I learned from this program what grad school and doctorate school is like, and now know that I will be going on to grad school next year. I am very appreciative of everyone involved in helping me understand grad school and figure out the next steps in life for me specifically.

I am also grateful for all the friends I have made along the way. Each of the interns brought something wonderful and unique to the group. I hope to continue my friendship with them in the future. I would also like to thank the people who led our group and instructed us in classes, deeper dives, and luncheon lectures. I gained a lot of valuable insight from that time. Lastly, thank you to the staff of VRAC who facilitated our internship and made it a wonderful experience.

Sincerely

~ T̷̡̥̪͑̎̓̃̓̅̀́h̵͎͈͕̻͚̩̀͛̿͂o̴̡̗̠̠̿̍͂̍̈́̕̚̚m̵̫̃̊͆̓̏͝a̵͎͚̯͔̜͙̮̫͑̃̄͋͒͂̓͠ś̶̬̯̒

Dorm Room: Echoey

Living Room: Silent

Cupboards: Empty

VRAC spinny chair: Still

VRAC desk: Unused

VRAC: Quieter

Heart: Full

Knowledge: Acquired

Altitude: currently 0ft (will be 30,000 ft in about 5 hours)

As I write this, I sit, kneeling, on the carpet because someone stole my chair lol, as I write this blog. In about 5 minutes time, we will go outside to take a picture in front of the C6 with my little disposable camera and go through those front doors one last time. I feel like something big and momentous is coming to a close and if I look back I won’t have the strength to keep walking forward out those front doors and through the bus doors which will take me home. I have found a family and I thank each and every one of you in VRAC because you made this summer so special!!! I knew that coming into the office meant I would see smiling faces, I would get to laugh with someone and even if I was very stressed, someone would be there to help out or cheer me up or teach me. It was the best. I hear everyone starting to move out so I have to go but I will cherish this summer and everything I have learned and all my new friends. Thank you!!!!!!!

Bye for now

–Emma

Today is Recording Day!!!

Can’t believe it, we’re on the 10th week :(. When we were at the half way point of the REU, the last week still seemed so far away. Now, being here on the 10th week, just doesn’t feel real. We’ll all be on a flight back home this Saturday…..far from Iowa….far from each other. Hopefully it won’t be our last goodbye, we’ll see each other many times to come. If we don’t, thank you everyone for making this such a memorable experience. For most summers, even if I go on trips, they start blurring together a little bit but this summer, the people, the adventures, the friends, the experiences, are something I will never truly forget. Also, thank you so much to the mentors and the people involved in making this REU happen. Because of you guys, this experience is one that none of us will forget.

Thank you

This is the last week of the program. It is very sad for this program to be coming to an end. Once the program finishes on Friday, I will be going straight home so that I can be at SLU by Saturday to start RA training on Monday. It is a lot and I hope that I will be ready.

This past week has been filled with so much fun. For starters, both Shae and Eli celebrated their 20^th birthdays. Shae’s was on Thursday, so we all went to work, went home, and then went to Inis Grove Park to eat and have fun. Hands down, this park is one of the best parks that I have ever seen. As a kid, I would have LOVED this park. The playground equipment was super fun and innovative. There was lots of space to play, and it was a great playground to play Sandman/Woodchips/Lava Monster (these names are all the same game. Depending on where you grew up, people call them different names). We played soccer, frisbee, and Sandman as a group. It such a great time and the perfect way to celebrate Shae’s birthday.

Then, on Saturday, Shae, Eli, Emma, and I went to Adventure Land. This excursion has been in the works since June, and it was soo much fun! Turns out that all four of us have the same roller coaster tolerance, which is to say, not very much. We went on a few roller coasters and then went to the water park area. We spent a lot of time over there on the water rides. Some of the highlights of the park were the big water drop slide, the Typhoon, and the Pheonix. It was soooo much fun! After that, we came back and went to Macubana as a full group to celebrate Eli’s birthday. We then went back to the apartments, surprised Eli with a cake and gift, and hung out until very late. It was such a great day overall. There was a lot of joy and fun.

Last week, one of our Luncheon lectures was given by Dr. Lefferts from New Zealand. He came in with this really thick New Zealand accent, which made Meriem very excited. His research is on the Cardiovascular System. During his presentation, he gave us a run down of some of the basic concepts from his research as well as his journey to where he is today. He started off by listing some of his interests: detail-oriented tasks, mountains, and comedy. Then, he showed us his entirely non-linear journey showing that it is perfectly normal to feel like your own journey is not linear. He then encouraged us to follow our interests in whatever we pursue. He explained how he follows his interests in his life now. To fulfill his love for detail-oriented tasks, he will build model planes and drones. To fulfill his love for mountains, he did some research on the base camp of Mount Everest. To fulfill his love of comedy, he tells jokes during lectures or convinces an entire room of people that he is from New Zealand. Suddenly, his accent melts away and he is speaking in an American accent. WHAT?!?! I did not even hear the next few sentences because I was just processing what occurred. Dr. Lefferts went through the entire presentation speaking in a New Zealand accent. Honestly, highly impressive. Anyhow, I was SUPER interested in his research. It was honestly really cool. I think that the heart is super amazing (if that wasn’t already clear from my 3D printing project haha).

So, I emailed him to see if I could meet with him to see his lab. Fast forward to today! Eli and I went to his lab to play with some of the toys and see the lab. We used three different machines to look at data from my heart arteries and veins. We started with the ultrasound. With the ultrasound, we saw my carotid artery and jugular vein and got to play with making them vasodilate. Then, we played with the arteries in my arms by restricting blood flow to my hand and then letting it go. My artery vasodilated and worked so hard to restore blood flow to my hand. The ultrasound showed how much blood flowed through my artery at once, and it was sooo much! It was crazy. Then, the coolest part was that we got to see my heart!!! I got to see my left atrium, left ventricle, start of the aorta, and the valves inside (including the chordae tendineae!! Sooooo cool!!!). How many people can say that they have seen their heart as it pumping?? Amazing!! On a different machine, we used a pressure sensor to look at the different pressures in different arteries in my arm and neck. On the third machine, we looked at the different arteries that lead up into my brain. We identified them by doing a jugular wiggle to see if application of pressure changed the artery and having me close my eyes and see if the blood velocity decreased. This allowed us to differentiate between the two arteries. Overall, this was one of the coolest things I have seen. I really want to do something similar to this for my own research when I go to get a Master’s degree. So fun!!

I have been so busy that it has become extremely hard for me to blog. Dear blog, I would just like to say, I deeply apologize for abandoning you💖

Last Thursday was my birthday and it was a very interesting one. I woke up early just so I could pamper myself. I showered, exfoliated my skin, moisturized my face, and did my hair and makeup💄. I felt ready to conquer the world as a 20-year-old🏆. On the way out the door, I saw some flowers, a cupcake, and a card left by the interns💗. I read the card and literally almost cried. It was the most heartfelt gift I received in a while.

On Saturday me, Eli, Grace, and Emma went to Adventure Land🎢. When I first got there I felt really queasy🤢. The last time I been to an amusement park was when I was about 11. I was anxious to see how the rides would affect me mentally and physically. I rode one rollercoaster and was still queasy so I decided to take things slow and skip the next one.

After the two rollercoasters we rode, we went to the waterpark section. This is where we spent the majority of our time. The water rides were the most fun for me🤽🏾‍♀️. The wave pool and lazy river were also pretty nice🌊. At 6:30 pm we went to watch a comedy magic show which was a bit cheesy😂, but in a good way👍🏾. I really enjoyed the comedian’s boisterous personality.

Sundays can often be very refreshing for me. I get to wind down, organize my thoughts, and get a little “me” time. I washed and did my hair, caught up on some of my favorite shows📺, washed clothes, cleaned up a bit, and cooked🍳. I really enjoy cooking and had a taste for shrimp tacos. I ordered some groceries and got right to it, preparing my meal. This was a very productive and fulfilling Sunday for me😁🌮.

On Saturday the 30th, a couple of people went to spend the day at Adventure Land (an amusement park). I didn’t go though. Instead, Farhan, Meriem, Thomas, Dante, Mattan, Kat, and I went ice skating. I had never been ice skating before, so I was really excited. We ended up skating for 2 hours because that was how long the public skate was open. Anyways, I learned pretty quick. When I first got out on the ice, I used the wall to steady myself and get my bearings, but after that I only occasionally used the wall. My mindset was pretty much just go for it. I had no fear of falling because I really wanted to learn. Because I wasn’t afraid to fall, I learned very quickly to the point where before the first hour was over I could do a couple laps around the rink without falling. Unfortunately, I would later regret that lack of fear because I fell hard… A LOT… and my knees greatly suffered the consequences… Despite the pain my knees were in and my bruises I’m currently sporting like battle scars, I had a lot of fun and would definitely love to go ice skating again. I also got pulled into a game of tag with a kid… I didn’t even know I was playing, but guess he thought I was a good enough skater to play and keep up with him 😂. Also, thank you Dante for coating me in ice not 10 minutes after I started skating…

Saturday was also Eli’s birthday, so that night when everyone was on their way back from dinner after Adventure Land, we went into the guys apartment, hid, and shouted surprise when Eli, Thomas, and Emma walked in the door. We had some cake and talked for a little bit before I retired for the night because it was a little after 11:00 and I was exhausted since I usually get up around 5 or 6 every morning. We had a good time and I hope Eli had an amazing birthday!

On Sunday, I spent most of the day in the library working on my game of chess since I now have a completed board that works with the LEDs. I was originally working on rewriting the code and simplifying it, but ran into a problem and took a break to just add comments into my code. Below are pictures of me testing the code to make sure the correct tiles on the board are light up by the LEDs.

Not much happened on Monday besides us finishing our poster for the symposium on Thursday, but last night a couple of us watched Spirited Away. It was an interesting movie and was not what I expected at all, but it was still good. Anyways, now it is basically just wrapping up some loose ends and preparing for the symposium tomorrow. I’ll probably write one more blog post after this to talk about the symposium and say goodbye. It’s hard to believe my time here in Iowa is almost over.

This week begins to wrap up our 10 week REU experience here in Ames, Iowa, in the VRAC of the Aerospace building. I’m going to really miss it.

Over the weekend, we celebrated @Eli’s birthday by going to Adventureland. It was a bunch of fun, though hot. I learned a couple of things that day.

We got Macubana for dinner and then surprised @Eli for his birthday. It took some coordination but he seemed really happy and that made me really happy to see someone else that happy.

On Sunday…what did I do Sunday….I put together a mini Soundwalk for @Thomas to try out. It wasn’t the best because the music didn’t exactly match the landscape but it still works. I made One Dish Wonder (rice and beans / crushed tomatoes / ground beef Family Dish) and I thought it was to acidic….so me being a science kid, I made it more basic by adding a pinch of baking soda. Bad Idea. It got way too basic and it ended up fizzing in my mouth. I learned my lesson. Later in the evening, I took a walk and sat outside for a while, contemplating the summer. When I came back inside, I played Overcooked 2 and it Takes Two with @Thomas and @Eli. Another thing I learned this summer: video games are harder than they look and I have no idea how to press more than 2 buttons at a time on a game controller.

Monday rolled around and brought with it the bittersweet emotions of the beginning of the end. We worked hard on our poster to get it ready to be printed. Aligning text boxes, making text boxes bigger, editing text, re-aligning everything, adding a screenshot, editing the graph and re-adding that screenshot, taking out a whole section then putting it back in, “can you move it like a millimeter that way?”, changing the order of bullet points, proofreading…you get the idea. I like this kind of design though so I enjoyed it. Monday evening, I went to check out the Vintage Vinyl store in the mall! It was so cool! and I am contemplating getting a record player. Records sound so cool. I got home, had a virtual dance lesson (gym member ships expired and thy wouldn’t let us in 🙁 ), then worked with @Thomas and @Eli to keep improving our poster until 11pm when I called it quits because I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

Yesterday, Tuesday, was a good day. I sat in the JB conference room for hours trying to get my speech delivery down. I am still self conscious of how much I am talking and get worried about all the details I think I throw out there when I speak. I am using this poster session as an opportunity to improve my speaking and conversation skills and I am very excited. Public speaking doesn’t intimidate me and I won’t let it. As I was practicing, I was going through each section, finding the most important processes, results or data to mention and wrote down a very short list for each section. After a while, @Jack encouraged me to go to the Hub with everyone and I am glad I did.

P.S. best wishes to those who are trying to figure out these photo things on wordpress. I couldn’t explain it if my life depended on it and it doesn’t seem to be working too well.😂

Bye for now

–Emma 🙂