No, I go to Northeastern, so I'm a middler...
When the class of 2008 graduated, I entered that awkward and unique time that Northeastern students go through: being a middler. Whenever people hear that I'm in school they always, without failure, ask what year I am, mistaking it for a simple question with a one word answer. "Well, I just finished my sophomore year." People assume I go to a 'normal' 4 year school, "Oh, so you're a junior" And here's where the difficulty begins. If I'm not on campus it usually requires a lengthy explanation, of what coop is why, although I've finished two years of college, I still have 3 more years of undergrad left, and I'm not a junior. However, despite it's ambiguity with other people, I love being a middler. I'm halfway through with my classes, but I still have 3 more years to be a full time undergrad.
For my coop, I work in the Breast Imaging Lab at MGH like it says in my bio. There I manage the technical aspects of the clinical trials we have going in 3 different imaging modalities. One is an improved method of the gold of standard x-ray mammography, called Tomosynthesis, which, by taking images at different angles and then reconstructing them in to a single 3D image, has already allowed doctors to find an additional 30-40% more cancers than with traditional mammography. The other two trials are in earlier stages of development, but use near-infrared light, and small electric currents respectively to produce images and should allow radiologists to differentiate between cancerous and noncancerous masses more reliably without biopsy. Additionally, I design gelatin based phantoms that will ideally look like real tissue in multiple imaging modalities in order to study the effects of compression and verify and improve various aspects of the reconstruction algorithms.
When I get back to campus in the evening, I go back to my student groups, just like I did while in classes. Because most students are around for the summer, we still have weekly e-board meetings so that when September comes we're ready to go with a fully planned fall semester. As I referred to in my bio, I'm starting my second term on the executive board of BESS, this year I'm Programs Chair. As Programs Chair I'm the primary contact on a lot of our events to fulfill our mission as a chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers to excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.
There's a bit more of an introduction about some of the things I'm involved in. There's plenty more to share, and feel free to ask any questions you may have. I've done a lot of outreach and admissions events for the College of Engineering and I mentor & tutor first year students through multiple avenues, so I can answer a lot of questions or at least point you to exactly the right person to ask. I look forward to your questions and comments!
-Sarah