University of New Hampshire Athletics
Wildcat Summer – Erin Cullather
8/17/2018 12:09:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving, Academics
Hello Wildcats! I am Erin Cullather and I am from Highland Park, Ill. I am a senior on the swimming and diving team and majoring in Biomedical Sciences: Medical Microbiology. I spent most of my summer living outside of Washington, D.C., while interning for the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. I grew up in the D.C. area until I was 14 and had so much fun being back for the summer. Here is my Wildcat Summer!
MY INTERNSHIP
I spent 10 weeks working on the main campus of the National Institutes of Health. This was a huge opportunity as the NIH is the largest biomedical research institute in the world. I spent my time working in the National Eye Institute where my lab studied the neurodegenerative characteristics of glaucoma. Every day I would learn something new whether it was on the eye, the central nervous system or just research itself.
At the end of my internship, I created a poster demonstrating my research and findings and presented to other researchers at the "NIH Summer Poster Day."
WEEKEND TRIPS
Throughout my summer I was fortunate to be able to explore the area. I still have many childhood friends in the area and they were always up for an adventure! My favorite place that I went was a hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Growing up, I had not spent much time outside of the Northern Virginia area and it was fun to explore the southern regions of Virginia. There were so many cute towns and the mountains were beautiful.
I also spent a weekend in Williamsburg, Va., where both my parents went to college! It was fun to go back and to go to my family's favorite restaurants. One of my last weekends in Virginia was spent at Virginia Beach, and although it had been raining for 10 days straight we managed to get some sun!
SITE SEEING
As a kid growing up just outside of D.C., I never realized how desirable it was to be only 15 minutes away from the nation's capital filled with museums and monuments. This summer I took the metro to work and it was so easy to get off in D.C. on the way home and meet up with friends. The city is beautiful with many different monuments throughout. My friends and I used the bike sharing program to ride around the national mall—it was a fun and active way to explore the city!
TRAINING
While it was challenging to fit a practice schedule into a 40 hour + city commute work week, I was thankful to be able to go back to my old club team in the area. My coaches there hadn't seen me in seven years and welcomed me right back into the team. I have been diving with one my teammates since we were eight years old and it was great to reconnect as we were good training partners for each other. It was great to spend my last summer of diving back where it all began!
BACK HOME!
I am now spending my last bit of summer home in Highland Park, Ill. with my family. It is great to be back home and have a little bit of time to relax before school. When I am home I love getting to go to downtown Chicago and the local beaches on Lake Michigan. I am excited to be back in Durham soon!!
Keep checking back to UNHWildcats.com for more of the "Wildcat Summer" series.
Previous Wildcat Summer Stories:
Caitlyn Keenan, Women's Soccer
Ava Watkins, Gymnastics
Sarah Nadeau, Women's Skiing
Jack Doherty, Men's Soccer
MY INTERNSHIP
I spent 10 weeks working on the main campus of the National Institutes of Health. This was a huge opportunity as the NIH is the largest biomedical research institute in the world. I spent my time working in the National Eye Institute where my lab studied the neurodegenerative characteristics of glaucoma. Every day I would learn something new whether it was on the eye, the central nervous system or just research itself.
At the end of my internship, I created a poster demonstrating my research and findings and presented to other researchers at the "NIH Summer Poster Day."
WEEKEND TRIPS
Throughout my summer I was fortunate to be able to explore the area. I still have many childhood friends in the area and they were always up for an adventure! My favorite place that I went was a hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Growing up, I had not spent much time outside of the Northern Virginia area and it was fun to explore the southern regions of Virginia. There were so many cute towns and the mountains were beautiful.
I also spent a weekend in Williamsburg, Va., where both my parents went to college! It was fun to go back and to go to my family's favorite restaurants. One of my last weekends in Virginia was spent at Virginia Beach, and although it had been raining for 10 days straight we managed to get some sun!
SITE SEEING
As a kid growing up just outside of D.C., I never realized how desirable it was to be only 15 minutes away from the nation's capital filled with museums and monuments. This summer I took the metro to work and it was so easy to get off in D.C. on the way home and meet up with friends. The city is beautiful with many different monuments throughout. My friends and I used the bike sharing program to ride around the national mall—it was a fun and active way to explore the city!
TRAINING
While it was challenging to fit a practice schedule into a 40 hour + city commute work week, I was thankful to be able to go back to my old club team in the area. My coaches there hadn't seen me in seven years and welcomed me right back into the team. I have been diving with one my teammates since we were eight years old and it was great to reconnect as we were good training partners for each other. It was great to spend my last summer of diving back where it all began!
BACK HOME!
I am now spending my last bit of summer home in Highland Park, Ill. with my family. It is great to be back home and have a little bit of time to relax before school. When I am home I love getting to go to downtown Chicago and the local beaches on Lake Michigan. I am excited to be back in Durham soon!!
Keep checking back to UNHWildcats.com for more of the "Wildcat Summer" series.
Previous Wildcat Summer Stories:
Caitlyn Keenan, Women's Soccer
Ava Watkins, Gymnastics
Sarah Nadeau, Women's Skiing
Jack Doherty, Men's Soccer
Players Mentioned
Dive
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UNH Head Coach Josh Willman America East Champions Post-Meet Interview
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UNH Head Coach Josh Willman Day 2 America East Swimming Championships Post-Meet Interview
Saturday, April 24
UNH Head Coach Josh Willman America East Swimming Championships Preview Interview (4/22/21)
Thursday, April 22