Blog posts

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Abhishek profile

MSci Mathematics

The scene is set: you’re stood in front of the entrance to a cave. Visibility is non-existent past the few metres in front of you. Suddenly, you hear footsteps. The footsteps slowly turn into a dishevelled figure and soon enough you’re met by this haggard stranger. He brushes his wild hair out of his face and as your eyes meet his, it strikes you that you know this person. But who is it?

Wait a second.

Abhishek?!

Yeah, that’s right. It’s-a me! It’s been so long that I wouldn’t be surprised if all of you thought my exams had completely annihilated me.

Summer ball, sunshine and going home :)

MSCi Physics

Since the end of term I have looked round at least half of London’s flats and houses. Things are a bit trickier this year as one of our housemates is an international student who doesn’t have a UK guarantor (someone who can sign a form to say they will pay her rent if she doesn’t). This is a real problem, especially with visas running out and houses in London costing all the money.

We did find one house that only required a guarantor for three out of the four of us, which sounded good until the estate agent lightly explained to us students, that we needed to show savings of £30000 each.

The Other Side of Imperial

Bayan profile

Chemical Engineering

‘Congratulations! We are delighted to let you know that we have decided to make you an offer to study H801 Chemical Engineering (MEng 4YFT) in 14/15 at Imperial College London…’

I squeal in delight upon reading this email. I rush to my parents to tell them of the good news. After many hugs and kisses, it dawns on me that I am going to Imperial College (if I met my entry requirements), one of the best academic institutions in the world. Little did I know what this academic year had in store for me.

One of the most important aspects of university life is the accommodation; this is the first time many students stay away from home for a long period of time.

Throwback Thursday: The Journey So Far (April 2013)

Victoria Burton profile

Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet Doctoral Training Programme (PhD)

Sometimes it is hard to think what to write on my blog posts, especially when I am supposed to be writing a 9 month report for my PhD! To help I have started a ‘Throwback Thursday’ looking back at some of the posts I made on my pre-Imperial College blog. This one was written in April 2013, when I was 6 months into MSc Taxonomy and Biodiversity at Imperial College London.

Soil biodiversity in the garden

Victoria Burton profile

Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet Doctoral Training Programme (PhD)

This week the Wildlife Gardening Forum held its conference ‘Soil Biodiversity in the Garden’ at the Natural History Museum in London. Being a keen gardener and researching soil biodiversity I had to go along.

The Wildlife Gardening Forum is a group of organisations and people who are passionate about wildlife in gardens and seek to help people value and enjoy wildlife in their gardens. While there has been quite a lot of interest in gardens as habitats for birds, mammals and pollinating insects, few consider the life below ground so this conference was a great way to raise the profile of soil organisms and discuss ideas.

Exam Freedom!

Isobel profile

BSc Biology with a year in Europe

I haven’t blogged in such a long time! But exams are now finally over, the summer ball was last night and term has finally drawn to a close. It’s crazy to think that this time last year I was moving out of halls. Second year has flown by and I’m frankly terrified by the speedy passage of time. I feel like things definitely go quicker the older you get! So I’ve been exam-free for a week and it’s been great! I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve been up to (and my apologies to the second year medics who haven’t even finished their exams yet… thinking of you guys!).

What’s Happening in Paddington?

Nebz

MSc Preventive Cardiology

When I first started my Masters here at Imperial, I loved the South Kensington campus. The tall periodic buildings that surrounded it, the open lawn and copious activities within the campus – it all looked great. When I realised that this wasn’t my main campus, but Paddington was, I was a tad disappointed. As nice as Paddington is, it didn’t have the same elegant feel as South-Ken.

Nevertheless, I’ve grown to love my campus and appreciate all it’s little treasures, so I’ve decided to give a brief guide on things you can do if you ever find yourself on this campus!

Freedom!

Bayan profile

Chemical Engineering

Symptom 1: uncontrollable shrieking.

Symptom 2: endless hours wasted.

Symptom 3: hypersomnia.

Symptom 4: watching an entire season in one day.

Diagnosis: You’re done with exams!!!

I can’t believe that I can finally say that I am done with my first year at Imperial. The end seemed so far away, almost unattainable and, yet, here we are. Allow me to give you a little insight to those past few weeks; a rare glimpse into the hectic life of Imperial students during exam season. Well, mine anyway.

Each day I would wake up with determination; I am going to revise Maths today and do a couple of past papers.

Exams are over!!!!!

Medicine

So much for blogging a bit over the past couple of weeks to keep me sane. Life has consisted of revise, eat, sleep, repeat for the past couple of weeks, and I think I may have gone (more) crazy. I’m still slightly in shock, both that exams are over and I can stop revising, and that I’ve finished my first year. Things are starting to wind down now – most subjects have finished exams, and although some still have projects to finish, everyone’s taking time to relax a bit. Just went down to the kitchen to get some lunch, and currently it’s pancakes and loud music.

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