Monday, July 8, 2019
By:
Week - Six
What an incredible week (that went by too fast). I didn’t get to do as much work as before, but that is because we had Thursday and Friday off! Celebrating the Fourth of July is one of my favorite holiday traditions especially because we get to see fireworks! But more about that later. This week’s work was downloading data from IPEDS and also updating information on computer science to the APS statistics webpage! Turns out that there are many things needed and also missing. So, the next weeks work includes filling in missing information so that that data can be published. I am also completing a code that will automate the addition of following years for future interns.
But work aside, the main part of the week was the 4th!! Celebrating the Fourth of July in Washington DC, our nation’s capital, was a truly amazing experience. The city was alive with patriotism and energy! There were celebrations and protests and passion all around. Sariah and I started the day at an intern lunch which consisted of burgers and mac n’ cheese (two of Americas most popular meals). After this we played card games and then migrated to the capital building where we waited to watch the concert that was going on later that night, as well as the fireworks that would follow the show. While waiting we actually had to evacuate due to severe weather warnings, but we returned after an hour or two and enjoyed every minute of the performances. It is a moment I will never forget and hope to see more of. It reminded me of the moments in summers past where my family would have our own fireworks show and it made me smile. Sariah and I also made homemade burgers (yes again) for dinner and they were amazing! Sariah and I were most excited about seeing Lindsey Stirling and Keala Settle live! We then went home (on the crowded metro) and proceeded to watch ‘The Greatest Showman’ since we loved the live song so much.
The next few days were a blur where we spent our free time relaxing. But we did go on a ‘cupcake run’ where after getting our cupcakes the weather decided to turn more than sour on us. We ended up getting home drenched from head to toe with slightly soggy cupcakes and wet phones (Sariah’s is still recovering). But we were laughing the whole time and it added to our sweet memories here in DC together. On a side note, Sariah also introduced me to a show called ‘Stranger Things’ and I must admit that it is addicting. Apparently the 3rd season came out on the 4th! Needless to say, we have been watching that every night.
Overall, I am still loving DC and the work I am doing. It is amazing and interesting to work with data concerning minorities in Physics from 1995-2017. (Still waiting for IPEDS to come out with 2018 data “officially”)
Andrew Phipps