The Ripple

Squirrel Short Story 1

Author: Kevin Yang

Small paws.
Big awws.
They’re just so cute,
one round of applause.

Their munching: adorable
they’re far from ignorable.

Their eyes, so petite
they have little feet!
Sitting down, tiny seats
they look just so sweet!

Searching about for food
they create good moods.
I am subdued,
they never intrude.

Their long tails, so curled
bring joy to the world.
Their bodies, so small
they embody us all.
They represent the team,
the HSSP Dream.

They connect us all
creating knowledge transferals.
These little fur balls,
are what we call:
Squirrels.

This was my first time at HSSP. But after my first HSSP class, I discovered that HSSP classes are unique and very interesting to do. The class consists of students around the world and this makes a video conference a very special Virtual Global Classroom. And another fun fact is that for some time because we were joining from different parts of the globe we joined the classes on different dates.

My favorite class was Introduction to Epidemiology by Kenneth L Cox and he is one of the nicest teachers I have ever had. Kenneth L Cox’s class changed my eyesight for biology. I also loved the AI and Science class this class gave me an idea that how AI is used to develop science. Math in the Logic puzzle was a very interesting class we learned how we can see what’s behind the puzzle through math and logic. The classes grew an interest in me to learn more about the topics.

Every week I used to wait for Sunday so I can again meet the amazing people and learn wonderful topics with them. I am actually very much excited to meet these amazing people in person in the future in another interesting program and I am waiting for that day.

And my first-time HSSP experience was wonderful. I enjoyed learning a lot. Thanks to the wonderful people who have made my experience special and memorable.

My Weekend at Spark

Author: Emily Liu

As a middle schooler with a packed schedule, I found it hard to take a lot of the Spark classes. Weekends that are supposed to be perfect blissful peace for others were my worst nightmares. I had (and still have) two classes on Saturday and three classes on Sunday.

I pondered for a few days as to when I would be free. After all, I couldn’t just pass up the opportunity of learning new things! And so, I worked hard to find openings in my day and, now that spark is over, I have realized how worth it that was. I didn’t just take a normal old class!

I took a variety of classes that could not be taken anywhere else! I learned about being an EMT or how to write calligraphy (I felt the need to learn it after revisiting notes that looked…unreadable), or, even, how to be an astronaut!

Now, I know, I know, they probably will serve me no use because I don’t aspire to be either an EMT or an astronaut (as cool as that is, I’m scared of heights). However, I couldn’t help but notice what I hadn’t before: an eye-opening view of how some people worked or what people might have (or will) do.

They were truly fun and interesting. If anyone ever doubts a class, just remember that they all provide you with something new.

A Virtual Drive To MIT

Author: Aayush Kadam

My 9th Grade Exams were about to start by Mid-Feb & in January I was just scrolling through the web searching for the Opportunities for International High School Students @ MIT. I desire to graduate from MIT in the future.

My transition to online learning was initially not that good but shortly I became familiar with online learning. Now It has been 2 years since I’m learning online & not only I but every student across the globe. Although it initially doesn’t seem to work well for me but it was a good alternative for in-person learning.

So, I was extremely excited for my first class at HSSP. The Classes were going to start from 26 Feb & last till 2 April every Saturday. The Classes which I selected were –

Physics Of Light : Theory & Experiments (by Andrii Zahorodnii)
Quantum Field Theory : A Mathematical Perspective (by Sanjay Raman)
Algebra : All of it from the beginning (bc Matthew Benet & Jessica Pan)

The topics for classes were great & it was nice to meet so many high school students across the globe virtually. I also made some friends there. I enjoyed attending all of these classes but my personal favourite was “Physics Of Light” in which our teacher demonstrated the optical Experiments as well as explained the entire theory. All the teachers were nice & great at teaching. I also attended “The MIT Campus Tour” from the Lecture Series which was fantastic & I guess the most memorable lecture for me. Although some of the topics covered in the classes were beyond my understanding but most of the time I tried my best to understand what was going on & actively take part in the discussion going on.

I was always on time for the classes. Even though the timings were late at night for me ( 10:30 PM – 2 AM ) I was dedicated & didn’t miss a single class. I used to turn on my camera take my notebook & make notes on the topic covered. My favourite zoom background was the cosmos background. So, I always used to join a meeting by applying that background.

Overall it was a great experience for me & I enjoyed it a lot. I will be waiting for the next HSSP to start as soon as possible.

Functions, Turing Machines, and Other HSSP Things

Author: Naisha Srivastava

In the middle of exam season, I enrolled in my third ESP program—HSSP 2022, for a change in pace. I was thrilled and had filled my schedule with my dream classes.

I loved attending Using Computer Science to Model our World as it was a small class and we had fantastic teachers who really knew how to explain things in a way that a variety of people could understand. I enjoyed doing interactive Pear Decks and debugging code together. For the first three classes, we learned about if-else statements, libraries, functions, and games. For the last two classes, we worked on a final project that was so fun since we were grouped with people who had similar ideas and coding levels. Our project was a weather app on Glitch that allows the user to input the type of weather: sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy, and an animation of the selected weather would play. For instance, for sunny weather, there would be a sun rotating, or for rainy weather, raindrops would be falling from a cloud. Overall, the class was so much fun and made me more excited to go into the STEM field!

Furthermore, it was so fascinating to learn about the Theory of Computation. We started with Language and Automata Theory which deals with definitions and properties of different types of “computation models”. Examples of such models are:

Finite Automata. These are used in text processing, compilers, and hardware design.
Context-Free Grammars. These are used to define programming languages and in Artificial Intelligence. We then ended the class by learning about Computability Theory which helps classify problems as being solvable or unsolvable. Examples of such models that help to classify problems are:
Turing Machines. These form a simple abstract model of a “real” computer, such as your PC at home.

I thoroughly enjoyed this class and learned a lot.

HSSP 2022 was an amazing experience for me, not just because I learned about the parameters, finite automata, and while-statements, but also because it showed me that there are so many options and areas I could go into. I am extremely thrilled to continue attending ESP programs and learn more tidbits of interesting information!

My Splash Experience!

Author: Yogashree Kumar

Last year I attended a similar programme (spark) so I kinda knew how things were going to work but that didn’t stop me from getting excited!

There were so many classes to choose from and all of them sounded super interesting. After enrolling and dropping(it took quite some time to do this) finally, I had filled all the slots.

One of my favorite classes that I took was Spacecraft engineering. We did so many things in under 50 minutes.

We learnt about different spacecraft and what goes in them, their pros and cons, cost etc. Then we got a chance to design our own space mission. At the beginning I thought it wouldn’t be difficult (since it was just choosing a bunch of things) but it was quite a task since there were so many options and all of them seemed quite interesting and if something actually works out then the budget doesn’t. After a couple of minutes I finally completed mine then I completed my survey(Where I needed to fill out the total budget name of my space mission etc.)

We discussed our budget,name of the space mission also!

Whichever class you choose, one segment is inevitable(unless there isn’t sufficient time).

Questions/discussion segment!

Spacecraft engineering also had one.

The teachers discussed how they got into aerospace engineering, what it’s like to be an aerospace engineer and a lot of other interesting questions that we asked. I had so much fun attending it since we did so many things.

What to do when life gets hectic and your Splash class student enrollment gets doubled in size at the last minute

Author: Grace Jiang

Kate and I sit side by side at the head of a brightly lit, empty classroom, surrounded at all edges by black chalkboards, facing rows of long wooden tables and bright blue plastic chairs. It reminds me of my recitation classrooms. At the tiny, back corner of my mind, thoughts of uncompleted schoolwork begin to emerge, but I push them back. Today, it’ll just Splash that’s on my mind; Splash, just Splash, only Splash.

…

I decided to teach for Splash 2021 on a complete whim.

“Do you want to co-teach my Splash class with me?” my roommate Kate had asked me one day in October.

“What’s Splash?” I had said (the beginnings of a promising story, I know).

“It’s a program where you can teach anything to high schoolers. But really, I’m just required to have a co-teacher or observer.”

“I have nothing I can teach. I don’t know anything.”

“Come on, my class will be on biochemistry and genetics. You can just talk about your succulents for ten minutes in the middle of the lecture.”

Succulents? That sounded nice. I agreed. “Sure, when is this?”

“November 20th-21st.”

That had sounded pretty far away. Splash was pushed to the back of my mind.

…

Kate and I scroll through our laptops sitting in front of us. The air feels sharp, yet the classroom’s quietness is almost calming. I look at the succulents on the table to my left. They’ll later be part of a succulent show-and-tell interlude to Kate’s lecture. I check the time.

“Should we join the Zoom?” I ask.

Kate tilts her head down, the beginnings of a nod. Her phone rings. She answers.

I hear the voice on the other side faintly through the call. “Hey Kate, uh, would you mind 20-30 additional students joining your class?”

It’s less than ten minutes before our class’s scheduled start time. I know what this must be; I’d heard ESP staff discussing it earlier: a teacher of a different, simultaneous class had an emergency and could not make it to the scheduled class. It seems like ESP had been unable to find a replacement teacher in time. The students could possibly have no class to attend. The other class was biology-related, similar enough to our own class I suppose. Kate knows this too.

“Yeah, sure. Why not?” answers Kate through the phone.

Kate and I join the Zoom room. The next few minutes are a flurry of action (or virtual action, I guess, as our physical classroom is still looking quite empty). Numbers popping up steadily in the waiting room. Double-checking waiting room names with the names on the roster. Letting students in one by one. Zoom cameras off, unknown faces behind unknown screens. It sucks that we have to teach virtually for Splash again this year, but it’s the way it is, and I can’t really be too disappointed I suppose.

Suddenly, confusion begins. “Is this ‘A Biologist’s Casebook: World’s Strangest Life Forms’?” types a student in the chat. “I was sent over from ‘A Biologist’s Casebook: World’s Strangest Life Forms.’ What class is this?”

Kate and I glance over at each other. We explain the situation. New students join the Zoom. We explain the situation again. Some students understand, many more are confused. “What do you mean the class is canceled?” “Why couldn’t the teacher make it?”

Kate and I explain the situation again. We type it out in the chat: “We are very sorry that ‘A Biologist’s Casebook: World’s Strangest Life Forms’ has been canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. This class is called ‘Molecular Biology and Genetics (With Succulent Interlude).’ If you are here from the canceled class, you can instead stay for this class, but also feel free to leave if you do not want to attend this class.” We put this information onto a slide in our Google Slides presentation and screen share it with the Zoom class.

Slowly but steadily and surely, conflict is resolving. Our scheduled start time arrives. The waiting room activity has died down mostly.

Time passes much more quickly than it has ever passed when I sit in any of my school lectures. As our scheduled end time reaches our sights, Kate and I realize we have too much content to teach in under two hours. We skip through the content of some slides and speed through the final succulent interlude.

It is 5:55, the end of our class. “We’ll email out the Google Slides so you guys can look through information we may have skipped or merely skimmed through today. We hope you enjoyed our class!”

The chat begins to fill, messages after messages passing by almost too quickly to read. “Bye!” “Thank you!” “See you!” “I learned a lot!” Soon enough, the Zoom meeting is empty, devoid of students. The physical classroom resumes its silence. Kate and I nod at each other, and we close our laptops.

…

Two hours sounds like so long, enough time to introduce so much content, to learn so many new things. It’s a shame that, in reality, two hours is so short, that time passes so quickly when doing something you enjoy. A month ago, I wouldn’t have expected this, but I kind of really did enjoy teaching at Splash (even if I only had the minor role of teaching two short succulent interludes). Maybe, next year, I’ll teach my own whole Splash class. Maybe that class will be about succulents. Maybe, I’ll teach for other ESP programs in the future like Spark or HSSP.

Maybe, one thing’s for sure. Splash was definitely an experience, perhaps an insignificant-in-the-grand-scheme-of-things life-changing experience, but a life-changing experience nonetheless. And I’m glad I did it, I’m glad Kate asked me all that time back to co-teach with her, I’m glad I said yes.

I recommend trying out Splash to anyone who’s the slightest bit interested, whether you want to be a teacher, student, volunteer, or just someone popping in to say hi to the staff and axolotl plushies.

Splish Splash 2021 (aka Candy Time Wooo)

Author: Ananya Venkatachalam

Splish Splash 2021 (aka Candy Time Wooo)

Lyrics:

Splish Splash, I was logging onto Zoom

Every hour on the dot, yeah

A scroll scroll, just relaxing in my room

Thinking every class was tight

Well, I got outta the waiting room, grabbed a notebook

Turned my camera on

And I introduced myself, and then

A-splish Splash, I gave a mighty laugh

Well, how was I to know there was some candy going on

There was a-measuring and a-mixin’, heating with the feeling

Stirring and a-bubbling, pouring and a-rolling, yeah

Thoughts:

Caramel stared at me, beckoning me to inch ever so slightly towards my laptop’s screen. My mouth watered in anticipation of the buttery, nutty taste that I would learn to create on my kitchen stove. It was 11 AM, and I was towering over my counter like a sugar fiend.

I’m not ashamed to say that when I signed up for the class, I envisioned that our instructor would be combining sugar, corn syrup, and water atop a hotplate in a Breaking Bad-esque candy Superlab (hey, it’s been almost a decade since the show ended, and that’s not really a spoiler). I mean, granted, I was binge-watching the show at the time. I joined the Zoom call and immediately saw blackboards. MIT. (Virtually) In this renowned institute of learning, I was preparing to learn the recipe for caramel. Ohhhh yeah.

The process went off without a hitch for me; I poured my sticky mixture onto a greased tray and put it off to the side, eyeing it impatiently. I had to let it sit for at least three hours, and there it was, taunting me. I ripped my gaze away from the pre-caramel and refocused on my screen. In the (not-so-exact) words of Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz,” glucose and fructose and galactose, oh my! I was suddenly immersed in the world of sugars, monosaccharides and disaccharides, crystallization, and suspicious-looking mountain chickens.

Not only was my caramel delightful, but it made me curious about the molecules responsible for the properties I love about my favorite cheeses. At the end of the day, I had what I consider the purest example of fun, delicious science in my stomach. Who needs Walter White when you have the recipe for tasty candy at your fingertips?

Unfortunate news: I’m currently a senior, and this was my last Splash. Although I’m sad to leave behind fall weekends of content exploration and discovery, I’m glad that I was able to get a final (literal) taste of the essence of Splash. To current underclasspeeps, I hope that you continue learning anything and everything that you desire!

Greetings from Bangladesh (Splash ’21)!!!

Author: Rafid Alam

(Hi, I am Rafid, I love astrophysics and stargazing.) It’s my first ever MIT Splash program that I have participated. Throughout this program, I specially liked the enthusiasm between students and also educators of the program. To be honest, every educators are so friendly. If any student ask any simple question like which is known to almost everyone, they don’t get surprised. Rather, they give the answer with full concept. Besides, being an international student the first attractive side for me about this program is its also organized for international student on this year! I believe that it’s the main point of paving the board international collaborations. So, I am really so much happy to join this program ❤ staying 7,830 mile away from Massachusetts !!
If anyone want to know and do research about many cool extraordinary stuffs my advice is to you to properly utilize this chance. This program will give you a momentum of starting your journey with many cool research! In this respect, I specially enjoyed and learned many crazy things about laser which helps me a lot to make me an expert on the topic named Spacecraft Communication Technology which is a theoretical part of “International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad”.
I really amazed to realize the intelligences like WoW. They can engage in high-order cognitive behaviors such as tool use and problem solving, and can even figure out how to unscrew jar lids to get to food. Octopuses are known to be shy and friendly towards humans, rarely using their dangerous features to cause harm.
I love to favor this zoom background for MIT Splash ^_^

Blog for the Ripple: Splash 2021 Student Edition!

It came after the Splash, but it’s gonna keep going: The Ripple! ESP is continuing our official blog, so that you can share your amazing experiences taking and teaching classes.

The Ripple is a place for you to share your thoughts on Splash, HSSP, Spark, Cascade or learning and teaching in general! Tell us what it was like to come to MIT (virtually or no) and take fun classes! Or you can share your hot takes on online education. And, if text is not good enough to display your creativity, share some photos or videos with us!

If you’re looking for some inspiration, here’s a few blog prompts spark your imagination. Again — don’t feel obligated to follow one of these prompts — we’re happy to hear anything at all related to education!

Talk about your transition to online learning.
Talk about your favorite class(es) at an ESP program!
What is your way of not getting lost on the MIT campus? Share tips with future students!
Draw a memorable class from an ESP program.
What have you been learning recently?
Share your favorite Zoom backgrounds!
What is your opinion on octopuses/octopi/octopodes?

To submit a blog post, email us at esp-blog@mit.edu, and we’ll get back to you soon! We’ll be posting blogs from students, teachers, and ESP members throughout the program, so feel free to send along a blog whenever inspiration hits!

(If you’re a teacher looking to write a post, here are some prompts for you!)