Physics Summer School Program

One would not believe what an impact can 2 weeks have on their life! The immerse physics course at the Cambridge university encompassed fun, learning opportunities and relationships, which opened many doors for me in the future. It was not only an opportunity for me to try out the environment of a university, but also a way to develop myself. The complete beginning of my stay began with an essay competition held by the Immerse Education. It gave me a taste of what writing an academic essay outside of my school feels like as well as it brought an ecstatic feeling of happiness, when the results came in announcing I was given a scholarship for the course. From that moment on, the immerse staff started guiding me towards my stay and were incredibly helpful in trying to meet my needs, which was incredibly useful taking into consideration the COVID situation we have found ourselves in. When finally on the course, I have found myself in an incredibly friendly environment. My mentor, Sam, showed me around and I was able to network with people from all walk of life in an instant. It did not take long before I managed to find some amazing friends, with whom I still am in contact with. These relationships were later on supported by many leisure time activities (such as sports day, botanical garden visit, or murder mystery night) prepared by our mentors and the other members of the Immerse Education staff. The physics part of my course was both challenging and enjoyable. Of course, when it comes to science programs, one must be prepared to study hard, this one was no exception. However, it was all worth it. I was taught by a graduate of the Cambridge University who showed us numerous ways to tackle tasks in various fields of physics. Not only did this help me to understand the matter on a more advanced level, but I have also expanded my problem solving skills providing that our teacher gave us brain teasers as a form of relax during some of the harder sessions. Last, but not least, this course gave me my first ever experience of working with my peers that are all interested in the same domain as I am. We helped each other understand some of the mathematical dilemmas we were dealing with as well as proposed each other some useful studying materials that we had been using in the past. Another enriching part of the program were the mentors themselves. When having a minute of spare time in between different parts of the program, we were able to talk to them about their experience at the Cambridge University. As they were all students there, they were able to give us insides on how to write a good personal statement, choose the correct college, what parts of the city are a must see, or how to get a better room within the dorm. In conclusion, the course was not only amazing in expanding my knowledge of physics, but also created space for me to make lasting relationships, get a better idea of how life in Cambridge is like, and gave me many memories of a well spent summer time. Now, that I am back home, I have found out that my outlook on my future has completely changed and many of the challenges I deemed impossible, now seem easy. I still expand on the knowledge I had obtained on the course and think about the great time I had with my friends.