Day: August 12, 2018

The last and final week came to a close. We had a short week of only two days. Monday was a nervous one as we had a our first poster session where I and all the other engineering REU students at UNL came together to present our posters. This was the first time that I have ever done anything like this, but it went smoothly. Tuesday came around and it was much more relaxing as we did the big poster presentation with all the REU students. This finished off our summer as we had an exiting party with the entire lab. It was nice of the professors to get us some food and bring everyone together one last time. This was a very exciting summer and I am sad to see it come to a close, but am ready for the next adventure, or school. Thanks to NIMBUS for a great summer.

Hi everyone! I realized that I forgot to write my blog (yet again), so keep reading if you want an update on the past 3 weeks of my life.

I’m home now, and it’s really great. I missed my family and friends, but I’m really missing UNL right now. Traveling home was rough. No one slept because the first shuttle to the airport left at 3 am, so we stayed up for hugs and goodbyes. My flight departed at 7 am, but I passed out as soon as I was buckled into my seat. I don’t even remember the take off.

I mostly spent week 9 writing my paper. Then I spent a lot of time practicing my presentation because after the practice run with Dr. Duncan, I kinda just wanted to crawl under the table and stay (due to my lack of public speaking skills). On Monday, we presented in Othmer Hall with other engineering students. After talking about my research for 2 hours, I was ready for the Poster Symposium. Later that night, we had a banquet for everyone in the research program. I got to hear about all of the other students’ research from their professors, and I learned who the poster finalists were. Shout out to Jason and Shannon for repping Team Nimbus!

After the Research Symposium, we went back to Nimbus Lab for goodbye cake. It hit me when I told Ajay and Ashraful goodbye. Ajay said, “goodbye ex minion”, and that just set off the water works. I told him they were happy tears but I lied; I really didn’t want to leave. I had the most incredible time this summer. Ashraful 3D printed me a mini drone, so I’ll remember my time here forever. I made great friends. I worked with field robotics. I flew drones. Some of the drones were even bigger than me. I learned so much from my mentors. I kinda figured out what I want to do after I finish my undergrad thanks to Ajay and Ashraful. I rode a motorcycle for the first time. I sat in a tractor. I petted a cow. I road tripped to Colorado. I hiked mountains and sand dunes. I spent a lot of time out in the field. Trust me, I’m not an outdoorsy person, but by the end of the summer, I was washing my hands in a puddle on the side of the road. I swear, every year, I think I peaked, but life just keeps getting better.

I can’t wait to come back in October for the Women in Physical Sciences Conference and see everyone again.