January
The snow started on Tuesday 5 while we were out getting petrol in
anticipation of journeys to bowls later in the week. Instead we called at the local shop on the
way back to get a few essentials. Just
as well. There was a bleak outlook the
following morning and all planned activities for the week were postponed or
cancelled. Teresa took these pictures as
she and Jay walked round the village.
The snowy
wastes towards the Malverns …
… the nearby field … … and
roundabout
The start of Teresa’s normal walk Someone had upholstered our garden
chairs Exactly six
inches deep
For four days we waited for a rise in temperatures, until, on Saturday
9, we gave in: Teresa and Juliet cleared
the drive and we ventured out carefully on roads of packed snow to see
Clearing a way to the garage
Jay ended the month with a most pleasing
success. She won a Nuffield Department of
Medicine Prize Studentship, funding her for four years D Phil study and research
in the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in
Since November, with a great deal of help from
Teresa, she had been putting together applications for PhD courses, which is
what she wants to do after she graduates, two at Oxford and one in Cambridge. All were for fully funded positions in known
areas of research, but, as such, extremely competitive. Her first set of interviews, on Friday 22,
did not go well: they appeared to be
looking for experienced research scientists – some of the applicants already
had doctorates – and they were not very impressed with her presentation on her
undergraduate project. It was a big blow
to her confidence and we wondered whether she was aiming for the wrong thing. Bravely she went ahead with her next interview
on Thursday 28 at the research facility she had visited in December. Wonderfully, this time they were very
impressed with her record and interview and within 24 hours had offered her a
studentship on her first choice project ‘The Identification and Analysis of
Genetic Variants that Mediate the Responses to Cancer Therapies’.
Congratulations Jay!
With next year settled, she can now devote the next few months preparing
for Finals.