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Summer Visit - 2013 - C-CWEL

The summer visit to Caltech is 3-4 days long and is the only time during the year of work when all the participants on the team come together in person to work intensively on the data. Generally, each educator may bring up to two students to the summer visit that are paid for by NITARP, and they may raise funds to bring two more. The teams work at Caltech; the summer visit typically includes a half-day tour of JPL, which is a favorite site for group photos. Reload to see a different set of quotes.

The "C-CWEL" team came to visit in August 2013. The core team educators attended, plus 11 students.


Quotes

  • [student:] By understanding the information that SEDs were providing, I was able to draw conclusions about stars and say whether or not they could possibly be a YSO candidate and that's a pretty cool skill!
  • This week at Caltech was the greatest opportunity of my career. It was an experience that was humbling and at the same time gave me confidence. I cannot thank the NITARP program enough for the professional development, the professional relationships I've grown, and the inspiration. Thank you NITARP! Please keep this educational program going.
  • [student:] I feel like I knew very little about what astronomers do on a day-to-day basis beforehand. Being able to see just a little of what [our mentor] does and is able to do was inspiring. [..] her passion made me want to be a part of what she was doing. After this experience, my interest in astronomy has become more serious.
  • [student:] A lot of data analysis was something I expected coming into this trip. However, I don’t believe I expected so much of the data to be so quantitative. This stems from my preconceived notions of astronomy having more to do with the real time viewing of the sky. The other thing I don’t think I expected was using a tool so common as excel to process “real” data. This is because it is so commonplace. It is interesting to see a tool you have been familiar with from a young age used at such a high level, doing things with you didn’t know it was capable of.
  • [student:] I have had a challenge and I want to continue with the challenge and find new stars.

Summer Visit - 2013 - C-CWEL