Summer Ventures '03

I recently completed the North Carolina Summer Ventures in Science and Mathematics program at Appalachian State University in Boone. Four weeks with eighty-six other kids, all of whom chose to spend a sizable portion of their summer in what was effectively school, complete with homework (although the homework was rarely completed) and classes. Despite the presence of classes, however, I had a really good time at Summer Ventures.

One surprising thing to me was that although smart, the people there were not really nerds in the completely overused sense of the word. While there was an over-represented sample of asians, there were also some white people and not all of them were nerds. Many people openly admitted that they were not as interested in science and math as they were in english or some other academic area.

The academic program consisted of four classes: research class (Electronics for me), demonstration class (Applied Math), Technical Writing, and Problem Solving. Electronics was interesting once the projects were assigned. It was fun to conquer problems and fix things. I built a Mars rover out of Legos that wanders around a surface and turns when it runs into an obstacle. It's completely computer-controlled, and of ingenius design.

Applied Math was an interesting class in which we investigated things that can be explained or explored using math in places where you might not expect it. We did a lot of art, and some cryptography, magic tricks, and other fun stuff. I enjoyed it a lot.

The other two classes were less enlightening. Tech Writing was supposed to prepare us for writing a research paper, but was not very practical given our unconscious nature at 8:30 when it began every day.

Problem Solving was basically a math class, but its scope was not wide enough to stimulate me intellectually. We did some SAT prep, and some intriguing math problems. All in all, however, it was not a very rewarding class for me.

Outside of class, things were pretty cool. There were some cool people, and I found myself enjoying myself playing cards and making fun of people, my two favorite summer pastimes. There was a talent show, and I did the Rubik's cube for everyone. I think they enjoyed it, even though most of them had seen it before.

And honestly, I can't think of much more to write about Summer Ventures. Check out the picture website that Jeff Hu put together. There's some pictures of me. And uh some pictures of other people. Yup.