Monday, June 10, 2024
By:
Going into week two, my biggest goal was to establish a routine. Having already become acquainted with my living space, the other interns, and my work for the summer, I wanted to start creating habits and a schedule that will make my internship experience not only productive, but also fun and rewarding. I was excited to dig into my work a little more, and to start to get a sense for what the rest of my summer in DC will look like.
While most of the work I did last week revolved around understanding the context of my internship, this week I was able to get the ball rolling on several of the projects I will be working on this summer. The STEP UP program has many moving parts, and it seems as though my internship will as well. I will be working on expanding the physicist profiles in the Careers in Physics lesson, as well as updating the statistics in the Women in Physics lesson. I am also collaborating on a poster to present network analysis work done by a previous intern at the upcoming American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) conference next month. Finally, I am helping to craft extensions for physics lessons that teachers can use to enhance student learning experiences. I spent most of my time this week identifying possible new physicists whose profiles we could add to the Careers in Physics lesson. My goal was to find physicists who strayed from the dominant narrative of what it means to pursue a career in physics. By exposing students to these counternarratives, the lesson shows students that there are many career options available to them after pursuing an undergraduate physics degree. In order to identify the most promising profiles, I spent some time learning about counternarratives and their effects on student perceptions and goals. I also spent some time learning about network analysis in preparation to start working on the AAPT poster. The first step in this process is an extensive literature review on network analysis and its use (or lack thereof) in education research, so I wanted to establish a solid understanding of the topic before fully diving into research. It has been incredibly exciting to start my work in earnest this week, and I am really looking forward to continuing these projects. I was also able to go into work at the DC AIP office for the first time this week, which I really enjoyed. It is such a great workspace, and I appreciated being surrounded by other interns rather than alone at my desk. I will definitely be going back more often in the coming weeks!
Outside of my day to day work, this has been an exciting week of internship programming. On Wednesday, we attended the Trimble Lecture where John Mather and Mark Clampin spoke about searching for life outside of the solar system. The lecture was absolutely fascinating! I particularly appreciated the joint emphasis on communication and people skills as a part of the scientific process. This is something that I am incredibly passionate about, although I feel it often gets overlooked in discussion about science. It was so heartening to hear two esteemed scientists speak about its importance! I was also able to talk to John Mather after the lecture, which was absolutely exhilarating. We discussed science communications and writing, and he was incredibly kind and engaged even though he had spent the whole evening talking to other people. He seemed genuinely interested in our conversation, and he even recommended a book to read! This was by far the highlight of my evening. On Thursday we went on a dinner cruise along the Potomac. I honestly was not sure what to expect, having never been on a dinner cruise before, but I had an excellent time. We saw beautiful sights, ate some yummy food, and shared exciting conversations. There was even a dance floor and a DJ!
I was also able to explore some exciting parts of DC outside of work and the internship programming this week. I joined a climbing gym in Arlington, and I am really enjoying going each day before work. Not only do they have a full gym and bouldering walls, but they also have 6:30am yoga twice a week. I love starting my days with movement, and so I have really appreciated incorporating this into my routine. There is also a dog run on the way to the gym, so I get to see adorable puppies each time I go! This weekend was also very exciting. I went to Eastern Market on Saturday with a friend from school, where I thoroughly enjoyed poking around the different stands. Later in the day I went to the pride parade with some other interns, as well as a couple of my friends from school. We all had an absolute blast! It has been so cool to explore DC and to start to get a sense for the city’s energy and community. I can’t wait to continue seeing and experiencing even more of the city in the coming weeks!
Amanda Maeglin