The little things

It's cliche, but the little things do sometimes make a huge difference in your outlook. Today was a pretty average day at the lab, just some reading and programming, but it was a fantastic MARTA day.

MARTA's the public transit system here in Atlanta, and I didn't hear too many great things about it upon arriving here. But since neither my lab at Georgia Tech nor Emory have a train station nearby, and I couldn't bring a car down, I spend at least an hour and fifteen minutes on MARTA each way, transferring twice, from bus to train to bus. A couple days ago, it took me two hours to get back. Two! Google maps says it should only take 20 minutes to drive. But coming back from work today, I barely had to wait at all, even for the light to cross the street :)

Lesson learned: try to scope out the transportation situation in whatever place you're going to be interning in. Of course, it shouldn't play a huge role in deciding where to go, but it'll definitely help you make the most of your time.