Here I am. This time I’m writing in my office, at Campus. The room is very quiet. Outside it’s raining and is quite cold. Even if I could work at home with my computer, I prefer to come here to the Science building. There are less distractions here than at home and I can speak to and have lunch with friends, or I can go to the library if I need something. My office has changed, as did I, since my arrival here at Memorial. There is now a calendar and pictures on the wall and a plant and books on the desk near the computer. I can say that I’m finally settled here.
I spend most of my days, like today, working on my data set, reading or preparing applications for scholarships. Even if I’m not working in a lab, I’m keeping a diary of all the changes and progress I made on my data set. This is really important I think, because if something happens and I need to correct something or if I have to check what I did, I can go through the pages of the diary and find an answer. For example, some weeks ago I was working on six excel files and in the afternoon I closed the files and I reopened it later… but I discovered that three of the files had a problem and could not be opened. The files were lost. Luckily, I saved a copy online 3 days before, so I just had to start from this copy. I only lost three days of work. It was really annoying, but it could’ve been worse. Actually, since that day I now also make a copy of the files on a hard-disk at the end of each day, just to be sure. It is really important to save copies of your work online or on other devices.
I finally discovered the gym here on campus too. I went with a friend to try some fitness classes at The Works. It was fun and relaxing. I actually tried a class in the morning, before going to the office, and late afternoon. Even if I’m tired and I just want to go home after a long day, I still like to go there first to relax after work.
On the weekends I also did a few day trips in the surrounding area. A few weeks ago, it was a really sunny Sunday and I went to Bell Island with some friends. We visited the Iron Ore Mines, and it was really interesting. After that we went to the Ferryland picnic where we got to eat a great lunch near the lighthouse and enjoyed the sun. St. John’s has lots of events during the summer. On June 24, during St. John’s Days Celebrations, I went to a free concert in St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church of the Duo Concertante. It was amazing.
So, this is my last post for the graduate student blog. I really appreciated the opportunity to share with you my experience here at Memorial during my first year. I hope that my posts have given you an inside look into graduate life at Memorial, and have helped make your decision to apply to this great university.
I wish you the best for your future, in everything you will decide to do. Good luck!
~Elena