Monday, July 15, 2019
By:
Week – Seven
Tours, tours, tours!! This last week we visited the Capitol and NASA! This did cut into work, but we got to experience some amazing places and talk to interesting people about interesting things! Overall, I am working on the same project, but getting to see where our nation changes was truly an honor, especially since I didn’t have to pay!
Starting Monday, I started creating the code that will do everything I have been working on this summer in under a minute. This will save the next intern and my mentor a lot of time when trying to get the next years data from the IPEDS website organized. Then Tuesday was the Capitol, where Gia set the bar high for the tours, we would be attending this summer. We met with Bill Foster, a PhD holding congressman as well! I am always blown away by how passionate people can be in their fields of study. Then Wednesday was more coding and problem solving, until Thursday came! We checked in at the gate and then attended a “fair” of sorts where NASA employees came to speak on their projects! I was fascinated by the diversity and focus that each group had, as well as overwhelmed by how much NASA is doing to monitor world conditions as they change. Sariah and I also got to speak to some people working on projects that we see ourselves working on one day, especially in Sariah’s case since we met the people working on front line gravitational wave research.
After the NASA tour we walked in the pouring rain (with umbrellas this time) to the APS building where we had an indoor picnic and game night. It was a great time to wind down and just socialize with other interns and coworkers. Friday came around and before we knew it the week was just about up! I finished Stranger things season three and, I must say, it was amazing despite what I had heard from my colleagues.
On Saturday Sariah and I took a day to relax and recover from feeling unpleasant in the morning. And then on Sunday we attended church and then went on a trip to the National Arboretum where we appreciated the collection of nature and art that had been gathered there. It was very peaceful and worth an hour or two you have time to kill and want to relax.
And then it was back to Monday which I will report about next week! Time is coming to a close, but I am so excited to go home. Mixed with an appreciation of the city I can’t say how I am going to feel when the day comes to pack back up and go.
Andrew Phipps