Hello, my name is Yaquelyn Rivera, and I was lucky enough to get the chance to go to Krakow, Poland.
My first day here I was very sleep deprived from being on 3 different planes. The amount of anxiety I had on Sunday was interesting. My flight to Chicago was delayed and it was nerve-wrecking because I honestly thought that I would miss my flight to Frankfurt, Germany. Luckily, I made it right on time for my flight and felt much better until I landed in Germany. I have never been to Europe before, yet alone be on connecting flights, so when I got to the airport I was really confused. I thought I had to go through TSA when I entered Germany, but that wasn’t the case. I trusted my gut and hoped for the best. When I got to Poland, I was greeted by a friendly Jagiellonian University student named Teresa. She was kind enough to meet me at the airport to take me to my apartment here in Krakow.
I was honestly really sad and tired the first day and just contemplated going home. I wasn’t quite used to the change then but now I feel much better. The time difference really bothered me at first because no one from Pennsylvania is awake when I wake up in the morning. The first day, I was honestly too anxious to go to a grocery store and got my groceries delivered to my apartment. That is when I realized how cheap everything is in Poland.
My second day I went to the University and wow I was mesmerized. The Psychology building is beautiful and don’t even get me started on the lab. I was impressed that Dr. Wodnieka had two booths set up for testing. I was greeted by two graduate students Anna and Jonas. They showed me around the lab and actually helped me with recruitment.
I decided to start testing on Monday the 15th. In order to do that I had to spend my first week getting everything set for starting the experiment.
I decided to send the recruitment as a mass email, meaning that every student in the University received the recruitment email. The email was sent today 14.05.23. So far, I have almost 30 participants who have signed up! All of my slots for Monday the 15th is filled up and I am excited!
Yaquelyn,
Firstly, I just wanted to say that I am so proud of you for pushing through the stress and anxiety of traveling and living alone. You are so so brave – what you’re doing takes guts and I think that’s something to be proud of.
Secondly, it looks so beautiful there. ALSO 30 PARTICIPANTS?? That is AMAZING! Well done you!
– Carly
Hi Yaquelyn,
I’m sorry to hear about your delayed flight and anxious travel. That is always so nerve wracking when that happens! However, I am happy to hear that after your first day or so you were able to get more comfortable with your surroundings and begin recruiting and research! I hope this week of running participants went well for you as well!
Also, I love the picture that you included of the Psychology building (I think), that really is super pretty!
Alex (PIRE Mexico)
Hi Yaquelyn, I know how stressful traveling alone can be, and I’m glad you made it in safely! That building is absolutely gorgeous. I’m a bit jealous! Maybe Carly, Deavon, and I can visit you at some point and see Poland!