Here are a few terms you'll hear students using to describe their days at camp. (Sometimes it helps to know the lingo.)
47-Week Field Trip | Life between sessions of Mathcamp. |
Advisor Meetings | Weekly check-ins with academic advisors about math at camp |
All-Nighter | The last night of camp, where (optional!) activities are officially scheduled all night for those leaving very early in the morning. |
Blurbs | The week's course descriptions |
Check out / Check in | Arranging with Mathcamp staff for a group of students to leave campus and return. |
Day 0 | The day on which students arrive at camp. |
Hunt | The annual Mathcamp Puzzle Hunt, usually on the fourth weekend of camp. |
JC | A camp counselor and organizer (these are college students) |
Kernel | Mathcamp's contemporary a cappella group |
Mentor | A camp counselor and instructor (these are math grad students) |
Nonabelian | Mathcamp's alma mater. (Also a mathematical adjective meaning non-commutative, e.g. to describe a group.) |
"QQ" or "the Quiz" | Short for the Qualifying Quiz, the centerpiece of the new camper application |
RA Group | A JC or Mentor and a group of 6–10 students who live on the same hall in the dorms. |
Relays | A lighthearted problem solving activity on Saturday afternoons |
Scheduleboard | A visual view of the week's extracurricular activities, posted in the main lounge. |
Sign In | Each student touches base with the staff every day at camp. |
TAU | Office hours. (TAU stands for "Time, Academic, Unscheduled.") |
Tones | Short for the Contrapositones, Mathcamp's choir |
Weekend | Sundays and Mondays |
Workshift | A lighthearted and recursive penalty for being late to sign-in: finding the campers who are late the next day. |
VMC | Either a generic term for Virtual Mathcamp (the implentation of Mathcamp in an online format), or a specific reference to Virtual Mathcampus, our online home away from home. |
YKYMMW | Stands for "You Know You Miss Mathcamp When" – a traditional email chain after camp ends. |