Sunday, July 9, 2023
By:
Hello everyone! Welcome to week 6. I won’t lie, I am extremely exhausted today from this past week (in a good way-stay tuned) so apologies if anything sounds weird. It was a great week of lots of traveling and visiting friends. Let’s get right into it.
Since it was July 4th on Tuesday, APS had an extended summer break. This meant I had Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off to explore. On Monday, SPS brought all of the Interns to a Washington Nationals Baseball game. I have been to a few MLB games before, but never at this stadium. I really enjoy the vibe of baseball games and the experience of being at the stadium, but I did in fact get bored after the 5th inning. Luckily to cure my boredom I indulged in a hot dog, and of course, Dip-n-Dots. I even got them in the souviner baseball helmet bowls. Even though the Nationals fell short by one run, we celebrated nonetheless with fireworks at the stadium.
Tuesday was July 4th! It was so hot and humid out I did not journey outside until we left for the National Mall for the fireworks. Now, I knew it would be crowded because we are in the capitol, but these crowds were crazy. In order to secure our spot we got to the national mall around 6 pm. That is THREE HOURS in advance. When we got there, it was already starting to fill up. Once we settled in our spot in front of the Washington Monument, myself, a few of the interns, and my friend from Lafayette Emily who joined us that night, took about an hour-long trip to get McDonalds. I have never been so sweaty in my entire life, but the chocolate milkshake was worth it. At 9:09 sharp the fireworks began, and the entire crowd was cheering with excitement. I was never a massive fan of fireworks, but these were ones to remember. The fireworks went on for around 20 minutes and there was great music playing to accompany them. I’m talking Harry Styles, Beyonce, and of course, Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever. It was an unforgettable July 4th experience. Leaving the mall was a bit hectic because of the crowds, but once we got back to GW a few of us continued to hang out. It’s these little hangouts and time we spend together that I have loved about this summer! Also super quick shoutout to my Dad who celebrated his birthday on the 4th.
Since I didn’t have to work on Wednesday but most of the other interns did, I once again met up with my friend Emily to visit the Library of Congress. There was not much to do but look around, but the design and architecture of the building was absolutely stunning. I also learned that even though I had no recollection of ever visiting, I went there on one of my very first trips to D.C. That night Hannah and I hosted another game night. I played Super Smash Bros for the first time, but really had no idea what I was doing.
Thursday was a BIG day at work. So Big I think it won the title for my busiest day yet. It was the day of the Science Trust Project Workshop! I was a little nervous but to sum it up quickly I think all of the interns who attended enjoyed it. The other interns and I were in person, but Allie and Zack, the APS employees, were virtual. This meant I had to set up a hybrid style presentation that definitely posed some challenges. I had three computers up and either connected to zoom, or connected to the slideshow so I could read my notes. I am going to thank my years of school with a laptop for my tech skills. (A note to the future APS Public Engagement Intern, AIP doesn't have a mac connection, so get ready to use Airplay...) After combating the technology the two hours of the workshop ZOOMED BY. Seriously, I blinked, and it was over. In the moment it seemed chaotic but looking back now I am very pleased with how everything went. The interns participated a lot in the breakout room discussions and seemed to have fun with the activity. After the workshop I hopped on a zoom meeting with my research advisor from last summer to go over my AAPT presentation and poster. I leave in 6 days for that conference. I am definitely a little nervous and have a lot of practicing to do this week. Next and finally I caught up with my mentor Nicole and checked in about my tasks for my short work week.
On Friday I stared my day with attending a STP debrief meeting where myself, Zack, and Allie discussed the workshop. We talked about what worked, what didn’t work, what was surprising, and a whole lot more. Most of my thoughts came down to the activity itself, which although people enjoyed, ended up going slightly different than we expected. I think the goal of the workshop this summer was to of course facilitate it for the interns, but the team also used it as a way to see how they can easily train other student facilitators in the future, and how to adapt the workshop for a younger audience. All in all, it was a great experience, and I am really excited to see what updates they make to this project in the future. After this meeting I had a quick chat with APS employee Stephanie Hervey, who works on the industry membership side of APS. I had no clue that there were industry members of this organization, so it was really interesting to hear about her work, and how vital it is to remember that physics people are everywhere and not only in academia. My main task for this day was to write up 2023 PhysicsQuest Extensions! Without spoiling the activities too much they focused on waves, so I did a lot of internet searching and thinking for cool ways to introduce this topic. I guess you’ll have to check out the PhysicsQuest website when they are published to see what I curated. Later on Friday I was able to call one of my friends from school and catch up about how our summers were, and then hung out with more interns at night.
This weekend was also very exciting because my three closet friends, Jessica, Sophia, and Benny, came down to D.C to spend the weekend with me. I met them at Union Station, and we then proceeded to travel all around the city. I think I hit 20,000 steps by the end of it. We started by getting a quick bite to eat at Tatte, explored the U.S Botanical Gardens, walked on the national mall, ate lunch at City Tap, walked past the White House, went to the Renwick Gallery, and stopped at my dorm. One of my friends had never been to D.C before so it was fun to show them around. Though, we did not stay in D.C. My roommate and first college friend Jessica who I met on zoom (shoutout Jessica if you’re reading this) lives right outside of Baltimore, and I thought it would be really fun to go to her house. We took a MARC train to Halethorpe Station, and then drove through her town Catonsville. The coolest part about being there was meeting her two cats Bella and O’Malley (pictured below). It was also fun to be staying in her house, especially after the hours and hours we spent on zoom with one another during peak COVID. I even got to see some baby pictures and get a quick tour of her town. We ended the night by watching a movie and then went to sleep.
On Sunday we woke up and stopped at Jessica’s local bagel place and farmers’ market for some food. I then said goodbye and took another train back to D.C and eventually took the metro home.
It was a crazy exhausting week, but I am glad I got to explore some more parts of D.C and of course, see some of my best friends. This upcoming week is going to definitely be busy, so I think I’m going to head to bed early tonight. See you all next week! Make sure to check out the photos below!
Jenna Tempkin