Sunday, June 30, 2024
By:
“There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat…” The key to success lies in recognizing and seizing the opportunity. You can learn a lot in five weeks. Whether it’s about the people you are surrounded by or yourself. Learning that an internship and opportunity like this comes once in a lifetime, you must seize the moment.
Monday was like any ordinary day. I went to the ACP office in the morning and did some work. In the afternoon, Charlotte and I met Brad in National Harbor for a meeting and listened to him give a talk. In the evening, a few of us went to play spike ball at the mall (which seems to be a common occurrence with this group). We played a few Jackbox games to end the night.
Tuesday was a day spent at NIST. Kaden joined Charlotte and me for our 6:30 a.m. commute. In the morning, I met with my mentor, where we discussed my final report and adjusted my outline (I’m a little scared, to say the least). Overall, it is going to be an exciting 30 pages! Charlotte was adamant about going to trivia that night, so somehow, we managed to find one for which we didn’t have to be an hour early. Trivia started fantastically with your typical general knowledge trivia and us being in second place, and then we discovered the theme, and it went downhill from there. I guess Charlotte loved the first two Shrek movies so much that she managed to find a Shrek-themed trivia. Our second-place ranking went down really quick after that.
Charlotte and I attended the 2024 National Meeting of the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) on Wednesday. It was so nice meeting people from different agencies and hearing about their work. The food was delicious, and the talks were informational, making it a good day! That evening was laid back with watching Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (in my opinion, one of the worst movies to exist… sorry, Michael Cera). Thursday was also spent at the NIIMBL Meeting. I, however, left early because I went home for the weekend! My Thursday afternoon and evening were spent on a train heading north to New Jersey!
On Friday, I watched my dad retire from a job he had had for 26 years. Tears were shed, and laughs were had. Over the weekend, I was very grateful to see family and friends I hadn’t seen in a while and share all about my adventures in D.C. After a nice weekend at home on Sunday, I returned to city life. To end the weekend, we watched one of my favorite movies, Cars (yes, I own the Lightning McQueen Crocs)! It remains a mystery who missed me the most this weekend!
For all that we’ve been through, I love the people I’m surrounded by.
Jenna Mastropolo