Tag: Day1

Day 1 at the ACLU

 

Me with Reverend Barber at the protest

My first day of my Work Experience was a whirlwind. I embarked upon my journey at 8:55 a.m., when I shifted my car gears into drive and began blasting Kendrick (side-note: his concert was amazing) through my mediocre sound system. I arrived at the general assembly building with a couple of minutes to spare: I had allotted myself enough time to wade through the security line and head to the lobby, where I met Sarah Gillooly, the ACLU’s Director of Political Strategy and Advocacy. She was in quite a hurry–the state’s budget bill had been released the previous night and she was working on the release of a memo explaining its specifics. Unfortunately, I learned, the budget bill had been forced through the democratic processes using a loophole which allowed the combination of two separate bills in order to avoid discussion and expedite its passage.

Sarah led me to the appropriations committee room, and we listened to the testimony of the bill for a little under two hours. The sponsors of the bill discussed its different facets, including teacher pay, school safety, correctional facilities, and disaster relief. To be honest, most of the discussion was dry and the numbers went over my head. Nonetheless, I garnered a specific criticism about the bill: it allotted funds to SROs and teachers with arrest privileges as well as security equipment, but the word “gun” was not mentioned once. As someone who is quite passionate about gun reform, this was angering but not at all surprising. At least the arming of teachers had been scrapped.

We left the committee meeting at about 11:30 to eat lunch at the General Assembly Cafeteria (throwback my elementary school mother-daughter dates!). There, I met with another staff member of the ACLU, Susanna, and a younger intern. We discussed the following agenda, including the perinatal summit advocating for the rights of incarcerated women that I will be attending in Durham on Thursday. I learned that North Carolina has been harshly criticized for its allowance of shackling–chaining pregnant convicts to beds during labor–and that it is currently in the process of amending its policy (although I’d rather call the “policy” of shackling inhuman).

Following lunch, I followed Sarah around various offices in the General Assembly as she met with different legislators and legislative assistants.

My day pretty much ended at 1:30, because I had been invited to speak at a rally on Bicentennial Mall for the Poor People’s Campaign for demilitarization, gun reform, social justice, and equity. But speaking was an amazing experience, so I might as well talk about it here anyway.

At around 2 pm, I approached the makeshift stage on Bicentennial Mall. I said hello to my colleague Ava Autry (we’re basically professionals) and proceeded to climb the steps of the platform. I was slotted to speak after Reverend William Barber (a tough act to follow). I stood onstage as he presented his speech– wonderful, passionate, and enthralling—and then it was my turn to talk. I highlighted the absence of the word “gun” in the budget bill (applied learning!) and elaborated on studies detailing the importance of gun reform. Afterward, Reverend Barber expressed his pride in my speaking abilities and invited me to march with him back toward the general assembly building.

I took him up on the offer and we walked side-by-side. The experience still seems surreal–I mean, the great Reverend William Barber and the student, Lily Levin, marching next to each other? Who would have thought! Anyways, we marched into a building next to the general assembly building, where the budget bill appropriations committee was STILL being held. I realized that it was about 3:20, and I needed to leave to embark on my next adventure–swim practice–so I bid the other protesters goodbye, gave Reverend Barber a fist-bump, and left the premises. After I left, I learned that 12 protesters were arrested for purposeful trespassing. I wouldn’t trespass, but I’m glad I wasn’t arrested! That wouldn’t be in the Charger spirit.

All in all, what a day. Definitely not what I was expecting, but that’s life! Unexpected. I’m glad I had this adventure.

 

Day 1 at the SAS Institute of Technology

Today was a wild day. I had flown back in from a debate tournament really late the night before, and I had not really slept that much on the trip itself (case writing was pretty last minute). But in the words of George Washington, “better to offer no excuse than a bad one.” I woke up a bit late, and did regretfully show up seven minutes late; parking was horrendous as well. I apologize to both the SAS institution and Cary Academy for not representing the Charger way. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I was greeted by a smiling Mrs. Dougherty (University Recruiting Director) and the six smiling faces of Matthew Cinoman, Kevin Chen, Matthew Schaeffer, Megan Tunley, Jessica Judge, and Will Parker. That’s when I knew it was going to be a good day.

We first began with an intro session to what SAS was all about. Through the videos, I began to get a better grasp of what data analytics is really all about. I’m pretty sure at its core, it’s all about isolating a multitude of variables and then finding the relationship between the important ones through a series of graphs and info charts. I thought the most intriguing part of this field however, was the human aspect that was still necessary in an industry that’s so saturated by technology. There are still data analysts that have to interpret the data and convey the information to the people that need it, instead of the computer just churning out conclusions and then printing them out on a piece of paper. As AI continues to grow that might not ring as true, but it was comforting to know that as of now, there is still a place for humans in the world of data analytics.

After this session we had lunch in the C building. It was free (although SAS employees have to pay, it’s still very cheap) and delicious; an unbeatable combo. Another thing about SAS’s amenities is that they have soda available everywhere. For a kid that grew up obsessed with sodas it’s a dream come true. However, because of athletic pursuits (haha), I am a bit more health conscious now.

After lunch I went to the finance division of SAS. I was toured around by John Wilson, and the first person I met really just seemed genuinely interested in me. We discussed potential majors, and I got a better idea of what options were available. She majored in accounting, and she does more project based work.  I also learned that FASBY kind of standardizes the field of accounting. Then I met with Mr. Wilson and we talked about basketball, then he showed me a spreadsheet. From what I can tell, I’m pretty sure it did mainly subtraction and found percent change. Lastly, I met with a guy who was super nice. He apparently keeps track of all the expenses, but I thought the coolest part was that he also had to track how much all of SAS’s assets depreciate. In general, these people were incredible at using Excel, and inspired me to learn the power of the spreadsheet.

*I apologize for any grammar mistakes, I’m a bit tired

Day 1 – Overview of Marketing @ SAS

I started my day at 10:00 a.m. today meeting with Christie Dougherty, who works for HR at SAS. Christie gave us a tour of the building and showed us all of SAS’s amazing amenities. Once we finished our mini-tour we sat in for a “SAS Culture” presentation. The presentation basically gave an overview of the history as well as what SAS does. They explained that SAS does everything from finding the quickest/most cost-efficient route for Boston school buses to figuring out when a debit card is being used fraudulently. The presentation was really cool and went over many aspects of SAS. After the presentation we went over questions and ate lunch. A fun fact is that the building in which we ate lunch in, was the same building that was used to film in the Ironman 3 movie. Some of the SAS employees even got to be extras in the movie.

After lunch I met my mentor, Ms. Liz Hamner. Liz Hamner is a senior marketing partner. We got to know each other and went over my schedule for the rest of the week. Liz also told me about a project that she was working on with the Harvard Business Review. After meeting with Liz, I spent some time talking with Mr. Scott Batchlor, the marketing partner manager. He explained to me the “Customer Journey.” The customer journey is a diagram which they base all of their sales and marketing behind. The drawing that Scott drew is the picture above that I chose to feature in this post. The funnel on the left is what most companies use (and SAS used to use), while the diagram on the right is their new adopted “Customer Journey.” We also talked about the marketing as a whole, and the difference between B2B (business to business) vs. B2C (business to consumer). Tomorrow I am very excited to meet with many different people and discuss their specific part of marketing!

Day 1 – First Day in The Lab!

I started off the day greeted by Dr. Bermek in front of the UNC Lineberger Cancer Center. She escorted me into the building and introduced me to others working in the lab. I got to work quickly and acclimated my Biotech skills with a DNA mini prep for three enzymes PUC19, PGLO, and P-Amalyse for the next years Biotech class. The protocol I used was striking similar to those I had seen in ADV Biotech. I suspended the DNA pellet in Buffer P1 using my well-practiced pipetting techniques and continued the protocol that called for a centrifuge. This piece of equipment I had used many times before, but it was interesting to learn something new about it. I learned that when setting the centrifuge to the correct speed I needed to use the g speed (e.x 17,500 x g) instead of the rpm (e.x 12,000 rpm) because each centrifuge has a different rpm but the g speed is the same. After completing the protocol Dr. Bermek and I used a Qubit Fluorimeter to check the concentration of the samples. The Qubit was a new piece of equipment I had never seen before, but it was simple, easy to use, and much smaller than the spec machine I had worked with in Biotech. Two of our samples, PGLO and PUC19 turned out well with a concentration around 50 ng/uL which was really awesome because Dr. Todd could keep them for next year’s class. Dr. Bermek and I could also use the PGLO for a future experiment. It was really nice that the first experiment I did at the Griffith Lab worked.

Next, I got to run some samples on a Agarose gel. I pipetted 6uL reactions on parafilm. Each reaction consisted of 1uL of the samples, 1uL of 6x dye, and 4uL of water. Once the 12 samples were pipetted onto the parafilm, Dr. Bermek and I loaded the samples into the gel box. I had run many gels in class before but I got to learn how to use and load a new system. Our gel also turned out successfully which was wonderful to hear, and the results we obtained are going to be helpful for future experiments. One of the coolest parts of my first day was getting to learn about the Electron Microscope or EM. The machine was very intimidating and marvelous at the same time. One of the people working in the lab was a major expert on the EM, and he was in the middle of fixing it when I arrived. To even be able to put samples in the EM there was a complicated process to prepare the samples that I got to help Dr. Bermek with. We used tiny grids (much smaller than a penny) that required special tweezer looking things to be able to handle them. We put solutions on parafilm and then dipped the grids into each one. Next, we placed the grids in one solution for 30 seconds and then quickly placed them in a different solution for 15 seconds one by one. To further prepare the grids, we used a complicated special machine that coated the grids in carbon and tungsten. I was easily impressed by the steaming liquid nitrogen used to cool down the machine. This process was intricate because the right amount of both carbon and tungsten had to be exact or we wouldn’t get proper results. I ended the day by looking at the images we obtained on the EM. I got to see single stranded, super coiled, and relaxed DNA up close which was magnificent. Overall, it was an action packed first day with lots of success. Working in a new lab was a little bit like the first day of Biotech class. There was a lot of new vocabulary, sciencey jargon, and math equations that were a bit challenging, but I got to learn so much on just my first day!

 

Working on my first experiment with Dr. Bermek.

Image result for electron microscope

The daunting Electron Microscope.

Excel and Cheesy Findings

Today marks the beginning of my WEP at Kellogg and the fiscal month. As such, I began my on-the-job training with building professional accrual documents in Excel. Having helped with recording plant expenses, I’ve gained an intimate knowledge of the plant, its operations and future plans, its production lines, its top-level executives, Excel, and (most importantly) SAP. Shadowing the plant controller proved stressful in the beginning, but very rewarding at the end of the day.

After lunch, I toured the plant and saw the lines in action. The plant boasts an impressive number of workers with serious safety procedures and awe-inspiring amounts of dough-processing power — to make both snack crackers and CHEEZ ITS, of course; the plant is indeed a sight to behold with millions of lbs of  food being produced every month. Having seen both the administrative and the union-worker sides of the plant, I feel confident stepping into tomorrow. I’m excited to finish closing out the end of the month, as that’s the unglamorous side of the controller’s job; instead, I’m looking forward to the days that come: pivot tables, project projections, industrial baking and chemistry, and more journal entries.

Due to Kellogg’s corporate policy, I’m unable to take photos of the plant without explicit permission of a supervisor; that means, on a day such as today, no pictures could be taken. Lastly, I learned that the CEO of Kellogg and three executives will be touring the plant on Thursday, meaning that I’ll be hidden among the shadows.

Until tomorrow,
Peyton

(p.s. food plants have incredible amounts of hand sanitizer)

Day 1- Touring a Cary Water Treatment Plant

 

Today I toured the Cary Wastewater Treatment Plant. The facility is not too far away from CA and is surrounded by trees. My tour guides were named Jonathan and Joe: Jonathan was a chemist and Joe had a degree in forestry.  I asked both of them why/how they ended up working in the wastewater industry, and both of them agreed that it was an under-publicized profession and they just found their way into it. Joe specifically said he chose it due to it being economically stable, while Jonathan said he first learned about the industry in a college class. Joe and Jonathan had many stories about the plant, for example, they used to have a pet duck who would run around the plant and try to get food from the workers. There are “17.75” people employed at the plant (the ¾ of a person works part time) and the facility is running 24/7. This treatment plant handles wastewater from Lake Crabtree and supplies water to parts of RTP and the RDU airport.

The water treatment process at this location (and what Jonathan says “like 99% of other plants” do) uses microorganisms instead of chemicals to treat the water. The facility focuses on lowering phosphorus and nitrogen levels in the water, as well as adding dissolved oxygen to the water. The entire process lasts around 48 hours, and the plant treats around 7 million gallons per day on average.

The last part of my visit interested me the most because they showed me the disposal of the microorganisms. The microorganisms might overpopulate the water and cause issues for the rest of the process, so some of them are flushed out of the tanks and disposed of. They are then killed using a UV light and made into a sludge (that is later used and sold as fertilizer). It turns out one of the biggest buyers of this fertilizer is a christmas tree farm.

Tomorrow I will be starting at the North Carolina Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology and I will be getting my safety training. My contact there, Ms. Mackenzie, gave me some powerpoints and videos to watch that went along with my visit to the water treatment plant. I’m excited to learn more about water treatment and its environmental impacts.

IMAGE 1: Overview of facility taken from Admin Building
IMAGE 2: One of the nutrient removal tanks

IMAGE 3:One of the clarification tanks

IMAGE 4: Sludge water tank

Day 1- Introduction to FHI360

Today, Salma, Krishan, RJ, and I all drove to downtown Durham to FHI360 for our first day of the work experience program. Upon arriving, I knew little about the organization- it’s non-profit, it has a medical focus, and it helps other countries through its international relations. After touring this beautiful office, we sat down with doctors Dorflinger and Nanda to discuss the history, accomplishments, and work of the organization. Primarily funded by the US Government and Gates Foundation, FHI (Family Health International) first focused on the prevention of HIV and later developed many different branches including nutrition, education, and expanded in health while acquiring AED and changing the organization’s name to FHI360. Within the health section, Dr. Dorflinger directs the entirety of the Contraceptive Technology Innovation department and Dr. Nanda is the director of medical research. Next, with Ms. Lorenzetti, we discussed one of the projects with which we will help the health department. With a focus on economics involving health policy, Ms. Lorenzetti is now examining barriers and facilitators of adherence to HIV care in Mozambique. We will help her by sorting through different resources for relevance and categorizing our findings. After a pizza lunch with a few faculty members, we met with library associate Ms. Manion and library manager Ms. Burns to learn more about literary searches using different databases and methods to use for the most accurate search results. All in all, I am very excited for the next two weeks and cannot wait to learn more about this organization!

The view of the Durham Bulls Stadium from the view of the cafeteria on the tour!

Day 1 – Introduction to Real Estate

To start our day off, tommy and I were greeted with a huge smile by Mrs. Kristi Burkett, easing our nerves. We first sat down in one of Keller Williams’ conference rooms and got to know each other better. Mrs. Burkett spoke about her experiences that lead her to become an buyers agent and work in the admin side of real estate. She also lectured us on how to use the website TMLS, Triangle Multiple Listings Services, which is an essential part of listing and finding retail to sell. After discussing further into the process of selling a house we had a tour of the office. An interesting thing that I saw was that even though their were different teams in one office space, everyone was extremely friendly and knew everyone else, making the office space just that more welcoming for Tommy and I. Mrs. Burkett then took us out to a delicious lunch at Zinburger. After lunch, Tommy and I went to a lecture about how to have your own effective open house. It was very interesting as I learned that the more relaxed the better. I am excited and ready to learn for the week to come because we have something new and different planned for each day.

Day 1- Orientation & Project & Sports Med (Oh my!)

This morning I began my adventure at Wake Orthopedics. The morning started with an orientation of the North Raleigh Wake Orthopedics office. I met some of the physician assistants, got to know the ins and outs of the office, and was given a little work space for when I am working on my project.

Over the course of the next two weeks, I will be both shadowing different doctors and working on a project. The project is co-authoring an article with my father to be submitted for publication to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. The article is comparing the success and failure rates of autografts (replacement of tissue with tissue from the patient) versus allografts (replacement of tissue from a cadaver) in Anterior Cruciate Ligament repairs. Today, I spent time compiling the data from surgeries over the past 5 years, including information such as age, gender, type of graft, additional surgeries performed, and the femoral fixations implicated. I also collaborated with my dad to construct the abstract of the report.

In the afternoon I shadowed Dr. Jon Chappell. Dr. Chappell specializes in sports medicine, specifically shoulders. I had the opportunity to shadow him in all of his clinics, listening in to his meetings with patients. I was intrigued watching him explain x-rays and MRI’s to the patients. His capability to identify and explain each individual tendon and ligament in the x-rays. A common thread I noticed was how he performed similar mobility tests on each of the patients to determine their condition. Based on their answers and responses, he then came up with a plan for normally the next 6 weeks.

I enjoyed the first day and cannot wait for tomorrows adventure!

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