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New friends, ideas and views on science at MY Camp

^{Video by Janne Salo.}

“You have more chances than you think you have,“ 18-year-old Andra Orasanu from Romania encourages young people to apply for next year’s Millennium Youth Camp.

“Go for it,” adds 17-year-old Menna Sirola from Finland. “When I applied, I never thought that I would be chosen.” Both Sirola and Orasanu also agree that the camp is not all about science. It’s also about meeting people around the world. Oskari Vinko calls them “young geniuses”, but they can also be referred to as new friends. “I got new friends, and made future connections,” Vinko adds.

The 30 participants of MY Camp were chosen from 1,000 talented applicants. The represented the whole world, ranging from New Zealand to Romania, Philippines to the USA.

Even though all the campers had special skills and positive attitude towards science, their interests and passions were quite similar to those of every other teenager. The discussions during buss rides regarding classical literature and music were not exactly what one would expect from a random group of teenagers, but the pure joy and laughter, separated them from the stereotype a solemn science enthusiast.

^{The first day. Photo by Sakari Tolppanen.}

“It’s important to be literate in science, that’s the beauty of it”

Not all of the campers want to be future scientists, but for them too, the camp was a very educational opportunity too see what natural sciences are all about.

“I want to study social studies in the future, so I had a different view on things. This camp has shown me the beauty of science in general, and the use of it in everything. I realised that science is inevitable and critical. Like Mary Arber said, it is important to be literate in science, that’s the beauty of it,” Orasanu says.

Arber is the Manager of Café Sci, which is a project aiming at bringing science closer to young people. “I don’t understand the formulas, but I understand the ethics behind them. This is a passion-based job. It’s all about building the students’ dream, and also building their curricula,” Arber, who had come from England to follow the MY Camp, said to the youth.

The campers’ programme was full of educating and inspiring events. Two whole days were dedicated to higher education in science in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. They visited the University of Helsinki’s Faculty of Science, and Aalto University School of Science and Technology. However, the campers considered the lack of English-language under-graduate programs as a serious deficiency, because few of the foreign campers were contemplating the idea of applying to study in Finland.

“It was quite interesting to learn about the studying possibilities and research centres here in Finland, because someday I might be working in one of them,” says 19-year-old Elina Nissilä, who had just heard that she has been accepted to Aalto University to study applied physics and mathematics.

In addition to the studying possibilities in Finland, the campers got new views on studying abroad from each other. Some of them were about to begin their studies in the world’s top ranked universities, such as Harvard and Cambridge.

“I’m working hard to figure it out what to study after high school, because I’m quite interested in a lot of things. During the camp I got new aspects to studying possibilities in Finland and abroad, because I got the chance to meet the campers that are going study in different schools abroad,” Vinko says.

^{The last day. Photo by Chanikarn Khanutwong.}

“It’s up to you to save the world”

The camp programme also included visits to Finnish enterprises and research centres, the participation to the Millennium Technology Prize ceremony, MY Camp’s own Gala evening, and recreational activities such as visit Heureka Science Centre, wildlife Olympics at Kiljava, and evening get-togethers such as the International evening, traditional Finnish evening with sauna, lake and sausages, and the Goodbye party.

“The best thing was the International evening. It brought us together, and we also learnt very many things about different cultures, and above all it was very funny. Also the Millennium Technology Gala was great, because it was nice to see scientists awarded in such a prestigious way,” says Orasanu.

The Millennium Prize ceremony, and the opportunity to meet the Millennium Prize Laureates, and the winner of the grand prize were the highlights of the camp for many other campers as well.

“It was a very special opportunity to meet the Millennium Prize Laureates, and ask them whatever we wanted. It is not something that happens every day,” says 19-year-old Paula Hietala.

Also the Laureates had some special things to say to the campers: “It is more likely that the people in this room have more influence on the future than I will,” Stephen Furber said, when he was asked about the future of his innovation, the ARM processor.

Also the organisers of the camp were glad to see how united the campers became. The Chairwoman of The Finnish Association of Graduate Engineers, Merja Strengell, gave them three challenges at the MY Camp Gala.

She wanted the campers to think what got them interested in science in the first place, and then tell it to their teachers. She also wanted the campers to remember Finland, and invited them to come back. The last challenge was the biggest challenge of them all. “It’s up to you to save the world, nothing less than that. Go home and save the world,” Strengell said.

^{Last, but not least. The camp mother, godmothers, guides, host, and media team. Photo by Muhammad Zeeshan Samad.}

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Elisa Lautala works as web editor for University of Helsinki's Faculty of Science. Elisa likes all kinds of cultural events, good books, warm weather, and aqua-jogging.