Mala Mawkin

Former blog contributor

Course: MBBS Medicine

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Why Christmas isn’t for a Student Budget…

MBBS Medicine

The Christmas holidays are indeed a well needed break for everyone that has been working so hard this term. Coming home has given me the TLC I didn’t realise I had needed and the food my body has craved. However, I have come home absolutely broke.

I have zero money. These last few weeks of Christmas events have officially ruined my bank account. I have spent an excessive amount on Christmas presents for my family and I have splashed out on my “Secret Santa” presents. I guess this is something you would be expecting living in the richest area of London (Thanks Imperial!). The 9th of December will be a day I will never forget. That blissful Monday morning I awakened to find EVERY item that I had bought online had finally been taken out my bank account. I think that there may have been a glitch on my bank phone app meaning it all showed up on one day. My gifts and tickets to Christmas events all came out on one fine Monday morning. Disaster.

So what did I try to do? I tried to save money along with numerous of my hall mates. I stopped spending money on ingredients for dinner and we invested in 3 for £6 Waitrose ready meals (with our 10% off card too). We’d also wake up 10 minutes earlier for lectures and walk past Waitrose and pick up our free coffee, instead of having to buy milk for our coffees in halls. Pasta with butter (who has money for sauce?) was also the staple meal. In fact on the last two evenings our meals consisted of oven chips, soup, beans, rice and some salad! Yum.

I also really tried not to go out in the evenings. This failed miserably the day I came down to the common room in my dressing grown at 10pm exclaiming I couldn’t come out cause I really didn’t have the money. The response I got was “there aren’t enough girls, as one of 6 girls you have to come.” After a few minutes of me retaliating to their peer pressure, they all decided to pitch in change until they had enough money for my ticket to the club. I had no excuse then- so much for a night in.

So even though Christmas may be a really fun holiday where I can be back with my family, I have found that Christmas really isn’t for students. Long were the days I could give my Mum a folded paper Christmas tree I had made in Origami Club for Christmas and she would find it cute.  If I did that now I would not get the same reaction, at all. For now my ‘Christmas’ (Michael Bublé) playlist, the impressive festive Snapchats I’m receiving and seeing old friends again in their Christmas jumpers is keeping me thoroughly in the festive spirit despite my festive bank account balance.

Gotta love Christmas.

 

Xmas
Yes, I spent £30 on this outfit. Why? Who knows.

 

A typical fresher night out at Imperial

MBBS Medicine

Sometimes life can get a bit hard…like when you are told that you have to pay £45 for a halls dinner, or when you check the night bus times and see that you have to wait another 17 minutes for one to come in the freezing cold. Life can get especially hard when you have had a bit too much of the happy juice. Getting happy and then suffering certain problems has been quite common here and I thought I would give you all a template of a typical night out at Imperial as a fresher:

Start the evening. Happy juice is flowing in the common room or kitchen. The 3 or 4 girls that have decided to come out with the 30 imperial boys are still getting changed in their room, so currently it’s a cheeky lads pre drinks. Music is playing, aftershave is abundant and there is one quiet boy in the corner of the room writing down the journey everyone will be embarking on tonight to get to the club.

Girls arrive. The 4 girls have now turned the lad drinks into a real pardy. If you are lucky they may have convinced a girl from another halls to come along too…but this is rare. The girls sip on their ciders whilst the boys chug down their bottles of wine. It is then decided by one person in the room that it is, indeed, time to go. The mission to the venue has begun.

The boys are pretty rowdy as the happy juice has given them confidence to do pretty much anything. The girls are getting giggly and the world is just a generally happier place. You then get to the station for “topping up oysters”. The more happier of the crowd tend to strut through barriers, tapping in their oyster card in an inventive way. You are then greeted by several other friends from other halls (of course it’s more boys) who have brought everyone some more happy juice disguised as a bottle of water or coke -because no one will ever work that one out. Everyone drinks a little more and gets a bit more happy.

Arrive at the club and people are sobering up after your impromptu group performance of “Wonderwall” you gave the whole tube carriage. You head straight to the bar as a lad shouts “JAGER BOMBS” and that is when the night takes a turn for the worst.

This is where your night is decided. Which type of happy person you become will affect not only your night but everyone else’s night around you.

Choices:

  • The really friendly one- How do you even know so many people? You don’t. My hall friends have befriended so many strangers and homeless people on nights out that I have actually become impressed.
  • The flirty one- If you are a girl at Imperial this is a dangerous one to be. Keep your wits about you and your friends surrounding you or else you will have a fun walk home tomorrow!
  • The sleepy one- This one gets to the club and just falls asleep somewhere. They probably didn’t want to come out that night because they were too tired but fell into peer pressure and has now ended up asleep on the nearest available surface. Strong.
  • The emotional one- Alcohol affects your brain people! You can uncontrollably cry for 4 hours outside Reynolds if you drink too much! If you feel the tears coming for no reason you need to get yourself quickly to a surface to rest your head and become the “sleepy one”.
  • The temporarily rich one- They buy everyone drinks. They have all the money in the world that evening because they are confident that they definitely do. The next morning they most certainly won’t.
  • The dancing one- This one finds circles and jumps into the centre of them to show off their horrific dance moves. They grind, they shake, they robot. They may appear like they are having a mild seizure but they are just having a good time.
  • The generally weird one- This mainly is one set of boys here at Imperial who get happy and then become very, very weird. Some things just aren’t for blogging though.

Then what happens? You all lose each other and then regroup at the end of the evening. After the riveting mission of getting everyone home safely you convene in the common room for a debrief of the evening.

Nights out here may follow a certain routine but they are always full of awful stories for the next day. One thing for sure is that I will vow to take care of my liver for the next 6 years, even if happy Mala doesn’t want to!

•

P.S. Has anyone seen the pink cot/manger I left in Reynolds?

A letter to anyone that eats in our kitchen.

MBBS Medicine

Dear kitchen friends,

You all seem like lovely people and it has been a great term getting to know you guys. I thank you for coming out your room occasionally to say hello because it is sometimes nice to have human contact here at Imperial.

I just have a few concerns about the way that we are handling our kitchen at the moment- and by “we” I mean most of you. Okay I will admit that I occasionally may leave a piece of pasta on the floor if it drops but I have never poured my whole beef casserole down the kitchen sink! Who even does that? You do.

Maybe I am just being a bit annoying and pedantic about this but maybe it would be nice if whoever is making coffee in the kettle could please stop. I can tell that you are trying to be nice and make coffee for everyone but sometimes it makes my morning a bit harder because I have to wash out your coffee beans out the kettle. I appreciate your generosity though.

After the elusive ham-burglar on 2nd floor I can understand that kitchen security would be stepped up. I did indeed put a padlock on my cupboard and set the combination to 000. I would just like to thank whoever managed to reset this combination leading me to have to become “Bob the Builder” with the Hall’s tool kit to get a plate out my own cupboard. However, the nicest gesture was when someone saw my cupboard was padlock-less after this incident so put a new padlock on for me. It just may have been nice if you had given me the key to open this new padlock. Next time?

Come Dine With Me. This was fun at first. The “society” that shall not be named cook their lovely noodles and curries once a week. I just have two minor issues with this game-show now.

1) It makes it a bit uncomfortable to do my own cooking in the kitchen when all 40 of you are having a buffet…all evening.

2) You have managed to book come dine with me on a Thursday night. Our kitchen gets cleaned on Thursdays and Saturdays. This means that the stir fry decorating the table tops doesn’t get cleaned up until Saturday morning. But I guess it is no big deal.

So all I am trying to say is that even though I love you all, maybe we (you) should begin to not leave fridge doors open, urinate in the fairy liquid bottles, pour water on the floor for no good reason and especially please try to refrain from stealing the glass plate from inside the microwave again. Apart from this I look forward to spending two more terms with all of you hygienic chefs. And remember: Sharing is Caring!

Kind regards,

Mala Mawkin

Kitchen

P.S. Shout-out to Comfort the cleaner for her wise words of wisdom and reassurance whilst I wrote this article. She is one of many people I have met here that provides me with…comfort. (Get it?!)

 

What Type of Imperial Medic Fresher are you?

MBBS Medicine

For most of us that came to Imperial we were the geeks of our schools- the hardworking “sciency” ones. Our individualities and personal quirks were built around this fact. However because everyone has passed the same interview to get into here it means that everyone is a hardworking, science geek with lots of hobbies.  So how can we stand out and become individual all over again? What are the new stereotypes you can choose from as an Imperial Medic Fresher? (Note: You may be more than one!)

Bollywood Back Row- You know who you are. We know who you are. You will either catch them asleep in the back row after a late night out at PI or discussing an event happening at another London University. Occasionally you will catch them practicing a dance before a CX lecture.

If you see them: They will probably offer you a ticket to something assuring you it will be the best night evaaa!

Drinking Game Addicts- Don’t get me wrong, I love a good drinking game. But some medic freshers are addicted to making every situation turn into a drinking game. Whether you are watching a film, listening to a song or en route to a lecture there are always rules for when you should “drink”. I was once approached by a DGA yelling “LATE FINE” at me for being a few minutes late to leave for lectures…at 8:30am.

If you see them: Run if you hear the words “High Ball”.

Medics who don’t want to be Medics: You won’t ever see them except in lectures. They have already decided that the medic life is not for them and have slid into IC activities. In 3 or 4 years when their IC friends have graduated they will probably return…muhahaha.

If you see them: Shout ICSM. Loudly.

Membership Collectors- Part of every society and attending every talk these freshers have really dived into university extra-curriculars. Their day is filled with lectures and then hours of clubs until they collapse for 2 hours sleep. They will often be complaining about how “stressed” they are and how they have “no time to do anything” despite the fact they have opted to do every single club themselves.

If you see them: You probably won’t see them, let’s be honest.

“Sporty” Girls- There are sporty girls and there are sporty sporty girls. The latter love sitting in a circle and are known for being able to avoid the number 21. They look their best on Wednesday nights and their worst on Thursday mornings.

If you see them: Make sure they get home safely.

“Sporty” Boys- Living in halls with some of these sporty boys has given me an insight into their interesting behaviours. For example, it has become acceptable for them to walk back to halls at 8am with no shoes and no one will question them. If you think you are low on money, check the sporty fresher boys’ bank accounts! You can usually recognise a sporty boy because they will probably be dressed as a girl.

If you see them: Offer to help them find their dignity.

Freshers FB Groupers– Before they had even started university they were writing on the facebook group everyday…and now a term in they are still finding it hard to stop posting. They have to refrain from asking “what is everyone doing tonight?” or “who is going to lectures today?” because this has now become socially unacceptable.

If you see them: Take their laptop and phone away from them. Please.

The Hall Snapchatters– These medic freshers are obsessed with their halls. They are also obsessed with snapchats. Their hobbies are either chilling in their halls common room, snapchatting in their halls common room or snapchatting out in public with friends from halls. Let’s not forget the “kitchen parties” they have which normally consist of a few people awkwardly cooking whilst 20 or so students snapchat.

If you see them: Don’t give them your snapchat username.

Good Medics- (Yes, Mum and Dad, this is my category I promise). You can spot a good medic as they will be answering and asking questions in lectures, reading up on lectures before the lecture or will be awake on a Thursday morning. They will also come to the tutorial 20 minutes early to explain the tutorial to everyone else, and will be the only ones who can find the “on” button on the microscope in practicals. Good medics are the backbone to fresher medics and everyone loves them.

If you see them: Sit diagonally behind them in lectures so you can see their notes on their laptop.

If you don’t fall into any of these categories then no need to be alarmed, you are probably just very hipster. If you fit into more than one category then be very proud as you are a versatile creature. I am very intrigued to see how fresher stereotypes change over the years at medical school though.

Mala Mawkin

10 ways my life has changed at university in my first term

MBBS Medicine

1)      Friends– I finally have some.

2)      Family– My family hasn’t really changed to be fair, but the amount of time I see them has increased a lot. Before university I would sit in my room, alone. Most of the time in the dark. Now I see them about once a week. Result!

3)      Food– Oh gosh food is amazing. I have really fallen in love with big meals.  My cooking “buddy” makes me eat a lot of vegetables which is a nice change from the lunchtime £1.43 chips at the union. Some of the meals I have had have been full of imagination and creativity with favourites including burgers on waffles with nutella. Who needs a cookbook?

4)      Organisation– Who knew how much fun sorting my files out could be. I also have taken up the hobby of highlighting…everything.

5)      What I wear– The day I walked to Sainsbury’s in my dressing gown was the day I realised how extreme things had become.

6)      TV– I have really not been watching a lot of television anymore. Before university I would wake up and watch BBC News or CNN for half an hour, but these days I listen to Radio 4 daily to catch my news updates. Watching an episode of neighbours every day has stopped too, but it hasn’t stopped my mum from calling me to tell me what has happened!

7)      Fears– I have conquered quite a few fears here. Most notably my claustrophobia has disappeared since I have been squashed numerous times into the lifts at Gloucester Road Station.

8)      Fancy dress– I came to university with quite a large collection of fancy dress supplies, but it has increased since I arrived. Some items have been tragically lost and others stretched by guys eagerly trying on ballerina outfits. I can’t wait to see how the collection continues to grow.

9)      Hobbies– My hobbies have changed a bit since school, which is really exciting for me. Last week I had my first visit to the paediatric ward with Imperial’s Play Team to play with a child who was poorly. It was so lovely and my partner and I stayed for as long as we could playing with the child and her parents.  The intense games of Uno and balloon fights made my day really special and I hope the child enjoyed it as much as I did.

10)   Sleeping– Bedtime is all the time.

I underestimated how much would really be changing when I started University. Some changes have been exciting and others have been quite terrifying. My priorities have changed since coming to university and a lot has changed about me and my environment. But one thing that hasn’t changed is my focus. I am really enjoying my course and new life, but also have gone through quite a bit of change which really does take time and effort to adjust to. If you surround yourself with people that care about you though things really are easier.  I am really energised by the thought of what is to come, and the new chapter in my life.

Mala Mawkin

P.S. Is it too early to be excited for Christmas? Probably.

Perceptions

MBBS Medicine

It is hard starting afresh. New friends, new environment and new lifestyle. It was even harder coming to Imperial, one of the greatest Universities in the world, with preconceptions of what life would be like here. After hearing all the rumours about Imperial’s (lack of) social life, I sought some advice from an older student who told me to just throw myself into Imperial and I will love it. I followed this advice and am now able to smile at a weird, wonderful and frankly exhausting week.

I must admit, it wasn’t as simple as I had hoped it would be. I was chosen by the Imperial Sorting Hat to be in the incredible Bernard Sunley Halls. Here the ratio of about 1:70 girls to boys meets the gender balance criteria across campus. I was filled with hope on my first day that all my fellow freshers would have their doors open and be greeting me with “HEY FRESHER FRIEND” when I passed them in the corridor. This wasn’t the case. I finally found an open door and…a girl was inside! What started with 2 people having a quiet chat ended with the majority of the hall chanting “Bernard Sunley” in the common room. Result.

I could tell a hundred stories about the little ways Imperial has come to surprise and impress me, but none quite does it justice like Mums and Dads night. Here I met my new parents who have done their most to be there for me whilst I settle in, and I am so grateful! Despite managing to take myself to A and E after an ill advised (but definitely worth it) gymnastics effort, I was truly set at ease by seeing the number of fourth fifth and sixth years still freshers at heart during the evening. There is something about the imperial experience that seems to imbue energy rather than exhaust it, and if that doesn’t inspire the most quivering of freshers then I’m not sure what can.

Now I am faced with a giant conundrum. My room. Trying to decorate my room is stretching my creativity to its limit. Torn between making my room a museum to my former life, an episode of MTV cribs or as obsessed with Imperial as can be, I have currently settled for making it look like the inside of a laundry bag. The clothes are strewn across the floor much like the crisp autumn leaves “decorate” the streets of Kensington. I, like many lost, confused and lonely students of Kensington have found solace in the deep fried love of Burger King and KFC only 7 minutes walk from Bernard Sunley Halls. Val at Burger King has become one of my closest friends at University.

So, as I sit between hundreds of handouts, takeaway menus, leaflets and invitations on my floor, I can’t help but think the world has Imperial all wrong. So far it’s felt like the beautiful lovechild of a frat party and an episode of The Big Bang Theory. I have met people from more than 10 different countries, travelled around London, examined my first cadaver, learned to play pool and proved to everyone that I really can do the splits at the cost of my knee. Freshers may be over, but I am pretty excited about what has just begun.

Mala Mawkin

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