Sunday, July 29, 2018
By:
This week we had the opportunity to take a tour of NASA Goddard and NIST. For NIST, the majority of us took the metro and shuttle over. We first had a talk given my PI. He couldn't get find a laptop so it was more of a sit down Q & A. After that we visited a electron spin resonance lab. I think a good majority of us enjoyed this section since the lab had so many amazing instruments, experiments, and materials in it. It was fun to see all my colleagues get excited about the physics in the labs. Through the rest of the day we got to see my lab, a post docs lab, the nanofab lab and were given a museum/library tour. It has been fun and entertaining being surrounded by so many physicist this summer. By the end of the tour we were all very tired. I was fortunately able to stay extra late that night since my adviser asked me to if could. We wanted to finish an experiment and collect all the data to be ready for Thursday morning. This was an awesome experience because I was happy that both my PI and I cared enough about the project to stay late. I wonder how I will be once I’m as experienced as he is . I know right now I like to stay late and dedicate much of time to my craft, but there will come a time when I’ll have a strong reason to go home at 5 from work. Still I hope the fun and excitement that I find in physics never ends.
Another thing I have found myself thinking about lately, is how balanced my life will be once I am done with graduate school and even on after that. I have chosen a life in research and academic and I know that entails much dedication, but I am also a fan of running, swimming, biking, training martial arts, soccer, hiking, yoga, etc. And that is just the things outside, I want to be able to cook, watch movies, and honestly just be able to relax on any given weeknight. The ultimate goal it to be in bed by 9 every night. (haha). But I am sure these are thoughts we all share and I’ve learned not to focus on the money, glory, or the accolades. Focus your heart and efforts on your passion and everything else will just come.
I can not believe we got two more weeks left. It feels normal living with my roommates. As if it has been longer than 8 weeks. I will miss them. They are very fascinating people who I am glad I got to meet. This is also the last week of real work for nist so I am excited to try and make these last moments count.
Jesus Perez