God works in mysterious ways (I accidentally ordered 24 hot dogs)

I have accomplished quite a bit this summer: I did a presentation, wrote a report, networked, and made friends… but perhaps more importantly, I have expanded the list of movies I have seen. I know watching movies isn’t necessarily a skill (or a difficult exercise), but I would like to think that I have improved my movie-watching ability. This is what I am most proud of.

Monday, I had to venture to NIST alone (Jenna needed an extra hour of sleep). I managed to stay completely awake for the entirety of the metro trip. Our mentors took us to lunch (I learned that Mahesh has an extensive tropical fish collection, Jenna’s University has an obscene amount of fountains, and Brad’s favorite cake is a vanilla Swiss roll with berries). After lunch was a mock presentation for our mentors. That night, we watched Bullet Train.

Tuesday morning, Jenna and I toured the White House. It really is just a large, old house; it was cool, though! I Instacart ordered 12 hot dogs and chili while touring the White House in preparation for a potluck on Thursday (you guessed it, Kaden and I are making chili dogs!) (you also might be thinking it was weird to specify exactly how many hot dogs I thought I ordered, but it’s a critical part of the story). I went to work at ACP for the rest of the day while waiting for my hot dogs’ delivery. At 4:30 p.m., my hot dogs were delivered, but, to my surprise, I received 24 hot dogs. Turns out, I cannot count and assumed there were 4 hot dogs per pack; there are actually 8 hot dogs per pack. God works in mysterious ways. That evening, we went to the botanical garden and watched the Bachelorette.

Wednesday, Jenna and I had our last day at NIST. We got lunch with our work girlies and then all chaos broke loose! The bathrooms started flooding and we had to leave NIST early. This was another blessing in disguise (24 hot dogs being the first of the week) because we got to ACP in time to join Johnny and Jaden for an early dinner at a pupusa restaurant (pupusaria). Later in the day, we went to Rock the Dock at the Wharf (it was wet because it rained, and the cornhole bags were gross).

Thursday was a run-through of all presentations. But more importantly, it was potluck day. Kaden and I made the 24 hot dogs and chili; they were delicious. Other notable additions were Maia and Kai’s peach cake, Johnny’s quesadillas, and Charles’s jar of pickles. I ate two whole pickles after losing a bet to Johnny (he has a premature gambling issue).

Friday was presentations! We had Tatte for breakfast (it was lovely), and then the rest of the symposium was a blur. There were books, cake, and goodbyes; it was quite bittersweet. When we got home, we went to the mall to play spike ball for the last time. After that, we went to dinner at Tonic, and then we all gathered for one last hangout. Jaden, Charles, and I stayed up quite late to finish packing. Friday rolled into Saturday, and we all said our goodbyes.

I will miss everyone and our routines. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. When else will you be 21 in a new city with 16 other physicists as friends? Quite bittersweet.