What was your favorite part about your UseIT experience?

I enjoyed the field trips. It was a chance to learn a lot
from scientists and to see how the world around us is
affected. It also allowed many of the interns to meet each
other and form many lasting friendships. I think many of us
agree both field trips were bonding experiences with many
treasured memories and pictures.

What would you recommend to future UseIT interns?

The first few weeks will probably seem overwhelming; Do not
worry! I know when I first came I thought they had made a
mistake in choosing me and that I was not qualified to be
working on this project. I eventually settled into it and now
am so happy I decided to come. I wish I had found this
internship earlier so I could apply again in future summers.
I do not want to leave; the program is interesting and the
people are amazing.

What is the atmosphere or working environment like?

It is a very relaxed atmosphere. You can work at your own
pace and switch between projects at your discretion. The
groups work together in one room so there is a lot of open
communication. It is incredible, despite how much all of us
joke around and have fun, we all get a lot of work done.

What about the friendships you’ve made while staying here?

I have gotten close to many of the other interns here and
value their friendship greatly. It was so much fun hanging out
with those in Cardinal Gardens, including the other interns
that would visit nightly. Not only have I made friends within
the SCEC intern program, but I have met many interesting
people from the Chemistry department that live in the same
building. The friendships I made here are amazing and I feel
will be long lasting. I do not want to have to leave these
people at the end of summer. I have grown closer to many of
them more than I thought possible in only three months.

Has this program influenced or affected your plans for a career? If so, how or why?

Yes it has. I enjoyed the projects I have been working on,
and listening to the guest speakers about the projects that
they are involved with also sparked my interest. I now am
considering graduate school for geology. I also had always
planned on living on the east coast (being from new york); I
am also now looking at relocating to the west coast.

What have you done in the UseIT program this summer?

This summer I was involoved in a number of groups. My initial
project was pairing up with Diana and fixing the functionality
of the scripting GUI buttons. From there I moved on to making
movies with Nick. For the rest of the summer I acted as a
liason between movie makers and programmers. In making movies
with Nick, we realized functionality that would be beneficial
to implement in the program. Some examples of additions I
made to the program that came about from this process are
toggling the graticule lines and importing other catalog
formats from data websites. These were some of the main
projects I was involved with.