Week Six: Make sure it dazzles

Friday, July 13, 2018

By:

Sarah Monk

Today I am grateful for the view out my office window.

My view out the office window from the Ford House Office Building

It’s an absolutely beautiful day today, with gorgeous blue skies over the Capitol Building. It’s been such an eventful week; I knew that come Friday I would be completely exhausted so it was no surprise today when I was walking around like a zombie through my morning routine. Though I love my work, and generally am always looking for more to do in the office, I’m thankful today for a quiet day.

We had two intern tours this week and with taking two days out of the office for those I was working hard to get all my work done this week. Our subcommittees on Energy and Research & Technology had a joint hearing this week called “Big Data Challenges and Advanced Computing Solutions.” I was given the opportunity to put a lot of work into the hearing and was very proud to watch it unfold, but first had to get through the rest of my week.

Sam and I with Dr. Bill Foster, Congressman from Illinois' 11th District

Tuesday was a big day! Sam Borer and I had been able to arrange breakfast with Congressman Bill Foster. We met him at the Member’s Dining Room in the Capitol Building, which was not only beautiful, but allowed us a nice quiet area for an in-depth conversation with him. He asked us about our experiences in physics, our plans for the future, and offered his opinions on various issues physics is currently facing. Hearing about his background was brilliant, and his advice he offered for our future paths in physics is invaluable.  I was nervous going in, but Rep. Foster was so laid-back and easy to talk to, the whole experience was one of my absolute favorites I’ve had this summer. That evening had more fun in store when we went to The Optical Society (OSA) for a tour from Brigette Smith.

After arriving at OSA, Danielle held a professional development workshop for us, which for me was hugely helpful. Since graduating in May, I’ve been passively looking for jobs, but now that we are coming towards the end of our internships, I am getting applications in and hoping for interviews.

A few of my key takeaways were:

• Tailoring your resume for the job you want. Go through the job posting and highlight the important keywords that they are looking for in an employee, make sure you are addressing all these points in your resume.
• Selling yourself in your cover letter. Make sure you include why you want the job, why you would be valuable to the company, and a gracious thank you for their time.
• A resume doesn’t get you a job, it gets you an interview. You can’t include all you want on a resume. Make sure it dazzles so you can show them in the interview the multitude of reasons you are right for the job.

After the workshop We got to hear from the CEO of The Optical Society who, in my personal opinion, was the coolest CEO I’ve ever seen. Elizabeth A. Rogan was appointed as CEO in 2002, and has worked hard to fulfill that OSA Mission of promoting the generation, application and archiving of knowledge in optics and photonics and to disseminate this knowledge worldwide. Moreover, her dedication to diversity and equity in the field is an inspiration. We wrapped up the OSA tour with a pizza party, enjoying each other’s company on the balcony overlooking Dupont Circle.

It was great seeing Brigette’s workplace, and I was excited to get the chance to show off my own office on Thursday. We started the tour at the Science, Space, and Technology Minority Committee office, to give everyone an idea of what I did at work each day. It was the day of our Big Data hearing, so we made our way over to the Rayburn House Office Building to watch the hearing live. 

One of the panel witnesses, Dr. Narayanan Kasthuri, Neuroscience Researcher from Argonne National Lab discussing his work with some of the SPS Interns.

There was a fantastic panel of witnesses for the hearing, and not only was it a great opportunity for everyone to see the Committee in action, but it was very informative and exhilarating to hear from these expert scientists. 

With the help of my mentor Cassie, we were also able to arrange a meeting for all the interns to meet Congressman Foster before he went into the hearing to question the witnesses.

Congressman Dr. Bill Foster meeting all the SPS interns in the Hearing Room Antechamber.

I really think this was the highlight of the tour. Dr. Foster is so knowledgeable about so many different areas of physics, and engaged personally with all the interns about the projects they are working on. He even taught us about Sonoluminescence, which is the phenomenon of light produced by bursting air bubbles within a liquid with an ultrasonic frequency applied. Taking the time out of his busy day to meet with us was wonderful, and I could tell he really enjoyed getting to talk physics with the interns for a bit. The rest of the hearing was superb, filled with fascinating and stimulating questions from the Congress Members, and well thought out responses from the witnesses. I think the interns learned a lot (I know I did!) and really enjoyed the experience.

After the hearing we went to lunch at the Rayburn House cafeteria with

Dr. Sara Barber with some of the SPS Interns over lunch, teaching them about her role in the Research & Technology Subcommittee Staff

some special guests for the interns to learn more about the role of science in policy. Our guests were; Sara Barber, Professional Staff for the SST Committee who is a former AIP Science Policy Fellow; Bethany Johns, AIP Government Relations Advocacy Associate; and Susan Hou, an AIP intern with the Government Relations team. Everyone had a great time over lunch getting to hear from our guests before we made our way to the U.S. Senate to see what Sam had to show us for the rest of the tour.

We didn’t spend too much time in the Senate buildings, but we did stop by Bernie Sander’s office while we were there! It was fun seeing his workplace and the Wisconsin décor on display, even though Bernie wasn’t there when we went. We made our way through the Senate tunnels to take the underground train over to the Capitol Building, where Sam would lead us on a tour of the Capitol history. We started with the Capitol orientation film, “Out of Many, One” before exploring the Capitol to see the beautiful architecture, statues, artwork, and décor. Sam was full of facts and info about all we saw, and to end the tour arranged for us to visit the Gallery of the Senate Floor, where we watched Senator Portman from Ohio present to the President Pro Tempore. By the end of the day we were all wiped out, but we ended our day watching National Treasure, to continue the U.S. History theme.

SPS Interns overlooking the Statue of Freedom plaster mold, which represents the identical copper statue at the top of the Capitol Building Dome

I don’t know if anything can top this week, but as always, I’m looking forward to seeing what next week has in store.

P.S. GO CROATIA!!!!!

Sarah Monk