In January I was invited to attend the Australian Science Innovation's physics summer school, a 16 day camp at ANU in Canberra. Overall, it was an amazing experience and I was so grateful for the opportunity to meet the very knowledgeable teachers, challenge myself in physics, and make new friends from across Australia.
Each day at summer school presented us with an intensive program of physics, starting at 8am and ending at 10pm. We participated in lectures, labs, and tutorials covering topics such as Optics, Relativity, and Electromagnetism. My personal favourite were the labs, where we were tasked with designing our own experiments to fulfill a provided aim and writing up mini reports for them – all in two hours. Although I found the time pressure stressful at first, I soon began to enjoy the hands-on aspect and came away with valuable practical skills (getting to use the specialised equipment was a bonus).
Other highlights of the summer school included the post-exam dinner where we made liquid nitrogen ice cream, and the night time demos, which were my favourite part of the camp. We were treated to, amongst others, a levitation demo with supercooled neodymium magnets and a 'counterfeit test' that involved shining a laser through Canadian banknotes.
Elizabeth Lee
Year 12 Student