As of today, it’s been exactly two months since I left USC, and the time has really flown by. I can’t believe I only have three and a half weeks left of my internship at OHSU! Since the last time I blogged, I’ve actually only had a couple of weeks of work – I spent the rest of the time on vacation in Hawaii with my best friend’s family.
My trip to the stunning island of Maui was absolutely wonderful. I really haven’t had much relaxation time since Winter Break because after a full semester of school I only had three days at home before completing the first six weeks of my internship. While I love my job, a two week vacation was exactly what I needed in order to get my mind off of school and work for awhile.
While we were in Hawaii, I had lots of new experiences! I went zip-lining for the first time overlooking the city of Ka’anapali and, of course, the ocean. I’ve never experienced anything quite like the sensation of flying along 400 ft – 1200 ft zip-lines, hundreds of feet above the ground. It was seriously cool, and I would definitely go again! Another first for me was snorkeling, where I got to see some beautiful coral and fish. Additionally, we went hiking, swam in the ocean, ate pineapples, and simply relaxed in our condo. The beach right next to our condo was packed with sea turtles, and just wading next to the shoreline put me so close to several sea turtles that I could have reached out and touched them.
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- Just hanging out with some sea turtles!
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- My first time zip-lining!
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- Zip-lining with the whole crew, including one of our guides.
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- My friend Jenna and I before our dinner cruise one evening.
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- The view from our condo. Not much beats watching a gorgeous sunset over the ocean for two weeks straight!
After my stay in paradise came to an end, I headed back to work, feeling very refreshed. Since returning to work, I’ve enjoyed continuing to get to know the other three interns in my lab, all of whom were on the semester system and started work just before I left on vacation. It’s been fun to build a relationship with these people and learn about what they’re contributing to the lab. We’ve even gone out to lunch together!
A few days ago I bought my plane tickets to return to USC in August, and ever since then, I can’t stop thinking about going back. I’ve even started making lists of what I need to pack! I love being in Oregon, but I really miss USC. Only one more month to go!
