Scotland Week 5

Research Reflection: 

The word of the week is coding. My screen time on R Studio is probably eight hours a day…possibly more. This week, I continued running my analysis of the data, but I also talked with my mentor about publishing this work. He encouraged me to apply to journals after writing up the manuscript, so I also worked on translating my literature review and demographics into manuscript format for a journal publication. 

The birds!

More from North Berwick

Newcastle friends ;)

Afternoon tea that was to-die for

Only evidence of my burner phone

No words...best Indian food I've ever had

Dean's Village again with Ms. Tyler

Alnwick Castle

Song of the Week: Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It by Buffalo Springfield

Indecision is crowding me

I have no room to spare

Cultural Reflection: 

Being completely candid, this was definitely a week. On Wednesday, I had a trip planned to leave for Newcastle, where I was meeting up with Dr. Donnelly and Ms. Tyler (the coordinators of the SUIRP program) and another SUIRP recipient from Cambridge. It was like the universe knew I was leaving Edinburgh and just….couldn’t handle it. My phone just straight-up broke. The morning I was leaving for Newcastle. After one phone store and the Apple Store in Newcastle, I realized I wouldn’t have a phone for at least another week. All things considered (I have an iPad and a computer, I really will be okay), but navigating a foreign city without directions was a new ballgame. ‘Stranger Danger’ becomes a term of the past - relying on the kindness of strangers is the best mode of communication. Through this week, I have learned that I can really do anything. Not only has my travel confidence improved, but I find that I am able to talk to anyone on the street. Without relying on my phone, I can form deeper relationships without Subway Surfers constantly playing in my head on a loop. I also found myself reaching for my phone less to take pictures (even though I really really wanted to take a picture of everything). 

Besides that, I met such inspiring people in Newcastle. There was a group of UF students from Newcastle giving their research presentations. I am so glad that passion for research is cross-cultural - what I love about research is that no matter if you’re in STEM and Humanities, there is always that gleaming look in your eye that shines through when talking about research. The passion is palpable. Some other highlights from this week are visiting Alnwick Castle (where the first two Harry Potter movies were filmed), seeing a football game in Glasgow (Go Celtics!), and then going on a high-speed boat around North Berwick. I saw hundreds of thousands of Puffins, Guillemots, and Gannets. I have learned not to bring small children on a boat tour #donotbringsmallkidsonahighspeedboat.