Pictures of the trip

Seeing something so cool set the trip off in a good mood.

One of my friends from Massachusetts, Kelly. This was before we got onto the boat. I don't have any pictures from the boat because I forgot my camera, and relied on my friends to send me pictures. I will add those later.

Hm... Friends from Illinois [Peter left, David middle] and Massachusetts [Ahbi right]

Waiting for the whale to surface on the water. I never ended up capturing that moment. :(

At the General Atomics. This man was showing us how their generator worked.

Hah, I got this funny look on my face. Posing before some machines in General Atomics.

Toward the end of the tour, they used magnetism to launch a can into the air. Here's the link. I'm not sure if you'll be able to see it:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=101042813265779&oid=317746637437

Went to dinner with some friends. Forgot the chaperone's name.. >.<;; But she was Branden's chaperon [back left]. Jon is the middle left. Sunny is back right. We went to some "Mexican" restaurant... hah. Authentic? Nope. Expensive? Yeup. The food wasn't too bad. I have to admit, I wasn't full after eating the meal. So Jon and I ended up ordering deep fried ice cream. o.o We paid more for the decorations than the ice cream itself... which wasn't that great. Oh well, it was fun.

Going out to Bucca de Bepos with Jon and Kelly. :] At the restaurant, my friends told the waiters that it was my birthday, so the whole restaurant ended up sing for me. The restaurant had delicious cheese cake! The other food was so-so. Then again, they were serving mass food, so it was probably hard to balance a lot of food and deliciousness. The restaurant in Seattle is pretty good, though.

Ahbi and I in the restaurant. The lighting was pretty bad... well, and my camera wasn't that good. 

Picture with Francis Collins!! Not sure who the guy in the red is... the rest were my friends. Francis Collins is the guy in the back, with the slightly graying hair, towering over all of us. Apparently he sung really well. I'm not sure if you'll be able to see it... but here's the link:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1292938091043&oid=317746637437

We were showing Kelly, who went on the Birch Aquarium trip, the General Atomics booth. After they demonstrated the magnetism forces crushing the can, I took a picture of it.

Reflection of trip

Though this technically wasn't part of the trip, on my fifth day there, I woke up several times between 5-6 to say good bye to my friends as they left. It made me a bit sad that we didn't have at least one last good bye together as a group that day, but I knew I would be able to keep in contact with them.

Overall, I felt that the trip was too short. I had made new friends that I was truly beginning to appreciate, as well as learning about other people's projects. I didn't get to meet as many people as I would have liked to. During the time on Friday when we were supposed to stand by our posters, I wish we had been given the opportunity to be allowed to go around to other people's posters and ask them questions about their project. Sure, during the power point presentation session, we got to learn in details some people's projects, but what I loved when I was walking around, was that I was able to talk to people who's projects interested me. 

There were certainly many different diverse topics, and many diverse people to go along with it. I got to meet people from places I may never visit, such as Massachusetts, Texas, and Illinois. At the convention itself, I got to learn about interesting topics. Honestly, I had never heard of several different things I was introduced to. Aqua pores? I would probably hear about it in college, but it certainly wouldn't be as interesting as hearing the new and current research that was being done on it. Also, there were several different lectures from different scientists from all fields. If that isn't cool, I don't know what is. Expose to other sciences is like being exposed to different mini worlds. Everything is interconnected, yet so different.

The exhibit hall was my favorite at the convention. The booths there, such as Riken from Japan, the Thirty Meter Telescope booth, etc... I was able to learn a lot about different organizations, as well as new inventions. For one of the booths, they asked us to say why this one company was so wonderful. I'm in it! I don't have a speaking part in it, but here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xIvEmHNC94

It was fun, but on my fifth day there, I went back to the booth part and talked to several different companies. It was exciting, because several times I was asked if I was a teacher or a student. I was told since I was only a high school student, that I could keep in touch with them, or they would keep in touch with me, and that in years time when I was old enough, I could check out the opportunities that they provide to older students. I forgot which companies told me that, but I look forward to it. One I specifically remember is Rikken, the one in Japan.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself over this trip. I learned that I don't find anti matter all that interesting (haha), as well as environmental science. I also found out how much I didn't know, and saw a little bit of how much it takes to become an expert in a particular field. [It takes a lot of knowledge! Almost made my head spin.]

I would love to do AJAS next year as well. I hear it's in DC? It would be awesome if I ended up getting accepted into American. It would be so convenient, haha!

I apologize that this blog took so long to write. I've been bogged with so much homework. And I heard senior year was easy, hah.

I think that any student who's interested in science would thoroughly enjoy AJAS. Thank you for providing this opportunity for me, Washington State Academy of Science! Special thanks to Ms. Jeanne Chowning, for telling me about this. And to Dr. Robert Bates for being there with me. 

Day Four

Day's Itinerary:

Saturday:        8:00 am – 12:00 noon               Attend AAAS Session           Attire-business casual                                       

                       12:30 pm -   4:30 pm                  AJAS Oral Presentations       Attire-business professional

                        6:30 pm – 7:30 pm                    Plenary Lecture                   Attire-business professional

                       8:00 pm -    10:00 pm                 AJAS Awards Banquet          Attire-business professional

                       10:00 pm -  1:00am                    DJ & Dance for Delegates     Attire-casual.

I woke up this morning with a nervous knot in my stomach. This was the day I would be presenting my project to other people. I worked on my power point presentation that morning, putting the perfecting touches on it. I wrote notes on my project, so then I could have a good once-over and, just in case, if I forget something while presenting. I realized that this presentation didn't mean much, since it wasn't for a competition, but I was still nervous. 

I headed to the Marriot with my friends, and then went to the room where I was supposed to be presenting. I sat next to Dr. Bates, where he asked me if I were prepared. I had brought my lap top, but it was unclear to whether there were the proper hook-ups for the projector, so a friend, Ian, lent me his USB so I could put my presentation onto the computer that was hooked up already. I reviewed my notes, and when it was my turn to present, I was able to spit out all the information. I was happy to hear that Dr. Bates could understand my presentation.

Following that, I went downstairs to go find my friends, where we hung out for a little bit. I went to go check out a robotics competition that was taking place at the hotel we were staying at. Following that, I went with some friends to the plenary lecture. The lecturer, one hired Obama, spoke more of politics than he did science. He told us that he hoped to talk more about science, but AAAS wanted him to talk politics. The lecture was interesting, as it depicted the role of science in politics. 

After the lecture, I went to the dinner. Since my friends and I were a little bit late to the reception, we were seated at the table with Board Members. We talked to the photographer of the AJAS trip about his work there. It was a pleasant dinner. After the dinner, certificates were passed out, as well as pins. Being from Washington State, our state was called last. Dr. Bates and I were one of the last people to go up to the podium. After we went up, Canada went up, or something like that, so we weren't entirely last.

My friends and I went back to the hotel, where we went to the dance held by AJAS. It was a lot of fun. I crashed into bed after that. 

Day Three

Day's Itinerary:

Friday:            8:00 am - 10:00 am                   Breakfast with Scientists    Attire-business professional

                         8:00 am - 10:00 am                   Chaperone’s Breakfast        Attire-casual

                       10:00 am – 12:00 noon               NAAS Delegates Meeting

                       10:00 am –12:00 noon                Attend AAAS Sessions

                       12:00 noon - 2:45 pm                 Poster set up, State Pictures; Attend AAAS Sessions

                         3:00 pm -  5:00 pm                   Poster Presentations                        Attire-business professional

                         6:30 pm -  8:00 pm                   AAAS Plenary Lecture              Attire-casual

                         8:00 pm -10:30 pm                   Dinner at Buca di Beppo           Attire-casual

                       10:30 pm – 12:00 am                  Delegate Lounge/Study Room  Attire-casual

It was the third day in, and it was my birthday. Lucky for me, it was also poster session day. Actually, I’m terrified of presenting, so this day was sort of a preparation for the next day, when we would have to present our power points to our fellow peers. I know that presentation of power points are not a big deal, considering we’re not presenting for a contest. However, I was very nervous.

Very early in the morning, I was up typing my blog for Day One and Two. David and I also were texting about where we would plan to meet the next morning. He convinced me to go to bed before I finished blogging, so I went to sleep, getting a good couple of hours of sleep.

The next morning, I put on my favorite tie and headed down to the Breakfast with Scientists. Since my shirt wasn’t the right type of shirt for ties [It was a girl’s shirt… no button on the collar] I needed a pin to keep the top part “shut.” I went to the receptionist desk to request a sewing kit, but it would take 10-15 minutes to arrive.  David said he had a pin that I could use, so I ended up waiting for him to arrive.

Meanwhile, I talked with Dr. Broglie and my chaperone, Donna. I had misbooked my flight, so we were discussing what I should do about it. It was decided that I would call my mom after the breakfast.

Eventually, I just went into the breakfast, without the pin. I sat down at the nearest open table. We had three open seats for scientists to sit in, but only two were there. One of them was a man who worked in Washington D.C., pushing to expand the science programs there. Another was a woman who was involved in naval sciences.

After breakfast, we more or less had free time. None of my friends went to any of the triple A S sessions. I called my mom about the misbooked flight, and then I went to go hang out with friends. Around noon, we all headed down to the convention center to set up our posters. My “poster” consisted of several pieces of paper. However, it stood out because it wasn’t just one chunk of text and paper. My friends, Peter and David, helped me set up my poster.

After that, the three of us wandered around, looking at all of the different exhibits. It was nearing 12:30, so we left the exhibition hall to go take the state pictures. On the way, we got lost. However, we made it safe and well in time to take the AJAS group picture. Then we started on the state pictures. Since my state was the very last one, all of my friends left for their posters. Unfortunately, Dr. Bates had not been informed about the state pictures, so it was just the AJAS board and I in the Washington State picture. South Carolina told me that I was welcome to join them in their picture. J Oregon also said the same thing.

After the picture, I discussed some more about my situation with a board member of AJAS. Then I went to my poster. Dr. Bates had called inquiring my location, as he wanted to take a picture of me near my poster, as well as hear my short spiel on what my project was about. After the picture at the poster, Dr. Bates told me about his job.

For the next couple of hours, I waited next to my poster for people to come by and look, or ask questions. Due to the location [which was in the back behind a large pole] there was little to no traffic. Within the first three hours, maybe seven people wandered through our section, three of them inquiring about my poster. Starving, David and I went to go get some food. I asked if Andrew, the guy who was set up to me, if he wanted to come with, but he felt like he was starting to get on a roll of people coming up to talk to him, so he didn’t want to. The girl across from me, Pearl; her chaperone had given her food. She kindly offered me some of her food, but I would have felt bad if I had taken it.

During the three hours I waited, I had written my thank you cards. However, tired of sitting for hours on end with very few interested, I went around to the other booths. I met several different people who did different projects. When I saw Jon, I had him go around with me to look at different posters. We showed Tawney our posters, and then Jon helped me take down my poster, as there was less than a half an hour of the poster session left.

[Hole in memory until Buca di Beppo]

Jon, Kelly, Abhi, and I hung out together at Buca di Beppo. Since Abhi was a vegetarian, he got this humongous egg plant dinner. Also, since it was my birthday, my friends told the waiters so, so then the waiters come around with this big candle thing, place it in front of me, and gets the whole restaurant to sing, “happy birthday.” It made me happy, but also really embarrassed.

After the dinner, my friends wanted to go to two different places on Gasworks, so we ended up missing most of the lecture by Francis Collins. When I arrived, I was only able to take a picture and get his signature. However, I heard that he did a wonderful song about the genome.  

Day One

Day's Itinerary:

Wednesday   2:00 pm – 5:00 pm                      NAAS Board Meeting

                       5:00 pm – 6:00 pm                      AJAS Chaperone/Committee Meeting

                       4:00 pm – 6:00 pm                      NAAS/AJAS Registration

                       7:00 pm – 11:00 pm                    NAAS/AJAS Reception and Opening Ceremonies

                                                                           on the USS Midway

I woke up this morning very, very groggy. However, when I grasped that I was going to San Diego, I grew very pumped and moved very fast. My mom helped me with packing, and then my Uncle drove me to the airport. I almost felt sick with excitement. Since my flight was so early, I woke up around 3:30 to leave the house around 4:45, arriving at the airport around 5:10.

My flight wasn't until 7:00, except due to airport security and other various things, I didn't arrive at the gate until 6:00. On the flight, I just ended up sleeping. 

I arrived around 9:45. I took a bus from the airport to the hotel. Once there, I tried to check in, but apparently you had to put down a $200 fee on a credit card for insurance? I was thinking that after it was registration time, AJAS would take care of that insurance, so I just checked in my bags in the hotel, and went to the local shopping mall. After that, I wandered around Seaport Village; which was really nice and sunny. I ended up taking a nap in the grass. 

Around 4:00, I headed back to the hotel, and found my way up to the fourth floor of the hotel to register. I headed toward my room, where I met my room mate from Massachusetts. From there, we headed toward the other Massachusetts' girls' room, and we hung out in Seaport Village. 

After that, we headed toward the USS Midway, where I met some new people, went on tours, and went on the simulators. There, I met with Dr. Bates. He was kind enough to give and pass on a happy birthday card from WSAS. It was really nice. :) Unfortunately, the card didn't fit in my purse, so I had to fold it.

The first thing I did on the USS Midway was go on a simulator. I went on the non-movement one. I thought it was interesting. It would have been far more interesting if I had actual things to shoot at, but it felt pretty real. When I got into the simulator, it felt like I was actually mentally turning in circles. After that, my friends and I went to go eat mashed potatoes in a martini glass. Quite odd, but rather tasty. We went on the large simulator afterward, which fit 10 people, and then onto the two person simulator, which we could actually drive and shoot with. I was supposed to be partners with Kelly on that simulator, but she chickened out, and so I went with Abhi. He ended up making us hang upsidown most of the time.

After the simulators, we went on the tour for the interior of the ship. Not that we weren't inside the ship; I mean the part with the pipes, the dinning hall, etc. It was interesting to learn how many people were crammed into the boat, as well as how much the boat weighed [It gained weight over time!] We saw many different elevators. As well as see some ancient Coke vending machines [joking, but there were vending machines here and there for the current day visitors.] The sick bay was interesting. Not only did it fit several dozens of people, but there were the records of the patients still there. Thousands of files... all in a couple of folders. Not only that, there was enough room for operation table, quarantine... I can't even imagine how long this whole ship took to build. It was so expansive, there were many parts we couldn't see...

After that tour, my friends and I went to the very top of the boat, where we were able to enter some of the aircraft and explore it. Most of all, we got to see the view. The view was absolutely gorgeous; we were able to see so much of the city. After that, we headed downstairs to listen to the opening ceremony.

We excitingly listened to the opening ceremonies. Dr. Broglie told us about the events we would be participating in, and I was excited to hear that Francis Collins from the Genome Project was coming. After the opening ceremonies, I was called to the front of the podium. I more officially met with my chaperon there; I had briefly spoken with her earlier, but here we were able to chat. Also, Dr. Bates was able to meet my chaperon. After a small discussion, we dispersed back to the hotel, where I found my room mates exhausted and ready for bed.

Day Two

Day's Itinerary: 

Thursday:       7:00 am – 6:00pm                     Tours                                                Attire-casual

                       6:30 pm – 7:30 pm                      AAAS Opening Session                  Attire-casual

                                                                           President’s Reception

                       10:00 pm - 11:30pm                   Delegate Lounge/Study Room         Attire-casual

I woke up at 5:30 this morning in order to get ready for an exciting round of whale watching. We were supposed to meet by 6:45, so I headed out about 6:30 down to the lounge. My room mates and I were in different bus groups, so we separated up when we went on the bus. I ended up sitting with a friend from Massachusetts; Abhi. We ate breakfast on the bus... which consisted of a bagel, an oat bar [That I coincidentally have and eat at home!], jam, cream cheese, an apple, and grape juice. I didn't finish my breakfast, so I took it with me onto the whale watching boat.

I hung out with Kelly from Massachusetts, as well as David and Peter from Illinois, Thien, Jon, and several other people. Over the trip that lasted several hours, we ended up in Mexican waters, and eventually everyone's cellphones hit "roaming" as we went into uncharted territory [Well, at least for me, it was unknown.] A woman from Scripps told us about different birds as we went by, and pointed out the various sea lions we saw. My friends and I took many, many pictures of birds.

More than halfway through the trip, we hadn't seen any whales, so we ended up feeding the various birds that followed the whale watching boat to get food. Then the crew members saw a whale blow, and we finally saw our first and only whale on the whole trip. It was pretty cool; we got to see a large proportion of the back of the whale. The woman from Scripps told us that the whale was probably a younger whale, due to the lack of barnacles on the back. She also told us that the whale was probably younger due to the unusual pattern of when it popped up on the surf surface.

After the whale trip, we went to General Atomics. Once there, we were given a presentation about fusion and its importance to the general public. We were walked through different demonstrations; the presenter showed us several different things that produced a fusion, which looked similar to lightening. After the presentation, we were walked through the facilities, learning about the delicacy of working with ionized gas. The presenter showed us the strength of magnetism through an experiment with soda pop cans. He crushed them in various different ways through the force of magnetism. The trip to the General Atomics was overall interesting, as it had a lot to do with Physics, which I am luckily taking.

Following General Atomics, my friends and I played basketball and volleyball. I apparently was very good at defending the ball in basketball. :]

The reception was held at 6:30, so we listened to a speaker talk about aquaporins [spelling?] and how he became interested in the field of Science. It was incredibly interesting, but half way through, it became hard to follow, as the whole experiment was very advanced. The speaker talked about the different types of genetic diseases that could come from genetic defects with the aquaporins. I did learn, however, that the aquaporins are the proteins in our body that regulate the flow of water. The dinner followed afterward, however my friends decided to go out and get dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Following that, I reread my paper several different times, and went to bed.