After an eventful Monday, it was a nice change of pace to take a break and enjoy a more relaxed day on Tuesday. The program’s schedule follows a pattern where we have workshop sessions on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday, however, our focus shifts towards our research projects, and we have dedicated office hours to schedule meetings with our research mentors. These meetings serve as valuable opportunities to discuss our next steps for the summer research project.
Speaking of projects, we have had numerous meetings and engaging assignments that have given me a general idea of the research project I will be working on this summer. My project builds upon previous REU research and forms part of a broader initiative aimed at enhancing postsecondary education accessibility for the community of Storm Lake, Iowa. Our approach involves developing a 3-D game specifically designed for first-generation students. The ultimate goal is to bridge the gap and empower these students by showing them that pursuing higher education is not something to fear but rather an opportunity to improve themselves and their surrounding community.
To add a personal and relevant touch to our game, we are planning to visit several students from Storm Lake and engage in discussions about their unique stories. By incorporating their experiences into the game, we aim to create a relatable and immersive environment. The underlying objective of these interactions and research is to determine the most effective way to convey agency to these students. We want them to feel empowered and in control of their lives, encouraging them to pursue their college ambitions.
In other news, the SPIRE website banner has finally been updated with our picture on the ISU sign. For me, that was the final piece that made the entire program feel real. I’m looking forward to an amazing summer ahead, and I hope to break away from falling into a predictable routine so that I can fully embrace and enjoy this unique experience.
On Wednesday, we continued with the C++ workshop, and I was pleasantly surprised that we started to cover topics I hadn’t been exposed to before. Initially, I had doubts about the extent of technical knowledge I would gain this summer, but as I look ahead at the upcoming weeks of workshops, it appears that I’ll have my hands full with a wide range of new technical skills to learn.
After work, I joined two other interns from my hometown for a round of frisbee golf. It was a fun way to to walk and talk and do an activity outside of the program. One of the interns is currently working in a prion lab at the USDA national laboratory, and I enjoyed hearing about her work, especially since it was something unfamiliar to me like lab work.
Today, we had the privilege of listening to Eliot Winer, the director of the VRAC, who shared his graduate school journey and experiences as a professor. The talk revolved around the nature of graduate school and whether pursuing it would be worthwhile. In short, he strongly believed that graduate school is a valuable path for everyone in the program, and he provided us with some fantastic tips on how to apply and succeed in that realm.
After work, we have a mandatory yoga session, which I’m not particularly thrilled about. However, I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to go rock climbing afterward, which is an activity I’m much more excited about.