Sunday, July 16, 2023
By:
Happy week 7! I am writing this mostly on Friday night since I will be leaving for AAPT in less than 24 hours. Here is what I was up to this week.
I immediately got the ball rolling on work this week. Since receiving feedback on our guidelines, my mentor and I met to discuss the comments we received from the three teachers we talked to. It was a meticulous process, but we were able to select which comments we needed to add, and see a what guideliens they would like to see in a future version that were not included already. Also on Monday the APS interns met two more APS employees who work in the communications world. This meeting was extremely insightful, and we talked a lot about possible careers, and the importance of building your connections. Later I had one last Science Trust debrief meeting with their external evaluator, and ended the night with a zoom meeting for my dance team at Lafayette. At night I took a nice walk around GW with Ruthie. It was a nice way to spend some time outside, especially because it was not super humid.
Tuesday was the "day of the guidelines." I spent most of my day creating the almost final draft of our PhysicsQuest guidelines. I ended up completely changing the format and moving some of the guidelines around to different sections. Something else I do is I write A LOT of comments on these documents that are my inner thoughts. It is funny when I go to read them back because sometimes they make absolutely no sense. I asked my mentor a bunch of questions but ended up having a solid and almost complete draft by the end of the day. I also started to think about my final presentation abstract and title which is due right when I get back from California. CRAZY. On Tuesday night I got dinner with one of my best friends from high school, Maya. She actually moved to Arizona, so it has been almost three years since we have seen each other in person. It was so nice to hang out with her!
On Wednesday I went into ACP bright and early as usual and went storage closet hunting. I was tasked with finding and shipping a few shirts and stickers of one of the other public engagement projects. The t-shirts were found immediately, but the stickers were a battle. I looked through almost every box and the stickers were nowhere to be found. I was about to give up, until I saw another crate hidden behind another box. Of course the stickers were right on top as soon as I opened it. I got those shipped out and continued working throughout the day. At night I went kayaking for the second time with Emily, Hannah, and Devin. It was really hot but we got to kayak towards the Lincoln Memorial and Kennedy Center. I also became Instagram famous because the Potomac Conservancy posted a photo of me in my kayak. I will be signing autographs.
Thursday I went back into ACP for a workshop we had with AIP creative services. Actually, this was my last day at ACP due to the metro construction and my trip to California. It was a little bittersweet to say goodbye to my mini workspace but who knows… maybe I’ll be back one day! I was able to complete my draft of my abstract and also practice my AAPT presentation a few more times. At night we had our second potluck. The theme was “food from your childhood” so of course I brought dino nuggets. They were a huge hit. Shoutout to everyone for making really good food. I really enjoyed Daniil’s perogies.
Friday morning I joined in on a STEP UP meeting where I was able to meet a few members of the STEP UP team. I was just a listener in this meeting, but everyone was so welcoming. Since I have been working closely with some STEP UP materials, I have learned more and more about the project during these last 7 weeks, but I enjoyed hearing the inner-workings of what the team was up to. I am excited to meet those from the STEP UP team who will be at AAPT next week. Later that day I gave my complete AAPT presentation to Nicole. It went extremely well and she gave me some helpful feedback. At night a few interns stopped by to play some more videogames.
I’m going to end this blog here because tomorrow (Saturday) is a travel day and I will probably be busy Sunday. Next week is AAPT and although I am a bit sad to be leaving the interns for the week, I am super excited to make connections and get my first full conference experience. Make sure to check out the pictures below!
** Jenna here again. It's Sunday and although my flight was super delayed, I made it to California!**
Jenna Tempkin