Day 2: Washington DC

Although today was not the day of the actual conference, it was most definitely a day to remember.

We got to sleep in until 8:30 (As far as the Ultimate Adventure goes, that’s pretty late). 

Mom and I hit up the lovely buffet and then navigated our way through DC, sweating profusely, but still managing to make it to the National Academy of Science (NAS) before 11:30.

I saw Sarah standing outside on the phone (calling me of course) and we had one of those dramatic running reunion hugs. It was quite fantastic.

Anne Merchant, the Director of Outreach and Marketing at the academy was there to meet us and introduced us to Ralph J. Cicerone, the PRESIDENT of The National Academy of Sciences! He wanted to know about what Jordan and I are doing, and told a couple of amazing stories.  He told us one about a woman who never graduated from high school and now works for NAS. It was really incredible.

 After our little chat (not actually little by any standards), we received a tour of the building including seeing the auditorium where past presidents have spoken, and the Great Hall which was ornately embellished with pictures of significant scientific discoveries. 

Continuing with the day, we had a very delicious lunch, then strolled to the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History. The phenomenal part though was going behind the scenes and learning a little about about the 600,000 mammals stored in the museum. They have the largest collection in THE ENTIRE WORLD.  Each of the cabinets picture below contains hundreds of species and this is just one hallway of one room.

We learned about secret stuff that hasn't been released to the general public. I better not say anything else, or I’ll probably have the CIA and the FBI busting down my door.

Kristofer Helgen, the Curator of the exhibit-has discovered over 100 species of mammals! He gathered a group of five female scientist to share their educational journey with us. It was insightful to hear all that they've done, and they were reassuring that we’re on the right track. Many wished they had a mentor earlier on in their career.

They shared their experiences with mentorship and how big of an impact it really does have. Speaking of mentorship, I’m going to need some sleep tonight if I want to be awaketomorrow so I better hit the sack.

Tune in for my next installment J