Today has been an amazing day. I woke up early, deprived of sleep and very stressed about my Clinical Nutrition II test tomorrow and feeling uninspired. Nonetheless I had registered for a lecture with Jack W. Szostak , awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicin (shared with Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol W. Greider). I packed my camera and dragged myself out of the house, pleasantly surprised to see traces of snow on the ground. The lecture began at 10 am. We were greeted by the University’s Vice-Chancellor and the assistant Dean of the University. Per Arvid Emil Carlsson made a surprise visit, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his research in neuropharmacology in 2000. Needless to say, I felt surrounded by inspiring people, and indeed very lucky to be there on that day – meeting such wonderful people. Jack W. Szostak held a stimulating lecture describing his, and his fellow colleagues journey towards the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase. (read more here in a previous blog entry of mine). He also described the process behind it, and I was finally appreciating all the biochemistry I had to suffer through some years ago. He finished of the lecture and the audience gave him a much deserved applause. I went up and talked to him, and took some more pictures. I also got a picture with him, and I look a little bit stunned, the flash was set to max. I went home with a newly found motivation feeling that I do have a place in this world as a dietitian, and hoping that one day I will be the one standing up, there inspiring people to do great things.At home I passed out for an hour before continuing to study for the test tomorrow.
