We had our first meeting for BIOCEP this week and it was fantastic to meet the other participants. Many of them are also graduate students, though I am the only philosopher. :) There is a very strong public health contingent, second only to the hard-core-science people, of whom there are quite a preponderance! Oddly enough, women dramatically outnumber men. After a year surrounded by fellow male first-years (and second-years), mostly male professors, and even a male roommate,* I can't say I'm too sorry about this new gender balance.
We swapped stories and gathered details about the itinerary and what we should do to prepare for our trip. I now have a pretty hefty stack of documents to sort through -- a handbook written by BIOCEP's founders, stacks of articles on bioethical issues particular to Thailand (like medical tourism, vaccination, Eastern medicine, genetic counseling, Thalessemia, etc.), as well as some notes on what to wear and what you won't need to pack.
After the meeting, a mini-crisis was averted when two of the other girls enabled me to re-charge Kevin's dead cell-phone battery by plugging it into the wall of one of the genetic research labs in the building! They were so sweet, and it made me so happy to think of having the opportunity this summer to learn with (and from!) such great people. I can't wait!
*All of whom, I should hasten to add, are wonderful people.
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