Wednesday, June 18, 2008

So Why Pisa?

As you probably know, I’ve dreamed for years now about studying abroad… in France. And Pisa is only one letter shy of Paris, slightly rearranged. Did I book the wrong flight, then? Not quite…

At MIT, I discovered a passion for Biological Engineering. Still thrilled by the study of foreign language, I completed my coursework a bit early to free up my first term senior year. When looking at schools abroad, I discovered that Italy is home to a host of exciting laboratories for neuroengineering! Though I had studied many years of French and only one IAP (MIT’s January semester) of Italian, my science came first.

Last fall, I found the lab for me in Pisa, Italy. After countless hours pouring over papers and editing my research proposal, this May I got some very good news: I was awarded both the MISTI Sun Fellowship and the Eloranta Fellowship! With a lot of hard work and a good bit of luck, I had the funding I needed and my flight was booked. Just over a month later, my plane landed in the Pisa airport.

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