Week 1: First week in DC!

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Thursday, June 2, 2022

By:

Lucy Corthell

This week I moved to a city I’ve never been to on the exact opposite side of the country from where I grew up (Seattle) with only one suitcase and a backpack to be the Education and Diversity Statistics Intern for the American Physical Society (APS). 

From filling out paperwork, downloading programs, trying to remember new names, meeting great people, and getting everything needed for 10 weeks of dorm life in the gorgeous George Washington Amsterdam housing, it has been a hectic and exciting week. The apartments are very spacious, we get a kitchen, living room, and our own bathrooms; not to mention that we are less than a mile from the U.S. Capital, Lincoln Memorial, and White House! I feel so privileged to be living where I am. It is also great because I love exploring and there is plenty to see.

At work, it has mostly been setting things up so I will be successful in the coming weeks but there is definitely lots to be done project-wise as well. Four of my biggest goals this summer are to:

  1. Network

  2. Learn more about how to better encourage underrepresented populations to study physics and in general read and educate myself further on diversity, inclusion, and social justice issues (in and outside of a physics lens).

  3. Improve my Python skills 

  4. Improve my public speaking skills

I am also really looking forward to working with my mentor, Christine O’Donnell over this summer! Thank you, Christine, for making an organized schedule of the projects I have this summer! I am excited for all the projects and to be working in a field that I am so passionate about. 

Thank you to Mikayla, Kayla, Lori, and Brad for helping to make the transition for us interns as smooth as possible! It sounds like there were a lot of obstacles that needed to be worked out along the way and I am so grateful to you all for the work you have done to get us all here. I am really looking forward to working with everyone and getting to know everyone better this summer.

Here’s to a promising summer - until next week,

Lucy Corthell 

 

Lucy Corthell