This is Adam
Why Calgary and the U of C
There’s no place like home!The U of C seemed to be the perfect place to get the education I wanted; it has the BHSc program and I got to stay here in Calgary. I get to participate in ground breaking research, learn from the best educators, and stay in touch with all the people I know. It’s like I joined a whole new family and got to keep my old one too.
I am contributing to medical research
The summer after my first year at the U of C I got to work in a microbiology lab. The classic “petri dishes and pipettes” scenario, if you know what I mean. My supervisor had me working on how the proteins that our bacteria use work together, as well as measuring how the bacteria manages to avoid being killed by the cells in our immune system. It was really rewarding knowing that the work I was doing was actually contributing to medical research, which made me even more excited to go to Tanzania for a month this summer and do research on malaria at a rural hospital.
Giving back to the community
Volunteering on campus is the perfect way to get involved and meet new people. I volunteer for Safewalk, Campus Tours, and Fall Orientation Week, just to name a few. While your academics are really important, so is the community that you’re spending your time in. I have always thought that I need to give back at least part of what I get out of that community and volunteering is how I’ve done it. Not to mention it’s helped me get some research positions!
Adam's Advice
Keep in touch with your friends.
Even though it’s tough, they’re the ones that keep you going when school gets challenging.
Do summer research.
It looks great on your resume, you get paid for it, and you get to do something that is actually helping others.
Volunteer!
Research and volunteer work looks great on a resume. It’s also the perfect way to meet people outside of your program and year.
Talk to your teachers.
TAs, professors and advisors are all there to help you out. Mine have done a really great job of keeping my program on track and relieving some of that extra stress when it comes to picking out courses.
Favourites
Place to study
For me, this would be the chairs outside SB103. Not too loud, not too quite, and nice and central on campus.
Place to eat
If I want food it’s probably Opa (1st floor MacEwan Student Center), but I have to mention Tim Hortons for the coffee.
Research
Isolating live white blood cells from whole blood. Definitely the coolest thing I’ve ever done in a lab.
Professor
Dr. Huddleston - BIOL 231 wouldn’t be the same without him.
Books
When I’m not reading text books and research articles, I usually like some combination of best sellers, fantasy, and the odd Stephen King novel.
Movies
I am a pretty big Star Wars fan, but I’m good with almost any action/fantasy/sci-fi movie.
Music
Metric, The Arkells, The Trews, or something along those lines.
Things about Calgary
The Calgary Zoo for sure. Even though I work there part-time, it’s always a fun place to go. The Stampede can be pretty fun too, as long as you go with a huge group of friends.