W9

Hello all,

This was our penultimate week. At this point I feel an amalgam of emotions. On one hand I feel happy that I will be going home in a week and will see my family, girlfriend, and old friends again. On the other hand I feel sad that I will be leaving the program and will not see the new friends for a long time, if at all, but again, I feel happy that I made some new good friends who will be in my life forever.

This week on Monday, I could not come in to work because I was feeling sick. On Tuesday, Gabi and I conducted usability tests on our wireframes. Thanks to Julia and Kate for their participation, as well as the two non-REU students whom Tom recruited. We received a lot of useful feedback from the usability tests. On Wednesday, Tom, Gabi and I conducted our 2nd focus group. We interviewed two medical providers, but did not get much information that would impact our wireframes. Also on Wednesday, Gabby and I worked on creating power point slides to guide our video.  On Thursday, Gabi and I worked on improving the wireframes based on the feedback that we received from the usability tests. We have also made improvements to our poster. On Friday, all the REU students and some faculty mentors had our tea time, where we had the delicious macaroons made by Ciabhan’s dad. During tea time, we also talked about future plans, I personally have decided that I want to get my PhD, so I will be applying to graduate school this fall.

5 things I wish I knew going into the ProHealth REU:

  • There would be so many mosquitoes at Bradford Woods the first week.
  • Bloomington is super hot.
  • Computer science research doesn’t always involve programming.
  • Coding does not always mean programming.
  • The program is very well structured, and it’s a lot of work.

5 things future REU students should consider doing:

  • Enjoy yourself during the process of doing research, it is good to balance work with other activities.
  • Be prepare to work hard, this program is very well structured, and if you don’t do your work constantly you will fall behind.
  • Working in teams can be frustrating, but remember that the people you are working with might be your colleagues in the future, always listen and be respectful.
  • Talk to the mentors, they are very nice people and fun to talk to. They know their stuff, and will help you if you need it. They will also give you good advice, and talk to you about future plans.
  • Visit Patrick’s office for chocolates!

Looking forward to our last week.

Until next time…