Gillian King ’18, Regina student and Crown staff reporter herself, did not waste away this past summer. King spent her summer attending academic and music performance camps in two different locations across the country.

King’s first stop was to Birch Creek Music Performance Camp in the Egg Harbor, a small town located in Door County, Wisconsin. For two weeks, King spent her time there developing her skills with the harp, although she dabbles in playing cello, piano, guitar and other instruments in her free time.

Gillian King was in a group with three other harpists while her schedule consisted of sectionals in the morning, followed with full orchestra rehearsal, lunch,then techniques working on challenging pieces for the  harp, and then, finally, finishing off the full day with free time to explore everything that Door County has to offer. King spent the majority of her free time and mini adventures visiting stores, restaurants, and hiking with the close group of friends she made while at camp.

During her two weeks, she was able to play and practice with professional musicians. She performed orchestra concerts for the general public and tourists traveling through the Door County area. Their orchestra performed concerts five times a week.

After a busy practice and performance schedule, the musicians were given the weekends off to relax and enjoy. King said she was likely to be found at the beach with her friends on her weekend off, soaking up the sun. After two weeks of fun and music in Wisconsin, she was off to her next stop, Boston.

At Boston University, King spent the next three weeks of her summer attending the Academic Immersion Program: Introduction to Medicine where only 25 applicants out of 250 were accepted into the program.

The program’s schedule consisted of morning lectures on medical related topics rotating weekly. They studied infectious diseases, anatomy and physiology, and ethical issues in detail. The camp took buses to the Boston University Medical Center located on the other side of Boston. The students participated in question and answer with doctors working on experiments in the medical center. They learned the basics of suturing and biopsies as well as conducting vital signs and taking a physical history in a simulation lab.