<p>I don’t really know how to begin because I am feeling both frustrated (with myself) and upset. A week ago, I was on top of the world. I had been searching for opportunities to do this summer, either in history or science (distant fields I know, but they are my two main interests), but nothing had come to fruition. I was rejected from TASP, and after much discussion my family and I decided JSA was too much $$. I had not yet pursued the science/computer science angle, as I was not too sure how to begin.</p>
<p>Opportunity came knocking when a friend of mine asked me what my summer plans were. I told him I did not know, and I asked him what he was going to do. He said that he had landed an internship opportunity at the Mars Gravity Project[<a href=“http://www.marsgravity.org%5D%5B/url”>www.marsgravity.org][/url</a>] at MIT, and they were doing some really awesome stuff. Basically, he would be working with the payload team and testing (literally) space-age technology. He said that his grandfather “founded the lab” (or something along those lines, maybe he said project? I can’t recall exactly) and this connection had opened the door.</p>
<p>He then asked me whether or not I would be interested in doing it as well. Amazed, I eagerly responded in the affirmative. He said that it might not be to late, and he would email the Payload team director. Later that night, the payload director said that if I submitted my application within the next 7 days, they would consider me as an intern candidate. This was last two Tuesday’s ago, on 5/16.</p>
<p>I looked over the application, and began filling it out. I resolved to finish it on the Sunday of that week, and have it in the mail by Monday. However, that week was one of the craziest ever. I had many papers, projects, and tests to study for, and by the time Friday night rolled around, I was exhausted. I could not finish the application then because I was hard-pressed to study for singing evaluations for my music theory class the next day in Boston, and from there I had to go straight to the tux/flower shop and get prepared for Prom, which was that night.</p>
<p>On Sunday, I looked online and met an avalanche of workload. I’m rambling here, I’m sorry, so I’ll get to the point. Point is, I was not able to complete my application until Tuesday night, and I sent it out in the mail Wednesday morning. At that point, I wasn’t quite sure on which date the Payload director had said “the next seven days” from, but I thought it was either Tuesday or Wednesday, but I had guessed wrong.</p>
<p>The next day, I received an email from the director saying that I had submitted it too late, and all opportunities on his team had been filled. He then said that he would forward my application to other teams. I sent a follow-up email asking if he thought there was a chance other teams still had spots open; he said it was doubtful this late in the game. </p>
<p>I was completely crushed. MIT students, is there anything that I could do to try and salvage such an awesome opportunity? For anyone doing the Mars Gravity Project, do you know of any other openings on the team? I’ve learned a very important lesson from this, but I would still love to work at MIT this summer on the project.</p>