My First Summer Away From Home
It's been a hectic week.
I've spent the majority of my time in the lab getting as much research as I can do before I leave. I made some progress in some areas, while I struggled to get my experiments to work in others.
Outside of the lab, I've been packing and hanging out with a few friends before I take off for the summer.
Where am I going, you ask?
Huntington Beach, California. (Fun Fact: I used to live here when I was much, much younger. It's somewhat of a homecoming for me.)
I'm excited to be there for the summer working at Boeing. I'll be doing structural analysis on a DoD project.
Don't ask me for more details, because they haven't told me the full nature of my work yet either. Can't say I don't like a surprise too.
I'll be starting this upcoming Friday, so I'll have a couple of days to get situated and recover from an incredibly stressful semester.
Coming back to the present, I'm almost done moving out of my dorm. I'm fortunate that I don't have that much stuff to put away, so I've been able to store the majority of it on my own. I'll finish putting my belonging in storage today, stay at a friend's place tonight, and fly out tomorrow morning.
I can't believe I can say this, but in twenty-four hours, I'll be in California.
My fifth summer internship is the first summer I'll be away from home. During undergrad, I went home every summer in Alabama to intern at Boeing. I would stay at home with family, and hang out with friends in the evening.
I had a convenient and stable living set-up during those summers. A ten-minute commute to and from home, home-cooked meals, and the support and love from family and close friends.
Life doesn't get much better than that. However, I'm looking forward to these next three months because I'll get to try out how living in Calfornia is like full-time.
I know that I'll grow a lot as a person this summer as I figure things out for myself. Being in a new (or old?) environment will push me in ways that living at home in Alabama or at school in Massachusetts couldn't.
I could go out about how excited I am to be in the Golden State soon, but I have to get back to packing.
On an unrelated note: The second part of "Thinking About Kanye West's Tweets" is coming soon. Didn't have time this week or weekend to write the second half up, but I will write and publish it next week.
See you all soon!
Soda