Winter of Work

On January 15th of this year, I had the opportunity to present all of my work for ISM that I accomplished last calendar year. Winter Showcase was truly the culmination of an entire semester's worth of research, interviews, interactions, networking, late nights, and immense effort. One of the biggest points of focus, of course, was my original work. This year, I was much more excited to show off my original work despite the fact that it was much more paper-based and less tangible than last year. This year, I believed that my original work served a much greater purpose beyond myself because it could benefit the entire engineering community as opposed to research conducted primarily for the sake of my project. Next, I shifted my focus to the research that I've conducted thus far. Discussing my research allowed to not only "show off" the depth of my knowledge but also provide context for all of my actions this semester. One of the greatest things that I have learned from ISM is that the research often ends up dictating what the project will look like. One of the strengths this year, was my confidence. Last year, I still had confidence in my work, however, I had no idea what to expect. On the other hand, this year, I had accumulated a large sense of confidence that not only stemmed from knowledge but also experience. I had an expectation and so I had a better sense of control over my environment. One of the challenges was obviously the repetitive nature of my presentation and having to stand for that long. With that being said, I did develop a sense of acclimation and because of this, I felt better prepared. From here on, I look forward to working with my mentor and getting a start on my final product, the culmination of an entire year's work.