Summer Scholars: the camp for "nnn...smart people."

(Thanks to the girl from the modern dance camp I met in the cannon center for the title. That is a direct quote from her after I explained what camp I was there for. I probably shouldn't be proud of it, but whatever.)

Oh my goodness, SO much to tell! This past week I was able to go to Summer Scholars, a camp at BYU that gives you a feel for the BYU experience by emersing you in it. I went in the engineering field (ha. I know. Anyone who knows me would laugh out loud at that, but it was actually incredibly fun and I learned tons). We did a lot of interesting things like...

Visited and learned about the IPP Power plant








That is an ear plug dispenser. You just crank it and ear plugs come out. I know what I'm adding to my birthday list this year!!

We also got to go to a river and learn about Utah Lake's endangered June Sucker Fish. We learned about all the conditions required for the species' survival, then promptly took the perfectly sized and smoothed rocks needed for offspring growth out of the river so we could show everyone back at camp. Odd, but the professor told me to, so whatever.






Then we went back to the lab to practice designing a habitat the June Suckers could survive in. The current had to be strong enough to bring the baby fish back once they hatched, but not too strong, so the suckers could swim upstream in the first place. There had to be plenty of rocks the right size for the eggs to hide under, but they couldn't be too muddy or the babies would sufficate. It's a pretty tricky balance. One a couple of groups of high school kids couldn't get a hang of. Not in one day, at least.











I was super helpful in designing it, obviously.

We also got to try our hands at traffic engineering, where we may or may not have stalked pedestrians through the traffic cameras.




We also counted cars with this fancy schmancy counting machine. It was cool, we got to determine what the speed limit should be on a certain street. I also learned the secret for how to get green arrows at a stop light.



This guy's shirt was hilarious. I hope my parents are reading this, because this post drops many hints about what I WANT FOR MY BIRTHDAY.



Classes were great, but even better were the activities afterwards. Every day brought something new.

Monday...


There was a hilarious fireside, followed by



Hilarious, yet awkward, games.

Tuesday we went to the water park 7 peaks, which I didn't get any pictures of for obvious reasons: It was a water aprk. Afterward we had a pajama party-movie night. We watched Up, which I had never seen before. You may or may not know this, but I get WAY into movies. This entails gasping, laughing, crying, and some yelling, all at uncontrollable volumes. I feel badly, because the guy next to me, who I had never met, took the brunt of this. At some points he would laugh at me, or whisper "they're going to be fine," but at one point I caught him plugging his ears. Since he had seen this movie before, and I hadn't, I followed suit. "Is something loud about to happen?" I whispered. He just looked at me. "Oh, am I the loud thing that's going to happen?" He nodded. Sigh. I'm a loud person. One gets used to it, I guess.

Wednesday, we took a trip to temple square. It's sad that I was just as unfamiliar with it as those visiting from Florida and Hawaii. Note to self: visit temple square more often.







Thursday was our talent show. I was going to clog, but we couldn't get ahold of something for me to clog on, and we didn't want my shoes to damage the floor of a building built in 1911. So, being the fast thinker I am, I changed my talent. It was quite entertaining, if I do say so myself. Click the link, if you want to see just how awesome a person can be



Friday we had a closing banquet, and a killer dance. I mean killer literally, because about half of my big toe came off while dancing. Don't worry, though, I continued to party it up, despite my injury.







Afterwards, on the last night, a bunch of us stayed up until 3:30 in my dorm, talking about everything from emberassing pranks (never let anyone convince you to weave your hands into a volleyball net) to boys (both cartoon and real).




SO FUN! But the best, best, BEST part of camp: The great friends I made.












I'll miss you guys! Summer Scholars rocks my world!