Full of tension and excitement, hard work and fun, and the fusion of the old and the new, the Week 5 of the #SSP18 might be the most memorable so far. What am I talking about? Well, let’s get down to it.This week the participants enjoyed Department activities in Delft and other places (the APPs department ventured all the way to Wadden islands!). They also experienced a full day of elective workshops together in Leiden with a great dinner under the stars after all the hard work. All well and good on that front, but that was not all that happened. By far. Not while you’re at the SSP 😉
The Team Projects are finally taking form, with the Literature Review having been submitted by the different teams on Monday 23rd, and the Team Project Plan on Sunday 29th July. Everything is now set for the teams to dig deeper and work hard in making the best Team Project they can! Sleepless nights and long days await… let the games begin! So, tension and excitement, hard work and fun are now all covered but… what about the fusion of the old and the new? Well, that can be answered in two words: Alumni Weekend!!!
Close to 200(!) alumni were present during this weekend, adding to the 135 participants. Many old friends reuniting, and new friendships being made. The participants got to meet the community they are now a part of, exchange experiences and… compete! The Space Masquerade is a tradition at ISU’s alumni weekend, as is the costume competition, where a fight to the death on a field of fire and blood happens … well, it’s more like a dance-off in the Aula building between people in space-themed costumes but almost as epic!
Although not nearly as epic as the Alumni vs Participants football match! That is where the true death-battle happens! OK, again a bit of an exaggeration. But not by much. The participants crushed the alumni this year with a final score count of 7-1 (that hurts my alumnus’ heart 😞). Congratulations to the victors, and welcome to the International Space University or ISU family!