Studera utomlands

Hi everyone!

I’m Muriel and a third-year Bachelor in Biomedicine student at KI. I’m from Germany, from around Frankfurt am Main. Many of you have probably heard of the Frankfurt airport or have had a layover there.

For my thesis project, I have now moved to Boston and will be sharing my experiences as a freemover in the US.

About me

As I mentioned above, I’m from the Frankfurt area, from one of the small towns nobody who isn’t from the area has ever heard of. If you’d like to picture the area, imagine seemingly endless corn, asparagus and blooming yellow rapeseed fields interspersed with towns. And a forest blanketing the mountain just up the street from where I lived.

After graduating from high school, I moved to Stockholm to begin my university studies at KI. It’s crazy that that’s already around 2.5 years ago now! I’ve really enjoyed my time in Sweden and love going on hikes to explore the nature. Otherwise, when I’m not in the lab or at floorball, I’m probably meeting friends somewhere for fika (or inviting them over to my place to bake a cake). When I’m not in Stockholm, it’s likely I’m in another country, trying to see a little bit more of the world.

For my bachelor’s thesis, I’ve now decided to go to Boston. The high density of historical sites in the city intrigued me as well as the possibility to contribute to Boston’s amazing research! It is a huge honor to be able to conduct my thesis at HMS and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity.

My Boston bucket list

Before moving here, I created a list of goals for my exchange in America. Let’s see how many I end up achieving!

• “Understand” the city: This one is quite general, but I really want to get an idea of the city as a whole. I’d like to visit as many of the historical sites as possible – which Boston has a bunch of! – to understand how the capital of Massachusetts developed into the vibrant metropolis it now is.
• Watch the sports games: I’d absolutely be down to watch a baseball game at Fenway park or perhaps go to a university match and experience the university rivalries. Not to forget the Superbowl watch parties that take place all across the city!
• Try classic Boston food: This is a typical one on exchange. Since I’m on the coast, I’d love to try some Boston seafood, for example the famous clam chowder.
• Travel: Now that I’ve already flown all the way across the Atlantic, I’d also like to use my time here to see another city!

What to expect

In my blog I’ll take you along on my quest to fulfilling my Boston bucket list and show you what there is to do in the city (apart from lab work, of course 😉). It’s a city with a lot of different opportunities and I’m hoping it will be as much fun for you as it will be for me! In my opinion, going on exchange is an amazing opportunity and I’d like to take any fears or concerns some of you might have, especially about going as a freemover. So if you’re wondering about the benefits and caveats of going to a non-partner university, I’ll share my experiences with that in a coming blog!