Recently I had the opportunity to attend the 227th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Kissimmee, Florida. I was able to meet several important astronomers as well as others who like me are applying for graduate school in astronomy. The convention provided an excellent opportunity to get up to date with the newest research results and data analysis tools.
Although I did not present anything at this convention, I did get many ideas. Towards the end of the convention I exchanged messages with a professor in my university’s astronomy department, and it’s my hope that this will lead to a personal research project that I can present at the next AAS meeting this June.
It was reassuring to see how welcoming the great majority of astronomers were to us who are merely beginning this career. At the same time, there are so many discoveries happening in the field of astronomy. It is truly an exciting time to become an astronomer!