Cornell Club of London

2011 winner's report

Gemma Hallatt

I first heard about the Cornell Club of London scholarship through my university (the University of Birmingham) which e-mailed me with information about the opportunity and it immediately grabbed my attention. I love travelling but had never had the chance to visit America and I was desperate to do something exciting over my summer holidays so this was the perfect opportunity. I had my fingers firmly crossed as I sent in my application and was more than slightly stunned to receive an e-mail asking me to attend an interview in London which I arrived to with nervous anticipation. I was met, however, by a friendly panel of interviewers who sat me down for a chat about my university, hobbies and travels rather than the intense grilling I was expecting. My date of departure came around much more quickly than I had expected as there was lots of paperwork and visa forms which kept me very busy and at times, slightly stressed!

Boarding my flight to New York somehow seems both ages ago and hardly any time at all. I put this down to the unforgettable summer in America I have been so lucky to enjoy between now and then.

As soon as I heard about the scholarship that the Cornell Club of London so generously offers each year, I knew I had to apply. The opportunity encompassed everything that I would want from a perfect summer. For a start, I love to learn so I knew that spending six weeks studying just for the fun of it would suit me perfectly. What is more, I have wanted to go to America for so long and the possibility of spending my summer in the picturesque Finger Lakes region was very tempting. Despite this, I didn't think I stood any chance of being selected so I tried not to think too much about how amazing the trip would be!

I can safely say that I was both extremely surprised and incredibly excited when I found out that I had been awarded the scholarship. I must admit that I somehow managed to slip it into conversation with almost everyone I knew over the next few months! I wanted to make the most of the opportunity I had been given so I decided to travel for a couple of weeks once leaving Ithaca...New York City, Washington D.C., Boston...cities I had always dreamed of visiting. My next few months were filled with making plans...choosing my courses, booking my flights and contacting distant relatives and friends of friends. By the time I had finished my university exams at the end of June I was talking of little else; I couldn't wait to arrive in the USA!

I think it is clear that I had very high expectations when I touched down at Ithaca Tompkins County Airport but I can say, without a doubt, that my experience exceeded everything I could have anticipated.

After much deliberation, the courses I finally chose were 'Introduction to American Politics' and 'Introduction to Biopsychology'. I chose the politics course because it was something I knew very little about but that greatly interested me and I knew that there was nowhere better to study American politics than in America! I chose biopsychology simply because the course looked really interesting when I read about it on the Cornell website and I thought it would complement my own subject, biochemistry.

I found my politics class to be fascinating which was mostly down to the enthusiastic professor, Robert Spitzer. He was clearly passionate about what he was teaching and the classes were varied and inspiring. We were working from three books, one of which was made up of a series of 'big issues' so I particularly enjoyed the discussion classes where we debated the arguments on each side. I found myself to be quite often in disagreement with the American students as they tended to side with the principle of 'liberty' and I more often sided with 'equality'. I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed the week we spent examining 'gun control' policy as it was not something I had ever been particularly interested in. I found the history of guns in the USA intriguing and it quickly became apparent that the issue is not one with a simple solution.

Politics was definitely my favourite of the two but I also really enjoyed my psychology class. It was a lot more scientific than I was expecting and more what I would call neuroscience than psychology but this didn't bother me seeing as I am a science student! It was really interesting to study the brain and learn how chemical reactions lead to emotions, learning, memory and perception.

I was surprised by quite how different the American system is to the British one. I love the flexibility and diversity of the US system: it was fantastic to spend six weeks studying politics, for example, which is so far removed from my primary area of interest. In America, everyone has this option throughout the four years of their course which I see as a definite advantage. However, I appreciate that in the UK we have greater opportunity to specialise and so end our degree course with more expert knowledge. I also noticed considerable differences in teaching style: at Cornell, teaching is done in classes and the whole course is taught by a single professor and it is up to them to decide how they organise their teaching. At Oxford, on the other hand, there are 100 or so Biochemists in each year group and the department organises lectures, lab work and small-group classes for everyone and then individuals are given set-work by their personal tutor.

Relative to the friends I made, it seems that I chose two courses with a larger-than-average workload but it was still perfectly manageable and I was really pleased with how I did in the end. I got an A- in Politics and an A in Psychology. In general though, I'm inclined to think that exams are a better reflection of ability in England. At Cornell, I felt as though a fair amount of luck seemed to be involved and I found mark-allocations to be questionable at times! For example, in my politics exams, getting a definition right or wrong could be the difference between a B- and an A+! Similarly, in psychology, one multiple-choice or short-answer question could affect your mark by several grades! I can see that this has system has the advantage of forcing you to learn as much as possible but I do think that it is rather unforgiving!

Outside of my classes I had plenty of time to explore the local area. One of my closest friends at Cornell, Claire, was a 'townie' so she knew all the best bits of Ithaca! One day, we were walking to the Commons and she took me on a short-cut through luscious, green foliage overlooking a lovely little gorge. I had to excuse myself for a tourist moment and take some pictures! Another day I went to Taughannock Falls State Park which was beautiful. It was really warm and sunny so we stopped to swim in a gigantic rock pool at one point! Definitely not something that would be possible at home! One thing that I will really miss about Ithaca is the stunning views. I was told that I must see the view of the lakes from the top floor of the Johnson Art Museum so I went up there on a really sunny day and the landscape surrounding me was absolutely gorgeous. However, I think I most enjoyed just sitting at the top of Libe Slope looking out at the rest of the campus. One evening I was sat up there with some friends during the evening chime concert and the sun was just setting and in that moment I couldn't think of anywhere I would rather be.

I was lucky that Dick Gaulton at the Cornell Abroad office and his wife Leslie kindly took me to the Ithaca Farmers' Market a couple of times. It was great to see all the local produce and crafts and definitely a good place to stop for lunch! I am extremely grateful to them for welcoming me to Ithaca and for their kindness throughout my stay.

I think my favourite weekend spent in Ithaca was that of Independence Day. I spent the day with some friends who have a house in Collegetown and the weather was glorious so we climbed out the window and sun-bathed on the roof. After a while we decided that we were far too hot so we walked down to Beebe Lake to go swimming which was great fun! I also went to a couple of barbecues and found, to my surprise, that Americans barbecue frankfurters as opposed to sausages! It was a great weekend and I felt like I was getting the proper American experience!

I was keen to explore a bit further outside of Ithaca so I was really excited when I managed to get a place on a day-trip to Niagara Falls with some friends on a research programme at Cornell. I was a bit overwhelmed by the scale of the falls and their natural beauty and power. We had so much fun: we were lucky that it was so hot as we spent most of the day soaking wet!

Sadly, my time at Cornell came to an end far too quickly and I had to say goodbye to all the wonderful friends that I had made and indeed to Ithaca itself. This was made a little easier given that I had NYC, DC and Boston to look forward to!

As I was eating a humongous breakfast of pancakes and French toast in a little café in Portsmouth on my last morning, part of me was really looking forward to seeing my family again but another part of me was very sad that my summer in America had come to an end. I cannot fully express my gratitude to the Cornell Club of London for giving me the summer of a lifetime. I had a truly incredible experience and have come home with greater confidence, a renewed passion for expanding my mind and an enthusiasm for all things American!

I will never forget my time at Cornell. Thank you to everyone at the Cornell Club who made it possible, particularly Natalie Teich and Jeff Kabel. I am also very grateful to Liz Simpson for her help and support in selecting my courses and applying to Cornell. She undoubtedly made the whole process much simpler for me!

If anyone reading this is thinking of applying for the scholarship, I urge you to do so! To next year's winner: you will have the time of your life - make the most of every second!