It’s official – summer has arrived at the puge. The flowers are out, the birds are chirping, the rain has been absent for well over 7 days now, and students – myself included – are beginning research.

Which is crazy to think about. Because between school and finals and OLE, I was not able to fully process the fact that research is upon me. I always knew it was coming. I’ve prepped this entire semester for this moment – I’ve written a proposal, created images plotting what my plan for this study is, and have had multiple hour-long conversations with my advisor/professor/role model for life, Carrie Woods, about bryophytes and epiphytes and life itself. The days turned to weeks which turned to months, and there was always something else to do before I could focus on the research I was doing this summer. And, like so many things about college life, it snuck up on me – but unlike many things about college life, this sneak-up was pleasant.

Because now I am here. I am sitting in the sun (!!!!!!) in the courtyard of Thompson on this beautiful Friday, after my first full week of undergraduate research (which included learning mosses, extended walks through Point D, climbing in the rafters of Harned, and over-complicating things in the typical college fashion). And I know that, for once, everything I worked for this semester has paid off. All the stress the proposal put me under, all the hours I spent reading paper after paper about epiphytes, all the mini-breakdowns that occurred all too often in Carrie’s office about “What-am-I-doing-Where-am-I-going-I-don’t-know-what’s-going-on”, all the people who told me that it wasn’t possible for a freshman to get a research position here, everything – everything – has boiled down to these 10 weeks.

And I couldn’t be more stoked to spendthe summer doing the thing that I love, with the people I adore, in the place that I can officially call home.

The first prototype of the bags that are going to be used to hang the bryophyte samples. Super over-complicated, as per usual.

The second prototype for the mesh bags – this one took far less time and makes far more sense.

My view for the past few days – look at that beautiful bryophyte!