2017 Summer School Recap
ISE masters students share their Summer School experiences
REYKJAVIK, September 9 – Every year, the Iceland School of Energy hosts their Summer School from July to August, where students around the world come to Iceland to learn about sustainability and renewable energy. This year, 38 students attended the Summer School, the most there has ever been.
For ISE Summer Students Drew Anderson, Jillian Verbeurgt, Joe Bott, Kieran Read, and Rafay Rehman, the Summer School was "an amazing introduction to Iceland, sustainability and renewable energy" and a "great bonding experience". As part of an assignment created by Dr. David Finger, the group of five created a video diary, detailing their experiences and shared their thoughts and opinions. This can be seen below.
Video diary created by Drew, Jillian, Joe, Kieran and Rafay
Now two weeks into their first academic term at Reykjavik University, full-time ISE masters students Jillian, Joe, and Kieran recount their time during the Summer School. All three students agreed that the program was a nice transition for living in Iceland and starting their masters degrees. Kieran remarks that,
The Summer School was a good introduction to the core of the masters program while at the same time helping us get accustomed to being in Iceland and away from home. It helped that we were all in the same situation, from different countries and different academic and professional backgrounds, all together in this program. At the end of it, I felt ready to start the degree, and had an idea of what I wanted to do with it.
For Joe, it was a fun three weeks. Commenting on the pace and content of the summer school, Joe states that,
Going through the Summer School let us take Reykjavik at our own pace and it did not feel like we jumped into cold water. Even though we did. More than once. And the trips were a lot of fun. Even though I went on The GREEN Program before, it was just as spectacular seeing some sites the second time.
Jillian agreed that the Summer School was a great introduction to the degree and to Iceland in general. For Jill, it didn't seem "too intense too fast". After being asked what her favorite part of the Summer School, Jill immediately responded,
The Hellisheiði Power Plant. I nerded out so hard there. It was an incredible wow moment. Actually being there, seeing it first hand and listening to how everything worked was amazing. I know I'd like to get into reservoir modelling and optimization. I'm very obviously a geophysicist. But at the same time part of me also wants to look into the business management side and I love that I can do that here.
All three full-time students felt very similar about the Summer School in hindsight, saying that it did exactly what it was supposed to, in a fun way. It was meant as an introduction, and it introduced. Key moments were the site visits, the hikes, the guest speakers and the student projects. However, not every student who completed the summer school was a full-time ISE masters student. Some came to Iceland just for the three week Summer School. In the group of five, Drew and Rafay left for their respective homes, while the three continued along their two year journey. All together and smiling, the five friends can be seen above.
