#UWsummer day — practice, study, research and, yes, even relax

The sun rises over Lake Mendota on July 18, 2017, starting another busy summer day on the UW–Madison campus. Photo by: Hyunsoo Léo Kim

UW Health's Med Flight helicopter takes off on a sunrise mission.. Ryan Wubben

The morning angler casts the fishing line to Lake Mendota. Photo by: Hyunsoo Léo Kim

A runner passes by a row of Hoofers sailboats along the shore of Lake Mendota, by the UW–Madison Memorial Union. Photo by: Hyunsoo Léo Kim

Members of the Wisconsin men's rowing team head from Porter Boathouse to Lake Mendota for morning practice.

Library Mall, as seen from Memorial Library, on a summer day in 2017. UW-Madison

Cooking 170 portions of bacon was just one task on John Clark's to-do list at Four Lakes Market, which was expecting 680 hungry people for breakfast. Meredith McGlone

A great way to start the day is to partake in Sunrise Yoga, on the shore of Lake Mendota near the Memorial Union Terrace. Mike Klein

A group of runners make morning practice as members of Wisconsin Men's rowing team practice their skills on Lake Mendota. Photo by: Hyunsoo Léo Kim

Even on a beautiful summer day, the hard work of practice continues. UW–Madison students practice the harp in Mosse Humanities Hall. UW-Madison

Summer campers make their way through a meadow. Camps for youths continue throughout the summer on campus. UW-Madison

High school students head out for an early-morning run along the Howard Temin Lakeshore Path as they take part in a cross-country running summer camp at UW–Madison. Photo by: Bryce Richter

Student Andrew Puck works on an experiment in the Engineering Operations and Process Lab testing a variety of filter methods and additives to clean water found in Lake Mendota. Photo by: Bryce Richter

Students at a summer camp on campus enjoy exploring nature. UW-Madison

Research work continues all summer long at UW–Madison. UW-Madison

July is the single biggest sales month for ice cream at the Babcock Hall Dairy Store. Last July, they scooped 9,529 dishes and cones. Top-selling flavor: good ol’ vanilla. UW-Madison

Professor Emeritus David Bethea talks Russian history and Pushkin's poetry with students in the Pushkin Summer Institute. Emily Hamer

Weaving lab assistant Kat Bunke says when she weaves she gets "lost in a different headspace" in the lab at the School of Human Ecology. Emily Hamer

The Swamp White Oak that stands in front of Microbial Sciences Building casts a large canopy of shadow with its massive branches during hot summer day at the campus. Photo by: Hyunsoo Léo Kim

UW–Madison senior Marie Cuccia, a trumpet player in the Badger marching band, practices her spins and steps at the band's practice field. Mike Klein

Third-year MFA student Jason Kartez pulls a squeegee across his screen to deposit ink on his print in the Screen Printing Studio in the Mosse Humanities Building. Photo by: Bryce Richter

Student work on a kiln at UW–Madison. UW-Madison

Emily Arthur (left), assistant professor of art, talks with student Blaine Wolff (right) about his print during a Relief Printing course in the Etching Studio in the Mosse Humanities Building during summer term 2017. Photo by: Bryce Richter

Graduate student Michael Spear shows how bad the zebra mussels have gotten in Lake Mendota. Emily Hamer

Ahhh. Even Bucky Badger has to take a break once in a while. He puts up his feet at Camp Randall stadium. Bucky Badger

The UW women's basketball team lifts weights as part of their offseason workout regime. Petar Djordjevic

As evening approaches, sailboats explore Lake Mendota. A whistle on Memorial Union notifies them when it's time to come in.

Researchers in a boat depart the Hasler Lab of Limnology into Lake Mendota, using the lab's slip. The lab is the base of operations for lake and river research projects.

The UW men's basketball team finishes practice at the Nicholas-Johnson Pavilion. Petar Djordjevic

The sun set behind the UW–Madison campus. UW-Madison

Sitting on the Memorial Union Terrace enjoying a summer sunset is the perfect end to a UW summer day. Nate Moll

Visitors to UW–Madison in the summer often have a similar reaction: “Wow, I can’t believe how much is going on!”

It’s true, the campus hums year-round these days — there are no lazy summer days. This year, the most students ever are enrolled in summer courses, as 60 percent are expected to do it before they graduate. The combined number of online and on-campus summer students is expected to top 14,000 by the end of August.

Granted, they’re not all here at one time. But many others swell the numbers on any given day, from high school athletes in summer camps and pre-college students in intensive residential programs to faculty members and graduate students conducting research. Many — from scholars to band members to athletes — spent the summer day preparing for the school year.

They all contribute to a special summer vibe. It’s a fun time, for sure, but also an opportunity to get a jump on career goals, take a one-of-a-kind class, or experience learning in a different way.

“We want students to think of Summer Term as another way to get the most out of their UW–Madison experience, whether that means a summer course, a research project or an internship,” says Sarah Barber, Summer Term director.

On July 18, a team of UW photographers, videographers and writers spent dawn to dusk capturing the variety and vibrancy of Summer Term. We also asked for submissions, and dozens of you contributed photos, videos and musings.

“Everyone just seems so happy here in the summer,” said senior Amber Waite, 20, who’s enrolled in a summer kinesiology practicum. “You have more time in the summer to focus on the classes you take.”

The number of students taking summer classes increased by 8.8 percent between 2015 and 2016. They can choose from 1,012 courses, including 164 courses that weren’t offered last summer.

A.J. Taylor

“Summer is a great time to explore the city and the campus,” said sophomore A.J. Taylor, 18, who took a human ecology summer course. “You don’t have the stresses of the regular academic year.”

But before classes can start for the day, many at UW–Madison are already at work behind the scenes.

Just after the sun rose, custodian Arsene Sea Kela unlocked the front doors of Bascom Hall at 5:42 a.m.

On the other side of campus, the three cooks at Four Lakes Market in Dejope Residence Hall arrived at 5:15 a.m. and had until 7 to prepare breakfast for 680 people. That doesn’t seem like a lot of time, but they work with seemingly effortless efficiency. Many of their summer customers are campers with hearty appetites stoked by days on the athletic fields.

“We go through insane amounts of milk — it’s ridiculous,” unit chef Kevin Kontny said.

Other spent the time in the early morning jogging or biking to Picnic Point.

Summer also provides an opportunity for some to get a lot of work done, whether it’s finishing a project, practicing a skill or doing some research.

Michael Wagner, an associate professor of journalism, spent part of Tuesday in his office working on a book he’s co-authoring about the partisan polarization of the electorate. He’s been working on it off and on for a decade — and written four other books in the meantime.

Marie Cuccia, a trumpet player for the Badger marching band, spent her lunch hour Tuesday practicing spins and marches at the band’s practice facility. Cuccia, a senior majoring in strategic communication, said band is her “favorite thing about the university.”

“It’s where I met all my friends that I’m going to have the rest of my life,” she said.

In the School of Human Ecology’s weaving lab, recent fine arts graduate Kat Bunke worked on weaving a piece of fabric Tuesday afternoon. She said at times the repetitive nature of weaving is very relaxing and puts her in a rhythm.

“Because that one’s set up as … a very repetitive back and forth motion, it was definitely kind of easy to get lost in a different headspace,” Bunke said.

https://youtu.be/vMOtlkQbN3A

Graduate and undergraduate students, who were assisting with limnology Professor Jake Vander Zanden’s research on zebra mussels, were on the shore of Lake Mendota Tuesday morning, deploying a machine to take measurements of oxygen levels on the bottom of the lake.

Michael Spear, a third-year Ph.D. student in a freshwater and marine sciences degree program, said they are trying to “keep tabs” on the recent zebra mussel invasion in Lake Mendota. Spear deployed the chambers on the floor of Lake Mendota with the help of juniors Ella Norris and Petra Wakker.

https://youtu.be/kO5eCCRc_xc

“They’re not supposed to be here. Now that they are here, they’re growing like crazy because they don’t have any natural predators,” Spear said. “We’re trying to keep track of not only how the zebra mussels are growing, but what kinds of impacts they’re going to have on the ecosystem.”

Even Bucky keeps learning new things in the summer.

He tried balancing on a slack line during a surprise visit Tuesday to the “No Limits Kids Fitness” summer camp at the Natatorium, one of many camps held for youth on campus during the summer. A relieved Bucky hugged the tree at the end before executing a flawless dismount.

The summer camp, now in its fifth year, provides children with disabilities an array of fitness opportunities they often don’t get elsewhere, said Tim Gattenby, a faculty associate in kinesiology and the camp’s organizer. About 70 UW–Madison students help out with the eight-week camp.

“My hope is that these new professionals will learn to promote these types of activities for children with disabilities when they are out in the field,” Gattenby said.

Beyond the opportunities for learning, research and projects, many say they like being in Madison because of the atmosphere. Students from around campus posted pictures of themselves sitting at the terrace, watching the sunset and just hanging out around campus. Even UW financial aid workers and student interns were able to catch summer vibes by having fun in the office.

Senior Roumen Guha, who was practicing flying a drone in a summer course he’s taking on unmanned aerial aircrafts, said he loves “how mellow everything is here in the summer.” Guha said he can take three classes and still have time to enjoy the #UWsummer.

“Once you graduate, life can get very busy, so this is a great opportunity to better myself while I have the time,” Guha said.