Hullo from MT

I've been settled here in Montana for a week, now, and I'm really enjoying it. The weather hasn't been the greatest - a lot of rain, unfortunately, but we've found time to do a hike and play some volleyball in between showers. The people that I'm working with are all really cool. There's Graham from Scotland, Margot from Massachusetts, Dustin from Maine, Nate from New York, Ian from Montana, and Cameron from Ohio. Last night a few of us went out to downtown Bozeman and checked out a few of the bars - we had a great time. I'm very glad I drove, as my car has been a huge asset. Yesterday, I went with Nate to I think four different pawn shops... that was hilarious. I think I'm going to go back and get a chair that was comfy. Ha.

So far, my research has been pretty simple. My advisor has been out of town since last Thursday, so I'm a bit adrift today. My "secondary" advisor, I guess you could call him, has not yet shown up this morning, so my couple of questions cannot be answered. Anyway, I'm kind of bored right now, which is why I'm blogging.

Tomorrow, we start our series of solar physics lectures, done by people both from this department and other places. I look forward to learning more about the sun and how it works. I'll be going to Yellowstone sometime next month with some other people and the area's astronomy club, so that will be a fun experience. Anyway, that's about it for now.

New Post

Hey, folks! Well, the semester is drawing to a close (a fact that I'm quite excited about) and I haven't written anything in a while, so here I am.

First of all, I have had the honor of being chosen as the winner of the Laura B. Eisenstein Award for the outstanding undergraduate female physics major. Very exciting! I mean, I know that I'm keeping my head above water, but I didn't realize that I was actually being "outstanding" or anything. These things are decided by committee, and I didn't even know that people in the department even knew who I was! But anyway, I get to go to a little lunch with other award winners, so that's cool. Also, it will look great on my CV and grad school applications!

I got an REU at Montana State University this summer, where I will be studying solar physics. It's in Bozeman, which I guess is not that far from like, Yellowstone and Glacier National Park, so I'm expecting to have fun and learn a lot! I'll be there from late May to mid-August. And they're paying me, so I can't complain.

I was informed by the physics department that they chose me as their nominee for the UIUC Women in Engineering Kirkwood Scholarship, a fact by which I felt very honored. I don't know what my competition is for it, but considering that you have to be nominated by your department to be considered for it, it's probably not too bad. I'm not getting my hopes up for actually winning, but I was happy just to be nominated. I guess it makes me feel like people are noticing what I'm doing, so... that's cool.

Well, I think that's it for now. Finals are in about three weeks, and once those are finished, my sister and Nathan and Mom and Dad and Aunt Barbara will all be in town for graduation weekend. Jennifer is coming back to get hooded for her Ph.D., even though she was really done last August, so it will be full of fun and celebration! Then a couple of weeks before I head out to Montana. I'm driving, and it's doable in two days, but I'm thinking I'm going to take three so I can detour through the Badlands and Mount Rushmore. Anyway, so... that's all folks!

I forgot I had a blog, ha!

I was reminded last night that I actually have a blog, and that people might stop by every now and then, so I thought I'd post something. Uh... yeah.

I guess I've got a pretty busy weekend coming up - gallery opening on Friday evening, party Friday night, baby shower Saturday morning, driving to Chicago Saturday afternoon, dinner with LJ Saturday evening, karaoke-ing Saturday night, Super Bowl on Sunday. Whew!

Anyway. Blegh.