Monday, 3 November 2014

Crushed Dreams

The South African Embassy in the Hague is where one goes to have their academic dreams crushed beyond recognition. I went to apply for a personalised letter that I needed to apply for a Police Clearance Certificate (In Dutch this is called a “Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag”. While I did get my letter I was also harshly informed that two internships aren’t allowed. No reason could be given as to WHY it isn’t allowed. I must say that embassy-workers aren’t a friendly bunch…

Now I am faced with a choice: A genetics internship in Stellenbosch (not confirmed) or a pathology internship in Pretoria (confirmed). As soon as I got home I wrote an email to Stellenbosch explaining the change in circumstances and asked whether they had a place for me starting in January. A plant genetics internship is ultimately what would help me the most in the future, as this is the field I want to specialise in. Although plant pathology might be very interesting, genetics has always been of particular interest to me.

Now all I can do is wait for a reply from Stellenbosch… 

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