Well, here I am, at the end of the summer. I am sad for it to be over, but looking forward to everything that lies ahead of me. This experience has helped me figure out the myriad of options that are available to me, and given me slightly more faith in my abilities.
I was able to do enough video analysis that yesterday, Daniel and I worked on actually looking at the numbers. It was difficult, because I don’t know enough about R that I could help very much, but I knew the data better than he did, so if errors popped up, I could usually explain them. Every day I get more impatient to learn more about R!
Today, I watched all the Hatfield REU students give their presentations. There were a lot of them, but they were all very interesting, and it was cool to see what had been on the minds of the faces I’d been seeing walking around Hatfield all summer. One in particular that stood out did what’s called stable isotope analysis on the diets of juvenile salmon. I later talked to the girl who gave the presentation, and she said she was really excited about it, and applied to this program specifically so she could do that analysis. I found it intriguing, and intend to learn more about the process in the near future.
So what does my life look like from here on out? After I spend some time visiting my brother at college, and my parents in California, I go back to school for a year. After spending so much time working and learning, I’m really excited to go back to normal classes. At first I found this strange, but I realized that I really love learning new things, and the college atmosphere is perfect for that. After I graduate, who knows what I will do? There are so many doors I could open. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, and a big thanks to everyone who helped make my summer a success!