The Kate Adventures

     Hi guys! I feel as though I have not updated you guys for awhile but I also feel like I don't have that much to say so this may be a short post.      This week has gone by so fast! Next Wednesday will mark one month that I have been in Maryland and I cannot believe it! I have been working hard this week - I have been making graphs and charts and have continued to format the 26 years of data that I have. Each year takes about 2 hours to finish so this process is long and tiring.      There was a large church camp here for the end of last week and the majority of this week. That means that there were 700 extra people on campus and it was kind of crazy. The other interns and I got used to eating just the 14 of us and just not really seeing anyone around but for this week it was a different story. The cafeteria was always busy but we did get more food options which was nice. The campers went home Thursday so we are back to the campus being...

     Hi guys! I had a really good weekend full of fun adventures and am so excited to tell you about them! Okay, the interns here have kind of started this thing that we like to call "Fire Fridays." Every Friday we go out to a fire pit here on campus and have a bonfire complete with smores! It is always a lot of fun. We eat, chat, sing, and dance! We weren't out too late last Friday because we had a field trip on Saturday but it was still an adventurous night! Assateague Island. Beautiful! A stamp for my family's National Park Passport.      Saturday was nice because we got to sleep in and then left for our field trip at noon. We went to Assateague Island and went seining. I really enjoyed this trip and learned a lot! If you know my father, you know that we as a family love to go to as many National Parks as we can and over the years I have developed an affinity for the parks and visitor's centers. The visitor's center at Assateague was really c...

     Hello! I do not have a lot to update on the work side of the internship right now, but I was able to finish my proposal and turn it in to the program director and now I am working on a new set of data analysis that focuses on the sex and maturity of blue crabs in the Maryland Coastal Bays. This work is tedious and time consuming and not super exciting but by the end of the summer I will have a completed project that will hopefully show some cool new findings!      On the play side of things, we have had some adventures this week! There have not been many people on campus since we arrived, but this week that changed. There is a basketball camp that is going on so the UMES men's basketball team is here and there have been orientations all week that have brought a bunch of people to campus. It has been kind of fun to see new faces around and those basketball players are nice eye-candy ;) (one of them is 6'9 and I only come up to his waist! He is huge!). ...

     I have loved Gilmore Girls  for a few years now and one of my favorite things about the show is all of the witty and funny quotes by all of the Gilmore ladies. Here are a few of my favorite quotes and why I love them! Enjoy! 1. "If you're gonna throw your life away, he'd better have a motorcycle!"      When I was little I used to tell everyone that I wanted to be "the girl on the back of the motorcycle." Over the years I have changed my life goals and this is no longer my ultimate goal. I still want to ride a motorcycle but only once and I want to primarily be a scientist! 2. "It's all any of us wants, to find a nice person to hang out with 'til we drop dead. Not a lot to ask!"      Sometimes I have high expectations but I feel like this is NOT too much to ask for! ;) 3. "I can be flexible. As long as everything is exactly the way I want it, I'm totally flexible."      What can I say? I like plans and when th...

     This week has been incredibly busy. It has been full of research and writing and data analysis. I am really enjoying all the work that I am doing and hope that I will continue to enjoy my experience. The interns were able to go to the mall this weekend and have another bonfire. Both were very fun and I love all of my new friends here! I am so grateful for this opportunity to learn and grow so much. Some times it feels like I have been here for ever and other times I feel like my time here has gone by so fast. By the end of this summer I will have so many memories and so much experience under my belt. Earlier this week my mentor was giving me a kind of pep talk and she told me that I would be a real scientist by the end of this internship. This statement made me realize that I need to remember everything I learn here and take it with me for the rest of my life!      On another note, Happy Father's Day to the man that I am most like! I am so grateful fo...

     Well, I was supposed to go out on a boat yesterday, (Tuesday June 13) but that did not happen. Two mentors and three students, including myself, drove 45 minutes to a lab that is right by the bay and is owned by UMES. Once we got there the boat captain said that there were too many people to go on the boat and one of us had to stay at the lab. When the captain found out that I hadn't ever been on a boat in the ocean he told me to stay at the lab. At first I was really annoyed by this because I had planned to go out on a boat and now I was stuck in an office for 6 + hours with literally nothing to do. I was trying to figure out if there was anything productive I could do when I saw one of the other interns and her grad student mentor walk in. I asked if I could possibly tag along with them for the day and the grad  student graciously agreed. I was so grateful that they happened to be at the lab that day and that they were willing to take me with them. While ...

     Hi friends! I have already spent a week in Maryland and it is going by so fast! My new friends are amazing and everyday I look forward to hanging out with them in the evenings. My research is coming along but it is taking time and I am trying my best to be positive about what the results might be. Campus is pretty and although I still get lost I like it a lot.      This Saturday we went canoeing in the morning, played basketball in the afternoon, and went for a run with some of my gal pals in the evening. I love spending time in the sun and enjoyed my Saturday so much! Canoeing was a little scary, but for my first time I think I did pretty good! My arms are extremely sore but it is a good sore. I am learning so much and loving every new experience! I have played pool, softball, and basketball which are all things that I do not do very often but have had a good time doing!     This Sunday I got to go to church in Salisbury. It was nice to d...