Student blogs - Page 48 of 66 -

Learning to juggle: The reality of studying at Imperial College London

Em (former blog contributor)

15 March 2015

So I’m currently at home for the weekend. It’s a huge relief.

Uni is intense. Not exactly unexpected – Medicine, Imperial – it was always going to be. It’s not just the workload (which has skyrocketed in the past couple of weeks). It’s all of it.

At the beginning of the year, a lot of students in older years told me that out of work, sleep and a social life, I could only choose two. At first I ignored this, convinced I’d be perfectly able to manage all of them. Recently I’ve come to realise that they were right – if I want time for all three I’ll have to learn to juggle (metaphorically).

Mentality!

Nebz (former blog contributor)

MSc Preventive Cardiology

12 March 2015

When I started this degree, I was keen to get involved in a lot of things. Having missed the stalls during fresher’s week, I kept meaning to sign up for various clubs and sports that I was interested in. I have to say the majority of my plans failed, but one that I have stuck with is joining a campaign group called Mentality!

This group was formed by students who want to raise awareness of mental health and reduce stigma. It also gives advice on where to seek help if you are struggling with any problems. In my previous post I mentioned research that I’ll be carrying out on the link between mental health and cardiovascular disease.

Imperial’s Medic Student Union!

Mala Mawkin

MBBS Medicine

10 March 2015

Here at Imperial we have a massive student representation through all our constituent unions. It is amazing that students can get involved in such council meetings and discussion groups with faculty and union. It actually makes me feel a lot more at peace that I could go to the President (or any other members) of Imperial School of Medicine Union (ICSMSU) if I have a query or concern about my time at Imperial studying medicine.

At this moment in time the count for voting population of Imperial is 24%, with less than 3 days to go. It is a massive shame that there aren’t a lot more people standing for positons though…would make it a teeny bit more democratic!

‘Biologists do no work’

Isobel Sims (former blog contributor)

BSc Biology with a year in Europe

10 March 2015

One thing you will learn pretty quickly when you arrive at Imperial is that everybody thinks their subject is the hardest. The chemists think that their insanely long lab hours make it the hardest degree, the mechanical engineers with their scary maths worksheets think they have it the worst, the medics getting up for placements at 6am everyday have a tough go of things and I have no idea what the electrical engineers do inside the EEE building all day but the ones I know like to complain a lot about their degrees. Everyone has a tough schedule, demanding courseworks and gruelling exams as well as other projects, commitments and compulsory extras (read about the Horizons courses – extracurricular humanties, language and business courses that are compulsory in some faculties – here!

ChemEng Talent Show 2015

Bayan Al-Balushi (former blog contributor)

Chemical Engineering

8 March 2015

Spring Term

Last Tuesday (wow, it feels like a month ago now) I attended one of the biggest events in the Chemical Engineering Department: The ChemEng Talent Show 2015! It is a fantastic opportunity for Chem Eng students to chill for a night and enjoy some great performances as well as see another side to our lecturers who always prepare a surprise performance at the end of the show; no one knows what it is but you are certain that it will be memorable.

Most of the shows were of people singing and playing an instrument. There was a gymnastics show that was cancelled last minute due to health and safety issues though it would have added greater variety to the show.

I broke a rib and I enjoyed it-my first anatomy practical

Daniel (former blog contributor)

Medicine

6 March 2015

I haven’t written much lately, work and various other things has gotten in the way. Right now I find myself in bed back home for the weekend after catching the flu, perhaps or perhaps not related to an eventful trip to Amsterdam last week. The trip was for ICSM RAG, the ‘raising and giving’ society, essentially raising money for charity. I have honestly no idea how a trip to Amsterdam raises money for charity. But I’m not complaining.

Back to this post. Anatomy. I’ve wanted to talk about this since I started anatomy last month. So here it is.

Imperial is unique as a Medical School because I’m at it dissection is done using full body cadavers.

A February Retrospective

Abhishek Mukherjee (former blog contributor)

MSci Mathematics

6 March 2015

life at imperial

I was half-way through my regular Sunday antics when it hit me that March had arrived.

“Where the hell did February go?” I wondered to myself.

Granted, it’s a few days shorter than the other months but even then you don’t expect 28 days to just fly by. After 4 months of adjustment, it seemed it was finally time to (sort of) stick to a concrete timetable throughout the week. I’d say it has a lot to do with the reappearance of Easter eggs. Normally, Easter eggs are great: they signal the coming of holidays, the end of winter, and the moment you eat one you know you’ve committed to at least two more.

Chance to name a satellite?!

Emma Wills (former blog contributor)

MSCi Physics

2 March 2015

Imperial’s Vehicle Design Society are currently in the process of designing and building a CubeSat—a small and relatively cheap satellite that will be Imperial’s first ever student satellite.

It’s not just going to be any old CubeSat either— it is going to be designed to aid search and rescue by locating distress signals, and will have the highest resolution (1.5m per pixel) of any CubeSat to date. There is currently a network of satellites to designed to locate and detect distress signals, but these were developed in the 70s and haven’t been updated since. The main aim of this project is to show that this system can be improved upon with minimal investment.

Tips for Being Ill at Uni

Isobel Sims (former blog contributor)

BSc Biology with a year in Europe

27 February 2015

Because being ill is no fun when you’re on your own and your mum isn’t there to bring you cups of tea. (Can you tell that I am coming down with a cold at this very moment?)

1. Stay hydrated. Drink lots of water and hot tea to avoid the headachey part.

2. The best offence is a good defence. Read as: EAT YOUR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. I had absolutely horrendous freshers flu last year (as in, it lasted for three weeks and culminated in tonsilitis) and I’m pretty sure it’s because my kitchen in halls was carb central and vitamin and mineral free.