4 UTSAV GANDHI Explosions, influenza: By Alex Miller STAFF WRITER Anxious. Excited. Nervous. Intrigued. All of these feelings rushed through my body when I got the news: I was accepted as a sum— mer intern at the Museum of Science and In— dustry. Reporting to my first day of work, I was unsure of what to expect. What would my coworkers be like? What about all the infor— mation I didn’t know? What if the kids at the museum didn’t like me? Needless to say, all my worries were gone within a few minutes on the job. The F3s (the full time guest programs team) were extremely welcoming and helpful. They were also extremely enthusiastic, a nice addition to the early Monday morning. We started the week with tours of the mu— seum, as well as seeing everything the museum had to offer. Looking at the seven programs we were supposed to learn over the course of the summer, we were a little intimidated. We split into groups and started to learn about life at the museum. The first program I learned was Bangs, Flashes, and Fire. This was a daily chemistry show where we talked about combustion reac— tions, produced a luminol reaction, did flame tests, created a fire that looked like a dragon’s breath, and exploded balloons. As a first pro— gram to learn, it was extremely intimidating that we started off with one in the middle of the rotunda for groups ofup to 200 people at a time. The first time I did it was one of the most intimidating experiences of my life. I stumbled over my first few words and did my best to project an aura of confidence. Soon, I wasn’t pretending anymore. After a few weeks, the chemistry show was one of my favorite pro— grams just because it was so much fun! Next, I learned a show called “Poop Hap— pens.” Basically, it’s a journey through the digestion system, starting with your mouth and ending when “poop happens.” This was an interesting program, as it required you to develop a character. There was a quirky librar— ian role, Mrs. Lotta Poopay, and a student pre— senting the project. Both required different skill sets including the ability to project a lot of energy into the audience and to learn about how to communicate with a more exagger— ated version of yourself That was extremely nerve—wracking during the actual practice and character development, but when it was time to perform the show for museum guests, it just turned into having fun. The Flu and You and Dissect an Eye at MSI were more laid back environments. For groups of 20 to 30 people at a time, you would run an interactive lab to help people understand more about how viruses spread and how the eye works. As a civil engineering major, I didn’t know much about either of these things, but they challenged me to go outside my comfort— able limits and learn about something outside campus@technewsiit.com TechNews I Tuesday, September 13, 2011 summer of a lifetime my chosen focus of science. Happy Brrr—thday was a really fun program. We used liquid nitrogen to celebrate a famous scientists birthday daily. Honestly, I was a little intimidated to act like a professional capable of handling a material that had a boiling point of —321°F. With all the safety training and prac— tice they gave us, however, I was comfortable enough with the program to have a lot of fun while running the program. One of my favorite programs this summer was Earth Revealed. In a side corridor of the museum that few people ever ventured into was a 6—ft in diameter carbon sphere constantly projecting different images. I ran a program on it about the possibility of life on other planets. We looked at the capabilities of each planet to maintain life and talked ab out the plausibility of other forms of life out there in the universe. This was an amazing program because it al— lowed you to have personal conversations with the guests and debate a little about controver— sial topics such as life in outer space. Everyone had a different perspective on that and it was intriguing to hear about all of them. The program that scared me the most was MSI Hospital. We would run a 40 minute pro— gram teaching museum guests about our hu— man patient simulator, Stan (D. Ardman). First talking about what a doctor does, we would take vital signs of Stan while he was normal and healthy. We would then put Stan through a medical emergency and ask museum guests to figure out what was wrong with him. Not only did you have to run a robot while inter— acting with museum guests, but you also had to be able to answer some tough questions that guests would have about various medical problems. Knowing virtually nothing about medicine myself, I started training for this program terrified of what guests would ask. As a program that you performed with a partner, however, and training from the FSS on how to answer questions without offending people, Stan ended up not being so scary after all. Overall, this summer was exhilarating, challenging, and one of the best summer’s I’ve ever had. I grew so close to each of my fellow interns, its weird to only see them every few days around campus. To get involved with this incredible part— nership yourself, apply to volunteer at the mu— seum either during fall or spring semester. Ev— ery volunteer will then be eligible to apply for the summer internship if they spend at least 4 weekend days over the course of the semester volunteering. For anyone who enjoys learning about sci— ence, spending time with other people, and challenging themselves, MSI is the place to be. Yes, you will go outside your comfortable limits, but you’ll also look back on how much you’ve grown and realize that that was the ex— perience of a lifetime. I know for me it was an incredible experience that I will never forget. Curious about work study? Financial Aid is here to help By the Office of Financial Aid The federal work study program allows students to work on campus or for a com— munity partner and be paid, in part, by the Department of Education. If you are eligible for federal work study for the 2011—12 academic year, the Of— fice of Financial Aid awarded it to you in your aid package this year. There are several ways to find a job on campus. One of the most common ways is by utilizing Nacelink, which is managed by the Career Manage— ment Center. This tool, found on the Career Management Center’s website (https://iit— csm.symplicity.com/students/), allows stu— dents to create an account and search for job postings. Not all jobs are federal work study jobs so all students can use this tool to look for campus jobs. If you do have federal work study and are still looking for a job this year, consider By Toby Causby journey unto itself offering op— portunities to explore, to dis- cover, to encounter, and to experience new and exciting people, places, and things. This program introduces the five essential steps for every successful journey. Learn more about the presentation and register at Remember this event is only open to Prenaring llll‘ the Journey Ill a liletime Life is a grand adventure ta king us from cradle to grave. For student leaders, every academic year is a LeadershipAcademy.iit.edu/schedule Date &Time: Saturday, October 1, 2011 10:00 am — 2:00 pm (Lunch provided) Location: HUB — Armour Dining Room IIT, Shimer, and Vandercook undergraduate students. a community service position. IIT has part— nered with numerous schools & non—profits in the area to utilize federal work study funds to pay students to work for these agen— cies. All jobs are posted in Nacelink, where you will find instructions on how to apply and whom to contact. Currently, the follow— ing agencies are looking to hire IIT students: Chinese American Service League, Center for Higher Development, Edge Alliance, Per— spectives Charter School—IIT Math & Science Academy, Perspectives Charter School— Calu— met Tech High School, the Young People’s Project and James Wood Elementary School. Apply to day! For questions related to the community service positions, please contact Kelli Goers in the Office of Financial Aid at goersk@iit. edu. Kelli does not do any hiring, so check Nacelink to apply, but she is happy to help with any questions about the process. Happy Job Searching! Sponsored by the HT Leadership Academy Date Location Time Attire Successful Careers Start Here FALL is hosting the 2011 CAREER FAIR September 22, 2011 Hermann Hall 12 — 4pm Business Attire. No Jeans, T-Shirts, 0r Gym Shoes. Sponsored by: ‘ a {VJPIQQ \Wl IRCura _ CME Group ww'ii EN WALSH CONSTRU CTION Systems Inc. (P 355 ‘9? Sargent: E Lundy‘ " open snur(w wee davutopmnnt e art: Awesome people? A little cash? Real world experience? TechNews Apply now. We’re hiring. http://goo.gl/71tL3