So you may be asking yourself what is a Brainchild? To be precise, a Brainchild is someone who decides to learn during the summer. I mean, who needs a break from school? Not us! That's for sure. We Young Scholars who have decided to dedicate our summer to YSP are basically going to school for 210 days as opposed to the 180 days like normal and sane students.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we leave at 8 from our dorm rooms to get to our computer classes. What that really translates to is no sleeping in like the normal child during summer. Not only do we get no sleep, but instead of being one hour long, our classes are 2 hours long! I mean, seriously! After computer science comes the math class, followed by a lunch break. The next class, after lunch is science, and guess what? That one is extra special! You know why? It's because we get to be in it for three hours. Following that class, we head back to Southgate where we are staying for dinner and then we have free time.
When one hears the word free time, one might think oh finally! In this case, free time is something to dread at least a little bit. It's mainly because there is so much of it! We have until 12:00 a.m. to do whatever it is that we want, and the thing is it's really hard to keep yourself occupied in a way that you're having fun for 7 hours straight. Isn't that what free time is for? And then, on weekends, we have even more free time. On Saturdays, like yesterday, we left at 8...they don't even let us sleep in on Saturdays! Anyways, we left and we went to Wakulla Springs where the water is basically freezing. We might as well have taken ice baths. Our bodies pretty much froze and once we froze and got out we ate our lunches which by the way constitute a whole other story. Our lunches, our bag lunches, are very special. Let's just put it this way...it could have been better. Moving on, just a quick shout out to the drinks. We emptied the jugs and found a layer about one centimeter thick of sugar. Enough said.
Once we got back from Wakulla Springs we had free time again, only this time we had till 1:30 a.m. Based on my previous description, I'm sure you can figure out what that must have been like. Yeah, it was kinda bad, but I did watch a movie, take a nap, play ping-pong, and eat. #winning
DISCLAIMER:
So, basically, the attitude in which this entire post was written was employed for my amusement and hopefully yours as well. I'm a bit of a sarcastic person, so when I have to write this at 3:00 a.m. I need some kind of amusement to keep me going. Anyways, YSP has been so awesome! The classes are all so interesting and the professors have so much to teach us. We get to invest in ourselves and give ourselves an opportunity to see what college might be like and how research during our undergraduate schooling might be like as well. The Independent Research Projects are even better. As of now, I do not have much to say other than that I am super excited for it. I will really be getting involved on Tuesday, so for now that's it on that note. We do have homework, but it is manageable, and I think it lets us bond as well. I mean what better way to get brainchildren to bond than over homework? Our free time is a great way for us to use our creative minds and think of ways to keep ourselves occupied, and we have become quite skilled at it. We've been playing four square by making a court outlined by tape, having water gun fights, and having ping-pong competitions. And let's not forget the weekend excursions! Wakulla Springs was awesome! The fact that it is cold year round in a place like Florida is so amazing, and after getting out of the Spring I felt so refreshed and clean. It was fun hanging out with everyone and high diving while holding hands with someone else. Out of all that sarcasm, what I said about the food was true. However, we are so hungry it doesn't really matter. All that matters is that it is edible and the cookies are a great addition to the meal. That is one thing I definitely look forward to everyday. Dessert.
I can't wait to see what else YSP has to offer me. The people are absolutely awesome and everyone is special in their own way. It might seem cliche, but it's the truth. At this point, I would absolutely recommend YSP to next year's group of rising seniors.
