 I'm Jarod Daurik. I'm a recipient of the University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship and I'm currently studying towards a PhD at the Auckland Bio-Geneering Institute. I chose the University of Auckland for my postgraduate study because of its world-leading instrumentation for the study of cardiac muscle and the financial security of the doctoral scholarship was also very appealing. From an early age I always had a desire to understand everything that was going on around me and my exposure to research through programs such as the summer research scholarship program and honours really hammered that home for me. Living in Auckland is actually my first experience of living in a big city and so I had to get used to the fact there's always something going on but once I got used to the hustle and bustle I found that there was something for everyone. So the biomedical engineering specialisation is sort of special in that it's such a small intake of students that you can make friends with everyone but beyond that there's a lot of clubs at the University of Auckland so if you have an interest that probably is a group of people that meet regularly to do that and then within post grads where I studied the Auckland Bio-Geneering Institute with a great social committee that organised heaps of events through the year as the University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship provided funding for a project that I proposed it enabled me to choose something that really resonated with me. My work focuses on the mechanics of cardiac tissue using the Auckland Bio-Geneering Institute's cardiomyometre. There are so many translatable skills that postgraduate study can develop so I've only just finished my provisional year but I've already seen a great improvement in my problem-solving communication and time management skills. My time here at the University of Auckland is allowing me to meet people of all experiences and my tutors and other students are really showing me how far I can go. you