It’s the start of week 7 and almost a week since the MCA’s, even though I’m a little late, I couldn’t be more happy and grateful for everyone in this program who has done nothing but support me up until this point. Prior to the MCA presentation, I put in countless hours everyday and on the weekend trying to round off and perfect my MCA to my standards and was nothing short of mortified the day of presentations. I tried my hardest to make my presentation and speech as formal and concise and possible and was beyond stressed out that I would go very far past my time (I consistently got 13-14 minutes), not to mention Dr. Gilbert’s comments about going over time at the beginning which put even more pressure on me rushing my presentation. Otherwise, after rushing through my speech (and afterwards reading everyone’s criticism on slowing down my talking), I was able to finally stop worrying about it and while I was getting ready to hear basic compliments about my topic, I was not prepared for the mass amount of feedback and positive things a lot of people had to say about it. It truly felt like the purpose and passion I had put into it had been seen and recognized, this is not to mention it made me realize just how many children just like my sister this could help learn and grow. I want to give my thanks and regards to a few people who helped my project grow and shine as much as it did because it wouldn’t have been the same without their help and support throughout and afterwards:

Alex – Thank you so much for consistently giving me feedback and support with my ideas, and telling me straight up that my original idea wasn’t as personally connected to my sister as it could’ve been. It also goes without saying that your deeper dive had me the most hooked out of any class I’ve taken so far in this REU, and the freedom we had to do what we wanted to for the MCA. For that, I’m indebted to you for being the cause of my project’s pivot and main idea with model targeting, which has allowed it to become what it has become now.

Stephen Feiffer – Thank you for sitting down with me and proofreading my slides and giving me endless feedback on how I can make my presentation be as impactful as possible along with being concise enough to get my message and purpose across effectively. I apologize for making you watch my mock presentation video when you could’ve been playing with your childhood friends, but that slack reply was the most helpful push you gave me prior to the presentation, and I thank you so much for it.

Sam and Emily – Thank you both for showing me not only how to be a good student mentor, but also all the basics and more of how to work with solid works and 3D printing. You both set the foundation for my knowledge with the programs and allowed me to build my “famous” model target cube which sparked my interest in model targets and AR as a whole, and I thank you both.

Sarah – Although you weren’t involved in my MCA prior to the presentation, your kind words and priceless thoughts about my project have not only made me feel so seen and proud of myself, but they have also warped my view of my project. Thanks to you, I want to take my MCA way beyond the scope of just here at VRAC, the audience its catered to is so deserving of something tuned specifically to their preferences and I want to be someone who goes above and beyond for them, and for this, I thank you very deeply.

Stephen Gilbert – Despite making me 100x more nervous prior to my presentation, your strictness and feedback about how good slideshows are formatted did push me to make my presentation as good as it could be. Although I still ended up reading directly off the slide and wasn’t able to back up all my claims with research, your feedback after the presentation did not go through one ear and out the other, and I thank you heavily for giving me reason to be even greater.

Overall, the MCA’s were described as the “hardest part of the whole REU program,” but I’d say otherwise. Being able to work on a project idea I am so passionate about and putting in the hours to create something I am proud of is a feeling like no other, and dare I say that I even had fun throughout the whole experience. These two weeks have taught me more about myself than the actual topic I worked on, and it’s that 1) graduate school is 100% for me, and 2) my future job has to be something I enjoy doing. In the eyes of someone else, I was just working, but to me, I was doing something I have true and real passion for, and that mindset shifted my perspective on work as a whole.

This experience wasn’t just about meeting the bare minimum or finishing a project, it was about discovering what it feels like to work with purpose, to create with meaning, and to be surrounded by people who see the value in what you’re building. I didn’t just grow as a researcher, I grew as a person, a mentor, a student, and a future innovator. The MCA wasn’t the hardest part of the REU, it was the most rewarding. And if this is just the beginning, then I can’t wait to see what comes next.