World Shrinks and Appetite for Adventure Grows after Summer in Australia
Ramya Chitters | September 28, 2009
Ramya Chitters with her poster "Using NIMORD/E to perform sensitive analysis in cardiac electrophysiological models" at the Monash eXPO fair.
I am now an official PRIME alumnus, making the whole experience seem like it was so long ago, even though I just got back a week ago. I miss my daily routine of going to work, hanging out with everyone during lunch, doing crosswords and going in for coffee after (although, I must confess I don’t drink coffee, so it would be going to do daily quizzes with those who like coffee), working again and then heading back all bundled up in our jackets to our hotel. The eight weeks I spent this summer in Melbourne has become one of the most memorable summers not only because I was in Australia (which recently on the Forbes list was one of the top five places to be), but because it was the perfect combination of work and play.
When I first found out about the program, I was excited because I would have an opportunity to leave my comfort zone and explore what the world had to offer without being completely touristic about it on my student budget. But, the opportunity turned out to provide a lot more than expected from an amazing and successful academic research experience (where not only did I have the opportunity to achieve my goal in trying to determine the channels that most affect cardiac ventricular cells when changed by small degrees, but I gained valuable experiences during the process of reaching the goal, such as learning UNIX commands, operating their NIMROD portal, etc.) to an adventurous summer (where I did things I had never done before, like go rock climbing). Last year, I remember wanting to leave this summer free to have an opportunity to be a PRIME student after talking to a previous PRIME student about her experience. Now, I can’t believe the summer has come and gone.
A typical lunch break with all the members of the MESsAGe Lab and PRIME students with coffee, iced chocolate and cryptic crosswords.
I can’t believe I got to meet so many amazing people from all over the world during my trip there, especially during the eXPO fair that was held at Monash University during our last week. I met many from Monash University in Australia, Oxford University in England and even Dr. Larry Smarr, a founder and director of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at UIUC from UCSD. In my 19 years, I finally feel like this summer has been the revealing point of my life to show how small the world has become and how important global relations are. As expected out of any program, it is natural for us to have to present our findings to our mentors at the end of our experience, but, never have I expected or presented it to such a global audience all at one time. There were people from Monash University, my mentor and other audiences at University of California, San Diego and a Cardiac Modeling group from Oxford University, England. This very diverse group completely indicates the relation of one country to another and the need for more programs like PRIME to give students a feel for what they can expect in the future.
The experience has been so memorable most probably due to the fact that the hosts at Australia have been absolutely amazing to us and made us feel part of the Monash family. We went to footy games together, dinners and night outs where we sat and ate desserts, and even went to a dinner at Dr. David Abramson’s house, where he made food for us! We were so thoroughly involved in all of the activities there that we felt as much as Monash University representatives as UCSD representatives, an indication of how integrated we got to our host university. The fact that the eight weeks are over indicates a sort of passage that I feel the five of us PRIME students went through. We were treated as colleagues by all the people we met, instead of students, which is an experience that is completely new and very different allowing us to grow in our expectations of ourselves and prepare us for the future. I am glad to have come back home to relax for a few days before heading off to college and have the opportunity to eat some real food instead of the ever-present microwave dinners. The experience at Monash University and Melbourne has been an experience of a lifetime.
Dr. Larry Smarr's end note speech to the final seminar presentation of the PRIME students in Australia with a video conference to the UCSD and guests from Oxford University.
I sincerely would like to thank the organizers of PRIME, advisors and members at University of California, San Diego and Monash University, NSF, Calit2, Pragma, DSSE and MESsAGe Lab for their support for my trip to go to the other side of the world and experience something I wouldn’t have had an opportunity to do otherwise. I have had an absolutely enlightening summer from eating Australian cuisines, like their chocolate Tim Tams®, to having a scientific discovery for my research and would recommend it for anyone looking for a unforgettable summer!
|
