You picked Imperial to become a scientist, engineer or a medical doctor. What do these careers have in common? You’ll need to write a lot: scientific papers, grant applications, lecture notes, popular science articles.
As soon as I found out that I’d be studying here, I was immediately filled with petty worries.
Has it really been almost a year since I had my medical school interviews?
To get me through the preparation process, I recall going through endless online resources (TSR is great!)
Are you seriously considering a career in research? Do you want to discover new places while doing what you love? Or maybe you just want to spend your summer in an exciting way? The International Research Opportunities Programme (IROP) might be for you! It is an exchange programme which allows you to undertake a 2-month research internship at world-class Imperial partner institutions, with all costs covered by a bursary. This includes accommodation, food, flights and a visa!
I promise you this is not going to be yet another standard blog about the medical or biological nature of COVID-19 and it’s physiological and socio-economic impact – I am sure you all have been reading plenty of well-researched, well-articulated articles across the world written by experts, including a report published by our very own Imperial College London which many news articles claim was the prime catalyst for the UK and US administrations to step up their actions against the spread of COVID-19! My intention, however, is to reflect on what I have learnt from the ancient epics and scriptures from my traditions and culture and what it taught me about the attitude and mindset one needs amidst this global war.
I have done and still do a lot of part-time work at Imperial. It is financially rewarding and it feels that I am contributing to the Imperial community in some way. Last time, I spoke about working as a student caller and fundraiser with the regular giving team. This time, I am going to tell you about what the President’s Ambassador (PA) scheme is and what it is like to be a PA.
The Application ProcessHiring usually opens a few weeks into the first term of the academic year. You are required to fill a standard application form to provide your contact details, the reasons behind applying, and any previous experiences you have.
A week ago I moved out of my student accommodation. So much has changed in this past week, and social isolation has become of utmost importance. There’s been a lot of uncertainty from the outbreak, particularly for those being made redundant, or the GCSE and A Level students. The country, the world, has felt a lot of anxiety. The Covid-19 outbreak has had the unexpected side effect of significantly worsening the world’s mental health. It’s hard enough worrying about catching coronavirus yourself, but the thought of spreading it to the vulnerable makes things all the worse. I’ve found a couple of things have really helped my mental health during this outbreak, and may well help yours too.
Disclaimer: This is not an official statement from Imperial College. This is just me deciding to write a blog to update people as I ran out of things to do during isolation 🙂
Imperial has been responding vigilantly to the COVID19 crisis. The Faculty of Medicine had been emailing us updates over the past few days detailing how we should proceed during these uncertain times. We are all trying to adapt to this fast-changing situation the best we can.
Difficult decisions were made. Clinical exams were duly cancelled. All teaching will be delivered remotely for the rest of the academic year.
Last Friday night standing in Metric, waiting for the results of the Leadership Elections 2020, little did I know that that would be the last time I saw so many of my friends, the last time I stood in the Union Buildings and my last gathering of more than 5 people as an Imperial student. 10 minutes later, we received the email that told us College was due to close and that the entire community of 17,000 students and 8,000 staff would be moving online.
The world has been shaken up by Covid-19.
Recent international, governmental and institutional decisions have truly shook the face of the Earth. The empty supermarket shelves, the lack of pasta and toilet paper, the closing of universities and borders… Currently on my way home with mixed feelings, my chest seems to weigh a ton but I wanted to share the main highlights of my second term:
I have taken part in a range on events this term: creating Beeswax films with the Ecology society, debating with FemSoc, participating in the FoNS-MAD Science competition, attending the musical Dear Evan Hansen, Biochemistry Ball, Science challenge… The diversity of these have not only allowed me to forge new connections but also engage in interesting conversations such as “to what extent do quotas reflect merit?”
In light of recent developments, I thought it’d be good to share some thoughts as an International Student here. The situation at home (Malaysia for me) and here in the UK seems to be developing at a similar pace, with numbers rising day after day. There are a lot of uncertainties at this moment, especially regarding borders; the possibility of a lock down both here and back home.
From all I can see, the expansive coverage by social media and traditional media in general, fear mongering is real and it’s undoubtedly spreading panic to the general public. What I’ve decided to do, is to limit the COVID-19 information that I am exposed to, on all my social media.
I will attempt to answer that using anime. Before you cringe about how someone could compare storyline in a 2D world to our very real 3D world, the series I’m covering has not just advice relating to Imperial but on how as scientifically-minded jobseekers, the way we view the world is important.
In Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood (FMAB), alchemy is considered a field of science. The plot is set in a pre-WWII context and follows two brothers. During their training to become alchemists, they were chucked to a desolate island to find the meaning behind alchemy.
I haven’t written a blog since I have come back in January, and I’ve realised why. In all honesty, I have really had a horrible term. It is beginning to look up, but a lot has happened that has made me hold off on blogging. I have had amazing experiences at this uni, but for the last eight weeks I’ve really struggled to see the positive from all the rubbish that has made me ultimately hate being here for a bit. However, I wouldn’t have published this if I didn’t have a positive spin on my awful second term. While I’ve hit my lowest points a few times, I’ve been proactive and have made some changes which are beginning to make my uni experience less terrible.
