After about a month of being in the Genetic Counseling Program here at the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, we have learned a lot of lessons, both inside the program and out. With roughly half of us moving to Ohio for the program, we have settled down and are adjusting to life in Cincinnati as well as life in the program. We come from all over, with five of us from Ohio, two of us from Michigan, and North Carolina, California, Georgia, Washington, Virginia and Kenya are represented as well. Coming from Michigan personally, I didn’t expect much of a change as Ohio is still the mid-west, and I thought I would not have much of an adjustment to make since Cincinnati is roughly the size of Detroit. I was pleasantly surprised. Cincinnati, although not technically the south in my definition, has the comforting southern mentality, southern accents, and everyone is so nice and friendly unlike in the Detroit area. Maureen, a fellow first year and Michigander, commented too that not only was the climate definitely more southern, but that the weather was much more southern too. “First, it’s significantly more warm and humid in Cincinnati than it is in Troy. I remember coming down here for my interview in the winter and experiencing spring-like weather. No complaints there!” We are currently experiencing low 80’s to mid 70’s in temperature in October. This is unheard of in Michigan, but a very welcome change, especially with impending Molecular Genetics and Human Genetics exams coming up. We also noticed that Cincinnati is a mixture of different subcultures and neighborhoods." I thought that the size of the city would be overwhelming, but I’ve found it to be quite manageable. Cincinnati is divided into smaller communities, with each offering something different. I live in Hyde Park, a safe and picturesque area with a quaint downtown,” stated Maureen. I live in Westwood, on the other hand, which is the opposite side of Cincinnati, and a very different neighborhood as well. There is no central down town, but there are strip malls, many grocery stores and convenient eateries, and it is a bit more urban than Hyde Park. There are really different locations within Cincinnati to suit every lifestyle. Bette, our program coordinator, really helped with this process, and could let us know where anything and everything was located that we may need, both inside the program and in Cincinnati in general. Overall I would say that we have all been settling in nicely and made the quick adjustment to starting school again. We bonded during the Team-building day with our second years, had a really nice mentor-mentee picnic, and had a really good experience with moving and meeting everyone in the program. On the scholastic front, we had the Human Genetics Refresher Course to gear us up for the start of the program, along with orientation. I would say that as first years, although we are getting into the thick of the quarter, we are really enjoying our time here, and can’t wait to see what the next page for us is here in Cincinnati. Maureen summed it up by saying “Overall, I’ve loved my experience in Cincinnati so far. I look forward to continuing my exploration of the city and discovering everything that makes it unique!”
-Amy Gladstone, 1st year student
