The Final Stretch – Beto A. - SSP International

It hasn’t felt like I’ve been here at SSP PURG for 33 days. To think that for 33 days, I have eaten at the Wiley Dining Court, walked to the Agricultural & Biological building, and slept at the Honors College dorm: unbelievable. If I told the Beto from a few months ago, the one who wasn’t sure if he would get into any summer programs, that I would do all of this in a place hours away from home during the summer, that Beto wouldn’t believe me.

Yet here I am and here I have been living in the moment. I know that there have been moments during the program of that same disbelief that the Beto from a few months ago would have had, but my fellow participants and I have persisted. Here it is: the final stretch.

The wet labs have finished, the confusing workshops on bioinformatics have concluded, and the karaoke/ramen sessions will soon end. All we need to do is write that pesky paper that we will rewrite again and again (and also the scientific poster –_–).

So before we get to the point where we all cry and promise each other we’ll always keep in touch, I want to appreciate everything we’ve done so far here at Purdue. But I also think I’m required to talk about everything we did today, so here is a quick run down.

This Friday, we all worked on editing our papers and posters, but at the end of the day to make the most of our last Friday here at SSP, we had a little pizza party and played frisbee for a bit.

There, back to our scheduled programming. Let’s sit back in retrospect and appreciate what the campus has had to offer at our stay here with SSP.

Our lovely lab. The lab where chemostats, PCRs, and gels have failed. The lab with rolling chairs, aseptic technique, and missing micropipettes. I’ll miss being screamed at for drinking water in the lab and forgetting to turn the sterno on during protocols.

*The cute little yellow beetle that’s always been there on the walks to ABE*.

*ABE itself. I hope they can someday fix the sinks there, but overall 10/10 – everyone should check out the tractor simulator down the hall.*

*The weird statues we pass by on our walk to the Union for lunch.*

*The scooters that were sadly banned the first week of the program. Everybody knows I would have used them daily.*

Try to spot the bunny! These are all over campus

*What are you doing here Bobblehead Purdue Pete!?!?*

Running Up That Hill – Kate Bush. Am I the only one that sees a grandfather clock here?

Lastly, an appreciation for the flower garden that has helped me relax on the more difficult days here at SSP. I truly think I’ve found the best place to read on campus.

Sure, the Purdue campus doesn’t match the vibes that the castles at IU do, even so, I still have grown to love the place that I’ve lived in for 33 days.

About Me:

Howdy, again.

My name is Beto Arguelles and I am from McAllen, Texas. I love swimming, the outdoors, and visiting the beach. If you ever want to visit a cool beach, try South Padre Island, Texas – who knows, you might even see Elon Musk there.

“the educational experience of a lifetime” … since 1959