After days of counting down, I have started my co-op at MITRE. Here's a minute by minute (more hour by hour) description of what I do.

5:00AM - Wake up - This is the worst part of the day. My commute is long (about an hour and a half), so I get up early to get to go to work early. The earlier I go in, the earlier I can leave. I preferred to have my evenings. I take the T, but I have found a car pool through NU's Rideshare, a place where students make posts stating they either have a car for a carpool or they are looking for a carpool. I found out who was working in my area, sent her an email, and then the rest is history. This will start though in late July.

6:00AM - Get on to the Orange Line to Downtown Crossing - The Orange Line is by far the fastest line in the subway (The blue line may be too. I don't ride it that much.). This takes all of 10 minutes. If you ever have to decide between taking the green line or orange line (they run parallel for the most part), the Orange line is a clear winner. If only going to work were that easy. I need to transfer to another train.

6:15AM - Get on to the Red Line to Alewife - The red line is not as fast, but it goes much farther out. I take the train all the way to the end, Alewife. Almost there.

6:45AM - Get on the Express 351 Bus to MITRE - I need to take one last bus to work. To cover all these charges, I bought a pass for a month, which was $89. NU offers some discounts if purchased earlier in advance. I'm saving though about $30 by not paying each way.

7:30AM - Clock in - I start working around this time. I start up my computer, check my email to see if there are any particular issues I need to deal with. Otherwise, I start on the projects I have been assigned to work on.

10:00AM - Team Meeting - Every Tuesday, my team meets for any updates from the higher-ups and to give updates of our own.

12:00PM - LUNCH - Very important part of the day. I can get food from the company's cafeteria or bring a bag lunch (the dining hall has a plan that gives you one for your meal plan if you wish to sign up). I usually take a shorter lunch break so I can get out early.

2:00PM - Software Project Meeting - I would meet on a project I am working on and discuss the requirements of the piece of software. We separate what needs to be done with what we would like to be done and set priorities.

4:00PM - 4:30PM - End of Day - I would head out around then. By the time I get home from the T, it's around 6:00PM give or take 20 minutes.

I help write software for internal use. I'd go further into details, but to you all, it probably isn't as exciting. I'm working on two projects: one completely on my own and one I'm working on with my "mentor". So far I am enjoying the experience. It leaves me tired, but I like what I am doing. I am working with great people who really want to help me learn (they also took me out to lunch last Wednesday).

In other news, my Birthday was last Thursday (Oh yea, I just birthday dropped). I went out to dinner with my friends and saw a movie. I also saw the fireworks in Boston on the fourth of July, which were amazing. I wish I had taken pictures.

Well my lunch break is over, and I must get back to work. Feel free to ask me any questions or wish me a Happy Belated Birthday!