I’m settling well into my new job at The Shepherd Chemical Company in Cincinnati. Despite the fact that it’s chemistry, I’m enjoying it remarkably well! I think that’s because it’s a very stimulating job where I’m never bored. The two aspects of my job are chemical inventory of the R&D lab and working to improve a “green” process for making an ingredient in a personal care product on the market. Last week (my third week) I felt SO overwhelmed with everything. There was so much new information to learn, like the chemistry I’d be doing, the instruments we have (some of which I have used before in chemistry lab several years ago, such as the FTIR and NMR, and some of which I have never used or heard of, such as XRD, TGA, and PSD, just to name a few), lab procedures, locations of things in the lab, etc. I also watched my supervisor, Stephen, do some really cool computer tricks/shortcuts that I probably should know but don’t. He said not to worry and that he learned all those things after years of grad school. I guess there’s hope for me yet! Stephen and I also sat down and discussed my project in more detail, and at one point he asked me what we want to know about the products were would be making and how we could figure these things out. I was like a deer in headlights. I felt I didn’t have a good enough grasp on the basics to be able to be “creative” and ask good and informed questions. By the end of last week I felt a bit more settled but I still had a lot to digest and synthesize.
This week has been a bit smoother and less
nerve-wracking. I’ve made six batches of the product we’re investigating, and
now we’re waiting to get all the test results back (we send each sample off to
another lab in the building next door to do some of the tests we can’t do in
our lab) and then we’ll collate all the information and determine where to go
from here. Our ultimate goal is to optimize the production process and then
upscale it to make the compound in mass quantities in the plant and then sell
it to the customer. It will be pretty neat to see how the whole process works!
Overall I’m having a remarkably enjoyable time. It’s
definitely an adjustment to my normal schedule (I now sometimes go to bed
before my parents!) but I look forward to going to work every day and the days
go by quickly. I think I like it because it’s stimulating and never boring. I’m
learning skills that may be useful in my career, plus I’m finally getting a
“big-girl” paycheck!
Two weekends ago I chaperoned at the annual Girl Scout
Cadette Senior Ambassador Association Leadership Conference. CSA is a girl-run
association for older girls. I used to be a member when I was a girl and at one
point was President. Now that I’m an adult I was able to chaperone for the
first time! It had been six years since I’d last been, and I had a wonderful
time. I, along with another chaperone, was in charge of a group of 19 girls.
Boy was it a totally different experience than it was when I was a girl
participant! I was responsible for the girls, not just myself, and I had to
serve as a good role model. On the last night of the conference I chaperoned
the dance, and at times I had to remind myself that I was there as an adult and
role model and I had to let the girls bust out all their moves and keep mine
in!
At the conference I also presented a bat workshop. I
had originally only had five girls signed up, but another workshop at that time
was cancelled and the girls in it were moved to my workshop, giving me a total
of 15 girls. I was pretty nervous that the girls wouldn’t be interested and
that I’d run out of things to do (the workshop was 1 1/2 hours), but I was
pleasantly surprised. The girls asked SO many great questions and were so
enthusiastic that the time was easily filled. When the girls left at the end
several told me that they had a really good time. I did too, and I must say it
was probably the best group I’ve ever presented to!
Lots of bat cookies for my bat workshop at the Girl Scout conference.
Presenting “The World of Bats” to the
girls at the Girl Scout Cadette Senior Ambassador Association Leadership
Conference.
I’ve also started zoo volunteer training at the
Cincinnati Zoo to become a Volunteer Educator. I have been attending training
sessions every Saturday morning for the past several weeks, and in the spring
will volunteer at the Educator carts located throughout the zoo. I also hope to
start volunteering with CREW (the Center for Conservation and Research of
Endangered Wildlife), the research branch of the Cincinnati Zoo. I’d love to be
able to continue doing some sort of biological/conservation research while
waiting to start graduate school. I’ll keep you posted on what I end up doing
and how it all goes!
Rosie and me lying in my first big snow
since my return from Australia
(the day AFTER Christmas)!
Snow surfing. Weee!
A snowy sunrise in my front yard (photo
courtesy of my mom, as I was still sleeping at the time (this was before I
started my new job)).
A fabulous sunset over my front yard.
Ringing in the New Year with friends old and new!
Our cat, Bonnie, caught in the act...
