Almost Home!

The summer may end, but the science doesn't
-Doc Feller

I think that this quote kind of wraps up my last week. I know that I am almost done, and today at lunch I gave my final presentation, but I feel like there are a lot of unanswered questions. I suppose that is the purpose of research. I just assumed I would have some closure at the end of my time here. I have finished my part of one project, but all of the analysis is yet to be done, and my second project is far from complete. The glass has been made, and tests have been run, but what does it all mean? Questions that will not be answered this summer and maybe not anytime soon, but my work here is almost done, even though the science isn't.
We have a lot of useful information, apparently. But it is taking a lot of work to sift through it all to determine what is significant and what we are actually looking for. Understanding the shifts in Raman spectroscopy of our glass and how it corresponds to the shift in peaks of the crystal and the known change in crystalline structure. I am learning a lot, but it turns out I remember virtually nothing from my high school chemistry (mind you it was almost 8 years ago now). Bonds, molar masses, atomic structures...
So now I'm working on writing the discussion and analysis part of my papers, which proves difficult when everything is not even straight in your head. I'm doing the best I can and my partner and Adam are helping me figure things out along the way.
Tomorrow is the last day here, I'm going to miss it but it will be nice to have a break for a couple weeks before its back to good ole MC and back to the classroom.