Blog Entry #5

I've recently had a major revelation in regards to life in general. As a senior, I face the problems that almost all the others out there seem to claim, a disease known as senioritis. At the same time, as a senior, people constantly ask me "Where do you plan on attending college next year?" and I politely answer, "Well... I'm not really sure yet." It scares me to death that I do not know my plan for my future, but I have also realized my senioritis is a result of my indecisiveness. I have concluded that it is extremely hard for me to work to my full potential when I struggle to know exactly what my goals in life are, and what my future plans are. Without a goal in mind for next year, I find it hard to complete the multitude of papers and tests that my teachers insist on continuing despite the upcoming Spring Break. This same concept applies to my internship, and life in general.
In the first part of my internship at Cargill, I felt useless and as though I had no purpose within the company. This once again demonstrated my lack of goal, and I felt as though I had no reason to spend hours at the plant. However, I approached my mentor and asked for a more meaningful assignment, in order to get a better understanding of the work of a chemical engineer. He ended up assigning me a project which not only tested my knowledge and capabilities in the field of chemistry, but will in fact be used by the company! It thrills me to think of the possibility of completing such a task, and it has given me a goal for the future of my internship! This goal has given me the motivation to work hard and diligently, just as deciding on a college will help me to perservere well into the day of graduation!
Therefore, I truly think it is important that we as individuals set goals for ourselves. Goals help to motivate and help to keep us focused on the prize.
In regards to my final project, I want to present the information that I am currently working on for Cargill. I am trying to find the most efficient way to process crude oil, testing different molarities of phosphoric acid, the solution which cargill choses to use to separate impurities from the oil. This covers my interest in chemistry and I think the best way to present this information would be a science board, but I also wanted to do a second part to my final project. It is completely different, but as I have a great interest in food research, I was debating on making a recipe-makeover cookbook based on my hopefully upcoming hours spent at Two Dog and further food research. This could help me to gain knowledge on the health benefits of certain foods and how foods combine with others, allowing me to chose the optimum spices and ingredients.