Traveling and Convenience
The London underground and public transit have colored every portion of my trip so far. I have arrived early to events and had a leisurely walkabout. And I have been packed unto the Tube like a sardine, rushing about crazily just as any frazzled Londoner during rush hour.
Honestly, I love the transportation here, even if it is without air conditioning. Oh, and the contactless banking and travel cards are absolute godsends in a city this large! I hardly have to pause when rushing from one station to another although I still do.
Traveling public transit really gives you a realistic view of the city, instead of taking a taxi I think. London is a huge, diverse city. Walking down the center of London, I have heard at least ten different languages walking from one corner to the next on the same street!
Plus, I have been able to marvel at the amazing street performers, artworks, and just transverse London’s secret pathways. On one such trip, I traveled to Liverpool street by Tube to check out the vintage market. There were many interesting stalls and vendors to peruse, especially for jewelry and clothes.
The eateries nearby were especially delicious since it was an older area where there many foreign restaurants that have survived the sands of times by simply giving the best quality and savory food.
Second Week
The first and second week of classes has passed by in a whirlwind of information and meeting with amazing people. My second week, we were assigned a group poster presentation critiquing an expert to have finished by the end of the week.
This week, while not difficult, was an exercise because there was much ripping and running about while trying to arrange a meeting with our expert. Luckily, my group found an amazing Ph.D. student, who gave us a tour of the lab and allowed us to look in on current projects they were conducting. It was honestly amazing since the UCL department we were investigating almost always won awards for their research.
After our investigative tag-teaming, we headed to the student center and began working on the actual poster. During the meeting, several different types of questions were asked since we were of various majors. I was Biology/pre-med and my teammates were bioengineering and a physics Ph.D. students.
When we began the poster, it was on very different tangents since we all had a separate idea of how we wanted the poster on magnetic particles for diagnostic and drug delivery. A subject that ultimately included all of our interests. After many discussions (spirited debates) and several revisions, we patted ourselves on the backs on our completed posters, hitting the vital concerns to each of our questions. Next week, we will be presenting our posters to a panel and the experts we interviewed so wish us luck.
Cheers!
