Wrapping up the semester, and the program overall, has been quite the task. In my last post, I talked about all these steps I was taking prior to the end of the semester. Now that classes have ended, I can put things into perspective. From an academic standpoint, I had to finish up two of my electives’ final projects. I had already forgotten the difficulty of working with teammates you are not familiar with, which has made me realize how wonderful it has been to work with my peers Erica, Jeannette and Michael. Maybe it was not as smooth in the beginning -as one is to expect when starting any sort of group project- but we have polished our relationship as a team to the point of achieving a high-performance state.
Our recent experience at the Bay Area Showcase, in Palo Alto, CA is one of the best examples of it. We were pressured into finishing a big part of our work in our DialOasis design project, but we managed to organize ourselves and procured a beautiful
, informative poster for our audience to see. In addition, the pitch we prepared, along with Jeannette’s wonderful delivery, won us the Best Pitch award during the show. The capstone projects were all incredible as well; they never stop surprising me even as a Teaching Assistant for this course. I opted for the Tesla tour in the morning after showcase; it was a very entertaining tour, as well as enlightening as to what automobile manufacture entails. I am passionate about learning how to apply cross-disciplinary principles to bioengineering so this was quite the insightful trip. I heard the trips to Medtronic and Intuitive were also amazing. Despite the crazy schedule and the extreme languor from sleep deprivation, I enjoyed the trip to the fullest. I hope I can return to the Bay Area soon enough to better appreciate all it offers.
As I close my experience here at Rice, I seek to maintain a connection to this incredible place once I return to my country. I am currently pursuing opportunities to involve myself more as liaison for Costa Rica-Rice relations with the OISS. Whatever the task, no matter how big or small, I stride to make a difference in my country, promoting academic and intellectual exchange with this prestigious university, as well as collaboration in engineering fields and beyond. I look forward to helping both the GMI program and the university in their efforts to bring up more students to live opportunities like the one I have experienced in the past year.