Week 13
This week was one of the more chaotic weeks of the program because the enmodes presentation provided a time crunch. Every day, classes started at 8:45. On Wednesday, we stayed until around 8 pm and Thursday my group (Team Rafael) stayed until 11:30 pm. Within two days alone, we spent over 25 hours working solely on the project and the presentation. However, I felt really productive and my group worked really well together. We were able to nail our presentation first out of all of the groups. Also, we worked well to get some of the DHF done while working on the presentation. I even got a chance to learn solidworks and really begin to focus on learning that software. I was able to create a fairly complete model of our design and then proceed to animate the important portion of the insertion process. I am proud of my work and want to continue to learn more solidworks.
Overall the presentation went well. I felt like my group really nailed it down during our practice times. It was really rewarding to know that the effort that I put into the project and the presentation was not wasted and the presentation did indeed improve as a result. I will definitely take this lesson with me in the future as I look towards giving a lot more presentations in labs, meetings, classes, jobs, etc.
This weekend was one of my favorites. Big event was a blast! I volunteered with a volunteer fire department. I went to the station and painted the two garages and the inside walls white. It turned out pretty good. The whole time they served us beers and drinks. Afterwards, the chief took us on a ride around the city in the firetruck. I had a strange moment sitting in a firetruck, holding a beer, and looking down a the people we drove by, sitting about eight feet higher up than them. I never thought I would have that experience and it felt surreal. After the ride, the firemen made us a phenomenal BBQ dinner. We sat and ate and talked both in German and in English for almost two hours before we headed home. That night, I went out with Steffi and Bryan. I had a blast getting drinks with the two of them. I wish I had gotten to know them sooner, since I will be leaving in just two weeks.
The next day, I cheered on everyone who ran the Bonn Marathon. I made a big sign that said, "You're Killing It!" with everyone's names who ran written on it. I got a lot of compliments of my sign and I made a lot of people smile while they were running, not only my friends but others too. Some people on the streets stopped me to ask what my sign said. The most interesting was right at the beginning, not 15 minutes after I arrived to my spot for the start of the race across the bridge towards Konrad Adenauer Platz, a man with a camera came up to me and asked if he could take pictures of me with the sign. I agreed and he proceeded to tell me I had a lot of friends. He was a strange guy but seemed very nice. I was so proud of everyone who ran the half marathon and the legs of the full. It is an incredible feat and it made me want to do the equivalent in a biking race, a sport I can still do with my hip. I plan this summer to bike a half century (50 miles), or at least that is the goal. I have gotten tickets to go up to Denver to bike it, and my dad will be coming to cheer me on.
In other developments, I have decided to pursue an architecture minor if I can, specifically a minor in architectural fabrication and product design. I have contacted the advisors and am looking forward to this academic journey. I realized I want a creative outlet because I like visualization and art but in a practical design setting. I have a talent for seeing objects in 3-space and would like to develop this further and see where it can take me. I realized that this minor will provide me will another side of engineering as a more artsy and dynamic realm. This will add to my abilities as a designer and engineer.
Well, I have only a short time left but I have every intention of celebrating it all!
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