Enduring Memories

Why is this guy still yacking about a youth science forum that ended almost two months ago? I can't help but think everyone around me thinks I may be thinking too much about LIYSF 2014! In fact, I know I'm thinking too much about it, but can't seem to help. Latifa from UK is probably worse than me though:






While I won't try to re-summarize what these two weeks meant for me (see posts from Aug 6 and Sep 3), I'd like to share some of the responses from my new-found friends around the world via Facebook and Messenger:

From Kuwait...

... to Russia...

 ... oh, and by the way, unless you were a participant, you probably won't get through all of these...

... from Indonesia...

  ... and South Africa...

... to Ireland...

... and Japan...







... or Malaysia...

 ... and UK...

So as you see, the "best time of my life" refrain keeps popping up as do wishes to stay in touch. Although the realization is dawning that we can't possibly all stay in touch, I remind Nadine from Germany - who knows this from a science camp last year - this does not diminish the value of the friendships formed:


And note her 76 page reflection! As Chief of Staff Sean O'Callaghan stated:







Rania from Tunisia described our time well:





























I could keep going on these responses as well as my personal LIYSF reflections.

Memories are gracious things that transcend our physical limitations and provide fresh reminiscence on golden moments frozen in space and time. Sadness gives way with years to the kind of visiting thoughts that bring a smile to the face and a distant instant to life once again.

Final words...

Thanks for visiting my blog with recollections from my two-week experience at the London International Youth Science Forum! This blog was originally hosted on my sponsoring university's website

http://blogs.ufv.ca/science/category/trips/science-in-london/

and was moved to Blogger once picture uploads reached the size limit of the site. To accompany the blog, all 730 of my pictures from London are hosted at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/102649497689658833854/LIYSF2014?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Note that the dates on the blog posts were adapted to match the day they were describing, but not necessarily the day they were created!

LIYSF 2014 will always hold a dear place in my heart and my hope is that these posts will set a small portion of the experience in stone. As much as it is difficult to capture those amazing two weeks in words and pictures, I want this blog to share something of the friendships that were built, the ideas that were born, and the scientific inspiration that made it as hard for us to leave London as it is for the precious memories to fade from our minds.

DAY 15

[two groans and one sigh]. The last night of little sleep was the worst! Besides, it’s not like I have the incentive to get up because of an exciting tour or lecture. There’s no faces to look forward to at the breakfast hall this morning let alone breakfast at all. Of course, the threat of missing my flight is a pretty serious matter and I spring out of bed. It is a sad day for certain.

But what good is all the stuff we've learned if we don’t go propagate it in our communities around the globe? What good is this forum if we just keep the experience among ourselves? Why our new outlook on life if not to look out towards a new world of opportunities? No, today is an important day because it marks the completion of a science forum that has not only influenced the minds of 425 participants but is about to percolate into their societies as these young scientists advance the knowledge of tomorrow.

Back to more concrete matters, I squeezed out the final blurbs of my toothpaste and got ready to go – taking one last photo of my room:

The first and last photo I’ll get with that darn slow elevator:

Down in the Beit common room it is clear that some owls have not moved since I said goodnight a few hours ago:

After getting some quid for the tube (underground rail) I parted with the fourteen day home I’ll never forget.

Needed to get some Fanta for whatever reason:

The best part is that I ran into Gabriel for a final farewell at South Kensington Stn:

“Have a happy life man.”

On the tube near Heathrow:

My final LIYSF tweet photo:

My salutations from Canada to all who attended and a hearty wish for a bright future to each and every one!

At the moment the gravitational force was balanced by the growing pressure of gazillions of air molecules under the wings (liftoff):

Goodbye farms:

Sea ice off of Iceland and a huge line on Greenland:

The ridge is where the inland ice cap on Greenland surrenders to the earth whose color gives this desolate land it’s name.

And these jolly good little intricacies are back again (-53ᣞC outside):

Ice profoundly displays hexagonal symmetry due to the dominant hydrogen bonds between molecules. I suspect these crystals have some sentimental value or deep reflective meaning for LIYSF but I won’t go there.

On this return flight, the Sun didn't set as on the arrival flight. In fact, I land in Vancouver only an hour later (local time) than I left London so the net motion of the plane (as seen by the man on the Sun) must be towards the East. The Earth underneath the plane is rotating so that Vancouver will arrive below after we've drifted an hour’s longitude later from where we started. A jolly good puzzle – correct me if I’m wrong but this is my best guess.

At last, it is just me and my blog for nine hours:

Middle, soaring over my Rocky Mountains. On right, back home.

Reminiscing on the crowded comments in my notebook from my new friends crowded my eyes with tears, and I turned to consider how LIYSF has contributed to my person:

In many a sense I leave as I arrived a fortnight ago: wearing the exact same outfit (except my lost watch), running on three hours of sleep, and still madly chasing the winds of my busy life. But in far more ways, I leave a different Etienne; permanently impacted by the enlightening lectures, the astonishing tours, the engaging participation, and in a truly deep sense the hundreds of inspiring personalities from around the globe who constitute the heart of this forum. Considering that science was the only common ground for an awkward lot of 425 students two weeks ago, the insta-friendships which sprung from this foundation are a testament to the ability of the London International Youth Science Forum in connecting and empowering young scientists from vastly diverse backgrounds. Scribed into my heart is something difficult to define or capture with words – sentences will never encompass the story that took hundreds of individual roles to distill. Though my suitcase weighs somewhat less without the Canadian maple leaf cookies, there is a mass of memories in my “carry-on” that will forever impress the gravity of facts, fun, and faces from this momentous experience.

Etienne

DAY 14

There is an unspoken awareness that today is our last day together. A Russian breakfast:

Next was our participant's forum where an informal debate is held amongst a selected student panel and the LIYSF body:

The three questions discussed were:

• "Is it ethical to use embryonic when we can now use adult stem cells in research?"

• "Should scientists specialize earlier or be generalists?"

• "Is it ethical to induct patients into clinical trials for new drugs when they cannot afford alternatives?"

Ooh that first one is very touchy! I was grateful to see the mutual respect and maturity carried through the exchange of opposing views.

After the lecture, we all clumped outside to sign each other's notebooks and get final photos together. I have the feeling at least one of us will receive the Nobel prize and we'll all be happy for their signature then! The amassing of farewell comments continued well through lunchtime on Queen's lawn:

There was a jolly good farmer's market on today ...

... and I bought some blueberries. These, however, were no ordinary blueberries: they have pentagonal symmetry!

Or maybe I've just never noticed this delightful pattern.

I had hopes for a last volleyball rally, but there were simply too many heads around. After exhausting our last lunch break together, we needed to throw on some posh clothes for the closing lecture and ceremony:

As we waited to enter the lecture hall, photos and signatures kept creating an avalanche of nostalgia:

The final lecture concerned the study of epidemics with modern science. Prof. Sir Roy Anderson examined the workings of recent plagues including the 2014 Ebola streak in West Africa and discussed where epidemiology is heading today.

The closing ceremony followed immediately and reconciled us to the fact that LIYSF was almost complete. Despite the sadness in our hearts, we were all reminded of the countless events over the last two weeks that have made it so hard to part ways. After a long list of acknowledgements to the many contributors of LIYSF, we were moved to tears by Matthew singing farewell to a bittersweet ukulele.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy8Vx37i0wA

I was genuinely disappointed upon asking to hold the Canadian flag after the session. "Or else everyone will want to hold theirs." Okay, I guess it makes sense, but this was an honor I felt entitled to. The best I could do was take a picture:

After a hearty supper with the Spaniards and the two other Canadians (Josh and Sonya)...

... the socializing was desperate and everyone who knew someone wanted to say goodbye and exchange notebooks.

Back in the common room, I soon grabbed my laptop and hammered away at backlogged blog posts. Although I initially considered skipping the farewell party for this work, the idea perished under swift and unanimous protest. A last reflection on my unpacked room:

I ended up jogging to the party about an hour late and I'm grateful I didn't miss it!

Unlike the welcome party where everyone was sheepishly acquainting themselves, tonight's dance floor was a carousel of familiar faces flying through the sift of passing memories.



As trinkets exchanged and future wishes bestowed, alas the final song marked the end of the official farewell.

Just look at these sad girls:

A great way to share memories with someone is to write on their shirt with permanent marker:

As on that first night a crowd of strangers wandered London's lamp-lit streets, now a host of friends strolled the familiar path that would lead them home to Australia, Turkey, Japan, Columbia, ...

Although I had an early morning to conquer, I considered this last night to be the final leg of an unforgettable two week journey that ought not be hastily concluded.  I dwindled till the wee hours in the common room and at last ended our visit on a dramatic note: "so long, farewell, auf vederseihn adieu; adieu, adieu to you and you and you" (I didn't attempt Friedrich's high note, if you know what I'm talking about).

While mustering souvenirs, paperwork, clothes, coins, and memories, I paused to capture the current state of my clipboard:

Do I need to say that I underestimated the planning I still had to catch my flight via transit?

Etienne