Attending the 247th AAS Annual Winter Meeting during my year at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Hey, I’m Henry, and I am a 4th year MPhys Astrophysics student doing my final year abroad in Massachussets, at the Center for Astrophysics (CfA) | Harvard & Smithsonian. As part of my time at the CfA, I was given the opportunity to attend the annual winter conference of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). This was my first ever conference, and an amazing experience.

Firstly, some background. I travelled to America with 4 other Southampton Physics students. Flying out in late August, we spent the period till Christmas each beginning a research project. This was a departure from our usual university experience, but allowed us to experience real research, and inspired me to apply to Astrophysics PhD programs. Each of us had at least one main supervisor to help us adjust and progress with the project, but a majority of the work was done independently.   

Just after returning from Christmas holidays, we flew straight from Boston to sunny Arizona (yes, even in January) to attend the American Astronomical Society Winter Meeting. This trip was a perk of the experience, and was funded entirely! Here, we got to experience talks from astronomers in all areas of the field, and experience a completely different part of the USA. We also each presented a poster detailing our work so far, which was great practice for presenting.

Back in Boston, we were able to make a wonderful group of friends, allowing us to explore even more of the United States. The highlights of this were a trip to the Acadia National Park in Maine and a group trip to New York City, both just a short 4 hour drive away. Being in the states allowed us to go to places that normally we would not be able to justify the long journey for, and allowed for us to experience a wide range of American culture. 

Throughout this journey, I have made lifelong friends and memories, and I could not recommend studying abroad more. Cambridge, Massachussets is now probably my favourite city in the world, and I will never forget the experiences and moments I had there. If given the opportunity, I fully encourage anyone to try studying abroad, even if you think it might be slightly out of your comfort zone. It was definitely out of mine. Do it scared, and you will come out a completely different person. Just beware the Boston winter, it’s not quite like England.