Building Community Under the Night Sky

Last year the SPS chapter at Santa Clara University partnered with our university’s outdoor club, Into the Wild, to organize a unique and memorable overnight event. Early one morning, ready to get out of the lab and into nature, we loaded into the outdoor club’s vans and began our journey with coffee, silly introductions, and car jams.

We started our adventure at the beach city Carmel-by-the-Sea, where we embarked on a short coastal day hike. We then spent a couple of hours relaxing on the beach, swimming, and playing frisbee. But the best was yet to come. We caravanned up winding roads to Fremont Peak State Park to camp and set up two telescopes. As night fell, all of us converged around the instruments, many experiencing Saturn’s rings or Jupiter’s moons for the first time. Some simply sat on picnic tables looking up, soaking in the stars. As the nighttime chill set in, we started a campfire and roasted marshmallows. The evening was peaceful and full of awe.

What made the event so special wasn’t just the divine scenery, however. It was conversations on the car ride, laughter on the beach, and philosophical reflections under the stars. Physics majors spend a lot of time together, but it’s usually around whiteboards and problem sets. This break gave us a chance to break free and really get to know each other. It also served as an opportunity to interact with students from other majors. Physics can demand an intense singular focus, especially on the quarter system. Events like this counteract that. They remind us of the joys of human interaction and of the natural world.

What made the night even more memorable was that one of our professors joined us at the top of Fremont Peak. He brought his wife and young child with him, along with his own telescope. Seeing him outside the classroom, bundled up in warm clothes and showing students his favorite constellations, was a really special experience. Our professors are such an important part of our undergraduate experience, yet we rarely get the opportunity to see the real them and show them the real us.

During a year of exams, research, and stress, this event stood out not for being the most challenging or academic, but for being the most human. It showed what SPS can be when we allow physics to lead us somewhere new, not just into scientific discovery but also into the development of community.

We hope to make this an annual trip. It is, for me, one of the most cherished memories of my undergraduate years. Stars, strangers becoming friends, and a shared sense of wonder—it doesn’t get any more beautiful than that.