January 2nd, 2017
It has been 5 months since I wrote my last blog entry and since I completed the RECCS program. It is unbelievable how much this internship has positively impacted my life within such a short amount of time. I am grateful every day for the amazing summer that I had.
It was such a bittersweet feeling once it was all over. After the last presentation at CIRES, I went down to Noah’s lab to say goodbye to everyone I had worked with over the summer. I spoke briefly with Noah thanking him for the incredible experience and for everything I had learned in such a short period of time. He told me that he was impressed with my work and would love for me to continue the research I was conducting with his team. He also assured me that he’d be happy to be a reference for me in the future. I was astonished and proud that my work had left a great impression with him.
I started my first semester at Metropolitan State University of Denver a few weeks after the internship. The newly acquired research experience catapulted my confidence and motivation in my academics. I felt like suddenly all of the painstakingly hard work I had put into maintaining good grades finally had tangible purpose. Every day I feel like I’m one step closer into becoming a research scientist. This newfound motivation has been pivotal in pushing me through one of the most challenging semesters I’ve ever had.
The completion of RECCS has not only impacted my confidence and my motivation to finish school, but has had a snowballing effect on my success as a developing scientist. Lesley Smith contacted me in early August informing me that she, along with my mentor Noah, wanted to nominate me for the annual Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Symposium hosted by the Council of Undergraduate Research (CUR) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). I was as flattered as I was excited and immediately put together an abstract needed for the application to this program. Lesley compiled all of the necessary materials needed for the application; in addition, she wrote a truly powerful letter of recommendation. I was blown away by her praise of my work and the impact that I had as an intern. Lesley reminded me that this symposium was highly competitive. Directors from REU Sites all over the nation would be nominating their highest performing interns. I was somewhat skeptical that I would be chosen.
September rolled around and Lesley and I received an acceptance email from the CUR informing us that I had been selected to participate in the REU Symposium. I was ecstatic! I couldn’t believe it! The symposium was scheduled the following month in October in Arlington, Virginia – the location of the National Science Foundation headquarters.
Lesley and Alexa, an accountant for CIRES, worked hard to coordinate everything needed for the trip. They helped me with registration, booking a hotel, and booking a flight to and from Virginia. I edited my poster and Lesley had it printed and ready for me to pick up in Boulder. Once everything was ready, it was simply a matter of waiting until the weekend before the symposium when I would fly out to Virginia.
I flew to Washington, D.C. on October 22nd and checked into the Hilton Hotel in Arlington and checked in the next day for a networking event. I walked into a large gallery room in the hotel full of round tables and several hundred young adults. It was certainly intimidating initially, but I eventually joined a group siting at one of the tables. My table consisted mostly of REUs that had participated in engineering or mathematics related REU programs which was cause for some great discussion. Everyone was excited to share about the work that they did over the summer (or the summer prior to that). It didn’t take long for my nerves to settle.
The next day consisted of a short breakfast at the hotel followed by rotations of poster groups presenting at the NSF building nearby, and groups attending workshops about internships for the Smithsonian Institution in DC, and information regarding the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). I was part of Group I for the poster groups, so I presented my poster in the NSF building from 9:15 AM – 10:15 AM. Afterwards, Group II presented and I was able to walk around and meet other REUs and learned about their projects.
I did have a rather embarrassing moment setting up for the poster session. I had received emails MONTHS in advance about the poster dimension requirements. For whatever reason, I assumed that scientific posters had standard dimensions and that therefore, reprinting my poster in Boulder would result in a poster of the necessary dimensions listed in the emails. I could not have been MORE WRONG! I didn’t realize until I was putting up my poster that the dimensions were too large. As a result, I had to improvis
e somewhat and clip the poster up in such a way that several inches of the least important segments of my poster (the text-heavy portions) was curled behind the board. It is definitely evident in this photo on the right! Regardless of this somewhat comical mishap, it did not ultimately deter from my experience or presentation. One thing is for sure though – I will NEVER make that mistake again!
I was expecting the presentation of my poster to be really formal. I imagined that there would be people from NSF walking around with clipboards and taking notes and giving feedback on our presentations, but this was not the case at all. The atmosphere was really energetic, but not overly formal. I mostly interacted with other REUs that were interested in my research and whom were also there to present their poster themselves. Occasionally, employees from NSF would walk around to listen and ask questions. The poster session was a ton of fun to be a part of. I was worried that I would be somewhat rusty talking about my research since it was almost 3 months back, but it all came back so naturally to converse with others interested in my topic. In fact, I was sad that the poster session wasn’t longer!
I just want to take a moment to emphasize something here, to anyone who may be reading blog entries and are somewhat hesitant about applying for RECCS.
Don’t second guess yourself. Don’t hesitate.
RECCS has changed my life. RECCS has opened my eyes to so many opportunities that I didn’t know existed. It provided me with insight and experience in the research process. It challenged me to better myself every day and to work hard for my successes. It gave me a new family of mentors and colleagues who care so deeply about my successes and who consistently find ways to support me in my journey. I was simply a student with a passion to learn and a vague idea of what I might do after college. Now, I’m an undergraduate with research experience and a network of people ready to help me in my academic and career-oriented goals.
I am thankful every single day and praise my past self for taking a risk and applying for RECCS. You won’t regret it.
Thank you again to everyone involved with RECCS. Thank you Lesley, Jennifer, and Anne for recognizing my potential and for continually supporting me in my journey.
Thank you to Tess Brewer, Noah Fierer, and to everyone in Noah’s lab at CIRES for all the time spent helping me with my project.
Thank you everyone for believing in me.
Scott-Wesley Bean
Great work Scott-Wesley, and Congratulations! I hope to see you around at MSU this Fall.