Another Summer

Well, school ended on June 12th with an incredible graduation. Nikki Giovanni was our commencement speaker and she was the perfect choice. She kept the crowd captivated and delivered a message that provided our students with inspiration to discover new worlds.

I actually had to go back to school on June 15th to finish the checkout process and get ready for my summer program. Yes, I know I swore I was done with the program after last summer. Well, when no one had been hired or a job announcement had not even been posted in January, I realized the program was in real danger. So, I pulled it out one more time. I have to say that may have been a good idea on one hand (the money is incredible) but a horrible idea on the other hand. I have had nothing but problems ever since I started with this summer's planning. I had no assistance with anyone on the NASA/NIA side. Everyone pretty much bailed out and left me hanging and placing students on my own. Considering I was located in Petersburg and I needed to be on the center to make placements, I had a mess on my hands. I thought I was finally good once I had the placements for the students. WRONG! One of the mentors bailed on two of my kids at the absolute last minute. So, crisis for me. Got that one fixed and then the fun began when I got to the program. One thing after another has kept my stomach in knots. The kids are great as always ... the RAs are wonderful. But, I am a ball of nerves. I have never been looking so forward to the end of this program as I am this year.

Needless to say, since I have had such a negative attitude, I have avoided posting. I was waiting until the storm started to clear. Unfortunately, it hasn't cleared and I wanted my friends to know that I am still here.

Love to you all.