Goals for Summer 2020

My main goal for my summer internship with Weber, Hayes & Associates is to get out into the field as much as possible (in a safe and reasonable manner given the COVID restrictions). Thus far, it seems that this goal will be attainable as my supervisors at WHA believe that getting fieldwork experience is the best way to learn the ropes of environmental consultation. A few other goals I have for my summer are to further my skills in using programs such as excel and word, as well as a new program that WHA uses called Canvas. I will be analyzing field data through excel, writing reports in word, and creating diagram and other graphical representations of the data I analyze using Canvas.

The work ethic I am prepared to develop/use is an eager one! I am very eager to get out into the field and have shown that excitement to my supervisors. The remote setting has been difficult for me with respect to classes at UCSC - staying focused, understanding the material especially in lab courses. I am hoping that the fieldwork will help me understand and focus on the remote computer work more graciously. To fill in the gaps between the fieldwork and the data analysis, WHA has set me up with a HAZ-MAT certification course that will look great on my resume when entering into the workforce.

This internship opportunity will help me further my long-term goal of pursuing a career in environmental geology. I hope to find a career path that involves heavy fieldwork, hands on work with samples and geochemistry, as well as on site evaluations in the consultation process.

This internship will expose me to all three of those elements that go into the world of environmental geology and consulting! I am very interested in groundwater research, and already have scheduled an opportunity next week to shadow some field work taking water and soil samples with WHA. I think it will be a great experience for me this summer!

The Time-Traveling Summer

The question “how has COVID19 affected your summer plans” has been posed.

Well, COVID19 imploded my summer plans before I really had any. Each day brings a new unknown and feels very often out of my own two hands.

First of all, COVID19 made it so that I was writing this blog post one hour before it is due even though I had a passionate idea to represent my emotions through an art project. I planned to draw an abstract human body, with feet and legs in once place … head and heart in another. And the idea proved true this evening yet again, where my head was in a place of excitement to sit down with my art supplies with some calm music, maybe a candle and some tea … but my feet were somewhere else I did not plan on being. I ended up having a 4+ hour conversation with my roommates about some really heavy topics that demanded out time no matter of each of our plans. I live with 3 other women, 2 of which are my age — mid/late 20’s — while the other 83 years old. She hates the government, hates banks, hate big corporations, and all other large-scale brain-washing entities of today’s first-world society as she says. She has convinced herself that she is 33 years old, and will always be such age. She hates old people — thinks they are boring and cynical. Last week, she began to feel under the weather. She did not tell any of us for several days, until she could no longer conceal her condition. When the other roommates and I expressed the deep concern we all had for her health, and that she is in the age group most affected by the virus, she greeted us with defensiveness and attitude. When we asked her to get tested for COVID because it our civilian duty to be responsible in our exposure of not only ourselves but of others and that we are all are not able to go to work until we confirm it is not the virus, she again greeted us with defensiveness and attitude. It came from a place of fear, we all knew that. We all empathized with that — it is a very scary reality to face when it is suddenly your own health you are concerned about instead of hearing it on the news. Though, after several difficult conversations, she agreed to get tested. The next morning, the four of us piled into the car and drove to a drive-thru testing center. It was an out of body experience in many ways. A health care worker approached us after we had checked in, and asked our elder friend to join them into one of the testing tents. It felt like we were dropping off our child to the first day of daycare or something else quite daunting. She looked back at us as one last attempt to be rescued. While she was away, the three of us remaining sat in silence as we all envisioned what the next couple days/weeks of our lives would suddenly become if the test results came back positive. I just started this beautiful internship position, and the lab I work in on campus just opened back up. I just got back onto my feet since this all started back in the spring really. Am I about to get knocked down again? We got the test results back in less than 48 hours. It was negative. She just had a stomach bug. She is already feeling back to her normal and very spunky self. But it has been a very difficult week. Lots of emotions that have been buried for a very long time were uplifted. Difficult conversations that involve inspecting the reality of life and old age have been brought to light. And not in a soft, flattering light … a fluorescent light with a moth trapped inside. And all has been done with the catalyst being the coronavirus. Throughout this uncertain time, I have been in one headspace one day and a completely different one the next. The lab I work in on campus was closed with no promise of opening all summer, and then it opened and I am working again with the realistic idea that it could close again at any moment. I was going to move out my place in Santa Cruz and back to my hometown with my family one day, and then the next day I was thinking of moving up to Alaska to be with my boyfriend. I was going to enroll in a full schedule of classes at UCSC for the fall quarter one day, and then the next day I was looking at taking a leave of absence and enrolling at a community college instead. My graduation date got extended by an entire year due to COVID complications on lab/field classes, so now I am indeed taking a leave of absence in the fall to re-evaluate my path. I titled this blog “the time-traveling summer” because never in my life has time felt so abstract. A day can feel like a week, while a month can feel like a couple of hours.

GeoScience Career Panel Reflection

The career story that resonated most with me, was Ellen Gray’s career story. I love that they found a career that satisfies both their scientific and creative sides, in being a scientific journalist for NASA! I struggle to find a balance between the right and left sides of my brain, often sacrificing one to focus fully on the other, leading to feelings of stress. Hearing that there are career paths within the sciences that are highly accomplished and contribute widely to the scientific community, that also include a large creative process, was awe-inspiring!

Another career story I was intrigued by, was that of Kyle Broach. They spoke of their experience in programming and GIS mapping, which I am excited to gain experience in throughout my time as a UCSC student. They also mentioned their previous research of Antarctica which is extremely interesting to me, and I plan to reach out to them in the near future to learn more!

The career panel was a really useful and inspiring experience. It was nice to get insight into the diversity of every individual’s pathway through education and employment. At this point, I am leaning toward attending graduate school. I feel my best self when I am on campus surrounded by academic leadership and people furthering their education and performing research! There is a constant encouragement of curiosity when on a campus such as UCSC, which really helps keep me motivated and positive through the hard work!