May 23, 2011

First Day of my Internship

WOW. It was a long day...I actually got up and was functioning in the morning! There was so much information thrown at me, it was insane. I learned a ton of safety procedures and we (me, two other interns, and a new hire) were run through overview of the systems in the plant. This time I understood it so much better. But I still don't feel like I understand enough. I don't know how I can do a job comparable to the other actual employees that are there.

This summer is going to be a LOT of rapid pace learning. I hope I am going to be able to keep up!

May 17, 2011

Getting Ready to Start my Internship

Wow...things are weird. I have never had to find a place to live for myself before, or to think about paying utilities or any of that. It's stressful! and way more expensive than I ever really considered. Balancing the distance from work and the prices of places to live was really difficult.

This has all really taught me a lot about myself. Weird things. Apparently I am obsessed with being organized and scheduled and getting things done early. And it drives me insane when people put me in a position where that isn't possible. I have always been the biggest procrastinator, and my mom would agree, I have NEVER been organized. I'm kind of glad for the change though. It's good to be on top of things (as long as I don't let other people's lack of preparedness get to me too much).

Anyways, days are counting down, I've got a lot of things to do and people to see, but I'll make it all work :)

May 15, 2011

Almost forgot!

Oh two huge things!
First, I got accepted into GEARE Spain, so a semester study abroad and a summer working in spain. It's really exciting, but I'm starting to think I might not go. Instead:
Second, I found out this semester that I just GET programming (at least in Matlab) and I think I may run with this. I really enjoy it and since I'm also good it at, it seems like a good area to consider getting a minor. So I may just work on fitting in a Computer Science minor instead! I feel like I would really enjoy this.
:/ We'll see what happens!

May 14, 2011

It's been a long time...

Well, I got very caught up in school this past year and stopped posting on here obviously, but I'll summarize how my freshman year went:

First semester was amazing:
I made some new friends and got really good grades. I managed to make Dean's List and Semester honors.

In our first year engineering class, we had a large project to finish by the end of the semester about improving the transportation system around campus. Our team came up with a lot of ideas, but my personal favorite was the idea of putting little walk up shops along the sidewalks leading onto campus. We built a model to better illustrate our idea for our presentation. The professor kept our model as an example for future students!

Speech class was actually a much better than I expected. I really hit my stride with my last individual speech. I gave a really emotional speech about society blaming rape victims. Everyone in the class responded really well and I received a perfect score. But I was really proud of myself for my strong delivery.

Second semester was a lot harder:
I had a really hard time with calculus and chemistry this semester. I just never felt like I could catch up, but in the end, I pulled it off. I learned that if I am having trouble, sometimes I have to ask for help. I've never felt that way before. It was definitely a new feeling, and I'm not sure I like it. I prefer being able to figure things out for myself, but I won't let that pride get in the way of my success.

I was also involved in Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day through Women in Engineering. This day was fun, but also a little awkward for me. I was part of the Environmental Engineering group, but as a freshman not interested in that particular field, it was hard for me to answer many questions that the high school girls asked. Our demonstration activity worked out well though. We had small groups of the girls attempt to come up with solutions for an "oil spill" on a "beach". Everyone had a of of fun.

The other big thing from this past semester was the process of getting my internship with Procter and Gamble for this coming summer. The process was very long, but I'm very excited and also a little nervous now that I have the position. It seems like it is going to be a huge responsibility for me. It will be an incredible experience, but a lot of work. I really hope I'm up to it.

In other news: Over the past year I've been slowly writing a recreational story online, and I'm really thrilled to say that I have gotten over 100 people following one of my stories. I really hope to speed up my writing now, around working for the summer.

I've also spent a lot of time with my family, and I'm really happy to have done that. My parents are really supportive of me, and my brother has become one of my best friends. With one of my largest goals being to have a large family of my own, I think it is really important that I continue to understand the importance of family time. (Although at some point I really should learn to cook. What kind of mom can't even follow a recipe???)

Next on my to-do list: Figure out how to better blend my work/school and fun days together...and also remember to post on here!