Chelen Johnson
This virtual team collects all independent research presented in 2013, and done by NITARP or Spitzer alumni with students outside of a formal NITARP team. In 2013, we have one article in The Physics Teacher, and one poster on young stars.
Sure, I wrote long papers for my masters', but those papers were to scholarship what engineering math is to actual mathematics - just get through it to do your job. Working with you in NITARP, I saw scholarship as a living community. [..] this experience encouraged me to write for the journal of my profession, but even moreso taught me to reach out to others[..]
There was purpose to my wandering. [..]Last year [the AAS] was logistically and culturally educational, this year was truly informative. I felt much less out of place.
I saw kids rise to a challenge and meet it – they learned a lot from the process, each other, and the experience – in ways they could not get in a regular classroom setting at home.