Sunday, August 7, 2016
By:
This week at NASA was presentation week! With 300 interns in one building, you could safely say the nerd level in the building had reached its maximum capacity. I was a little bit nervous that I wouldn’t be dressed properly, but thankfully my friend Fik provided me with this fine guide for dress. Quite obviously I had to go with Business Maximum Synergy Limit Break Overformal.
Credit: http://imgur.com/gallery/D2nMw
Eh just kidding! Besides the fact that I have never been a fan of giving presentations, I have to say this was one of my favorite experiences this summer. Each person I talked to was so kind and fun to talk to. Even though I had heard a lot about people’s projects, I didn’t realize how much everyone had truly done this summer. I am amazed at what we could all accomplish in just 10 weeks.
In order to get away from the stress of poster presentations, a group of friends and I spent a night playing Airsoft at a local arena. I have never played Airsoft, but what an experience it was to work with others in a battle situation. It started out a bit rocky, but near the end my friend Katie and I found a great way to work together through the maze of people and airsoft pellets.
This weekend was full of fun and surprises. This Friday, after almost a whole summer in DC I finally made it over to FDR memorial. I have to say this is probably one of my favorite memorials. The scene is set into a beautiful park filled with trees, beautiful quotes and waterfalls. I could have spent hours wandering around or just simply sitting by the waterfalls and enjoying the ambiance.
Saturday is when the real adventure began. A few friends and I set out for a weekend in Shenandoah National park. We had planned to set out for the summit of Old Rag mountain that evening, set up camp and hike down the next morning. We made it up to our camping spot, but as we were setting up the tent we realized… we didn’t have any tent poles. Despite our best efforts to jury-rig the tent to stand up, we had to accept defeat and head back down to base. By the time we had made it back to our car it was pitch black outside and star gazing ensued. Even though camping that night was a dud, we definitely made the best out of it by “glamping” (glam camping) at my apartment with some movies, trail mix, card games, and microwaved s’mores. Despite our struggles, I can safely say I will never forget this experience and want to give a great big shout out to these amazing people, especially Fik with his endless puns and jokes.
Maria McQuillan