The Fourth Week: “Science is for everyone...we are all natural explorers.”

It had been awhile since I got the opportunity to totally “nerd out” over Astronomy. If not for Astronomy, I’m certain I wouldn’t be here today. And I don’t mean that in a negative or morbid way, I just wanted to take a moment to appreciate the science that fed my young creative mind, showed me that there are things much bigger than me and inspired me to be the best person I can be.

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Last Saturday we all participated in Astronomy on the Mall. It was an outreach event organized by Dr. Donald Lubowich of Hofstra University. I think one of the coolest things about it, besides the actual astronomy, was that it was truly a community effort. There were numerous booths and demos from different organizations, universities, and astronomy clubs. There were also lots of volunteers from various backgrounds (including us!) and everyone did their part to make sure that the event ran smoothly.

SPS had quite a few tables full of demos including a gravity well, composition of the universe (my demo), eclipse, diffraction of light, trivia, galileoscope, and a dobsonian telescope. The people that came to my demo were of all ages, sizes, ethnicities, and knowledge levels. I was thoroughly impressed with the younger crowd there, they taught me some things I didn’t know and were very excited to hear what I had to say. It was the best feeling to be able to teach someone something, watch them process it and them ask me questions to know more. In the end, I was very appreciative to SPS for setting up this opportunity and I would definitely do it again if I could.

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Yesterday evening was an interesting experience. We all went out to a fancy Italian restaurant called Sette Osteria with Brad, James and AIP CEO Michael Moloney. Michael is a very kind spirit, I got the chance to talk with him on the boat cruise last week and he showed me a lot of cool sites from the boat. Despite some troubles with the food taking a long time, I definitely enjoyed myself. Sometimes all I need in life is cheesy science jokes, way too extra outfits, amazing food and good company. And lately, I’ve been pretty content.

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Also, my video project is finally starting to come into being. I’ve added the audio track and video clips I found along with some cool images and title animations. There’s still a lot to be done but I’m definitely leaving the vision stage and entering the reality phase. I met with Meghan White from the marketing department yesterday and we’re working together to create some eye-catching infographics for the poster. Some of the concepts she pitched were very creative and I can’t wait to see it all come together!

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Finally, next week is the week I’ve been waiting for since I found out I would be coming here. Independence Day in our nation’s capital! I’m pumped! As always, stay tuned to see how my project comes along and July 4th shenanigans.