I got an internship in the UK!!!

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Sycamore Chins

Sycamore Chins

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 2, 2009
Messages
750
Location
Fayetteville, NC
So a while back on CnQ I asked for help with my cover letter to send to a zoo - and thanks those of you that helped!

For my Zoology major here at MSU I am required to do a semester long internship. I went to my advisor with a huge stack of applications (I like to cover my bases - its a typical virgo thing) and he told me to pick ONE to apply to and we'd get it for me. Needless to say I almost fainted and have been such a nervous wreck.

So I picked Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, in Jersey, UK. I have a study abroad scholarship and with that it works out to be pretty much the same cost-wise as doing an internship in the US.

So I'm waiting...and waiting...for a response. Finally I e-mail the program coordinator...no response for a week. So I e-mail her again. Finally a response! She apologizes (apologises - in English) and said she sent all the paperwork back to my advisor and the post must be slow but I got the internship!

Now my advisor swore up and down he never recieved anything but i went to him again with the e-mail and he's like "Oh....yeah!!! I did get something!" :banghead: Turns out he got this "something" almost a month ago!!! But I forgive him because he's ancient and he did SOMETHING to help me get this internship (I'm pretty durn sure i didn't get it alllll on my own).

So I got the internship...BUT she says she has me scheduled to start in June - this would mean I would miss two weeks of classes in the fall. Not good! I talked to my advisor and he says I MUST start May 18th. So off to e-mail her again and pray like I've never prayed before that it'll be okay...



:cheer2: IT'S OKAY!!!! :cheer:

So I am spending my WHOLE summer in the UK! I got my plane tickets and I leave May 12th. I start my internship in the Bird Department at Durrell May 18th. I end August 20th and I fly back September 2nd.

I'm spending an extra week and a half in europe after my internship (and missing the first 3 days of classes, but really...europe...or syllabi...not a difficult decision). I've already started planning my jaunt around england, france and wales. (If you have any "must visits" PLEASE let me know!)

I am so excited I cannot stand it! I've only been to Toronto and the Bahamas so this is a WHOLE lot more "international" to me. I've got a countdown already - these months will not go by fast enough!

Jersey sounds like the most amazing place. It's so "small-town" and its a frickin island! Only 45 square miles!!! I get to bike from place to place!

I'm waiting to hear back about housing still and have so much stuff to get in order its not funny!

If there are any UK people here, do you have any tips for me?

98 DAYS!!!
 
Oh, there are a few UK people here who might help you out. Claire and Ian and a bunch of others.

Congrats on your internship! How exciting for you! Wow - an entire summer away........:)
 
Congrats! That is AWESOME. Make sure you take a ton of pictures for us too!
 
Oops, clicked too fast!

Thanks guys! It's going to be hard, my mom and I talk like 3-4+ times a day, which just won't be feasible internationally.

My internship is 40 hours a week, so every single other hour I will be maxing out experiencing europe! I told my mom I'm going to try EVERYTHING!

I bought myself a new camera on black friday so you guys will be SICK of pictures by the end of it!
 
If you're going to southern France, there's a really neat bird sanctuary in the Camargue region. It's a bit of a trip from England and Paris though :p If you want more info, I can get it for you.
 
What an incredible experience for you! That is so terrific, being able to do what you love, and being able to explore a different country at the same time! Woots! :)
 
Aw I'm not sure I'm going to make it to southern France. I'm hoping I get decent days off together so I can explore within a certain distance of Jersey on my "weekends" then for my week and a half afterwards I can go much farther. It would have been so amazing to get enough time to make it to Italy and Greece - maybe in a billion years when all my college loans are paid off!

Funny thing is I'm not a bird savy-person. I've always been fascinated by them and have always wanted one but they are so much responsibility it isn't feasible with me traveling back and forth from MI to MD 4 times a year. So I pretty much have no bird experience - so I really need to start reading up! They have some amazing birds at Durrell!

Everyone says that I'm never coming back - the more I keep learning about Jersey, it's quite possible!!! They have "honesty boxes" where you go to the farms, take what produce you want and leave what its worth in a mailbox type thing! How amazing! And I am TOTALLY pumped for blokarting!!!
 
It was a long time ago when I traveled to the UK, but I remember Scotland was my favorite!
Probably because I have family history there, but everything there is just sooo beautiful!

Of course you should go into London and see the Palace, Big Ben, and all that stuff!
 
Congrats! Very exciting to get an internship like that, certainly a once in a lifetime experience.

Places like that grow on you, and I agree, you probably won't want to come back!
 
If you get to Paris, be sure to visit the palace of Versailles. It's the most beautiful man-made place I've ever been.
 
As far as talking with your mom and not being feasible to talk for long periods of time...

My sister just moved to Italy, just last Friday, and will be there for 3 years.
We now use Skype to talk. Her Mac already has a camera built in it, but I got a webcam for $40. So now we can talk for as long as we want and be able to see each other for free! To talk from computer to computer on Skype is free :)

You just need internet. And you don't even need a camera, you can just talk if you have a microphone on your computer. It's really awesome.
 
Let us know what sort of thing you're interested in and we'll point you in the right direction :thumbsup:
 
Bring an umbrella is all I can say!!
Congratulations.
If you're heading to wales, Go to Cardiff and visit Cardiff Castle and the muesuem of Welsh life in st Fagans - the castle is a must though. I lived in Cardiff and it's lovely.
I live near Birmingham, if you come down this way, let me know! We have awesome Muesems and great shopping :)
If you want to go visit a Zoo, go to Paignton if you're down that way - it's awesome (but it depends if you're going that far down south!)
 
Oh I'm interested in absolutely anything! Not just zoos! I've had a wishlist of places to visit in Paris for 5+ years since I last took french (speaking of which I need to brush up on my french! Apparently there is still quite a bit of french in Jersey). But I *have* to go to Wales since that is where 1/4 of my ancestry is from - if only I had enough time to actually do some research on my family while I was there!

I'm not sure I'll be able to go as far as scotland and ireland - that'd be amazing as well!

I'll be further south in Jersey than the Paignton zoo!
I might try to visit the occasional zoo but I think i'll probably concentrate on historical places, the Louvre and Arc de Triomphe are on the top of the list!

Oh yes, Skype, I had heard about that and have yet to look into it. Does skype itself cost any money? I have to get an international cell phone - in case Durrell needs to call me or something and one of the places I was looking at for housing said I needed to get one for there. One of the plans I looked at was only $.08/ minute to call the US - which is not as bad as I thought it would be!
 
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