IT’S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN:
“We're leaving together, But still it's farewell” Those lyrics are a perfect description of what is happening this week. It is time to leave Charleston, Oregon and even though, most of the interns are leaving on the same flight and at the same time it’s transient. We are leaving each other at some point and the reoccurring thoughts that our lives may never cross paths again are ringing in my head. I plan on trying to keep these amazing friendships but sometimes life has a way of throwing curveballs where you lose the connections you made or what I subjectively think may be worse just drifting apart. There is no exact reason as to why you stopped talking it just happened and you can always try to repair that but the uncertainty of it is slightly haunting. Anyways, enough with the mushy feelings! This week consisted of the poster symposium, a farewell dinner, multiple potlucks and a couple of flights to go back home. Let’s start with the poster symposium! Wow feelings were running high. Slight nervousness, anxiety and excitement were the major players in this game. As usual though, after presenting to someone just once you start to calm down and really start to enjoy the whole event. I worked out the kinks in my presentation previous to the poster by presenting to myself but there is always something that will cause a slight stumble. Overall, I really enjoyed presenting my research because I finally felt confident that I was able to accurately portray our process and our findings. I particularly enjoyed the suggestions from certain visitors as well as their questions because they made me think about things I could have either done differently or try if I had more time. The time passed by very quickly and by the time I had presented to several people it was 3 o’clock and the poster presentation was over! Afterwards, we took our REU intern picture at the OIMB sign and enjoyed some brownies. Nancy, one of the fellow interns, had to leave three days earlier because she was leaving for her semester abroad in Barbados. Nancy, Ana and I all went to the famed 7 Devils Brewery to have our farewell dinner. There we all ordered the Devil’s flock, fries, and cornbread with blackberry butter. We were absolutely stuffed with food, so we came back to our dorms to help Nancy move out. She was on her way. On Thursday, one of the graduate students had a master’s thesis defense. It was a really interesting two part research study on Aequorea victoria, a jellyfish, and the distribution of pyrosomes. Afterwards, there was a potluck to celebrate her successful defense. Friday was our final whole day in Charleston, Oregon. It was definitely bittersweet. It was the last time we would be in lab with our cultures, the last time where we would eat in the dining hall, the last time when all the REU interns would really be together. That Friday evening there was a potluck at Richard’s home. It was a great way to really have those last conversation with all the mentors, graduate students and REU interns. The following morning we all went our separate ways an just like that it was over. My Final Thoughts on this REU experience: I think overall I didn’t have any real expectations for this experience other than immersing myself in marine biological research. Previous to this internship, I had absolutely no exposure to the field and now I truly feel like I have an idea of what this field entails, the work, effort, and joys. I believe that the planning of this program was exceptional. Everything went smoothly and personally I did not have any problems with my mentor. In fact, I really enjoyed his style of teaching and his exemplary advice. If I could go back in time and redo this experience I would. It was a one of a kind summer.
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AuthorHi! My name is Kostantina Orselli and I am transferring to California State University of Northridge. My interests include hiking, kayaking, playing with my dog, hanging out with friends, watching movies and more. I am ecstatic to be experiencing this opportunity at OIMB! Archives
August 2018
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