The past three days have been incredibly busy, so let’s jump right in. On Friday, we began our Deeper Dive into machine learning by providing a brief overview of the basics and its practical applications. Our coding sessions will primarily be in Python, utilizing Anaconda, a platform designed for scientific computing and data science. Although I haven’t taken a Python class yet, I understand the value this knowledge will have in future courses such as malware analysis and reverse engineering.
Following that, we had a three-hour meeting to discuss our summer research project. It was an excellent opportunity for each of us to share the progress we’ve made over the past week and receive valuable feedback and questions to further enhance our project. I was particularly excited to learn that I might have the chance to incorporate a cybersecurity aspect into the game we’re developing. While designing video games and creating a story are slightly outside my comfort zone, I am eager to get back to my bread and butter of cybersecurity
To conclude Friday, we engaged in another Deeper Dive session, where our main focus was writing code to better understand the process of creating machine learning tools. This hands-on experience will provide a good foundation for what we can do with our Deeper Dive project.
On Saturday, the heavy rain kept us indoors for most of the day, so we decided to make our way to the Ames public library for our final mandatory activity. I picked up a book on the religious practices of ancient Greek and Roman cities.
Afterwards, the guys and I headed to Seasons for lunch. To our surprise, we were the only people in the dining hall. It felt strange yet fascinating to have a whole kitchen of chefs just to ourselves.
Now, onto the highlight of the week—the main event. A friend from school invited me to crash a wedding in Adel since he expected to be bored throughout the night. As someone who never misses an opportunity to dance, of course I accepted his invitation. The venue was nestled deep within the property, surrounded by woods. It was a fun experience catching up with my friend and showcasing a line dance or two. While he may have found “Church Clap” a bit overwhelming, he managed just fine with “Copperhead Road.” The dancing was in full swing when they abruptly kicked everyone out at 11 pm. Nonetheless, as an uninvited guest, it would be unfair to critique a wedding that I wasn’t invited to.
On Sunday, I visited Reiman Gardens and explored its scenery. It had a nice tastefulness, with its wooden structures, ponds, trees, and walking paths. While walking through the gardens, I couldn’t help but laugh at the giant gnome they had hidden in the back. Although, I didn’t manage to get a photo of it, I’ll hopefully have better luck next time.
During the walk, I got to hear even more intriguing ISU lore. It was quite amusing to discover that the College of Design building was actually designed by students at the time. However, there was one small oversight—they forgot to include bathrooms in the initial plans. As a result, the restrooms had to be squeezed into nooks and crannies throughout the building. The irony that the very building where architects have their classes is considered the worst built on campus adds a touch of poetic justice to the whole thing