With the program quickly approaching its end, there seems to be lots of loose ends to tie up. Between finishing projects, creating posters and slides for presentations, and preparing various other media to show that we have been learning this summer, the interns at AIM have been very busy lately. Yet as much as everyone seems to be feeling an increasing weight on his or her shoulders, everyone seems to be having more fun after having adjusted to the program. What used to be awkward silence in the moments leading up to presentations has turned into lively conversation and laughter between friends.

Personally, this has been a very fun and rewarding summer for me. One of the oddest things about summer in Isla Vista to me is the fact that many of my friends are home, so I become closer friends with people I would have called acquaintances before. There are even interns within AIM that I have seen around and held small talk with, but are now people I hang out with outside of our work.

I am very grateful for having been given this opportunity to learn about photonics and meet some very good people, but also to learn about research in general. AIM has cemented my decision to continue with research in the future, yet the topic is something I am still unclear of. Ideally, I would like to research something novel rather than an improvement over another technology, but I still have too many broad interests to narrow it down to one subject. With the experience I have received through working with my mentor and through the CSEP program, I feel that I am prepared to tackle the challenges that will be thrown at me during my career.