Last Day

This summer flew by way too quickly! My presentation went very well and I had a wonderful time learning about the other interns' summer work at the Symposium. I went to the RIT Java's for the last time on Friday and ordered a delicious Kinky Reggae. After the Symposium I enjoyed a delish lunch at Macaroni Grill with Becca and her fam and friend. When I got home I realized that I would not longer be waking up to go to work everyday. Work took over most of my summer and it was a great experience (plus i made money!!). Thank you to everyone who made this summer possible and so much fun.

Here are some important things that I learned:

1. Everything you can learn about NMR, contrast agents and transmetallation in 7 weeks.

2. NMR Spectrometers ROCK and are constantly malfunctioning and extremely breakable.

3. Dr. Hornak always has the answers and is always ready to explain them on his handy whiteboard.

4. Arrive at the morning 8:45 meeting by 8:40 or you will be considered late.

5. Becky, Lauren and I worked in the coolest MRI lab ever this summer!

6. If you're ever in building 8 and kind of hungry, head down to the basement and you will always find soda and chips in the chem lounge.

7. If you ever forget your keys to room A205 in building 76, just knock while singing the chorus of "16 going on 17" from "The Sound of Music" and Becky or Lauren will kindly open the door for you.

8. Even if its 120 degrees outside, always remember to bring a sweatshirt if you're planning on visiting 76-A205 or the NMR.

9. REMEMBER to clock in and out before and after lunch!

10. I loveeee free lunches!

AND MUCH MORE....

Saying Bye :(

Today was the last day of real work. Although I'm super excited to finally get a chance to sleep in again, I'm really sad that the internship is ending. Today we practiced our presentations in the auditorium and ate a free CIS internship program lunch for the last time. :( I created a word document called "A Quick Guide to NMR" today. Its basically a summary of how I prepared solutions, used the NMR, plotted data, and analyzed data. I hope it will be helpful to another intern in the future. I hope tomorrow goes well for everyone!

Clean Up Time

On Wednesday I finished creating my gadolinium sulfate solutions. I was very sad because I came in around one o'clock and missed the Hawaiian Party. :( I finished organizing my lab area and all of my old solutions. I emptied all of my flasks into small 20 mL containers and labeled them. I threw away a bunch of boxes, once filled with delicious snacks. Today was all about cleaning up and practicing my presentation.

Exhuasting Tuesday

Tuesday after playing tennis I tried finishing creating my solutions and cleaned up around the lab. I was working very slowly because I was exhausted and my legs were hurting a lot. It was a very relaxed day.

New Research

I came to work after playing tennis in the blazing sun. Dr. Hornak told me some new ideas for research to add on to my presentation. Today I learned that research actually does just lead to more questions and therefore, more research. There's always a way to learn about a process or substance in greater depth. Unfortunately, I don't know if I'll be able to get everything done since I will be testing the samples at 5 different temperatures, which would usually take me 10 hours. I started creating my samples today, but I couldn't get very far since I didn't have a balance to weigh out 7.4681 g of gadolinium sulfate. Hopefully I'll finish my creating my solutions tomorrow and I'll test them at 20 C. On Wednesday I can try to test the samples at 2 or 3 more temperatures. I guess we'll see how far I can get before the presentation on Friday.

Undergrad Symposium

On Friday I presented at the Undergrad Symposium and it went well!! I didn't mess up at all! I was kind of nervous that someone would ask me a really complicated question that I wouldn't know the answer to, but that didn't happen. Someone did ask me a question that I didn't know the answer to, but I improvised and somehow gave the correct answer. I was really sad after the presentation because Becky and Lauren left and will no longer be working with me. :(

Practice Makes Perfect

Today seemed to fly by very quickly since I rapidly went from one activity to the next. I tested my samples and fixed my powerpoint in the morning. Next I added my new data to my mole ratio plot and realized that my previous conclusion was incorrect. We thought that zinc may be complexing, but apparently it isn't. After showing Dr. Hornak my new results, Becky, Lauren and I practiced our presentations in the auditorium. I totally improvised since I had never practiced before and fortunately I didn't do as bad as I thought I would. I then went back over to the NMR to test some more samples. I was really happy because I didn't have to refill the container with liquid nitrogen, which is a lot of fun, but takes quite a while. Tomorrow will be another busy day and presentation day!