Author: Ilina Goyal
- Привет! Меня зовут Ильина и я люблю суши. (Hi! My name is Ilina and I love sushi.)
- You can create quaternions using the Cayley-Dickson construction on the set of complex numbers and you can use them to represent geometric transformations in 3D.
- The first Crusade was called by Pope Urban II to help the Byzantine Empire against invading Seljuks, but it turned into a fight to retake Jerusalem that would span centuries of chaos and a lack of following orders.
Those were just a few of the things I learned in my six weeks of classes during Summer HSSP. Amidst a hectic summer of writing college supplements, conducting scientific research, and training for a triathlon, those four hours I spent each Saturday attending virtual classes on every subject imaginable were a constant in my life. From learning how to conjugate verbs in Russian to putting together a circuit on a breadbox, HSSP introduced me to so many new fields, some of which I had never been interested in before (the Irish diaspora), but which grew to fascinate me.
Though staring at Zoom for hours while ignoring the view from my window of my brother splashing in the pool took a mental toll, the enthusiasm and expertise of my teachers made it more than worth it. Each 50 minute period (but I didn’t mind that they often went overtime) was packed with information, but the instructors made it accessible and as easy to understand as possible, going above and beyond to make a Dropbox filled with pronunciation videos (shoutout to Pam and Duha!) or send note sheets after class. Even when I was hopelessly confused while learning about split-complex numbers and how they relate to special relativity, it was in the best way possible, and I would finish class eager to review and learn more. Despite the challenges of virtual learning, I had a great time at HSSP and I wish I had discovered it sooner!
The Ripple 