This is the first in a series of posts journaling my time at the US-RSE’24 conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.1 The US-RSE Association as I would come to learn, is a community of research software engineers, those who use expertise in programming to advance research, striving to advocate for RSEs as a part of research that should be recognized and giving a title to a role that may otherwise be difficult to define. As a developer intern at SDSC working to create software for the ADRC lab at UCSD, I think it’s a box I fit into. And if it fits, I sit!
I was presented the opportunity to attend the conference by my project manager at SDSC, since she would be part of a presentation on their efforts creating and running the very internship program I’m a part of. Having yet to attend a conference up to this point, I really wanted to go, despite knowing I could be impeded by my coursework with the conference scheduled right in the middle of Fall quarter, midterms week. I decided to send in my application for the RSE’s student program travel grant to attend the conference the day before it was due, because I apparently only ever hit a submit button on a last minute impulse. I ended up getting accepted for the grant, which I am thankful to the US-RSE Association for extending the opportunity to participate in the conference to everyone, especially students and early-career professionals under financial strain.
Fast-forward to today, I scheduled my flight for this afternoon, thinking I could attend my math class with a midterm on Friday, the day after the conference ends. Of course, I’m also one to unrealistically pack a schedule plan, so that fell through in favor of getting to the airport early. Everyone else from SDSC had already arrived in Albuquerque on an earlier flight this morning. In hindsight, I wish I was on that flight, because the airport was crowded as usual for a mid-afternoon, and my flight was delayed almost an hour, throwing a wrench in our plans to get dinner together once I arrived. Still, I was trying to keep a positive outlook for the week, I wouldn’t want to put a damper on my experience at the conference before it even started.
By the time we were in the air, we quickly started making up lost time. The sun set as we continued flying east, and I looked out my window into the vast darkness of the California, Arizona, and New Mexico deserts. I don’t travel often, and I don’t do much more in transit aside from looking out the window because I easily get motion sick, despite always having my 3ds handy for some quick, nostalgic gaming. The ground rose up to meet us as I could see city lights, what I could only assume to be Albuquerque with nothing else in view for a hundred miles in either direction. We landed with no issue, navigating through long hallways of the empty airport to pick up a rental car.
Exiting the airport and hitting the road, the city seemed very quiet compared to San Diego, even Sacramento. Traffic was minimal since the streets were about as empty as the airport. I remember having sticker shock at the gas prices, under $3 after seeing California gas prices consistently above $4, usually $4.50. It was also nice to see the culture of the city on proud display near Old Town, with street decor and murals bringing a unique splash of color to an otherwise standard boulevard.
I was still in a rush to make it to dinner since the restaurant closed at 9 p.m. and it was almost 8. Thankfully, I made it with time to spare. We ordered food together, had a good time catching up with each other since it had been a while seeing everyone in person, and made plans for what we would be doing during and after the conference, mostly gathering intel on the best restaurants in town because my project manager has food priorities that I can’t help but respect. With the restaurant closing and the conference starting early the next morning, we headed back to our hotel, I checked into my room, and attempted to get some sleep, hoping that the time change wouldn’t throw off my sleep schedule too much.