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Summer Visit - 2025 - HIPS-AGaiN

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 HIPS-AGaiN team came to visit in July 2025. The 4 core team educators attended, plus 6 students.

Quotes

  • I got to understand what it means to conduct astronomy research. It’s much more collaborative than I would have ever imagined.
  • [student:] I was expecting that the first couple of days would be a bit like acclimating to a foreign country, with all the science I needed to grow comfortable in. I knew that those first few days would be taxing, but by the end of the summer visit, I felt comfortable in myself and my knowledge of what we learned.
  • [student:] in this stage, being wrong is not the same as failure. It is entirely meant to be a learning experience, so it'd be pointless if you knew everything walking in. Also, explanations do not have to sink in immediately. Even if you ask for clarification, and it doesn't cement itself immediately, the information is just part of a path toward a fuller understanding. True understanding takes time.
  • It was very rewarding seeing and experiencing how astronomers use archived data. This whole week gave true insight into the nature of science and being able to apply it to something.
  • [Advice to future participants:] Be prepared to work hard but also have fun doing so. Soak it all in and enjoy the experience. I was surprised with how much my students enjoyed doing the “work” part of the trip. I was careful in my selection process but ultimately these are teenagers and you just never truly know how they will handle the workload. I would overhear them say how great it was to be actually doing the real work. As their teacher, it was very rewarding to give them this opportunity.

Related Teams

Summer Visit - 2025 - HIPS-AGaiN