Something new the SPS tried this semester, under the leadership of amazing fundraising chair Martino Stino, was a smash tournament fundraiser. It was a SMASHing success! The top rankings are as follows: PM Singles – 1st Mathilda Avirett-Mackenzie, 2nd Ben Kalziqi, 3rd Aradhya Rajanala; Melee Doubles – 1st Mathilda Avirett-Mackenzie/Tristan …
In traditional fashion, the SPS got together before the end of the semester, and before finals, to decompress and spend time together performing shenanigans. The gifts were pretty hilarious: Samus brought a giant can of beans, Vivian Romero brought yarn (stolen three times!), Tony Aportela brought a box of things from his childhood. CJ Llorente gave the gift of knowledge in his old PDF textbooks. There was lots of candy and money. Mathilda Avirett-Mackenzie also brought a bunch of squash. Most importantly, the new gatekeeper of the SPS was named…Paige! Allover it was a fantastic time and we laughed and laughed at each other’s terribly ridiculous gifts. Until next year…
For the spooky season, the SPS played a game called Murder in Howey (lovingly named by our past members). The game is like a mixture of tag and mafia: there are two secret murderers who walk/run around the halls of Howey with us regular players while trying to pick us off one by one…..
This year the SPS paired up with the Society of Women in Physics to combine our spooky halloween events into one big exciting event! There was pumpkin painting, a bake sale, a costume contest, and – the SPSs big contribution – THE PUMPKIN DROP. This years drop was more exciting than any before because we had professors sponsor pumpkins. For 25$, 50$, and 100$, professors could buy a pumpkin which we would drop in their honor, carve whatever they wanted, and finally freeze with liquid nitrogen. In good humor, two professors – Flavio Fenton and JC Gumbart commissioned pumpkins with jabs at the other! The event in total was a huge sucess and raised SPS and SWIP a lot of money for conferences, trips, and events. Here’s to hoping we can make it even better next year!
The SPS hosted their annual Waffle Party to welcome new members and share our love of breakfast sweets! As always, it was a crazy feat to feed so many people with so few waffle makers, but this year the event was made better with a special waffle mix recipe! They were extra delicious!
A new event this year, the ice cream social was inspired by Georgia Tech’s own Society of Women in Physics. Professor Martin Mourigal bought the club a huge canister of liquid nitrogen which to make lots of ice cream. By the time everyone had ice cream, the tank wasn’t yet depleted and we couldn’t store it anywhere so it had to be used up. We spontaneously found other things like cookies and hot dogs to freeze until it was all gone. One of our cold concoctions was a ‘cold stir fry’, what a time!
It is the end of the year and we must celebrate at the annual SPS Formal – a unique opportunity to dress up and be awkward in a non-academic setting. The dancing was bad, but the friends were good. We saw that both Aradhya Rajanala and Will Hall can really get down low and Piero Chaiappina did a backflip! We wrote goodbye cards to those graduating and watched them sign the wall. Then we went up to the roof and watched the stars…some people may have gotten stuck in the elevator, too!
This year, the annual SPS cookout was a great success! The planning committee decided to add some extra excitement buy putting on a BBQ competition between some of the people in the department; apparently they had been boasting about their great skill. Well the SPS saw that they were tested – without a curve, no less. Professors Edwin Greco, Michael Chapman, and Nepomuk Otte competed and…..professor Michael Chapman won! The SPS presented the first place winner with a plaque, but one of the judges – professor Morigal handed out his own prizes; first place received a white onion, second place received a yellow onion, and third place a shallot! We hope this competition becomes a permanent part of the annual cookout!
