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Summer Visit - 2019 - IDYL

The summer visit to Caltech is 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 IDYL team came to visit in July-August 2019. The 4 core team educators attended, plus 5 students.

Quotes

  • [student:] While learning so much was definitely a huge part of this trip, I would say the best thing about the trip would be the teamwork. To get all of us in the same room to work on this research and bounce ideas off of each other was truly amazing. It was great to have a team that was dedicated to the same goal and we were all passionate about what we would do with this newfound knowledge and research when it is all said and done.
  • I thought that the way the group handled increased independence during days three and four was both important and interesting. Important because it showed us that we didn’t need as much handholding as maybe some of us thought.
  • [student:] I think for me the most surprising thing I learned was that I was able to do and understand a lot of what we learned this past week. Going into the week I was really nervous that everything was going to go over my head, but it didn't, and that was pretty exciting.
  • [student:] To be an astronomer, you have to be intelligent (specifically in math and physics), hardworking and dedicated (because it takes a lot of time and you have to commit to actually get anything done), and they have to be creative. I think that was one thing that really stuck out to me that we talked about this week. Creativity can sometimes be seen as something that scientists don't use, but in reality, they are using it all the time. You have to be creative to come up with the solutions and ideas that scientists come up with every day.
  • I think the best parts of our work sessions were moments in which most people were engaged in meaningful tasks that required them to problem-solve or make meaningful judgements.

Related Teams

Summer Visit - 2019 - IDYL