This was at the Research Symposium that I presented at the other day. The other two girls (on the left and right) also presented, and they worked in my lab, though we all did other projects. The Symposium went well, even though I did pull two all-nighters to finish the poster that was there. A lot of chemicals, time, money, and tears went into that project. Mostly tears. After long days of work and hearing that none of my experiments worked.
I had my last day on Friday, and it was bittersweet: it was really nice to get out of there, because I didn't absolutely love the project (it was pure chemistry, which I had somewhat lost enthusiasm for after the first semester), but the people were so amazing. A couple of them even came to support the three of us at the symposium, which was so sweet. There was a guy who was a teddy bear, though huge. He and I would just talk for a while, while I was dissolving things and he was wrapping up experiments (he left on Friday as well). And there was a girl who worked in the chemical hood across from me. She was really sweet, and would always ask me how my day was going. I'll miss them.
This day was amazing. I got a "good job" from my supervisor (who was also the person to tell me to redo my poster in the first place, which led to many tears and the all-nighters), and aced the presentation. I laughed with the other girls, and met their families. And the best thing of all? I was able to actually show people what I've been working on all year, what I've been giving my heart and soul to for hours each week, skipping meals with friends and plans with classmates for. But it was worth it, because I know that I helped the research, and got pretty nice paychecks too.
No comments:
Post a Comment