Week 5

Week 5 began very well for me. I need to be at from 8:30am till 7pm to make up for the hours I missed on the previous Friday. I thought this schedule would be really hard for me, both waking up earlier and staying late. Fortunately I was only half right, the morning parts of the day were always the worst for me. However I found that staying late was actually easy. I was able to push myself to work harder and focused more on the work especially when the area was empty. I think it also helped that I had a clear goal to meet that would mean my work as a whole would become more interesting the next week if I reached it.

Monday specifically went really well for me. I stayed till exactly 7pm before leaving for a QEM event. We went to an open mic event at Busboys & Poets. This was my first time going to one of these places, and because I had been at work so late it didn’t make sense for me to go home and change first. As a result of this I arrived 45 minutes early for the open mic. Part of the event for QEM interns was to go on stage and do something. Since I had never been to Busboys before I assumed that meant poetry since that is what they are known for. So I talked to friends and family for recommendations on what poem I should read since I had little experience with them. The only one I ended really liking was called The Man in the Glass.

When you get what you want in your struggle for self And the world makes you king for a day Just go to the mirror and look at yourself And see what that man has to say. For it isn’t your father, or mother, or wife Whose judgment upon you must pass The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life Is the one staring back from the glass. He’s the fellow to please – never mind all the rest For he’s with you, clear to the end And you’ve passed your most difficult, dangerous test If the man in the glass is your friend. You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years And get pats on the back as you pass But your final reward will be heartache and tears If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

I just felt the need to put it here so more people know about it. So that night after the numerous amazing performances from a number of more talented people than me which included a refugee from North Korea who recited a poem about his life in the labor camps there and his eventual escape, and members of the Beltway Poetry team that would represent DC at a national competition I stepped up and read my poem. The event ended around 11 pm and after getting home that meant I went to bed later than I would have liked especially with an early wake up time.

Tuesday didn’t start as well for me, but that was expected with how late I went to bed. So feeling very sluggish I struggled through the morning until we had a professional development meeting with the AAAS fellows at noon. After the meeting I went back to work for a few hours before taking a late lunch break. After the break around 3 pm I finally felt normal again and got quite a bit done from then on. I had a meeting with my mentor at 6:30 that ran a little late so I didn’t actually leave the NSF until 7:45 that night.

Wednesday was a very routine day for me. There was an Engineering Directorate meeting at 1pm, but otherwise the day just flew by with nothing of note happening. Thursday on the other hand was anything but routine. There was a panel called “The Tech Titans and National Security”. I went with my roommates Josh and Jesse, and one of the girls Selam. We are the computer science interns and were the only ones interested. The event itself was very interesting for me with panelist from Google, Microsoft, Endgame and the Government there. The highlight for me though had nothing to do with them. After the keynote speaker Kenneth Wainstein asked for an opinion on Tech companies giving access to phones to law enforcement from a younger person and I stepped up. It was definitely harder than when I recited a poem from my phone, but I was able to speak clearly and get my point across. The event ended relatively around 2pm and so rather than rushing to the NSF for an hour or 2 of work I took advantage of the day off my mentor had given me for this event and went to see Jurassic World 2.

Friday was very routine for me, the only highlight being that I was able to reach the goal for the week. Afterwards I took a trip to Bowie, MD for a small gathering with friends. Since I didn’t want to spend the night there though I left early to catch the train back to Virginia. Of course I took advantage of my proximity to my home there to stop by and get some food.

Saturday was filled with 2 major events. The first was the World Cup, I watched the France vs Argentina match at 10am and then the Portugal vs Uruguay match at 2pm. Only after these matches finished was I willing to leave the apartment and meet some of the interns at the National Mall. There was a Catalonia/Armenian Culture festival going on there. By the time I arrived most things seemed to be winding down, but I was still able to eat some Catalonian food and then listening to a concert. Though I’m not sure whether the concert was in Armenian or Catalan, either way it was interesting to listen to and watching some families dancing to it nearby was especially fun.

After the festival ended I was still feeling a bit hungry and convinced Josh and Sandra the only 2 left that we should go to a crepes spot. My plan was to take the subway there, but Sandra insisted we walk the 1.7 miles to the store. The crepes were amazing and I even had some left over for breakfast the next morning. Then completely exhausted I returned home and passed out the second I got in bed.