Week Eight

There are only two weeks left and each day as it gets closer to the end of the programs the days go by faster. This week was full of ups and downs, while I had the chance to attend the Leadership Alliance Symposium at the end of the week, at the beginning of the week my great grandmother passed away. It was difficult not having the chance to be with my family during such a sad time, but knowing I will be home soon helped.

This week I worked on finalizing my results and making my poster for my presentation. I was able to find a couple distinct still lifes in most of the oscillators, with the most common still life being the block. I mainly looked at the oscillators with the smallest number of cells for each period oscillators, though for some I had to look at other known oscillators for that period. I was also able to group oscillators by their behavior. I looked at their average block change, lines of symmetry, and reflections and rotations. I believe having the chance to create a poster and present it will help in writing my final report.

For reading group this week we read four articles discussing NL and how NL=coNL. One of the articles discussed surprises in mathematics and theory, this one was my favorite. I enjoyed the article on surprises because it discussed how often when people present a proof they can be wrong but with them being wrong it help discover the correct proof or idea.

At the end of this week I attended the Leadership Alliance National Symposium. I really enjoyed the conference and felt like it was a great experience. Not only did I get a chance to present the research I had been working on all summer but I had the chance to view other peoples work and learn a great deal about graduate school. I received a lot of information regarding grad school, funding, and overall experience with graduate school and the process of applying. I now feel very comfortable with the decisions I will be making in regards to graduate school and the process of applying and attending graduate school. I would encourage all students to attend at least one conference and present their research while still an undergraduate. The DREU did offer me a chance to attend a conference, I am unable to attend because it conflicts with my fall class schedule. I am very grateful that I had the chance to attend the leadership alliance conference and gain the experience that comes with attending.