As I finished my final semester at Washington University in St. Louis, I started working on a part-time, intern basis for Trinity Consultants. Many of my projects had to do with emissions calculations and acting as a liaison between the company and the Environmental Protection Agency. By virtue of consulting's nature, the types of companies we work with are incredibly diverse, thus affording me the opportunity to gain valuable experience in a breadth of different industries.

Following my first season as a Bear Cubs coach, I was invited to be a member of the executive board – the group of athletes responsible for parent and coach communication, grant applications, budget allocation, and leading practices. I took over as Program Director in the spring of 2020 and, after 1.5 years of COVID preventing us from practicing, as of Fall 2021 we are finally back.

Bear Cubs Running Team is a program led by varsity athletes at Washington University in St. Louis for children on the autism spectrum and their neurotypical siblings. Each athlete was paired with a child (or "Bear Cub") and we met for an hour weekly during the fall and spring seasons. To say this was one of the highlights of my week would be an understatement!

NCERC is a nationally recognized research center founded to spur innovation in the bioproduct industry. Its operations range from small-scale experiments in its analytical lab to a demonstration-scale pilot plant. I worked as an operator in the pilot plant, overseeing the entire multistep process from the initial feed to the batch reactor to the filtered-and-dried final product. Though the 12-hr night shifts were certainly an adjustment at first, I found the work fascinating and it was extremely rewarding to know the product we were making could (fingers crossed) go on to drastically reduce humankind's long-term-waste production.

I had the opportunity to work alongside Ph.D. students looking to develop novel methods to quantitatively describe secondary organic aerosol formation from biomass combustion. Our work culminated in proof-of-concept experiment trials relying upon the synchronous operation of four scientific instruments, each with a distinct purpose. I left with new experience in three programming languages – LabVIEW, IGOR Pro, and Python – and profound respect for the dedication of Ph.D. students!