The Society of Physics Students (SPS) was reconstituted in 2017 at NJIT. The club focuses on promoting physics with tutoring sessions through Highlander Hub, educational outreach and social events. SPS places its highest priority, though, on the relationships between club members. Jonpierre Grajales, current SPS president and a Junior Applied Physics and Computer Science dual major said, “I wanted to promote physics not only in the major itself but in NJIT so we can spread knowledge, help others and even go outside NJIT from grades K-12 to get [students] into Physics.”
Brandon Daniels, external coordinator and a senior Applied Physics major, oversees visits to schools in Newark to garner interest in physics from the city’s youth. Daniels is also working on a rap parody for the PhysCon 2019 video competition, where the most popular video promoting PhysCon on the SPS national Instagram can win the club $600 to help with conference travel costs.
Dillon McCormick, the club’s Vice President and a sophomore Mechanical Engineering major, recalls when he was still trying to decide what school to attend when he finally made the trip all the way from Tennessee to visit NJIT. “I went to SmashBurger with JP [Grajales] and the rest of them. We talked about NJIT, the physics program, SPS, just talked about things we were interested in… the willingness to create interpersonal relationships and the bonding, I really didn’t experience in the other colleges [while] touring them… NJIT was the only college I went to where they made an effort to connect me.”
Maria DeOliveira, SPS secretary and a sophomore Mechanical Engineering major with a Physics minor, shared her heartfelt anecdote as to why she decided to join SPS. “It was the day before decisions were due and I was at an NJIT open house… I went to the physics demo and JP and Joey and Brian were all there…. They took the time and answered all my questions and they were so excited at the possibility of having me in the club. They were so accepting and welcoming… The group was and it still is personable first. We put our personal relationship at the front, relating to the members, talking with them, helping them through hard decisions… that’s kinda what drew me to NJIT, the type of people that were here.” DeOliveira said that it was this experience that not only made her join SPS but also made her decide to attend NJIT.
A social event the club is looking forward to hosting is Observing Night on the Green where they will be star gazing with a telescope on October 28 on the Honors Green. DeOliveira promised, “a fun hangout night where you can look at the stars.” The club feels this is a great way to get people to socialize over physics and have a good time all around.
SPS meets every Wednesday during common hour from 2:30-4 in Tiernan 401B.
