Global Grant Scholar Update - Cerise Siamof
Cerise Siamof graduated with a BS from UW Madison in Biochemistry. She finished her first semester of graduate studies at Trinity College at the University of Cambridge in December. Her focus is on Disease Prevention and Treatment. She shared one of her first semester papers with me. It studied the opioid epidemic in the US from the perspectives of medical, legal/criminal, and public health initiatives. We can all be proud of our support for her studies. Lois Smith, Global Scholar District Chair
Cerise Siamof: Reflections on My First Semester at the University of Cambridge
There were a few things I knew to expect from living in the UK before coming, having already lived here for a summer: Mexican food would be hard to find and not close to the quality I am accustomed to, being immersed in the beauty and the history of a place like Cambridge never gets less charming, and finding a credit card which doesn’t charge international fees is critical. There were many other anxieties I had about coming to Cambridge even before it became clear that I’d be moving abroad in the midst of a global pandemic: funding my studies, making friends while staying in touch with old ones who had previously lived down the street but would now live across an ocean, and finding the balance between broadening my academic horizons and discerning and cultivating my strongest academic and professional passions.
After being here for a term, the things I knew beforehand remain true. My friends here and at home have been forced to follow my desperate search for a poblano pepper in the UK, which I regret to say has been a failed mission. I still view the streets of Cambridge with awe, and walking through Trinity College, I find myself remembering the people that have wandered through its courts before: the classic fan favorite Isaac Newton, but also some personal favorites including Eddie Redmayne and Amartya Sen. And of course, I wouldn’t dare pay international transaction fees.
As for the unknowns that worried me, the combined financial support of Rotary District 6250, Rotary International, and Trinity College has placed me in a privileged position compared to most Masters students, and for that I am thankful and humbled. My program has given me the freedom to take courses in multiple disciplines, but I’ve been able to center my dissertation on, as my supervisor put it, “bugs me the most” about health care ethics. Studying something to which I feel I wasn’t able to dedicate the proper time in my undergraduate education, but which perplexes me and keeps me up at night, is both frustrating and fulfilling, as I think most things worth doing are.
There have certainly been challenges: not being home for the holidays the first time, one national lockdown and more restrictions seemingly always looming, and online classes with WiFi that had to be installed in buildings that are older than my country are just the beginning. Moving abroad can be an incredibly isolating experience even in the best of times, but somehow, I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve felt alone since being here, even in the midst of a pandemic, and even with personal losses and struggles that I didn’t foresee when I applied over a year ago. Between my family, friends from home, my host club of Sawston, the Janesville Noon Rotary Club, the other Rotary scholars here in Cambridge, my peers and mentors in my Masters program, friends I made here last summer, and friends from within Trinity College, I am luckier than I thought possible.
With all of this in mind, I am excited to see what a new year and the beginning of a new term bring.