Author: Mihita Debnath

This year I had my first ever class at HSSP. Wow!, Wonderful! and Beautiful! are the words that replaced long, boring and monotonous. How the Brain Learns Cognitive Skills: I really learnt that Brain too is too Brain storming!!! Its amazing capacities are really appreciable. I was filled with enthusiasm and getting goosebumps to do the class, my first ever class at HSSP.
How wonderful are the connections of neurons that run through the brain. Human beings have an inquisitive mind that gives rise to off beat ideas like Breaking glasses to know that it is a non reversible change or playing tug of war using mother ‘s new scarf (In both the cases consequences couldn’t be described). The retaining capacity of this walnut-like structure is huuugeee….. It can store lots, lots and lots of memories of days, months or years passed. The effective ways taught during my HSSP class on How the Brain Learns Cognitive Skills would definitely be beneficial for those who face difficulties in remembering their lessons. I really wonder about the wonderful ways the brain is designed to store nothing less than a computer memory. My first class itself has compelled me to join the HSSP the next summer as well. I just loved the way the things were taught and of course that has made a deep impact in my Brain.

Author: Zara Nip

Hello, weary traveler. Remote learning has infected schools across the globe like a pandemic. It’s up to you to survive and make it through to June. Best of luck and may the odds be in your favor.

Welcome to “Online School v2.0”. Press “enter” to begin.

—> enter.

—> 21 September 2020.  The dreaded day arrives. After half a year of vacation, school is back in business. In one of the thirteen emails sent by your school, you find out your first class starts at 9am sharp. You perfected your Zoom routine down to a T last year: roll over, join the zoom call, turn your camera and microphone off, sleep.

—> You oversleep and miss “tech check” at 8am, but everything seems to be in working condition. Your teacher forgets how to use and send Zoom links. Your new computer decides to overload. Press “next” to proceed.

—> next.

—> 28 September 2020.  Your first week of online schooling has passed by in a flurry! New school guidelines say you must have your camera on. Your weekly screen time report states that you have spent a grand total of 28 hours, an average of 5.6 hours per day, on Zoom.

—> Your mom books an appointment at the optometrist, where you receive news that you have astigmatism and minor near sightedness. Your eye doctor is the first physical person besides your family that you have seen in three weeks. Press “next” to proceed.

—> next.

—> 21 December 2020.  Three months of school rolls by in a breeze. You wear one shirt for two weeks. No one notices. You have taken a grand total of five tests and one quiz during that time.

—> You become a pro at “Google”. In other words, your grades look better than ever before! Press “next” to proceed.

—> next.

—> 13 January 2021. It’s time for your annual doctor visit! You gained 18 lbs. since last year.

—> You do weights for 23 minutes and 14 seconds before your arm tires. You move on to jumping jacks. Your downstairs neighbor, who you have never seen before, bangs on their ceiling, and yell-threatens to file a noise complaint. Press “next” to proceed.

—> next.

—> 24 February 2021. Happy birthday! You are now 16 years old. You attend five hours of classes and rush to finish your essay assignment due at midnight. Today would be a snow day if you were in person. Snow days are obsolete now.

—> Three friends send happy birthday messages on Facebook. You cry on a printed picture of double layered Oreo cheesecake your grandma sent. Press “next” to proceed.

—> next.

—> 16 March 2021. You finally have your first in class lesson at school! Someone coughs next to you.

—> You try to discreetly move away, but your classmate grabs you by the arm. Her hand is moist. The governor soon declares another state of emergency, and you are back to online school. Press “next” to proceed.

—> next.

—> 17 April 2021. Your little brother in middle school discovers Tik Tok and insists on flossing half naked behind you when you are in class.

—> You turn off your camera, but get in trouble with your teacher. You are sentenced to detention… online… next Saturday. Press “next” to proceed.

—> next.

—> 3 May 2021. It’s AP exam time AKA cram season! You are halfway through your biology textbook and a third of the way through your computer science textbook.

—> Your arms suddenly become a lot stronger from lifting your textbooks. Press “next” to proceed.

—> next.

—> 18 June 2021. Congratulations! You have completed an additional year of online schooling. You are finally fully vaccinated and have been taught by a real-life teacher for about one month.

—> You have completed approximately 78% of total planned coursework, but that doesn’t matter. You can finally see your friends and humans in their natural habitat! Press “next” to proceed.

You have completed one (1) year of online learning.

Press “next” to proceed to the 2021-2022 school year.

Press “go back” to rewind back to 21 September 2020.

—> go back.

—> Error 203! NoSuchFieldException.

—> next.

—> Error 165! RunTimeException.

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!

Author: Julianne Marc Tamayo

Earlier this year, I was scrolling through the web looking for learning opportunities while I was confined to the walls of my home. I wasn’t thinking of anything specific at the time, really. Then, somehow, I found myself attending my first ESP program: Summer HSSP 2021. 

When I was signing up, I was hesitant because of something I could not control. When converted into my local time zone, the classes start at 1:00 in the morning and end at 5:00. I have just fixed my sleep schedule; what if I fall asleep? What if I doze off attending one class and wake up listening to a whole other topic?

However, when I attended the classes, I was surprised that I didn’t actually find them sleepy. In fact, the only instance where I looked at the time was during the few-minute interval breaks between one class to the next. 

My first class was Women’s Health. The discussions here were very useful and covered topics that women could utilize in their daily lives. I definitely learned a lot of things I didn’t know before and even shared some of the information to my friends. The instructor also introduced her cat to us on the first day (which was adorable)! 

My second class, during the first term, was How the Brain Learns: Cognitive Study Skills. Out of all the classes I attended, it was the one that had the most students with their cameras on. Games were used for engagement such as Kahoot! Hence, it was very fun to attend.

For the second term, my second class was Environmental Pollution. Here, I learned about different contaminants in the environment as well approaches to address them. The lessons stemmed from various fields such as geology and law.

My third class was Cool Theories in Math and Physics by Caltech Students. I am not kidding when I say this class had a wide range, because the first day I learned about things like the EPR Paradox and how quantum is weird while on the last day the first slide said “Death of the Universe and the Arrow of Time”. This class was probably the most STEM-heavy out of all the classes I had but it was one of my favorites! 

My fourth class was The Science of Happiness. It ranged from what a model is, some interesting research and experiments, and even  neuroscience! A lot of what I learned here were lessons I don’t think I’d hear in school, so it was really great to be able to listen.

Overall, my experience with HSSP has been the right balance of knowledge and fun. Because everything was virtual, I was able to attend even when I live around 8,600 miles away. Next year, if classes are face-to-face, I probably wouldn’t get to enjoy this again, but I am glad that I was able to attend this year. I’m glad I could look back and think that something good happened to me this summer despite all the restrictions of the pandemic.

Also, pandas are very cute.

By Naisha Srivastava

In the middle of the turmoil of online school, I enrolled in Spark 2021, my first ESP program. I was ecstatic, but still apprehensive about my classes and the students there. In just a bunch of one-hour sessions, how much will I learn? Will people have their cameras on? Will I enjoy my classes?

During the first three classes of Spark, I had my camera off like the rest of the students and interacted in the chat instead of unmuting. But when I got comfortable I switched on my camera and mic which led other students to do the same.

It occurred to me that all it took was a single student to make a difference. Therefore, the next Saturday, I went to class with my camera, which soon prompted a few other students to follow. I saw the instructor’s face lighten up and it made me proud to think that I may have inspired someone else to turn on their camera or participate. 

I loved attending False News: Why People Believe It, and How to Catch Online Lies as it was a small class and we had fantastic discussions. It was so fascinating to use Onshape as an introduction to computer-aided design and create legos, robots, etc. Help solve climate change was an amazingly organized class with so many great resources that I will definitely use in the future. I learned that the most effective way of stopping climate change is to help Congress pass effective legislation and that the average American’s carbon footprint is 16 tons of CO₂ a year, four times the global average. Likewise, Introduction to the Stock Market & Cryptocurrency was very detailed and informative. Something, Definitely and Spontaneous 5-Minute Classes on Whatever You Want was so refreshing to attend since they were fast-paced classes with random topics. I attended the Science Bowl Walk-In class which was really incredible because I could learn while making friends.

Spark 2021 was a life-changing experience for me, not just because I learned about plasma, CAD, and programming, but also because it showed me that there are so many options and areas I could go into. Under the conditions of the pandemic, Spark was conducted flawlessly and was exceptional. I am extremely thrilled to attend Splash next year and learn more important or random things.

P.S.—Aardvarks or Orycteropus afer are so cute with their long snout and large pointed ears. 

By Rachel Mirin

One of the unique struggles of an online program is navigating through the digital sea of communication. To be specific, when everyone has their cameras off. And honestly, I don’t blame them. I also tend to leave my camera off when most people also have theirs off, because I feel self-conscious about my appearance, or I fear that everyone will stare at me. Instead, I hide behind the black screen of Zoom, like everyone else. The blank screens are just another reminder of the isolation of modern society.

Thankfully, we are not all left in the dark. The thumbnail pictures on zoom shone a light onto the personalities of other students attending Spark. Some had memes, photography, pictures, video game characters, pets, or art drawn by the student (mine was a digital drawing of the galaxy!). As someone who enjoys drawing, seeing others’ artwork is often inspiring. 

For some classes, the chat feature is not disabled. I have noticed that even a simple question such as asking about hobbies, pets, or favorite video games can lead to an entire conversation. The chats were flooded, lighting up the mood. For other sessions, the chat was bare, no one brave enough to speak up. Still, the classes were fun, although a key element was missing. 

In the best case scenario (for an extrovert), a majority of the class would have their cameras on. Seeing everyone with their cameras turned on erased the isolation, and made each session more lively. 

Overall, the three weeks of Spark were a flurry of slideshows, smiles, and fun. I tried to attend every class that was possible, filling my schedule as much as I could. I learned about diverse topics — from climate change, pokémon, chemistry, to the Asian-American story. 

Even still, my favorite part was meeting new people across the world with common interests, and talking to them (via the chat). It’s crazy to think how reliant we have become on technology during COVID-19. Although I often curse at it, I am grateful to have the opportunity to attend Spark this year, along with many other students.