Student blogs

Hej och välkommen!

I am Ines, a Molecular Techniques in Life Science (from now on shortened to MTLS) first year student from Spain. Apart from being a student at KI, I am a blogger for the Digital Ambassadors family. Ever wondered what life as a KI student is like? Be ready to sit down, relax and read how a 21-year old biochemist from warm Spain decided to move to cold Stockholm and learn some Bioinformatics.

About myself

I grew up in Madrid, right in the center of Spain. During high school I was very interested in science, especially in biology and chemistry. After a very, very tough year preparing for Selectividad (I’m sure all the Spanish readers will agree with me on this), Spanish exam for university access, I got a seat in the Biochemistry program at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, to which I have dedicated my time during the last four years.

Of course, in between all these study and lab hours I had some time for hobbies. I am a very active person so I tried many different sports when I was a child. I ended up playing badminton, which I still do, and I was very used to combine classes with trainings and championships. This taught me how to organize my time, and now I’m one of those people totally in love with weekly-planners and agendas.

Mini-me (right) playing badminton with my friend Miriam in the Spanish National Championship 2009

Why MTLS and KI?

During my Bachelor I became very interested in genetics, and I was fascinated every time my professors talked about DNA sequencing and –“omics”. To check if that was really my cup of tea, I did internship projects in genetics and genomics. I’d like to thank Profs. Jose Luis Bella (UAM), Belen Perez (UAM) and Miguel Torres (CNIC) for giving me the oportunity to be part of their groups, those experiences surely helped me to be here at KI now! After having found these projects very interesting (and surviving to multiple hours fixing code errors) I decided to dig deeper into the bioinformatics world.

I looked for programs across Europe, and one of the first institutions I looked at was KI. I had heard before the great research level of KI, so they surely had a Masters focusing on bioinformatics, which is such a trending topic! I found the MTLS program and immediately felt it was perfect for me: by being a Joint Master Program between KI, Stockholm University and KTH Royal School of Technology, it focuses on the gap between biomedical and bioinformatics research. I want to learn more about big data analysis, but I’m still a molecular biology lover! MTLS gives bioinformatic training closer to the biology field than to the mathematical side, perfect for bio-people like me!

Changing from sunny Spain to snowy Stockholm

Proof that I can survive to temperatures below -10ºC! (Photo: Maddie Lee)

Applying for the MTLS program also meant moving to Stockholm. Despite all the infamous stories about its darkness and cold…I love challenges! Also, Sweden is such an inspiring country, and I love big cities so I could see myself living in Stockholm.

Some months later…here I am! Although temperatures now are very close to what December feels like in Madrid I’m very much excited to see beautiful Stockholm all covered in white, and maybe I’ll be lucky enough to see the northern lights.

And you readers…What to expect?

Here I will be sharing how my life is at KI, from course reviews and information about the MTLS program to where to find the best Kanelbulle in Stockholm. Anything you would like to know, like tips for the application process or how to master the challenging house-hunting in Stockholm? Write a comment below!

Feel free (and please do it, I’d love to help!) to contact me (in English or Spanish) through my KI email: ines.rivero.garcia@stud.ki.se.

Also, check KI students’ Instagram (@kistudents) and Facebook page to see the posts from my fellow Digital Ambassadors.

Hej då and until the next post!

/Ines

Email: ines.rivero.garcia@stud.ki.se

Instagram: @inesriverog

LinkedIN: Ines Rivero Garcia