[Reu_journal] Amy Davis Entry May 30, 2008

[Amy Davis]

So far, the REU experience has been a mixture of excitement, anxiety and
overwhelming learning.  When first joining this program, I have no specific
interests other than chemistry.  I do not have much experience in the
specific disciplines of chemistry and am eager to see what project calls to
me.  After hearing the six project presentations given by the mentors, I am
excited to realize that I would be happy in any of the groups.  The main
problem I have experienced is the language barrier.  I do not have much
experience dealing with international students or faculty and I have a hard
time understanding the foreign accents.  Some of them are not as bad as
others for me, but some are extremely difficult.  I felt as though on the
few that were the most difficult, I would have been more interested in those
mentors groups had I been able to understand them better.  I also noticed
that the mentors that seemed the most interested in me during the interviews
were leading projects dealing with some of the things that I have done thus
far in my student/chemical career.  I understand this completely, as in most
job interviewers want to hire someone with experience.  On the contrary, I
am more interested in learning and experiencing something new this summer.
I want to gain a broader perspective of what the chemistry field has to
offer and what I have to offer the chemistry field.  For my first choice I
chose the group that dealt with computer modeling and several instruments
that I have not yet worked with.  I also wanted to choose a newer project
that I could grow with.  I am returning to Commerce this fall to complete my
bachelors and masters degrees, and I would like to see a project start from
the beginning and hopefully make some significant progress.  The decision of
ranking the projects was actually very difficult.  I knew my top three
almost immediately, but then deciding their respective places in the top
three was challenging.  I will be excited and eager to start any project and
I know that I will learn valuable skills from this experience even if I am
placed with my last choice.
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