Song of the week “God is a woman” by Ariana Grande

Day 1- I’m so tired but oh well I came to get sh*t done. I went to get breakfast at Luddy, they have a hot bar breakfast now which is interesting. I read comments on facebook for the stargazers and gardeners since I was behind on that so I know what is going on with the ladies. After that we met with Cassie, we made a power plan then went out to lunch together. Cassie and I got Noddles and Co and Carla got Qdoba. When we got back we started doing the timeline data together and eventually went onto our own. I had the stargazers 1- 13 data and it took FOREVER. I was in info util 6:30 and still wasn’t done. It’s not that it was a lot of data it was just very tedious, and kind of hard to sort and know what to document. I went home and did the rest before going to sleep.

Day 2- Today is meeting day. We met with the usual miscarriage crew and spoke about the surveys mostly. I felt bad for Mona, the technology survey was not so great but I understand that she a a whole mom and a student which is super hard so I think she did fine for the circumstances. We spoke on the timeline data and the meeting ended. Cassie wasn’t there in person yet so Katie asked to see the poster and video layout, I don’t like showing jank work before it isn’t somewhat okay. That’s what I am working on now, the poster and the paper. I don’t think the paper is going to get done by time they want it to be but I will at least try. Its cramming time. We met with Cassie and waited for the read team but they never showed (they were busy) so we headed to ethos for the PHI meeting. Kay is now Max Headroom (a creepy 80s artificial intelligence guy. I will insert picture of him in pic blog) she wasn’t there in person so she was in the laptop. They spoke about PHI stuff and it was time to go go go. I am now here writing this and will work on the poster and the paper after that.

Day 3- We met with Katie to discuss the paper and future projects. I want to work on the PHI one. I feel stuck, I have no idea what I want to do in life and now that I am a sophomore I need to start getting that in order. Research seems like a lot of fun but I may have not found my passion, maybe I will be like Susan and end up switching my career later on. I don’t want to have to do that! I know what I do not want. I like dealing with earth problems, I watched a ton of National Geographic and Science channel and I want to know what the people who visit very old places and help put the pieces back together with the help of a computer. I saw that so long ago and I wish I would have did research on it then but it was the beginning of high school so I was not concerned about what I wanted to do yet. I’m lost but for now I’ll try anything or observe anything. After that it was our Wednesday meetings and Katie went over exiting stuff and our poster presentations and all. I stayed for a bit and stared at my computer until I wanted to go home.

Day 4- This morning was a blur, it went really fast. Today was a very learning day, I learned about a new software called lightworks for the video and it took forever to figure out but I am slowly figuring everything out. I watched so many youtube videos and they are not really helpful.

Day 5- FRIDAY and busy day, sadly. The usual Friday meeting, actually it was the last Friday meeting. We got some more leaving instructions and times which makes me more anxious that we are actually leaving. We spent most of the day with Cassie, mostly to finish cleaning the data,  then we ate lunch then reclined it because it really wasn’t that clean (Cassie mostly did this) and made some nifty looking graphs and a really cool visual for the poster. Then the Friday tea happened. It was my favorite because it was really fun and reflective AND educational. The great trinity, and there were some good pops too. I tried to go home but ended up here for another hour so I played around with the video software. I should become a vlogger because I am becoming a pro (not really).

5 things I wish I knew before the REU

1. How fast these 10 weeks were going to go, do not rush everything but taking your sweet time on things will make you rush in the end
2. I wish I had arranged more places to do work when I do not want to be in the office anymore, I just went home and got 25% of the stuff I wanted to get done, done.
3. How expensive it it to go grocery shopping and how to pinch a penny when going grocery shopping
4. How to be a good note taker
5. Stating if I do not get something or if I was confused. It would have saved a lot of time

5 things for future REU’s

1. Have fun, take time for yourself, go out, take a day just to sleep, take time for yourself.
2. If you do not want to work anymore, go home, everyone has those days, but do not make it a habit. Get something done before you leave or change locations to get more done.
3. Bring a blanket, its freezing in here
4. Tea is better than coffee, do not rely on coffee to stay up, thats not healthy, go to sleep.
5. Have good communication with your partner, lay down who’s doing what and if that is fair.