This morning I showed my "big" boss a machine-learning project I did in my spare time. The goal was just to demonstrate what's possible, not necessarily convey anything meaningful at this particular time, since the data I pulled needed sifting through by someone who knows more about universities than me. He seemed to genuinely be interested in what I'd done, impressed by the potential, and congratulated me for exploring something beneficial while things have been slow. He also complimented my documentation and clarity in conveying the objectives, findings, and limitations. He gave me a few suggestions on next steps to get more meaningful outcomes and told me to get back with him whenever I'd broken the project down into smaller, more targeted chunks.
I don't expect it to change my job description in any meaningful way or really amount to much of anything at all, but it made me happy to do something related to my schooling in the real world and get a pat on the back for it. If nothing else, it's going on the ol' resume.
