This is my last week. Then I will have a couple weeks to relax and I will return to classes. And I will no longer have the key to access this lab, nor the grad student lounge. How sad. It's odd how much I've taken root. My work station has all my things everywhere, sticky notes from people and paper airplanes made from starburst wrappers the boy across throws my way occasionally. I've got my pile of cds for listening to while I work, and my sweater for when the lab gets cold. I've got my collection of dried snacks for when I need something to much on, and my gum. All needing to be packed up and taken home. Well I'll cut the nostalgia and let you know how things are going. Onward weary reader... the summer closes soon.
So last week was wretched as you may recall. Full of lack of successes. Then this monday, after even a weekend of further lack of success, I discovered it. It was part of the ACT-R code. I misinterpreted how it was working. Something I took as an error makes functional sense if you're using it for something other than I was. On one hand I'm relieved to finally know the answer and know it wasn't me, but on the other I'm so frustrated that I wasted all that time. However it is silly to cry over spilled milk. I have to move on and finish everything so I can hand in my final report this Monday.
Fortunately, sailing was smooth after that point and I attribute that to a lot of fine-combing I had to do of the code to look for that error. Things are just much cleaner as a result so that's fantastic. I'm getting results and they're interesting and they may say something and that's also fantastic. I am glad, I was getting worried I'd have nothing to write and my summer would look like a bust to the rest of the world. However I won't reveal too much here so that you're all enticed into reading my final report!
I had a final meeting with Renee to give her all my work so she'd have it for future work. She is happy with what I did and that makes me feel better than anything else. I'm glad I haven't let her down and that I managed to be more than a pest this summer. I've learned a lot from her and cannot express how much I appreciate having had her as a mentor. So much. I'm a more tenacious skilled problem solver, wether it's theoretical or a code bug. I can read papers more effectively. I've learned the questions to ask and how to ask questions without feeling silly. It's been a great summer. I'm gonna sign off now on that note. Thanks to everyone, CDMP and NSERC for the funding, Renee for the support and ideas and help through everything, and my lab mates for their acceptance and all the laughs. Thanks for reading this! I hope you all enjoy the oncoming fall! Cheers!