Monday, June 24, 2024
By:
The weekend was long so I’m just going to jump right in with a few short summaries:)
Sunday: Woke up late and spent the afternoon exploring the city. I had a friend in town so we decided to plan for a sushi dinner! The place was lovely (Kyojin Sushi in Georgetown) and much cheaper than expected! Unfortunately, later that night I fell ill to a pretty nasty migraine and wasn’t able to leave my bed for much of the next day:(
Monday: migraine
Tuesday: Went to work for most of day, came home and went to happy hour at Circa, met up and played Guno with the interns (I enjoy this game so much I could write love poems about it)
Wednesday: BIG DAY. Me and a friend were invited to join Jenna, Charlotte, Kaden, Jaden, Charles, and his girlfriend Maddie on their adventure to Founding Farmers and the Portrait Museum. Food was delicious and the portraits were awesome. After that we went over to Jaden’s to play some games, some of which turns out I’m pretty GOATed at, and then raced back to the dorm to get ready for the potluck. OH MY GOODNESS the food was so good! I hope someone else wrote more details than I am right now but all you need to know is that this year’s interns can COOK. We stuffed ourselves full and then surprised Charles with a cake and a card. Happy Birthday Alpha Wolf!!!
Thursday: Lab day! I set up a makeshift oven and took some measurements that don’t matter now! Oh what fun! Then I went and got a tattoo! Oh what fun!
Friday: I had a great chat with my mentor today. I think a lot of people can relate when I say that imposter syndrome is a constant struggle. I find it very easy to get overwhelmed by the idea that I’m not qualified or smart enough to be working at such a well-revered institution such as NIST. That’s why it’s incredible when someone who has dealt with this feeling for much longer than you have can recognize it and offer their advice. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or reassurance. We all need it at some point. After the pep talk, I finished up and headed home for an event at the French Embassy. The wine was flowing, the music was bumping, and Charles was rolling (down the hill of course I would never use drug-related slang on the SPS national website get your heads out of the gutter). Oh, and LEGO Batman was pretty epic as well.
Saturday: I woke up, caught up with my family, walked over to Dupont looking for the farmers market only to realize I was sorely mistaken and it’s only open on sundays. I instead went to my favorite second hand vintage store which is just a fancy way of DC saying “clothes you can find at goodwill but triple the price”. I usually hate it but something about the weather and my free coffee had me in a great mood so I bought a shirt. After what felt like an astonishing amount of mindless meandering, I next found myself sitting in a chair getting my palms read. Yes, you read that correctly. I met with a psychic and honestly it was a very positive experience. Coming from someone who has not been very exposed to that community before, it was intriguing to hear about and take away some general life advice. And, I don’t want to brag too much, but she says that I’m about to find my niche in work/career life so watch out world here I come!!
Later that day the interns made their way over to Astronomy on the Mall (if you’re unfamiliar go read Maia’s blog!). I’m not going to sugarcoat it: that was horrendous. I had an incredible time sharing our activities with the kids but oh my lordy was it hot and loud in there. Typically, Astronomy on the Mall is supposed to be outside. However, since they throw it on the Summer Solstice every year, it’s been too hot out and we’ve had to relocate to the same hall that a Cosmic Rave is being held in. Picture this, you’re crammed around 3 tables with 15 other interns as children and Johny launch marbles/tennis balls at you. You’re also in charge of the boomwhacker station where your job is to help people bang noise-making sticks together. On top of that, there is a LITERAL RAVE happening 20 feet away. Oh, and Johnny has made it his personal mission to ensure that no one ever knows peace again for the next 3 hours. Needless to say, I was exhausted by the end. We were supposed to tour the museums later that night but we all knew by the end that no one had the energy for that. Instead we escaped the chaos and headed home for some well-deserved late-night dinner:)
Sunday: MY LITTLE SISTER IS DANCER OF THE YEAR WOOHOO. I’m not going to explain any more than that but just so you guys know she’s oh so amazing and ever so talented.
Sunday started off rough. Amanda, Charlotte and I embarked on the long and treacherous journey to the Georgetown Flea Market which is located approximately 45 minutes away at the top of a giant hill. Hiking that when it’s 95 degrees out and 100% humidity is not fun, to put it lightly. We were starving and extremely dehydrated by the time we got there. But, just as the horrors persist, so do we. We met up with Evan, found some trinkets, shoved our heads in the safeway beer cooler, and headed back down. I split off from the group to get some grocery shopping done and eventually made it home to do laundry and feed myself. Later that night we gathered round to watch the og Spider-man (the first one with Toby Maguire). Personally, I’m more of an Andrew Garfield kind of girl but this one has my heart a little bit. I have a big soft spot for his epic oratory about MJ’s eyes but according to everyone else it was cringy and not delivered well so maybe I’m just cheesy. Anyways, after that we went to bed and now I’m on the metro again heading to NIST. Unfortunately for me, my train got delayed on the second to last stop and now my ETA is 9:17 instead of 9:10. So long 9:15 shuttle, you will be missed.
Till next time!
Brynn S
Brynn Schierenbeck