Dear Diary,

I feel: 😊😳😍😮😥🙏🏻(every emotion)

Woah. It’s our last day. I’m not ready for these emotions. Since the symposium was yesterday, our projects have officially ended. It was awesome seeing everyone’s hard work. I wasn’t feeling the greatest (probably because I was nervous), but it was great to share our work with others.

This morning, we filled out an online survey about the program. We also had a post-program group interview regarding our time here.

We had a goodbye lunch today, and I cried. The room was packed with REU students, graduate mentors, professors, and staff. Farewell speeches were exchanged, and we even received gifts! Professor Gilbert gave each team something to remember our work by, and the 3D scanning team got hand held magnifiers. Karina also gave us luggage tags. For the 3D scanning team, one of our graduate mentors each gave us a book applicable to our interests! I got a book on robotics! Alex 3D-printed a cat with a ball for everyone.
One of the coolest gifts we got was a conditional acceptance to ISU’s Human Computer Interaction graduate program. Given our hard work here, they are ready to accept us.
After the lunch, the 3D scanning team had our last group meeting. It was such a bittersweet goodbye. Although they are also our mentors, I consider them my friends too. They have been so kind and supportive this entire program, and we got to talk and laugh about so much more than research.

At the beginning of the program, we wrote letters about our values. Writing your values down is supposed to reinforce your commit to them. Reading my letter now, the values were reinforced. One of the most significant ones listed was communication and honesty, and I have multiple instances where I was honest and open about my thoughts and feelings.

Many thanks are in order for so many reasons. I won’t list the reasons, but I want to recognize the people who have made this program amazing.
Thank you to the program coordinators and staff: Eliot, Stephen, Tiffany, Paul, Abby, and Andrew.
Thank you to all the teachers: Adam, Jack, Mindy, Holly, Kate, Alex, and Robert.
Thank you to my team professors and graduate mentors: Professor Li, Professor Qin, Yi, Vignesh, and Xiao.
Thank you to my team: Kelsey and Jennifer.
Thank you to all the REU students: Vrinda, Karina, Jennifer, Kelsey, Nina, Syema, Roselynn, Emmanuelle, Tiger, Bradon, and Lucas.

Thank you to everyone who read these posts and followed the mundane activities of my daily life these past two months. It’s been a roller coaster of events and emotions, and I’m incredibly thankful and happy for the entire experience!

Tidbit(s) of information:

• If you’re considering applying or committing to the program, it’s worth it. There are so many opportunities to learn and grow professionally, academically, and personally. Take advantage of them!
• This is my 41st post. Given there were 70 days in the program, that’s a lot of posting!
• I’m already missing all of you. Good luck everyone in all of your endeavors!

Sincerely,
Lara