Sunday, August 7, 2022
By:
The last week flew by. Between finishing up projects, spending time with friends, practicing final presentations, packing, and trying to sleep between all of the other things it has been hectic! I can’t believe we are in the last week but I know that I’ll see many of my friends made through the SPS program at PhysCon and hopefully after that too!
This week I finished making a ‘masterlink’ on google docs with all the links to the current graph on APS’s Education and Diversity website, a link to the new graph, and a link to the excel spreadsheet used to make the graph (and so others can make other graphs with the data too). I also wrote an internal memo which is a collection of things I think the website could improve upon such as changing language like ‘Non resident alien’ to ‘nonresident’ or ‘temporary resident,’ I finished up my final presentation, I sent out final emails and thank yous, and did other last items.
Thursday we had a run through of all the presentations where we ran through all our presentations and got feedback. This was a great space to get advice and make last minute changes for the final presentations on Friday. Friday’s presentations went great and there was even food, vegan Maja Blanca, a delicious Filipino dessert that is like pudding with coconut milk thanks to the Rheology intern, Justin! The presentations went smoothly and I never lost interest as everything was fast paced and I was curious to learn what my friends had been working on over the summer.
Group happy hour and networking!
My roommate and I outside of the Native American History museum! I would recommend going as there is so so much to see. Although it is one of the most sombering museums I have been to, I learned a lot. Thank you for going with me, Matangi! <3
Bye DC, now for a layover in Cincinnati and then a 4.5 hour flight to Seattle!
Home airport! If you are ever in SeaTac International Airport definitely check out the Seattle Chocolate store :D
There are also many people that I want to thank!
-
Thank you, Christine O’Donnell for being such a supportive mentor! I am so grateful for your guidance and time.
-
Thank you also to the Society of Physics Students for providing this experience and to Kayla Stephens, Mikayla Cleaver, Brad Conrad, and Andrew Zeidell for helping everything to run smoothly. I am so appreciative of all the time and organization that you all put into the educational, networking, bonding, and other events this summer - all of us interns had a great time at them and learned a lot.
-
Thank you to the American Physical Society, Michael Wittmann, Kathryne Sparks Woodle, and everyone else for their knowledge and advice on my projects.
-
Thank you to APS IT, Milton Villatoro and Nathan Walton for the monitor, set up help, and other IT!
-
Of course, thank you to all the SPS interns! Thank you for being the best community and chosen family, it has been a pleasure to live on the 9th of Amsterdam Hall with you all! I hope to stay in touch and I will see most of you at PhysCon!
If you are next year's Education and Diversity intern reading this I want to advise you to say hi to Misty and Luna (if you have Christine as your mentor) who are Christine’s cats, ask EVERY question even if you think it is a dumb question, go to the library and Panera GW building if you need a good place to work/study, check out EventBrite and go to some embassys/free cultural events or even volunteer - people are always looking for volunteers, and make a list of things you want to do and sign up for them/put them in a calendar so that you do them! The African American History and Culture museum books up super fast (a month in advance) so sign up ASAP! There are also other cool museums you can schedule in advance. It’s a lot of work but good luck and have fun! :)
All in all, I hope this is not goodbye, let's keep in touch! I hope to have made life long friends and physics connections for networking later on down the road :)
Until next time,
SPS and ΣΠΣ’s commitment to Diversity, Inclusion, Ethics, and Responsibility
Lucy Corthell