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Special Events
Every event is full of the staff's zany humor. The fun can be infectious. |
The NYSC experience is like no other. This goes beyond our hands-on approach to learning and our challenging outdoor program. The camp's staff also takes special pride in filling the camp experience with special events that surprise, entertain, and honor the delegates.
So what sorts of events are these? Well, the truth is, they cover a wide range and they're often a surprise. Delegates might be told that they should dress warm and be ready to get a little dirty, or that they should bring a camera or a hat, and with not much more information than that they board the camp buses and head up Route 24.
The delegates have no idea what awaits them just around this corner... |
So why the emphasis on surprise? It comes back to the philosophy of the camp, to some degree--every day, and every hour of every day, each delegate is surrounded by amazing opportunities: scientific information to digest and pursue, hobbies and music to explore, the great outdoors to explore, and a hundred fellow delegates all worth getting to know. Many of these delegates have excelled and succeeded by being very forward-looking, planning for the next day, the next week, the next year, and the camp offers a profound moment to appreciate the present and the opportunities available right now. Which isn't to say that delegates don't go through the program full of anticipation for what might happen next... they just don't know what it will be.
In the archive rooms of the National Gallery of Art, David Masunaga, an NYSC alumnus and lecturer, points out the underlying mathematics in a rare M.C. Escher original. |
One event that does happen every year is a trip to the Washington DC area. Delegates get to tour nearby scientific research centers, such as the National Institutes of Health, Goddard Space Flight Center, the US Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases, and the National Zoological Park. Here, delegates are treated to special behind-the-scenes tours of research facilities, get up close and personal with advanced technology being used to conduct cutting-edge research, and attend special lectures given by research leaders and program directors. In Washington D.C. itself, the delegates get a chance to visit local monuments and memorials, as well as a day to explore the museums of the Smithsonian Institute, including special behind-the-scenes tours where delegates get to see and sometimes even touch specimens, artifacts, and collections not available to the general public.
Senator Byrd addresses the assembled delegates, senators, and guests in the Caucus Room of the Russell Senate Office Building |
The culmination of the D.C. trip is a special Senate Luncheon hosted by the senior Senator from West Virginia, Robert C. Byrd. Senator Byrd invites all of his fellow senators to come have lunch with and meet the delegates, and many do attend; others make time available for the delegates to visit their offices. Keynote speakers at the Senate Luncheon have included Dan Goldin, administrator of NASA, and Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson.
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