Entry By: Morgan
“Hello everyone! Iím Morgan and today we learned about aerodynamics, which is a branch of physical science. ìAeroî means air, atmosphere or gas, while ìdynamikosî means powerful. Some sports that involve aerodynamics include swimming, running, surfing, skiing, cycling, shooting, etc. After our learning in the classroom we got to put our knowledge to the test! We had to help reduce the drag on a helmet. Our helmet was named Caution. We put play dough in the holes to smooth the top, and covered it with vertical lines of duct tape so the wind goes with it. After designing our helmet we went to the wind tunnel and tested it out! What we did was watch while the cyclist put on our helmets and saw the drag go down from our original helmets. As a result everyoneís drag was lessened and our team received second place! After this we headed down to the San Diego Hall of Champions for a banquets where we listened to different people talk about their careers and this was very inspiring to me I really enjoyed this day because there was a lot to do and we were all very busy and having fun at the same time.”

Entry By: Cristen
“Today was an absolutely wonderful day! We woke up and had a pretty good breakfast at the cafÈ. Then we had a lesson on aerodynamics and the two main forces: drag and lift. We were then instructed to recreate a helmet to better reduce the drag. We finished that early and finished up our PowerPoints from the previous day. Before we knew it we were sitting on the trolley on our way to the Wind Tunnel. The Wind Tunnel was definitely the best part of the day. Amanda, a professional triathlete, tested each of our helmets in the Wind Tunnel. After that wonderful experience we got to eat! Yay! We went to the Hall of Champions and ate some great food. We had all of the adults at out table so we were trying too hard to be quiet which resulted in a great failure and a lot of laughter. Today was the best day so far!”

Entry By: Brittany
“Today, we began our lesson in aerodynamics. Dr. Jani told us about the 4 different types of air friction. After our lesson, we began designing our bike helmets. Basically we took a regular helmet and made it aerodynamically efficient. Once we were done, we went to the San Diego Wind Tunnel to test out our helmets. My team didnít do so good, but we had a good time. We had dinner at the Hall of Champions where we listened to motivational speakers and ate good food. All in all, we had a good time today and Iím sad we have to leave all our friends tomorrow :(”

Entry By: Tammy
“Today we learned about how aerodynamics affects a cyclist. As a cyclist tries to move forward quickly, there are some forces that affect his or her speed. One force is drag, which has four types. The first deals with friction, the second with shape, the third with lift, and the fourth with waves. For a cyclist, most of the drag is because of the cyclistís and the bikeís shape. Changing either can greatly increase or decrease the drag, so cyclists spend a lot of time trying to perfect their posture. A cyclistís helmet can decrease friction drag, and this was the focus of todayís activity. With Maddy and Karissa, I helped redesign a helmet into the most aerodynamic shape possible. We elongated the helmet, cut off some of the Styrofoam, and used some duct tape to cover up any rough areas. We tested the helmet in a wind tunnel. Amanda and Sergio came back, and Amanda wore each of the helmets in the tunnel while a machine measured the amount of drag. All of the helmets improved on the original, but they were not as good as the $200 professional racing helmet.”

Entry By: Tiffany N
“Man! Today was cool. We got to make bike helmets. Tiffany, Lily and I made our helmet out of play dough, foam and purple tale. It was called the flying grapes. Then we got to test the helmet. It was fun. Also Ashley hurt her back. Oh, and hi mom and dad. Iím on the internet!”

Entry By: Jasmin
“Hi my name is Jasmin. Well today me and all the girls went to the wind tunnel and to the Hall of Champions on an Old Town Trolley. It was really fun. We all had fun. Earlier in the day we made helmets to test them in the wind tunnel. We were trying to design out own helmets and try to make them have less drag. After we were done we headed down to the wind tunnel and enjoyed watching our helmets on a professional triathlete. After we were done in the wind tunnel we got on the trolley which took us to the Hall of Champions where we had dinner with our RAís, athletes and some executives. That was really fun. I really enjoyed hanging out with a bunch of girls from different schools because I made new friends, especially a new best friend named Maria and the sweetest girl of the girls was Gabriella. I really like my RAís like Megan, Ashley and Emley. I had so much fun dancing and joking around with them. I enjoyed the fireworks, the scary stories and dancing. I hope I come back next year. I will miss all of you!”

Entry By: Claudia
“Hey people! Well today we started off the day by getting up at 7 in the morning to go eat breakfast at the University Center which was actually the first time eating breakfast here. After eating breakfast we went to the classroom to learn our lessons. The lesson was basically about aerodynamics and how drag affects it. Well, we were instructed to design a helmet that would cause less drag for triathletes. Then after we were done with the helmets we waited to get picked up by the ìtrolleyî and head on to the wind tunnel. When we were at the wind tunnel I was so AMAZED! I loved it. It had a room where the air circulated at whatever sleet you wanted and a triathlete Amanda would sit on a bike, wear the helmets we designed and we would test out which helmet caused less drag. After we tested all the helmets there was a winner and it had taken off 60 seconds of a 40k race, which is a lot! When the testing was over and it was time to leave the trolley picked us up and dropped us off at the Hall of Champions where we had dinner with successful people that supported the Get SSET program. We met another triathlete, Heather, and we met a woman doctor that worked at UCSD. When we left the Hall of Champions we arrived at USD and started telling each other scary ghost stories! I did get scared but I have to keep thinking to myself that they were kidding around or else I wonít be able to make it, or will I? "

Entry By: Erika
“Today was a pretty exciting day as well as Wednesday and Thursday. I started off the day as usual by waking up around 6:30 to make sure I wouldnít be late. After all the girls were done changing we were off to breakfast in the USD cafeteria for the first time. And let me tell you the food isnít as bad as I thought it was going to be. I actually look forward to it. After breakfast we headed out to the class where we briefly learned about aerodynamics and what it had to do with air and drag. We were then asked to modify an ordinary helmet to try and decrease drag. Our team decided to come up with a helmet that was pointy in the front because we believed that would decrease drag. Once we were done we went over to a wind tunnel and tried out our helmets. Well ours didnít work as we planned it to, but at least we learned something and I know not to make the same mistake again. We all had dinner at the San Diego Hall of Champions. While we were there we were given the chance to talk to some amazing people that very much inspired me. Now Iím looking forward to becoming an engineer. It sounds like hard work, but at least itís something I want to do and I know Iíll work at it even if itís not easy. Besides nothingís fun if itís easy. While we were there I got to meet Heather F, Rick Olson, Sandy Swartz and many more guests. Most of all those three helped me realize what I enjoy. Later we came back to the dorm where we are staying at and had a fun time telling scary stories. The RAís (Emley, Megan and Ashley) mad me feel as if I was home. I was not able to talk to them as friends but they were also very helpful and actually taught me useful things. This was an amazing experience and with the same RAís Iíd love to do it once more, but too bad Iím going into 10th grade. I really enjoyed Get SSET!"

Entry By: Damaris
“To all you out thereÖ Iíd just like to let you know that so far this program is TOTALLY not what I had planned or imagined it to be. EVERYTHING is awesomely awesome, the food, the fieldtrips and especially the friendly and fun people. Today was just as fun as the other days Iíve been attending the Get SSET program. We started off with chomping down our scrumptious breakfast and then moved on to the hard stuff. We were quickly introduced to the world of aerodynamics. After gaining this new knowledge we put it to use. We were assigned to create an aerodynamic helmet that would help save an athlete time during a bike race. After we finished designing and building our helmets, we took a fieldtrip and tested them in the wind tunnel. After this we had dinner at the San Diego Hall of Champions, a place in which we were introduced to many hard working athletes, kind sponsors, and interesting people. The trolley rides to everywhere were fun filled. The fireworks were spectacular, the companions I found here are positively unforgettable, the RAís were great, but the memories made during these past 3 days are completely life-changing, irreplaceable moments, that I donít think Iíd trade for anything in the world. I just canít believe itís all over tomorrow."