Joining the SPS National Team

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Friday, June 8, 2018

By:

Michael Welter

"Hey, you know those spherical cows? I need a spherical space cow." -Brad Conrad, Director of SPS, to me, the 2018 SPS Communications and Web Development Intern, on Day One.

Spherical Space Cow designed by Michael Welter. Often it is not only convenient, but necessary to use approximations in calculations. Assuming a cow is spherical is a classic example of one of those cases.

When I enrolled at High Point University as a physics major, I never imagined that I would one day be working directly with the SPS national organization in Washington DC. Though, looking back I can easily see the milestones that were leading me on this wonderfully physics-y path: joining the HPU SPS chapter, volunteering at HPUniverse Day, becoming a physics tutor, attending PhysCon 2016, reorganizing our physics major study space, being elected VP of our SPS chapter, attending the AAPT Winter Meeting 2018... All amazing opportunities that helped guide my ambitions and allowed me to meet my extraordinary friends and mentors.

"What if we made a point chicken? Like, just a dot and a little speech bubble that says "bawk" or something."

Point Chicken designed by Michael Welter. Often it is not only convenient, but necessary to use approximations in calculations. Assuming a chicken is a volume-less point is an example of one of those cases.

It's hard to find an environment where you feel like everyone is on the same page and where everyone is supportive of each other's ideas---but that has been my first impression of the SPS national environment. They have boards to discuss how to improve office life, notes and awards for people that go above and beyond to help colleagues, cake to celebrate employee birthdays; not to mention they promote physical and mental well-being through access to a gym, showers, quiet rooms and unlimited coffee/tea.

With this productive environment, it's easy to stay focused on my intern tasks, which include (but are not limited to) creating and revamping SPS promotional material (hence the spherical space cow and point chicken), editing/organizing images and articles for journals, revamping outdated website templates and even contacting SPS members across the country. I thoroughly enjoy the work, and spending time with Brad, James, Danielle and the other interns is a recipe for a great time. I have a feeling the next nine weeks are going to fly by.

(A message from Week 8 Michael: I've taken the time to incorporate a lot of links to various websites and pages in my future blogs. I highly encourage you to navigate to them so that you get the full picture of what my experience has been like!)

Michael Welter