Friday, May 29, 2015
By:
Whew! My final two weeks in Sonoma were a whirl of finals, senior capstone presentation, and moving all my belongings back home; before I could take a breather, I was on a flight to DC for the summer!
I have visited the district a few times before but always for short visits. It is very exciting to be here for the entire summer! I am looking forward to exploring all the hidden nooks and crannies.
Meeting the other interns confirmed that this will be a great summer, everyone clicked instantly! Many bonds were made over our many shared interests, like Parks and Rec, House of Cards, and Game of Thrones; so basically we all really like Netflix! We spent the first two days hanging out, getting meals together, and running to Target for everything we forgot to pack. The intern housing is in Woodley Park this year, it is such a nice area with plenty of restaurants just down the street and a major plus, the National Zoo is less than a block north from us!
So of course, Memorial Day we all headed for a morning trip to the National Zoo. The pandas and elephants were group favorites. We did not catch the orangutans swinging around on their O-line, a system of cables linking the Great Ape House (where the orangutans are housed) and the Think Tank (where they interact with the public, you can play tag-a-war with them), but I plan on going to the zoo often enough to catch them on the O-line! After a long morning at the zoo, we attended the Memorial Day Parade along Constitution Avenue; we landed some pretty prime viewing spots!
After a fun weekend getting to know one another, Tuesday morning we went over to the American Center for Physics for our SPS orientation, after which we headed to our individual assignments. I went up to the 4th floor, where the American Physical Society is housed and met with Rebecca Thompson and James Roche, my mentors for the summer. I will be working with them to develop a new outreach activity, there are so many ideas swirling around, I cannot wait to implement some and share them with everyone!
If this past week is any indication, this summer will just fly by!
Amandeep Gill