For anyone who doesn't know, this coming year forms Year Three of my "thick sandwich" BSc (Hons) degree in Biochemistry, where students spend an academic year in industry, hopefully learning some relevant skills and maybe even finding a career along the way if you're lucky. Considering my expectations a few months back involved a drug factory in Feltham, an interview one day and offer the next was pretty much the best and most exciting thing that has ever happened and probably much more than my 2:1 grades warrant.
I suppose the boring bit about what I'll be doing should feature somewhere. My supervisor is a research professor at the University of Western Australia in Perth. I will be part of her team of lab technicians as she studies measures to reduce secondary degeneration of the nervous system following partial trauma (like stroke). This means as little to me as it does to anyone at the moment, but I'm very interested in neuroscience and hope that I'll enjoy myself and avoid smashing any of the lab's multi-million dollar machinery.
After the tedious and drawn-out process of getting a Visa (a 38-page application form, plus all manner of files from my birth certificate to what I plan to have for breakfast), I booked my flights from London via Dubai, the privilege of probably being crammed in between two obese people for 18 hours costing a cool £968.
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| The city at sunset from the south side of the river |
Perth is the only city in the humungous state of WA, built around the Swan River on its way to the Indian Ocean. As a lover of the great outdoors, the abundance of parks and close proximity to all sorts of bodies of water excite me very much. I already have all sorts of activities mapped out in my head, including finally learning to scuba dive, with the added bonus of actually seeing some great underwater life, rather than the choice of seaweed or bass that the atlantic has to offer. Add in Passenger tickets, registration for a 5K race involving being pummelled by powder paint canons and a date with Novak Djokovic and my spare time is slowly being filled with the aim of making the most of this unbelievable opportunity. All in all, I see myself settling into a life of free barbecues, weekend island-hopping and constant sunshine pretty quickly, but watch this space.
