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Hello everyone - sorry about the last photo album, it doesn’t seem to be working, I'm going to have a go at reloading it. Hope you are all well and not getting to cold! I hope to see lots of you on the family weekend in July :)
Well, I just got back from New York and oh, how exciting it was! I travelled to New York to attend two interviews, one in the American Museum of Natural History (NY) and one at John's Hopkins Medical School (Baltimore).
I flew out last Wednesday from Manchester to Newark Liberty International (a wonderfully American name!) and was delighted to find the hotel arranged for me by the museum was really posh and right next to Central Park. Certainly not my normal hostel-dorm style! I was just getting settled in for an early night before my first day of interviews when I received a phone call from reception informing me that a confidential package had arrived for me and it would be sent up. Well, I thought, this is very cloak and dagger - just like being in a Bond Movie! It turned out to be a folder delivered from the museum with my schedule/name badge/news articles about the programme. How exciting!
Next morning I went down to reception at 8.30, all suited and booted, as instructed. I found 9 other similarly suited and booted and slightly nervous looking candidates also waiting. Next, John Flynn, head of the programme arrived and escorted us to the museum - it was just like that scene in the apprentice when they arrive and go up to see Sir. Alan! All the other candidates turned out to be lovely and we got on very well. They were from all over the world - Columbia, Ecuador, UK and America. We were whisked up through the museum, past the four public exhibit floors that had been curiously overrun by middle-aged women in lycra. It seems that early morning "museum runners" are part of the "mall running" phenomenon that has swept the states. It involved large groups taking exercise in public buildings when the weather is cold - very odd! We finally arrived on the 5th floor of the museum which has been converted into ‘the Richard Gilder Graduate School’ (after local philanthropist) – a very shiny, new education centre with commanding views over central park, specially designed for the new PhD programme in Comparative Biology.
It was a hectic morning of meetings, breakfasts, tours of this, that and the other. We were able to look around the ‘backstage’ research collections, one of the largest in the world, including some fantastic specimens! We also saw the genomics lab on the top floor, which surrounded by windows on all sides and had some amazing views of Manhattan. After a pizza lunch with the current graduate students I was the first of the group scheduled to have the dreaded ‘committee interview’! eeeeeek!
I think, perhaps, the less said about this part of the trip, the better. I was whisked off into a room with 5 famous scientists to giving me a good grilling and generally scowling at me from behind Macs. It was very distressing! One of those – please earth swallow me up moments. Particularly as we spent 3/4hr arguing over the definition of a word. Gulp! I came out shaking and in desperate need of a good cup of tea, which the Americans found quite amusing. One of the students shouted in earnest “Quick, she’s British and she needs tea!”. The rest of the afternoon was filled with more tours and advisor meetings that went pretty smoothly. In the evening we all went to a get-together in Mark Norell’s spacious office (literally a whole turret of the museum) along with most of the museum staff for lots of mingling etc. Then we went with the students for Sushi, where they had an entire boat made of food!
Next morning we headed back to the museum in the same apprentice style and spent the morning in more advisor meetings – including one with the deputy head of the museum, who was really lovely. Finally, we had a look around the museum exhibits and I said goodbye to the other candidates and headed to Penn Station to catch the train to Baltimore.
On my arrival in Baltimore, I was met by one of the graduate students from the programme, in whose house I was sleeping. We went out for dinner and met the rest of the students (9 in total) and had a really nice evening. Next day I had been scheduled hour-long meetings with each department member (6 in total). They were all really friendly and I was impressed by how well their research matched my interests for the future. Plus this school has the advantage of providing training in Human Anatomy (dissection), which means that many graduates find jobs easily in Medical schools teaching Human Anatomy, which is reassuring. I liked the programme very much and was delighted when they made me an offer two days later. I still haven’t heard form New York but don’t think my chances are too great. I will be deciding for certain in the next week or so and will keep you updated, as I haven’t heard back from a few places.
I then returned to New York and checked into a hostel in Harlem for 4 days to do a bit of touristing, before heading home. It was very friendly and I met lots of lovely people. We went on lots of exciting adventures, including a trip to Mt Sinai A & E to have a nuisance piece of earplug that had become quite stuck, removed from my friend’s ear!!!!! Also saw the Public Library, Empire State Building, Ellis Island, Wall Street, 9/11 site, China town and even eat traditional soul food in Harlem! Plus I saw the worst Blizzard of the winter, in which we saw 11inches of snow in one night! It was very, very cold, as low as –8 some days, brrrrrrrrrrrr. I also saw all the special exhibits at the AMNH for free, including a butterfly exhibit that involved live butterflies that flutter all around you and land on you. Finally, I went to Princeton to visit one of my best mates, Blake, who is studying physics there. It was really fab!
Now I’m back home looking for jobs for the next couple of months until my studies begins, and decided where to go next year! I’m really, really excited about it… and I’ll keep you updated!
Lots of love
Trine
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