It was the coldest morning yet as I left my apartment a few minutes late today, but arriving at 8:00 sharp was no longer a priority after I learned my volunteering duty. After a breakfast of eggs and fruit, I assumed my role as the Vanna White of the Chandra meeting.

Kicking the morning talks off with a presentation about the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST). Working with the GLAST Burst Monitor (GBM – the secondary instrument) team, I've heard so much about what GLAST will do for gamma-ray burst observations, but it was interesting to hear how Large Area Telescope (LAT – the primary instrument) and the observatory as a whole will benefit the rest of the high-energy astrophysics community, specifically work with blazars. I'm so excited about the GLAST launch next year!

The morning brought talks on topics such as galaxy clusters, active galactic nuclei, and cosmology. The symposium wrapped up around lunchtime. I hung around for a little while longer for some last-minute socialization, then left for class.