The last two weeks have flown by and here I find myself on my last day at SPIE. I have been working on a documentary for the last week. This is the work I enjoyed most during my stay here in Bellingham. A team of members from the publications department filmed an interview with a representative of Palomar Observatory at SPIE's most recent conference in San Diego. I got full responsibility in terms of storyboarding and editing. I had a lot of material to work with and had to choose carefully to cut it down to the length of 5 minutes. I was working with SPIE's videographer and had a say in how to change sound and image. It was very rewarding to see it published in SPIE Newsroom online with my name in the credits. It was good to end my internship with a project that I have been responsible for from start to finish.

I am now looking back at my 8 weeks here, evaluating how this experience has changed me, my attitude and outlook on life. I didn't really know what kind of work and projects I was going to get before I came here. The projects were so versatile and different to anything I had ever done before so that I feel like I know my strenghts and weaknesses and myself better  than before, but this is not only because of work. I have met so many different people and had so many conversations about things and topics I have never thought of before. Socializing at work and outside of work was definitely one of the things that taught me most. Interpersonal and people skills are such valuable attributes that you can only gain through socializing and talking to people. I have met people and built relationships I feel like I will benefit from in the future- both business related and personal. Our colleagues and friends are having a goodbye BBQ lunch for us on our last day today. It is a lot harder than I thought to say goodbye to everyone. This summer has been one of my best ever and I know that I can only understand to full extent how much I am taking home with me once I'm back in Scotland and my old life. Thank you SPIE and thank you everyone who helped making this experience what it was- unforgettable!