Chelen Johnson
IDYL is the IDentification of YSOs in the Lagoon Nebula. This team is looking for known and new YSOs in M8, the Lagoon Nebula.
I have a much better sense of what research astronomy is about now, and I think I will have more confidence to try new things (related to astronomy) going forward.
Our kids did a fantastic job of interacting with the many astronomers and educators that came to see our poster. They were poised and knowledgeable and handled questions with ease. I heard many compliments not only about the students explanation of our work, but also about the great job they did constructing their poster.
My life has changed in some way because of my participation in this program. My wife, my children, and my co-workers have all remarked at how I am different now. I don’t know whether it was the program, the people that I worked with, or some combination of the two, but whatever it was something about it changed me. I know that “life-changing experience” was not one of the outcomes that you hoped for when you planned the program, but it is what happened with me. Thank you very much for allowing me to participate— this has been one of the best years of my life.