Blog posts

A normal Tuesday at Imperial

MSc Business Analytics

A day at Imperial can involve lectures, homework, trainings and much more.

On a recent “normal Tuesday” at Imperial, I realised the interesting activities I was doing, which I’ll be sharing in this post:

Morning: Data Visualisation for Network Analytics

For our first homework in Network Analytics, we were asked to visualise correlations between stocks. As an investor, you’re interested in diversifying risk by selecting different types of them. You therefore want visualise which stocks behave similarly (positive correlations) or very differently (negative correlations).

Learning a new library is always demanding, but at least the results looked fascinating (spoiler alert: I’m a data visualisation fan).

Who’s this guy!? (and an amazing steak)

ERASMUS+ exchange student

You know the situation: you’re attending a presentation, you eagerly wait for new information, but the guy in front of you firstly begins by talking for 30 minutes about himself and his references! This has happened too often, so I want to be as brief as possible for the sake of German politeness.

My name is Alex, I’m 23 years old and I have the great chance to complete an ERASMUS+ exchange at Imperial College! 🙂 When I’m not studying for my subject, mechanical engineering, I do a lot of physical training (boxing and weightlifting) in my spare time. I also like to write – especially about things that move me (not the tube).

Surviving the first term

Mathematics and Statistics

 – 8 things that have gotten me through my first term

After ten weeks of lectures, problem sheets, weekly tests and repeat, with the odd excitement of computing coursework, I am wondering how I made it through this term without getting too exhausted of the cycle! As much as I love the struggle of finding “the largest number of chicken nuggets it is impossible to buy, when they come in boxes of 6,9 and 20” (real question!!), sometimes you do find yourself drowning in work and you need a break, to relax and clear your mind in order to improve your focus for when you do sit down to work again.

I was almost David Beckham’s neighbour

Master of Public Health (MPH)

And 11 other times London made me go WTF

Housing agents work fast in London. 48 hours after I landed, I found myself in a Foxton’s Mini cruising up Holland Park with a bottle of sparkling water in hand, because that’s how Foxton’s rolls.

“See that SUV? It looks like Mr Beckham is home.” said Ben the housing agent. “And the place we’re going to see is right on the next street.”

Sadly, the offer I put down for that sweet little studio was quickly thrown out, along with all hope of brunching/BFF-ing with the Beckhams. But if there’s one thing London has a knack for, it’s an extraordinary ability to be, well, extraordinary.

Away not just for a day

Aeronautical Engineering

Landing on the Queen’s land with no set date to stop complying to Her Majesty’s orders was as terrifying as it was challenging. Although I am not a very nervous person, I was specially content, literally in love with the unknown, or perhaps, with the image I had created of it.

Moving was fun. “Hello! My name is Constança” was said so many times that night that for a split second I thought my biggest achievement at Uni would be knowing everyone’s name. Due to living in halls, you meet a bunch of people on the exact same position as you, at least to some extent.

How are you, darling?

Mathematics of Planet Earth

I’m sure that your English is fluent enough for you to study in the UK (if you aren’t confident, take a look at my post about studying in English). I’m also sure that you’re able to communicate with international students withouth any problems. But do you understand what locals, i.e. English people really mean? It took me a while (and a few awkward situations), so here are a few surprising things Brits say.

  • How are you? You’ll hear this question dozens of times every day. In the beginning I thought: “wow, these Brits are so nice, they really care about me”.

Where do I go now?

MSc Sustainable Energy Futures

So here I am a few weeks into term and, like hundreds of other new students, I’m trying to get to grips with the new routine and understand what’s expected of me, what are my priorities, balancing the early beginnings of my course-load with the host of other opportunities & activities available. How do I settle quickly into a new routine? That seems to be the most pressing question. Well a good starting point is getting into College each morning, which itself depends very much on the question of deciding where to live and finding accommodation (and I’ll have more to say about that process in a future blog…) For the time-being let me just confess that despite my number one criterion when flat-hunting being a maximum of 30 minutes walking to Imperial, I somehow ended up near Vauxhall Bridge- about 6 km away, taking at least a good hour’s walk.

Excitement & Trepidation

MSc Sustainable Energy Futures

“Are you crazy? Going to university in your 50s! What on earth are you thinking? But you’re already a grand-father, why do you want to become a student?”

These were not the actual questions people asked me; they were normally much more polite and restrained when I told them that I’d be going off to do an MSc in Sustainable Energy at Imperial College in London. “How do you feel about becoming a student?” was the typical question I was asked many times by family and friends in the run-up to the start of term. How to start answering that? Excitement?

Let’s talk about… talks

Mathematics of Planet Earth

Some people were just born public speakers. Others are terrible at it, they suffer from stage fright and should just avoid talking to crowds altogether.

That way of thinking is very convenient but, unfortunately (or fortunately), not supported by facts.

Most of us have attended some presentations or watched TED talks that left us with a feeling: “Wow, this guy knows how to get the audience’s attention! I’m so jealous, I wish I was like him/her”. What if I told you that this guy isn’t “a natural”, but has been working very hard to sound so? What if I told you that you can give talks that people would enjoy listening to?

PhD – Patiently headed Downhill?

Mathematics of Planet Earth

It’s not a secret that grad school might be dangerous for mental health. In recent years people started to talk about it openly, numerous studies on this topic have been done (eg. on suicides or depression). The awareness of mental health is rising, which definitely makes it easier to get help when needed. However, this isn’t the full story.

A few years ago I started to consider a possiblity of pursuing a PhD. So I googled around – big mistake. Phrases such as “grad school mental health” returned thousands of websites suggesting that the coming years will be filled with pain and tears.

Learn more about life at Imperial

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