As I lay here on my bed listening to See You Again for the millionth time, the only thought that can come into my mind is how much I miss the month that I spent at North Carolina Central University for the Summer Ventures in Science and Mathematics program.

I reminisce about the fond memories and everlasting friendships I created with some of the most amazing people I know. I met people who are going to shape tomorrow, be it helping kids in underdeveloped nations have secure access to clean milk, a basic essential to any child’s health, be it helping astronomers and scientists internationally to visually examine the gravitational impact that all 63 moons of Jupiter have on each other, be it empowering women across the globe to pursue their goals and shatter the glass ceiling, be it exploring the intelligence of enzyme interactions and how it could relate to the intelligence of the human body, or be it exploring the conductivity of graphene and the amazing things it can do, these people are going to change the world, and have already started doing so.

I still remember calling my dad up the first week I was there, and when he asked “how’s it going” the only thing I said was “dad at least one of these kids is going to find the cure for cancer when they grow up”.

A month was not nearly long enough to properly get to know these people well enough. I love each and every one of the people I met there to death, and I am pretty sure they feel the same towards me as well. I know whenever I need help with Calculus or anything related to Math, I can just call up my friend/twin Neeraj and no matter what I can get help, and vice versa with anything pertaining to Computers and Technology. My suitemate George has helped me get through a ton of tough situations, and as he goes on to give his valedictory at his graduation, though it is halfway across the state, he knows I will be there to watch him go on to do great things.

Apart from all the tears that this is causing me right now, there were many fun times I had at Summer Ventures as well. From watching the Walking Dead and other random horror movies and TV shows in the AV room and struggling to find an HDMI cord, fitting ten guys into Taygan’s room to convince everybody that George loves Japanese films, and sharing Vinish’s Air Heads and jokes, to doing fun and logical math and science games in Dr. Mathur’s Mathematical Methods class, banging our heads on our computer (or sleeping) trying to get our SAS code to work, or mapping all kinds of cool stuff and finding geospatial relations in Dr. Mulrooney’s GIS class.

But best of all, Summer Ventures taught me to always make the best out of every situation. There was a field trip to UNC Chapel Hill on the first week, during which George, Neeraj, and I were simply just hanging out. After about an hour of touring the college and eating everything Franklin St. had to offer, we headed back to the Old Well to regroup with everyone else and get back on the buses. When we got back on the bus, the bus broke down. Great. Now we had to wait another few hours and potentially miss dinner. Thanks, Universe.

How is that in any way good?

A simple conversation about school and its pressures started the spark of conversation between George, Neeraj, and I and Disha Patel, Disha Ratra, Julianna, and Madeline Smith. We talked for hours, and when we got back to the dorm, we all shared a pizza together since we missed dinner, and started to talk about how we really dislike people who claim to have no feelings and try to act smarter than everyone else. After that conversation, we really started to hate Julius Caesar and the Julian calendar and pretty much everything/everyone that had a namesake from Julius. Regardless, it bonded us, and I knew these people were the best friends I would ever make.

I enjoyed the next three weeks with my new group of friends (plus Vinish and Vijval) through Kumbaya circles, going to the mall, visiting Duke University, and many more. When the 4-day break weekend came around, we were devastated and did not know at all how we were going to survive this painfully long period. After what felt like ages, however, we were reunited at last, but were also sad that we barely had a week-and-a-half left with each other. After the talent show, dance, and much crying, we never really came to terms with the idea that we were leaving each other. Because we didn’t.

These people are my best-est friends, as my four-year-old sister would say.They are not just “like” family. They ARE family.

Overall, the course of Summer Ventures has made me who I am, and I can’t imagine my current life without the amazing friends and time I had there. With all this being said, I implore the chancellor of North Carolina Central University to please reconsider the idea of completely cutting the program, and beg to ponder this question — do you really want to keep fifty other people from changing the world?