Preparing to Begin

I received the award notification package last week with more information about the program. It arrived with 15 pages of paperwork to fill out and return within two weeks. The paperwork included a little more info about what exactly I will be doing over the course of the next year. Receiving the package also initiated conversation between the professor who I will be working with this summer, his assistant who has handled a lot of the paperwork so far, another one of his employees who he has assigned as my mentor, and myself.

As for the program, I will be starting in about two weeks. There are 11 assignments that I must complete between now and April, 2012, but each one has a more recent deadline to keep me on track throughout the year. The first three must be completed by the end of this school year, four more during the summer while I'm interning, and the rest between August-December. Then through the spring of next year I spend time fine-tuning my reports and preparing for the conference, where I will present my work. In addition to the assignments, I will be working full time (40 hour weeks) for eight weeks this summer as an intern at Caltech. I will also attend a one week conference in Virginia this July where I will be expected to present my research plan for my internship. I am not sure of the assignment details yet, other than what I design will be used in my lessons next school year and will link the things that I learn from the program to what and how I teach in my classroom.

I am also not yet sure what my summer internship will be about. By early summer I must submit a one-page abstract on what I will be focusing on. For the time being, my contact at Caltech has emailed me two of the most recent publications from my host professor. I am to familiarize myself with his research before my internship begins so that I am on board with what they're working on. I have read one of the articles so far. My initial reaction was that I might have gotten myself in over my head once again. I've spent the past three days overwhelmed with my road ahead, but today I overcame that and have advanced into determined mode. I am determined to fully understand this research between now and early June. I am determined to step into that lab aware of the studies, aware of the terminology, aware of the techniques. I am determined to prove to my host professor, his team of graduate students, and anyone else I encounter at Caltech that I am knowledgeable and part of their [temporary] team. I am determined to make the most of this opportunity and to become a better teacher, better student, and better individual from my experiences. Let the journey begin.