The big day! Still half asleep after staying up late the previous night, campers go to the 8:00 breakfast. Many drink coffee, perhaps to wake them up. Guides are wandering the halls trying to find campers who are still sleeping to wake them up.

Then, at 9:00 everyone gathers in the conference room. We learn a little about Stuart Parkin, winner of the 2014 Millennium Technology Prize, and hear about the fancy gala they had to award the prize since some people at the camp were there.

Okay enough of this present tense thing. After that we had free time. Some groups had to use it to prepare for the presentation, but most (including mine) were done. Guides offered activities from singing to frisbee for the morning. I went on a great walk in the forest around the hotel grounds and got to learn a little about the flours and plants. Then, I did some singing with another small group of people.

Welcome!

So then lunch, then a little free time, then preparation for the Gala. the MYC Gala is the culmunation of all of the project work from the past two months. Every group gives a brief presentation to an audience, then people walk around to groups' posters and talk to them more.

Everyone got all dressed up, and we went to take group pictures in front of the manor (to be fancy, of course). Everyone was taking pictures with each other and it was great even for people who aren't to big on pictures. After that, ot was off on the bus. It was somewhat amusing to see all of these people dressed in suits and dresses having juice boxes and sack lunches on the way to Helsinki, where the event was held.

Anna, Akila, Polina, and Ege. Many campers took selfies before leaving for the gala. Photo by Akila.

After a brief rehersal and break, the event began. All of the group experts came as well as others from TAF, LUMA, etc. There were even a few ambassadors. First there were a few opening speeches, then the groups each got their presentation time. First, the group expert(s) went up and spoke briefly about the group and their work, then the group came up and did their presentation (anout 3 min). Since they used alphabetical order, Team Applied Math had (got?) to go first.

Team Renewable Resources presents at the Gala. L-R: Bokyong, Lieven, Christian, Ramon, Neja, Iulia

\In the group, only 2-3 people,were supposed to present. For us, it was Matan and I. It was a success, I'd say, especially considering how many people visited our poster. After five groups, three talented campers played some music, and we finished all of the presentations. All of them were fantastic. Afterwords, there was food and time to talk about our projects with others and, or course, finally see the other groups' work. I ended up spending most of the time at our project talking, but it was fantastic. We took plenty of pictures with our experts and said goodbye. It was somewhat sad to say goodbye to two really wonderful and helpful people so soon. However, if was amazing to meet them in the first place. They're super cool.

Team Applied Mathematics at the Gala! L-R: Daniel, David, Jordan (me), Matan, Hrant. Photo Cred: LUMA Center.

So at last, the day came to a close. We got back to our hotel at almost 10:00. with all of our hard work done, we were rewarded with a dance party until 11:50 (normally we are supposed to be in our rooms by 11:00, so this was cool).

The whole thing was totally worth it - from applying to the pre-camp work to the 15+ hours of work during camp. The Gala was truly a celebration of all of that work, all of the things we have done in Finland, al, of the people we have met, and all of the friendships we have forged.

Thanks to all of the sponsors, mentors, camp staff, and everyone else who made MYC possible for us!