Sunday, June 9, 2019
By:
Week Two -
D.C. continues to amaze me, and not just the location. This whole experience has gotten better day by day. My coworkers and fellow interns have become friends and my work has become a constant source of excitement. This doesn’t mean that I only have fun at work though. I am constantly challenged, which can make it difficult to find the motivation to solve the problem I am currently facing. But the feeling of overcoming that challenge/problem makes it all worth it and helps me eagerly accept the next one. It is at the point where, once I solve a problem I have been struggling with, I can’t wait to tell my friends about how I solved the problem! For example, I was looking at the code I had written and wondering why it wasn’t giving me the right answers. After a lot of thought, and with a lot of help from google, I found that a list I had been trying to copy needed to be “deep copied”. This was something new for me to share and even though it may have been just a simple error, finding and fixing it felt more than satisfying.
I am grateful to have such supporting people surrounding me day by day. As of right now I am in the process of creating a python code that takes in multiple data files (the ones I struggled learning how to download last week) and exports one giant organized file containing all the data from the inserted files (and more). It is at the point where I have to force myself to leave my laptop at work otherwise, I may spend too much time working on this fun project and not enough time relaxing and spending time with my wife! Thankfully, Sariah is very supportive and always asks me how my day was and helps me through any frustrations I may have had.
Speaking of frustrations, the commute to work every day is an hour. To me, this is the longest daily commute I have had to make, and it sucks up time I could have spent elsewhere. Interestingly enough, I look forward to the morning and afternoon commutes as it serves as a not only a physical barrier, but also a mental barrier that separates work from relaxation. This never dampens my spirits and I look forward to the time I get to spend talking to my fellow commuters/interns about how their days have been and about what problems they are in the midst of solving. Upon arriving home, I spend as much time with Sariah as possible, but also enjoy attending game/food nights that the others graciously host for everyone. Time with Sariah includes our fun date nights! Every Friday night we decide to do something fun together, and it is one of my favorite nights of the week! So far, we have had dinner date nights and movie date nights as well as quite a few walks together. I love the chance we get to explore our relationship and form closer bonds as well as have fun with the entertainment opportunities around us.
We also had the chance to go back and visit the air and space museum for the second time since we have been here, visit the Smithsonian with Sariah’s aunt, and also see the pride parade in town! There is always something going on in the city so if you are reading this and have any recommendations, please share them! Of all the experiences I had this last week, I would say that my favorite would have to be the Intern game night that we had. It was an opportunity to get to know each other and make plans for the next few weeks as we excitedly move from one day to the next on our internships.
Andrew Phipps