Week 1: Technical Difficulties and Other Notable Moments

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Sunday, June 4, 2023

By:

Jaden Sicotte

If IT ever spells your name wrong, let them think they got it right. Despite my name being Jaden Sicotte, for my first few days at SPS, every conceivable login had me as “sciotte”. A simple mistake to be sure, but one that required three meetings with IT (shoutout Nathan and Bob for clutching up), two days of inaction, and one severely lobotomized MacBook. 

But the machines can’t keep me down because I’m finally on-boarded correctly and had an otherwise successful first week. I study Astrophysics with a math minor at George Washington University, so DC is a very familiar place for me (also I'm from Framingham, MA by the way). It’s definitely been nice to be here without the constant low-grade headache associated with classes and homework. 

Monday we had no work and so after unpacking, the other interns and I had a birthday dinner for Hannah. Food was enjoyed, introductions were made, and following dinner we played Julia’s strangely fun ethics card game.

Tuesday we had orientation (the beginning of my IT woes) which included several compelling speakers, team-building activities, networking tips, as well as plenty of SPS, APS, and AIP merch. I also met my mentor, Bri Hart, and was thrilled at how welcoming she was and how eager she seemed to support my career goals and begin our summer project. My first IT meeting soon followed which culminated in the deletion of the entire macOS off my work computer, and alongside it any functionality it offered for the next day or so. Post orientation we caught the sunset at the bank of the Potomac. 

Wednesday meant a day of virtual work. Except, due to my battle of the ages with the APS network, I was locked out and unable to do much other than a few readings and background research. But an afternoon/evening on the National mall with the others playing spikeball and eating ice cream proved to be a good distraction (turns out Hannah and Janessa get scary when they play). 

Thursday brought on my final boss fight with IT wherein I prevailed and finally got access to the APS network. A meeting with my mentor meant a more in depth conversation about future networking events and opportunities. Game night in my living room served as an excellent cap to the day. I have never seen such enthusiasm for Azule before (looking at you Devin and Ruthie).

Friday began with another meeting with my mentor where we talked more specifically about my project to refine the National Mentoring Community’s matching algorithm. Hitting Jazz in the Garden (live jazz in the Smithsonian’s sculpture garden) with Brynn and Devin post work was incredible and the Caribbean theme for the day meant endless conga lines for the braver attendees. 

Saturday saw me scootering around the city like a maniac, dodging pedestrians, unassuming children, and Secret Service road blocks. My target: the movie theatre for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse. Was I running late? Absolutely. Did I miss any of the movie? Not a chance thanks to my brazen jaunt across the city. The movie was incredible and afterwards we got District Taco and some crepes from Crepeaway.

Sunday is the day that I’m writing this on, which began with a trip to the DuPont farmers market, continued with a birthday dinner for Emily (happy birthday!) and ended with a sunset viewed from the Lincoln memorial with the other interns.

While the week was an incredible start to the program and boasts many good memories, my favorite was something that Jack Hehn, AAPT Senior Fellow, told us at orientation. "You are all physicists now", he declared rather bluntly; his argument was that as we were now on the payroll of a physics organization, and being paid to do work in the physics field, we had earned the title. But his claim didn't extend to us interns solely. As he put it, "Anyone who does work in the physics field, whether in an academic or professional sense, is a physicist, regardless of degree". It was a really cool moment to be able to let go of some of the doubt that comes with being just an undergrad and instead embrace the field and career path I've chosen and am so passionate about. I hope any aspiring physicists reading this drop the "aspiring" and simply call themselves what they are: physicists.

More inbound next week! 

Jaden Sicotte