Month: August 2006

Spent the last few days at the NASA Next Generation Exploration Conference. Yeah, I’m a dork. But unlike say, a Star Trek convention, the people at this epic gathering of dweebdom actually know something about seeking out new life, and boldly going where no one has gone before. The opportunity to chat with the chief mars scientist at JPL over a couple of beers is the impetus I need to continue pursuing an engineering education. Grades be damned, full speed ahead.

Finishing my final piece of work for Clay, and filling out an evaluation form, gives me an opportunity to reflect on the internship experience. Certainly better than last summer, due to the pay, climate, and social circle. But I still don’t feel like I accomplished much. Sure, I wrote several short briefs which aided Clay’s research, and may be published on the web. But there were days where I didn’t really do much of anything. Janet reminds me that this is part of entering the work world, finding ones place in the capitalist machine. But if I have to be a cog, I’d rather be doing something I really enjoy doing, so I’m motivated by more than pay or the threat of being found out to be a slacker. I’d rather be actually doing cool stuff than just writing about it. Reconsidering the think tank/academia route, and re-enamored of building the future. As always, plans are subject to change. But at least I have this to fall back on.