crazy good grub, including my favorite Cream Cheese Rangoons and Veggie Spring Rolls!!! With a stomach full and content, I opened my fortune cookie to top it all off. I open it, and it’s, “You’re gonna gain some confidence or sum.”
…..ermmmm … .as my teammate Tut likes to say….WhAt the SiGMa??? What is this cryptic message?? Like genuinely, anything but, this. Hey I’m grateful, but this is why I don’t find truth in fortune cookies. “To be or not to be?” – Somebody smart, someday, somewhere. But, I eat, and then I drag myself and big boy Max who’s already out sleeping on the table at Panda Express, along with the rest of my homies back to the afternoon session with Dr. Rengstorf.
Right after an amazing AMA session with Dr. R, where he lowkey gave us some crazy life advice that I might take to the grave, my teammates and I eagerly got to work finishing up our last set of images as we finally got a fourth set of observations to look at. We finished that up and finally got our long awaited stickers, nearly completing every part of the sticker chart, something the TA’s kindly put up for us.
And the night started to wrap up soon after a full stomach at dinner, sitting with my other favorite TA, Kathryn and our squad. As we worked hard through the night to get our final code in before our OD report was due the next day But you know the night doesn’t go out without a bang…and a lil crazy stunts. Kevin ended up getting a makeover by my the homies Grace and Siyona. I think he might have ended up becoming their project for their talents, and might become the next model for vogue.
And that’s a wrap on a great day. With only a few more left, I’m going to miss these people and the experiences and memories I’ve gathered. But you know what, that’s life and we’ll remember each other, and look forward to the day we all meet again, with more stories in store. To forever..and beyond!!! – Buzz Lightyear or sum
My name is Nikhilesh and I am a rising senior from Valencia High School in Santa Clarita, California. I love working out, having deep conversations and just messing around in general. But, most importantly, the friends I’ve made at SSP are just something else. It truly has been what they said it would be: An educational experience of a lifetime!!!
