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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

  • [student:] I love science in general, but this program has rekindled the part of my personality that always loves to learn and is curious about everything.
  • There is no substitute for in-person experience. We bonded and grew as a team. We were where the action happens and it kind of made everything real.
  • [The most surprising thing was] To see just how quickly the teachers and students involved in the project blossom in terms of their knowledge, skill and (most importantly to me) their confidence regarding both the science and the research process. It is a true joy to see all of the hard work put in over the prior months come to fruition. The group left the experience seeing themselves as researchers. That is an amazing and powerful transformation!
  • [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.
  • [Real astronomy is] Pursuing curiosity doggedly through the pit of despair... persisting through confusion and frustration... never surrender, never give up... this is a much larger part of being successful as a researcher than I could have ever imagined before the NITARP experience. It is a true and powerful gift and it informs nearly every lesson and interaction with my students. For those that are interested in pursuing a path into STEM careers, it allows me to be so much more supportive of their exploration and consideration of what a career in STEM will require. For my students that make the choice to pursue STEM careers, I can see that they are far more likely to persist in the pursuit through undergrad and graduate school.

Related Teams

Summer Visit - 2025 - HIPS-AGaiN