warm fuzzies

I've had one of those weeks so far that really helps me see the meaning and value of what I do. In a career that can at times be difficult to gauge by numbers or hard results, it is really nice to receive kind words and appreciation.

Rolled out as part of the most recent CIS Imaging Connection was a simple 2 question survey for alumni: What got you into Imaging Science, and what do you think we can do to get more people into Imaging Science? Participants who shared their addresses were promised two of our new magnets as a thank you. I understand the unlikelihood of alumni using their valuable time to fill out a survey, no matter how short or simple, so I greatly appreciate those who participate. When I sent out the magnets, I took the time to hand write a personal letter to each alumnus. This simple gesture has resulted in several notes expressing an appreciation for taking the time to hand write a personal letter. I have even received personal updates and invitations to meet for coffee. It is amazing the response I have gotten, and it feels great! Here's hoping we can continue to foster such positive connections back with our alumni.

Coming the other way: Yesterday I received a thank you card from the two gals from Midlakes that I hosted a couple weeks ago. This is one of my favorite cards ever!

That cow is awesome, but I think my favorite part HAS to be the googly eyes in the word "cool"...

Also, this week I received some feedback from the Non-Traditional Occupations Day that I had so much fun with a few weeks ago:

"You did a wonderful job engaging our students and helping them think about their future options.  On our survey at the end of the day, our students overwhelmingly sited you as someone they connected with.  You were mentioned in over 70% of the surveys...  You will probably be flooded with future imaging science students from Apollo in a couple of years!"

Thanks, and I sure hope so!

I am so lucky to have found a career that is both fun and very rewarding. :-)

It's a Small World, After All (now try getting that tune out of your head)

Today I participated in a career panel at Greece Arcadia High School. This was very exciting to me because for the first time, a college/career center that I had visited, that otherwise we had no prior relationship with, contacted me to do an event! Up until now, pretty much all of the events I've done came about because we had done them before, or had a prior connection to the organizers, or I had requested to be included. So I was very excited and honored to have been reached out to out of the blue.

The audience consisted of about 200 10th grade students, to which I showed the "What is Imaging Science?" video and then described in a little more detail the career opportunities available in Imaging Science. I also described my own story and the internship program. I don't know that we've gotten many (any?) intern applicants from any of the Greece schools before, so hopefully we'll get some next year.

The other professionals in the panel represented financial advising, physical therapy, Wegmans HR, and nursing. 

At the end of the presentations, a student who recognized me came up to say hi. Turned it out was my cousin's husband's nephew whom I had met last summer at a family party! I also learned that the daughter of the teaching assistant who invited me to participate actually went to the same high school as I did, and graduated the year after me. Small world.

Time's UP! Pencils down.

Yesterday (Thursday, March 17) at 4 PM was the deadline for high school summer intern applications for 2011. I've taken the lead on organizing the program so far this year and have spent a lot of time on processing the applications. I've read every application, essay, and recommendation letter, and I've been keeping track of everything in a (pretty extensive) spread sheet. At any rate, here's a breakdown of 2011's applicant pool:

53 Applicants from the following schools:

• Webster Schroeder - 9
• RH -7
• Pittsford Mendon - 6
• HFL - 4
• Victor & Webster Thomas - 3
• McQuaid, Mercy, Spencerport, Lima Christian, Penfield - 2
• Bloomfield, Brighton, Canandaigua Academy, Dansville, Fairport, Harley, Honeoye, Pittsford Sutherland, Victor, W. Irondequoit, Williamson - 1

• 36 complete packages - though some of these need 1st semester grade reports
• 17 incomplete for other reasons 

UP NEXT: Some notifications, and final organization before submitting to the Intern Selection Committee...

Only a couple months old and already I'm slacking

As is the case with practically any diary, enthusiasm runs out before too long and posts are spread further and further apart. I have never been able to keep a journal or a diary or anything of the like consistently up to date, and this is unfortunately no exception! (It doesn't help that I can track how many people actually visit my blog, and the meter is running at zero 99.9% of the time - RRRRR rrrrrrrrrr.) So here are some things I've neglected to post as they were happening:

• Some CIS website updates (in addition to the layout changes): Intern program; Imaging Hall of Fame; Imaging Bashes; updated Ugrad and Grad menus; and a whole new "About" menu
• Helping out in the College of Science Dean's Office part time to help fill the void left behind by a recent beloved staff member's departure. My tenure over there is already over, but it was definitely a very pleasant and valuable experience from which I can take away new friendships and professional relationships. 
• Some visitors coming in to learn more about CIS - this was very exciting because it was 2 girls (& their families) whom I had presented to at Midlakes MS! I was very proud to have left such an impression on them, and hopefully they'll have futures here at RIT.
• Organizing the high school intern selection process - but this deserves its own post, soon to come...
• And last but not least, the new CIS Imaging Connection alumni newsletter went out.

I am probably forgetting some things, still... Let that be a lesson to me!

Those folks over in G-C really have their stuff together

Last night after the Greece NTO Day, I also participated in the Gates Chili Evening of Career Exploration. What an event! The event was HUGE, with a refreshments table, a jazz band, and National Honor Society student helpers all over the place. My presentation was during the first half of the night in one of the science classrooms. I decided to take along the FLIR to play with at the end since I had already had it earlier that day, though there ended up not really being enough time. Even so, the presentation went well and although I didn't draw a large crowd, my audience seemed to be made up of some great people. I had some really nice conversations with one gentleman and his 8th grade daughter, who were very nice and already quite knowledgeable on imaging science subjects; so I hope they keep in touch and come out for a tour of RIT some day. It also turns out that I presented to the husband and son of a coworker from over in the College of Science Dean's office, which was a funny coincidence. All in all, another great event - one that was probably the most impressive and well organized career night I've ever been a part of. (It doesn't hurt that Gates Chili has a beautiful high school, whoa!) Oh, and, bonus! They gave me a coffee mug as a thank you:

Splat Stan not included.

Thanks, Gates Chili! I hope I can participate again next year!

The Hit of the Day

Today I participated in Greece Apollo's Non-Traditional Occupations Day for girls. It was so much fun! The day began with a keynote speech about financial independence by Kitty Van Bortel (of Van Bortel Subaru), which was a really great talk and very inspiring. We then participated in a "What's My Line?" like game for the girls. Each of the 9 women (I was #3) stood up and read a little riddle, from which the girls were supposed to guess what occupation we each represented. My riddle was:

The best part of my job is the variety I encounter,
If I wasn’t good at math my job would be a downer.

My day is filled with physics, engineering, and geometry,
While working with megapixels, CMOS, and CCD.

You can see my work on the computer screen,
But my team remains in the lab, unseen.

Clever, right? (I didn't write it, but I supplied a wealth of terms to use.) The 9 of us represented a scientist; a gas line technician; imaging scientist; civil engineer; cook; police detective; plumber; playground builder; and a firewoman - so we made up a really nice variety of jobs both intellectual and physical. After we all read our riddles, we each announced who we were and had a chance to describe what we do, what got us into our careers, advice for the girls, etc. This was all a lot of fun and resulted in many cheers and applause!

From here we moved into separate classrooms to perform skills exercises. There were 10 groups of about 15 girls each, and we were given 12 minutes with each group to describe what we do and give the girls an exercise to perform: for example, the cook was having them participate in a cooking demonstration; the firefighters had the girls try on fire resistant suits; etc. I took the FLIR thermal infrared camera, explained how it worked and what it was used for, and then we got to play around in front of the camera. Volunteers were given stickers with the Platypus Seal of Approval, which were a huge hit!

Always a classic.

The girls had a lot of fun - This was one of my most favorite groups! (A couple of these girls even said they wanted to BE me - sucking up is always a plus.)

She's been APPROVED!

The skills booth portion of the day is always such an experience. First of all, doing a 12 minute demonstration 10 times over can be very draining! But what always surprises me the most is the variety of groups I get. Most groups of girls are AMAZING, but then there are always one or two that are problematic, which is unavoidable. In one of my groups there was a down right clique of bullies, who started to pick on the somewhat shy girl who was the only one of the group that had the guts to volunteer to go in front of the camera. Not only was this unacceptable in and of itself, but their bad attitudes were discouraging the rest of the group from participating or showing and interest whatsoever. This is something I absolutely have no patience for.

If you pick on the volunteers, you are automatically the next volunteer (but no sticker for you!). However, they refused to cooperate and were willing to ruin the experience of the rest of the group, despite the requests both from my myself and their teacher chaperon. After a staring contest, the solution became simple: I turned the camera on them.

My classroom, my rules. Tough love: Bethany style.

They didn't appreciate this very much. But I think my brave first volunteer did. (And I suppose the photographer must have too since she took a picture of the event.) There will be no bullying going down when Sheriff Bethany's in town.

Meanwhile this did nothing to dampen my mood on the day. After we made it through all 10 groups we were treated to a pizza lunch (always a bonus!) and then were each presented flowers and a certificate of appreciation, all to grand applause. According to several organizers as well as fellow presenters, I was told on several separate occasions that the Imaging Science demonstration was the hit of the day - apparently the girls couldn't stop talking about it after they left! (Who knew - I was afraid I couldn't live up to the cook or the fire fighter.) Hopefully being a part of this day will help raise interest in Imaging Science at RIT and encourage young girls to keep taking math and science in high school.

Overall the event was a great success and I am proud to have participated! The Greece Apollo NTO day is a great opportunity for the students, and I wish more schools had the resources to be able to put together additional events like this one. I look forward to being a part of it again next year!

Up next: An Evening of Career Exploration at Gates Chili, later tonight...

Interview Basics

Yesterday I visited my alma mater, Rush Henrietta, to give a special presentation about Imaging Science, our summer high school internship, and some interview basics. This is such a useful presentation to high school students because, even though it is focused on our internship selection process, it contains vital information that would come in handy under any interview situation. You'd be surprised how many high school students show up for their interview in jeans and a t-shirt, chewing gum, 10 minutes late! While the presentation was not largely attended, the students who did come seemed like a great group - they were interactive, interested, and had even heard about Imaging Science before. I look forward to seeing them succeed at their interviews... Here's hoping I'll be seeing more of them this summer!

Interested in having a similar presentation done at your school? Contact me! choate @ cis.rit.edu (remove spaces)