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Senior Project
All ISAT majors have to complete what is known as a senior project before they can graduate. It is the source for a lot of stress for many senior ISAT majors. However, it also is an opportunity to use all the stuff you learn in all the ISAT classes in a real world scenario. Some people work with companies and some come up with their own ideas for the project, but overall it is a good first step into what life might be like after college.
The reason I mention the senior project is because although I am not quite a senior yet, my senior project has already been started. We started having meetings for our project during spring semester of our junior year. There are three people in my senior project group including myself. You get to choose who you want to work with which is great. I always hate when teachers pick groups for you. I get to work with two of my friends which definitely makes things easier.
Our project involves trying to figure out the best way to give people access to information concerning water in the Shenandoah Valley. There is a great need for this because there is no one place for people to go who need to find, for instance, a person they could contact about water conservation. I feel like I am doing a horrible job of explaining this, but hopefully you get the gist. At first, our job was going to be to use a database already in existance and improve it and then make a website or user interface for it.
The first step though, before you can create a user-interface is to find out from the users what they want. This is probably the hardest part of the process because it is very time consuming. We did this by creating focus groups and making surveys. Actually I really had nothing to do with this part of the process because that is what a member of my group is doing this summer for her internship. So when we all regroup in the fall, she will be able to tell us exactly what we need to do to.
Alright, sorry if I was boring you with all that! I just wanted to tell you a little bit about my senior project because I'm sure you will be hearing about it a lot during my senior year since it will probably be a major headache for me during my senior year! haha. Actually though, if you choose a topic for your senior project that you are really interested in, then the project can be something that doesn't seem like work at all, but something you look forward to doing.
Posted by Ashley on June 27, 2005 09:29 AM | Link | Email Ashley
I love a Smoky Mountain breeze
I had such a great time at home this past weekend! The drive still seems soo long, but at least I had my roommate to keep me company this time. When we arrived in TN on Friday, I drove around the University of Tennessee so that she could see the campus. We also went by UT's football stadium, Neyland Stadium, since it is the largest football stadium in the South. It has a capacity of 104,079!
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Also on Friday we drove through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg. These are big tourist spots in East TN where I live. On Saturday we took our boat out on the lake. We skiied, kneeboarded, wakeboarded, and tubed, which is probably why I am still sore even three days later. It was a lot of fun though and I'm glad we got to go out on the lake since I won't be home much to do that this summer.
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Saturday night I got to see almost all of my friends from home and that was really awesome. It was perfect that we all happened to be home the same weekend. Finally to end the weekend, we celebrated Father's Day with my dad. He got all kinds of cool stuff. After that we made the long drive back to JMU.
I skipped out on work yesterday because I was too exhausted from the weekend to really be very productive. Today I went in and finished up a bunch of stuff that needed to be taken care of. It pretty much involved getting folders that the copy center had finished scanning and putting those electronic files into Synthesis. Tomorrow I'm meeting Ed to give him folders I've finished and for him to give me more to work on.
Well I'm off to work out at UREC! Have a good day!
Posted by Ashley on June 21, 2005 08:20 AM | Link | Email Ashley
City Life
Is it really already Wednesday?? That is unbelievable! I feel like it was just this weekend, but that was three nights ago. Speaking of the weekend, I'll tell you a little bit about what I did.
On Friday my friend Julianna arrived at my apartment here in Harrisonburg. We have been dying to see the movie Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, so we went to see that. It was a very cute movie and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I want to read the book now! Then we just hung out with some friends later that night.
Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and drove to Washington, D.C. where we were going to meet up with her college roommate who is interning there. That involved getting to American University where I have never been, so armed with MapQuest directions, we eventually got there in one piece. After arriving we hopped on a shuttle bus which took us to the metro rail stop. I don't know why, but I absolutely love riding the metro and always get really excited. I guess thats the city girl coming out in me. We did all the normal touristy stuff during the day because Julianna has never been there before. It was fun... but not in the 90+ weather under the hot sun. It was almost miserable, but somehow we endured it for the whole day.
After we'd had enough of being in the sun and looking at monuments and museums, we did what every girl loves doing and that's to shop. We hopped on a metro that took us to Pentagon City where we proceded to shop for three hours. When we'd had our fill we went to Union Station for dinner.
After going to Georgetown that night we went back to American U. and crashed after the long day. Sunday was fun because we went to my roommate's house in Springfield, VA where she was having a chocolate fountain party. I have never seen a chocolate fountain and it was pretty cool. There were all sorts of things to dip in it such as strawberries, pretzels, marshmallows, creme puffs... and so much more. I didn't take a picture of it but if you're interested in seeing what it looks like there are plenty of websites that have pictures. Speaking of pictures, here are a few from our day
in DC:
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So now I'm here in Harrisonburg after yet another eventful weekend. I had a meeting yesterday with my supervisor, Cally Oglesby who is a professor here and just got back from a trip to Europe. We just chatted about our trips and then I caught her up on what I've been doing around here for the past month. I just got a load of folders back from the copy center and so now I can put the electronic version of them into the Synthesis database which can be time consuming. So today I'm going to work on doing that. I have a phone meeting tomorrow morning with one of the people that I need to talk to about finding some documents that will be helpful with the administrative history for the Appalachian Chain project. It's at 9am which is quite early for me these days so hopefully I will wake up in time!
This weekend I will be going home to TN! I'm taking one of my roommates home with me who hasn't really been to TN much. Two of the things I've missed most about not being home in the summer is seeing my friends there and going out on the lake in our boat! If the weather cooperates, we will be doing that all day on Saturday. I love to water ski, tube, kneeboard, and wakeboard! So hopefully I will get to do that and work on my tan.
You probably won't hear from me until next week, so have a great weekend!
Posted by Ashley on June 15, 2005 03:54 PM | Link | Email Ashley
Time Flies
Wow this week flew by! I cannot believe it's already the weekend again. I'm excited about this weekend because my best friend from high school is coming to visit me! We're going to go to Washington, D.C. on Saturday to visit her college roommate who is interning in DC for the summer. I always love going to DC!
Right now I'm trying to finish up some of my work so that I won't have to do it while she's here. After the meeting on Monday at the park headquarters, I had another meeting with Ken on Wednesday in order to sort through and organize the newly acquired documents. Since he has been a part of the project all the way from the beginning, he knows which documents we need and which ones we don't and the order they should go in. So the meeting was really productive, and all that's left to do is for me to put the papers into the Adobe page writer program and get that all organized. One of my other tasks is to call some people who might have some other pieces of the project. This week I contacted a guy from Appalachian State University. Several universities and government agencies were a part of this project so there are pieces scattered around.
Well that's about all! Have a good weekend!
Posted by Ashley on June 10, 2005 11:50 AM | Link | Email Ashley
Road trips
I'm so glad the weather improved this weekend! Since my mom stayed a little extra time because of the awful weather so that we could do the things we planned to do, we got to finally go to Charlottesville on Saturday and go to Skyline drive on Sunday. We also got to go to Klines... twice! For those of you who don't know what Klines is, it's an ice cream place here in Harrisonburg that makes delicious homemade ice cream. The lines are always long when the weather is warm but its worth the wait. And they have two stores here in Harrisonburg now!
Anyway, my mom and I traveled to Charlottesville, VA on Saturday, which is about an hour away. The first thing we went to was Monticello, which was Thomas Jefferson's home. It was awesome! We bought the President's Pass which gives you admission to Monticello, Michie Tavern, and Ash Lawn - Highland, so after Monticello we went to Ash Lawn - Highland. This was the home of James Monroe. That was also pretty cool to see. Then we went to Michie Tavern. Everyone there is dressed in period clothing and there is a restaurant you can eat at and a museum to see. I definitely got my
fill of history and walking after all that! But we weren't finished after seeing those places because we went on to see the University of Virginia. I've been there many times, but my mom hasn't seen it. So we walked around the campus and ate dinner at one of the places by campus. I love UVA's campus. I think its one of the most beautiful ones I've ever seen... after JMU's of course! haha. Finally, to end our day, we went to Charlottesville's downtown mall and looked in some shops.
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As I said, on Sunday, we ventured up to Skyline Drive to see the sights. It was a gorgeous day to go, but SO hot (about 92). We didn't do any hiking since we'd walked the whole day before, but we did a lot of driving. We entered Skyline Drive via US-33 and then drove north until we reached US-211 and exited Skyline Drive there to head back to Harrisonburg. It was a very pretty drive through Skyline Drive and then through scenic countryside. While on Skyline Drive we stopped at almost every overlook and drove through the campground and lodge areas to check them out. The highlight of the day was when we saw a momma bear and her three cubs! I don't have any pictures of them though because by the time I got my camera they were too far into the woods. We also saw 5 or 6 deer along the way.
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So after another good weekend, I am now back to work. On Monday I had a meeting at the Park headquarters in Luray, VA. That is about a 40 minute drive from Harrisonburg. It was a pretty drive. I met with Ken and Ed there and we exchanged some documents and then talked about the Appalachian Chain Project. After we discussed everything we needed to, I drove back to Harrisonburg and got some lunch. Then I went to the Synthesis lab and entered the folders I had just acquired into an Excel spreadsheet that helps me keep track of the progress of each folder.
That about sums it all up! Enjoy the beautiful weather because I think it's supposed to rain again soon :(
Posted by Ashley on June 7, 2005 02:39 PM | Link | Email Ashley
Rain Rain Go Away
My mom arrived Wednesday night to visit me here in Harrisonburg. We had plans of going to Charlottesville to visit Monticello and do some shopping, but the rain yesterday and today has been preventing us from doing that. We don't want to go spend a day in Charlottesville if it's going to be raining! So now we are going to shoot for tomorrow to take that trip since there is supposed to be only a 30% chance of rain tomorrow. Also I really wanted to go up to Skyline drive one of these days but there is no point in doing that if it's raining! So we've kept ourselves busy by doing things around Harrisonburg instead such as shopping and a little sightseeing. One good thing about having mom come visit is that she has been cooking good meals for me and my roommates! I don't know when the last time I had a decent meal was!
Since my mom has been here yesterday and today, I haven't been working too much. I went in to work about two hours yesterday, but none today. It's ok though, since I worked really hard earlier this week to get everything done. I have a meeting Monday morning to get some more of the documents that I need in order to do part of the Appalachian Chain administrative history. For that meeting I will be driving to Luray, VA to the Park headquarters. I have never been to Luray so it will be fun to drive out there and see it. One benefit of my internship is that they reimburse me for gas when I drive places.
Another benefit that my internship has is that I've gotten to meet several people who will be good references for me when I start interviewing and applying for jobs after college. Ken, who was an intelligence officer for the National Park Service, has already told me that he would like to sit down with me and discuss career options and answer any questions I might have. Also, the two professors at JMU who hired me for the internship are also people I can go to to get advice. Some advice I can pass on to you is to definitely get to know your professors in college. This is beneficial because when it comes time to finding people who can give potential employers references on you, professors who think highly of you will be able to tell the employer good things about you. Also it's good to know your professors because they are good sources of information and are always willing to help you.
Well its still raining outside so I think this calls for a movie! Cross your fingers for me that it will stop raining tomorrow!
Posted by Ashley on June 3, 2005 10:55 AM | Link | Email Ashley
