Hello all and welcome to LIYSF day 12! This morning we kicked off our day with a principal lecture given by one of LIYSF’s alumni. Throughout life, our bodies wear down, whether it’s just old age, something more intensive like sport, or a freak accident causing body trauma. Though our body has some mechanisms to combat these issues, sometimes medical intervention is still required to ensure the highest quality of life possible. Helping us explore this work Dr. James Armstrong’s lecture discussed traditional intervention methods utilising implants and the future of this industry based on his work as a tissue engineer. In this discussion, we briefly covered stem cells alongside a deep dive into creating artificial, biological tissue to either assist natural processes such as healing broken bones or to replace missing tissue like cartilage. I wish I got a better photo for this talk, but my seat wasn’t ideal for photography today.
Photo 1: James Armstrong on tissue engineering
My midday experience was strange. Most of my mates signed up for the Buckingham Palace visit and my next event wasn’t until later tonight. During my travels here I haven’t been in this situation and didn’t know how to spend my time. I found myself doing a bunch of housekeeping; I blogged, read, cleaned, and planned out some of my extra time here in England.
Catching up with my mates for dinner, or tea as they say down under, we talked about our days so far and planned our journey to Shakespeare’s Globe for a performance of Much Ado About Nothing which I was pumped for. One of my favourite summer activities back home is attending the Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival in Vancouver. I was ready to see the different performance styles between home and London. Arriving at the venue my first impressions were spectacular; By god, the stage is beautiful and sets the ambience perfectly.
Photo 2: Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
I don’t know if it was because of the play performed or the different attitude of theatre in London but I was surprised by how the crowd was involved in the performance. From insulting some unfortunate spectators to clapping after some clever lines, this play was a wonderful mixture of immersion and involvement. Initially, I was bummed about my seats, as two pillars were blocking my view of the stage, but by the end, I forgot they were even there.
Photo 3: My theatre seat
As our forum is winding down you can feel a difference in the air around those attending. Every conversation now involves exchanging contact info to stay in contact and talking about what they are going to miss from here. Returning to Metrogate House, my temporary home, Issie and I began planning our final day together in London as we would not go gently into that good night.
– Connor