Week One: August 25 - 31

This one isn't an official part of the assignment - I don't actually have to start until next week. But I figured that I might as well log this week too, since I'm going to be using this as part journal, part scrapbook. I don't have many pictures for it, besides the hike on Friday, but I've got some of the door decor I drew. The theme was multitudinous legs; anything with 6+ limbs was a qualified member (though someone made the equally valid guess that the theme was invertebrates.)

Sunday was move-in day for everyone else, though for me it was a lot of sitting around and helping everyone else find their rooms. We did a campfire at the top of racetrack hill in the evening, with s'mores and a riveting game of Uno. We even got to see some bats!

Monday was orientation, including meeting the faculty, properly learning (and forgetting) everyone's names, and some board games afer dinner.

Tuesday was the start of official classes, though it felt more like orientation part two, since we mostly went over the syllabus with Jim. We got to work on some resume creation skills, which I desperately needed - mine was way too oriented towards part-time jobs, not serious science work.

Wednesday was all about practicums. I'm hoping for the salamander survey, honestly, but I'll be happy with almost anything. The mentors all seem super passionate about their work, and it's hard to imagine being miserable at any of them. We also did some interview practice with Josh, so I'm feeling a bit more confident for when interviews roll around in a few weeks!

Thursday was focused on our sense of place: knowledge of and connection to the area. We talked about Karst topography (my favorite topography), the geographic history of the Appalachian area, and we even got to do some tree ID! Also, a PDE with Bill McShea, which was very interesting. I love getting to meet older scientists who've been in the field for a long time, and Bill definitely had some wild stories. Those poor star-nosed moles, though...

Friday was our hike of Compton Peak. It was definitely more of a workout than I'd planned for! But the view of the columnar basalt was wonderful, and I could really see the different zones of flora that Josh was teaching us about on Thursday. It was super foggy when we first arrived, so I didn't bother with too many photos of the view itself. I did get some good ones of some mushrooms, a fabulously yellow slime mold, and the basalt formation that Stephanie said was probably older than mammals.

Nothing school-related on Saturday. It was a nice start to a long weekend with Labor Day!