Sunday, July 21, 2024
By:
It’s unbelievable how fast this summer has gone. It was just a few weeks ago that I was struggling to figure out how to write my first blog to describe my first week here. Now, I’m stuck thinking about the fact that I only have five more actual days of work at NIST and one full weekend here before I leave. This past week was fortunately well spent though.
To start the week off, we returned to The Bachelorette, but with a celebration beforehand. This celebration was named a “Dewormabration” by the other interns and came with a cake too! You might be wondering what a Dewormabration is, and I am unfortunately the best person to explain it. The start of summer regretfully began with some long-lasting stomach troubles after my trip to Mexico City right before the internship started. Thanks to the persistent symptoms, which may or may not have matched those of someone carrying worms or a parasite, the interns became convinced I had worms. After a long month and plenty of stomach medicine, I finally am dewormified and free from the constant demanding that “I see a doctor to stop neglecting my health.” With that, I just want to say thank you to all the interns who planned the celebration and made a great cake to go with it (Maia, Jenna, Charlotte, and Kai).
Now, healthier than I’ve ever felt this summer, we took a tour of NIST. The tour had great talks included to help us better prepare for our futures and even learn about how cool Titan is, also that we’re sending drones called Dragonflies to explore the surface of Titan. Additionally, we were shown the million-pound weight at NIST, along with their ballistics lab to learn about gun forensics. It was nice getting to see more of the place I’ve been working at all summer, because I honestly never realized how big the NIST campus is and everything they have.
The next day, Friday, was spent trying one of my favorite foods. The chili dog. I would be criminal to not admit that I’ve been wanting to try a Ben’s Chili Bowl chili dog all summer, and it was truly worth it. Even though it was incredibly inconvenient to get there and out of the way, it is likely that I will come back for more. Now, I faced two battles the next morning though. I had to fight against the chili dog and successfully complete a 6 mile run with Charles and Charlotte. Thankfully, the battles were won and followed by brunch. After some needed napping thanks to the run, we headed to the Washington Nationals game and somehow missed nearly every run that happened in the game by showing up in the top of the second inning. I still love the sport, but it’s impressive how long a game can go without any runs.
Today, I was a little lazy to start off with, but finally got myself to explore and take a nearly two-hour walk-through Georgetown. Then, for dinner, Jenna demonstrated her Italian cooking on some pasta and a group of us got to try it, which turned for a nice meal. To finish the week, we ended with the traditional spikeball on the mall and added in a sunset viewing.
Kaden Gammon