Detta inlägg är författat av Aida Wolf, en av sommarens Rays-elever. Aida är född i Sverige men uppvuxen i Florida, USA, och forskar under Rays om mtDNA hos möss.
Relaxing, exciting, and full of bonding experiences perfectly describes my midsummer at Rays. The morning began with dressing up and presenting our mini-presentations in preparation for our final presentations. Even though we were all a little bit nervous, everybody did really well. We were all really happy when the presentations were over, because it meant two things; one, that our mini-projects were completely done, and two, that we have three days to just relax and have fun. On Saturday and Sunday we are going to be out on a hike, which is going to be really fun, but first we get to celebrate midsummer.
With the hike in mind we got to work on making a midsummer lunch and dinner. My roommate and I made the salad, others cooked the hotdogs and meatballs, and some boys went outside to pick flowers for the table. Once everything was set, we headed out to have our midsummer lunch. During lunch we were given secret tasks that we had to complete before the end of lunch. Some of the tasks included interrupting a speech, giving a flower to someone, or feeding the person next to you. My mission was to propose to someone. I proposed to two people, but unfortunately was rejected by both of them. Even though I was rejected it was still a really fun idea. Lunch also consisted of singing Swedish midsummer songs and dancing around the makeshift midsummer pole, which was simply a street lamp with a few flowers taped to it.
After lunch we all walked to the beach and lay down. A few people were brave enough to jump into the cold murky water. Since I didn’t have my swimsuit with me I took some pictures of people jumping into the lake. Once everybody was done we walked back to our rooms and stayed there for a little while until it was time to help make dinner. For dinner our counselors barbequed some chicken and vegetables, it was delicious.
Once dinner had ended we moved the tables to make space for dancing. We played a game of dancing charades. Integrals, Aurora Borealis, hypothesis proof, and many more were all topics that were given. Once the game of charades was over we had a dance party. The dance party lasted from nine to eleven o’clock. By the end everybody was laughing and smiling and having a great time. Even though the celebrations had ended for that night, the memories and new-found friendships will last for a long time.
/Aida
