Yesterday was awesome.
Literally. I had a really, really good day. I got up a little later than I normally would in the morning and waited for my roommate to get ready, then had breakfast with her and her two friends. The three of them, all master's students working under the same adviser at a small college in the Midwest, had driven the lengthy distance to Laramie to attend the conference, and although they were close friends they had no qualms letting me temporarily join their group. It was nice to finally eat with someone!
After breakfast I attended the morning plenary sessions, a group of presentations about stable isotope analyses and their applications to mammalogical studies. It seems to be a useful, interesting technique and one that can be utilized, in certain situations, non-invasively. A lot of the technical stuff was a little beyond me, but it's nothing a little research/reading won't be able to fix.
After the plenary sessions there was an ASM member's meeting. I skipped this, having little interest, and instead retreated back to the dorms for a couple hours of chill time. Not only was I tired, I needed a chance to review my material before my presentation.
I met up with my roommate and her friends again at lunch (yay!) and then had my presentation early yesterday afternoon. Giving the presentation was a lot of fun-- one of the most entertaining things I've done here so far. I had the opportunity to talk to a lot of people, and my research was well-received. It's great to get to discuss something in which I've invested so much with such a wide variety of people. Most of the people that came to my presentation were, of course, interested in the subject matter, but a few that I talked to were just curious, which was nice. Unfortunately, my current research interests deviate a fair bit from the topic of my undergraduate research, so I wasn't able to talk "potential for future study" with anyone I would have been really interested in working with.
I attended a few additional presentations in the afternoon, and then my roommate and I, as well as her friends, went to the catered picnic held at the Wyoming Territorial Prison (Laramie's only tourist attraction). The place had been kept open late for private, self-guided tours for ASM members, so after eating we bummed around the old prison and the other historical buildings on site, including a broom-making factory, an old schoolhouse, homesteader's lodgings, and a barn. It was pretty neat, but it didn't take a great deal of time to do the tour, so we found ourselves leaving the prison and returning to town around 8:00 PM... just a little too early to check in for the night.
Instead, we all went across the street from the dorms to Laramie's local college bar, The Library, got a table, and ordered some drinks. Well, my roommate and one of her friends ordered drinks, and I and the other friend ordered soda, because, try as I might, I've never been able to stomach the bitter taste of beer. I was challenged to drink a pitcher of Diet Pepsi instead, a feat which I performed admirably. We had a lot of fun just sitting around and talking, and before too long the place was packed with ASM members. We watched a little of the World Cup match between Serbia and Ghana and discussed our research, adventures we've had in the field, and the places we've worked and/or visited.
Later on in the evening my group introduced me to a really nice professor from a school in the West, a guy who's evidently good friends with their adviser at their school. He seemed cool and chatted with us for quite a while. He doesn't teach at a school I have any interest in attending, and, although his research interests are similar to mine, his study system doesn't appeal to me. But it was still nice to talk to him.
He recommended I look into doing a master's program first, stating that just the additional publications I'd have from doing so would aid me in netting a job after my graduate education is finished. He made some good points, but I'm not sure I'd do well giving up the autonomy of a PhD project in order to work on a master's. I was spoiled with my undergraduate research-- it was my project, my ideas, my construction, execution, analyses, etc. I don't want to work on someone else's research. I want to do my own.
Before we left, the professor asked me if I was attending the banquet or if I'd planned on the Alternative Dining Experience (ADE). When I told him I had no idea what he was talking about, my group laughed and explained to him I was a conference virgin. The banquet, a formal dining affair, complete with several courses, an auction to benefit a scholarship fund, more types of silverware than you can count, and the fanciest clothes you possess, is held on Monday nights of the conferences each year.
Evidently, however, a group of scientists "without the money or the proper attire to attend the banquet" started an underground movement of sorts several years ago, and founded the ADE. I was invited to the ADE, casual clothes only, to be held this year at a nearby pizza joint. The professor assured me that If I chose to come to the ADE instead of the formal banquet, I'd be hanging out with the nicest group of ASM members there are. I readily agreed to forgo the banquet, and was given instructions to the place.
I told the professor my reticence about meeting new people, and the fact that I'd come to the meeting alone, and he assured me that it would be far easier to talk to people at the pizza place (most of them slightly buzzed) than at the banquet. My roommate and her friends, too, said that if I stuck close to the professor during the evening he'd be able to introduce me to some people so that I didn't feel so awkward. I would have been fine hanging out with my group for the rest of the meeting, except for one problem-- my new conference friends left.
They buggered out early this morning to have a couple free days to make a visit to Yellowstone National Park before driving back home. I don't blame them in the least. I'd do the same thing if I were in their position! But that means that my little group has disbanded, and I'm (at least temporarily) without acquaintances again. There are plenty of presentations this afternoon, though, and a couple people I met at one of the poster sessions Saturday night that I can try and track down and get to know a little better. Hopefully this evening the ADE will turn out well for me.
If nothing else, though, I've been having a good time!
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