It’s been an intense few weeks in Santa Cruz, but I’ve been enjoying it so far.

It helps that it’s so pretty, and the weather’s been great: here are some pictures of the view of downtown Santa Cruz and the Pacific Ocean during my walk back from class.

Classes have been fun, though there’s always assignments and reading due.

And I’ve been having fun at my internship, at the Salinas Californian.
Since it’s a daily newspaper, I get to write one new story every day that I’m there.

Last week, I wrote about a local school vice-principal who achieved his childhood dream of flying in an F-16. As part of the story, I got to go see the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, and watch F-16s from up close, including seeing him take off and land. It was fascinating.

I’ve also done more stories informing the community about upcoming events, which have been interesting and make me feel very useful.
And for good measure there’s been one story about an underwater robot in Monterey Bay.

Between all of that, and attending talks by scientists, there’s been a lot to do. I’ve been enjoying myself though, and it helps that my classmates have been great. It’s been really nice to have other people around, from a variety of different and interesting backgrounds, that are going through the same experience 🙂