On the 4th of November 2014, I arrived to the Arava and I was welcomed by a really heavy rain. It was so heavy that I thought that was a tropical rain. This immediately connects with my emotion because I thought that I brought the rain to the Arava (my name is Vu = rain, in English). About 30 months studying the M.Sc. of Plant Sciences, I personally really enjoy it. Despite learning great academic and practical skills, I also have wonderful moments. I exposed myself from the hot (48oC) to the cold (approximately 0oC), from harvesting peppers, tomatoes, strawberries,… to use biological techniques to unravel mysterious questions, from living in the middle of nowhere to studying in one of the most dynamic city. In my opinion, no such master program can have students exposed to such variety of experiences. This program provides a strong background to advance my future career.
The graduation ceremony was really emotional and wonderful. To be honest, I have never been in such situation which staying in a huge Auditorium with that big applause. Both Tuan and I were so proud of our selves (Thanh missed this moment, unfortunately) to be the first (the pioneer as Hanni calls us), to study this unique program.
To take the opportunity on the graduation, we (Vu, Tuan and Thanh) would like to send our thankful to all people.
First of all, we want to express our grateful toward Prof. Amram Eshel, Prof. Danny Chamovitz and Prof. Nir Ohad who patiently instructed us and gave us a high freedom in research. Thanh, additionally, wants to thank Dr. Gidon Winters and Dr. Einav Mayzlish Gati. In addition, our researches could not be successful if there was no support from Aviva in Ohad’s lab, Allin in Chamovitz’s lab and Dr. Rivki, Boaz in the Yair R&D Station.
AICAT – Manna Center team has a huge effort to make this such successful program. We really appreciate the effort from Hanni, Roy, Haya, Maya, Talya, Efrat and all other member in the team. You have done a lot to run the program smoothly. Thank you so much.
We also send our thankful to our lecturers: Effi, Erik, Hagit, Gidon, Simon, Yael and Yair. They gave great lessons and always encouraged our studying.
We thank the TAU administrators in the faculty, and all members in the Department of Molecular Biology and Ecology of Plants.
We want to thank the Yair R&D for making a nice research place and facilitating our participation in the MOP during studying in the Arava.
Finally, the program would not be successful without them, the farmers. They play a crucial part for us to be on practical farms, to learn practical skills.
We know that there are many other people who have contributed to the program, some people we even have not met before. We apologize in advance if we forgot to mention any person.
Respecfully yours,
Vu Nguyen
Tuan Luu Anh
Thanh Hoai Tran