I first heard of the CERN summer student program in the summer of 2011 while working at TRIUMF, the Canadian cyclotron facility. There, I worked in the ATLAS Canada group on a Higgs to ZZ analysis, and heard a lot of amazing stories about CERN from other students who were or had worked there. I then knew that I wanted to work here as well, and this summer, I was able to realize that goal. 

This summer, I am again working on behalf of an ATLAS Canada group, this time centered at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC, Canada. I had worked on this project for just over a month before coming to CERN, which meant that the transition was quite smooth. My project is actually similar to what I worked on in 2011 in that I am once again working on a Higgs analysis, but in the Higgs to tau tau channel. The method is quite different however, as I am hoping to reconstruct the Higgs mass using what a multivariate technique known as boosted regression trees. At the moment in Higgs analyses in the tau channel, a mechanism called the Missing Mass Calculator is being used to determine the Higgs mass, which can then be used in further analysis. Unfortunately, this process is quite slow, and so we are hoping to replace it using these Boosted Regression Trees. It's been a very interesting project which progressed from one interesting discovery to another, which is developing our understanding of the BRT's. 

Overall, I cannot begin to explain how amazing this experience has been; it has exceeded all of my expectations. The opportunity to work in such an amazing facility, where groundbreaking discoveries are being made is fantastic by itself, but the added benefit of being with other students from across the whole world has made my time at CERN even better. Though I have been here for nearly eight weeks now, I am still surprised when I consider the nationalities of everyone sitting around the dinner table at times. To work with such a diverse group of people, not only from a wide geographic background, but also academic background. To be able to share new ideas and discuss issues with people from all areas of science adds a new facet to the learning process which is so valuable. The lectures have also been very helpful in this regard. The topics have been interesting and have to quite a few "Aha!" moments, where suddenly something that one has seen many times makes sense. Not only that, but it is impressive to see so many leading experts in their respective areas giving these lectures and taking time out of their busy schedules to talk to the students. 

In closing, my time here has encouraged me to pursue my Master studies in Europe in the coming year. I very much look forward to it, and I know that the experiences I have had here, the friendships I have made and the skills I have developed will help me immensely and will stay with me forever.