Our former Hugh C. Morris Experiential Learning Fellowship Recipients have had amazing, transformative journeys. While you can learn all about those experiences on our website under the Journeys of Past Recipients, they have agreed to share their wisdom with future applicants.

Advice from Neil:

• Be realistic about where this will place you, both in terms of your academic progress in your program of study and financially, and plan accordingly
• Communicate
• You are not going to be able to do everything you want; develop an ELP that provides the most return on investment. Quality of learning is more important than quantity.
• Ask questions.
• Have a backup plan.
• Keep in touch with the participants in your ELP, as you never know when those connections will come in handy.
• Make your own adventure but be logical in its organization. For me, it worked better to do my ELP in stages while coming back to Canada.

Advice from Theron:

• I found that my longer (> 1 week) visits were more impactful and fostered a deeper understanding of the science than the short (~3 day) visits. If I were to do this all over again, I would probably make longer visits in fewer places.
• Schedule breaks. It is good to have time to gather your thoughts between visits so you can take what you have learned and grow further in the next place.
• Be prepared to adapt to last minute changes and seize opportunities as they come. There is no way that you can plan every last detail of such a long journey in advance. It will be far more enriching if you create a rough plan and fill in the specific details along the way!

Advice from Kaj:

• One of the most important things that remained in my thoughts throughout my ELP was how important it would be to make a good impression upon my hosts. I recognized how important collaborative partnerships are for researchers looking to establish their careers and a publication record, and I hoped that by creating a positive relationship with my supervisors, I would be viewed as a competent and reliable researcher with whom they’d like to further collaborate in the future. This motivated me take advantage of every opportunity that arose to enrich my experience and give it my all to get the very most out of the incredibly fortunate situation that I found myself in thanks to the Hugh C. Morris Fellowship Experiential Learning Fellowship