“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? A sense of adventure? A little trepidation? – after all things have probably changed considerably since the last time? Anyway I myself am certainly a very different person to the brash, self-conscious boy, only just turned 18, who previously went off to university almost forty years ago.
I found myself transforming the question, sensing the unspoken innuendos: “How do you feel about embarking on a post-graduate taught MSc course at 56 years old?”; “How do you think you’ll fit in?”; “Do you think your brain will re-adapt to academic life and study after all these years?”; “Don’t you think it will be awkward with most of the other students being younger than your own children?”; and so the questions go on, swirling around inside my head.
So yes: excitement, adventure, as well as some trepidation. However, becoming a mature student at only-just-turned-56 has some advantages: I may still be brash, but some of my self-consciousness has been replaced over the intervening years by self-awareness and more self-confidence. And yes, I’ll be doing something I really want to do, engaging in the field of Sustainable Energy, possibly opening the path to future research, or other opportunities to make an impact in the transition to a future lower-carbon energy system.
On top of that I’ll be moving to London. Whooppee. Yes I’ve lived in many places, in nine or ten countries spanning several continents, but there’s something indefinably alluring about the prospect of spending some time in Britain’s capital city, with its buzz and liveliness, its wealth of culture and history, its beauty and ugliness, its diversity and opportunity. (Turn again Dick Whittington, turn again…)
So here I am, just like hundreds of others coming from far and wide, a new post-graduate student at Imperial College, finding my way around in a new first term.
Please feel to share this journey with me through this blog-site; I don’t know where it will take me, but I’m looking forward to an interesting voyage…
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?
If you asked my teenage self what my weakest point was, I’d probably respond “public speaking”. I still remember the day when for some weird reason I ended up at a public speaking competition. I’m pretty sure I had been forced to do that, otherwise I wouldn’t have even entered the room. The task was simple: we were given simple topics such as “Movies are better than books” or “Summer by the sea is better than in the mountains” and needed to give a short impromptu speech. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, some would say. Well, I didn’t. In fact, I didn’t say anything – just stood there frantically looking for some words, but in the end ran away in tears.
My experience: formerly terrified of public speaking, now a TEDx speaker! Photo credit: Robert Gardner.
This was the day when I decided that something had to change. Even though I hated public speaking, I knew how important it is. Especially if you’re a student or a scientist – a conference here, a workshop there, we just have to communicate our research. So I started to push myself out of my comfort zone. First step: I signed up for all public speaking competitions I could find. Second: worked hard to prepare. I started to prepare speeches, present them to friends, family and theachers, ask for feedback. How did the competitions go? No astounding successes, to put it mildly. Some more tears and embarassing moments. But also more and more often I was able to give a presentation without getting into a state of panic.
Only a few years later I can say that I actually enjoy presenting, even in front of big audiences. Am I an amazing, charismatic, naturally talented speaker? Definitely not! But usually people don’t fall alseep during my presentations, while I don’t fall into tears. Let me share a few tips with you – tips that have worked for me and aren’t necessarily supported by any reasearch.
Don’t write your speeches, unless forced to do so (for example, TED and TEDx organisers require a written script). Of course it’s easier to write a talk and memorise it than think on the spot, but there are some major disadventages. First, it requires a skill to sound natural while reciting a talk. Second, when you rely on your memory, you might blank out during your presentation and it’s quite hard to get back on track. I recommend writing the key points and practicing before, if possible (i.e. if it’s not an impromptu speech).
Don’t focus on the audience. Do NOT imagine they’re all naked, it gets quite awkward, especially if you know people sitting there. Just look above their heads – it’ll seem that you’re looking straight in their eyes, which is exactly the effect you want. Blinding lights can actually help, because you won’t be able to see their reactions and stress out about them.
Smile. Even if you hate every single member of the audience and would rather stay home watching cat videos, pretend it’s the happiest moment of your life. Fake it till you make it! The more you smile, the more you’re likely to enjoy whatever you’re doing, be it giving a talk or having blood drawn (ok, the last example is a bit exaggerated).
Have a drink. I mean water. Skip coffee this time – it’ll not only get your blood pressure higher than necessary, but also your mouth will get really dry, which doesn’t help when you talk, trust me. I hope I don’t have to mention that you should save anything with % for the afterparty.
Practice. Practice. Practice. And what should you do after you’ve practiced your talk so many times that you’re sick of it? Practice even more.
Some people indeed are more talented and more confident when it comes to public speaking. If you’re one of them, bad news: you also need to work really hard to sound so great. If you aren’t so lucky (like me), good news: with some effort you can become a charismatic and confident speaker. Keep practicing and good luck!
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. Basically, in the best case scenario I’d quit before obtaining my degree; in the worst, I’d commit suicide. Not the most optimistic view. I decided to give it a try anyway, but I’m sure many potential students resigned from their dreams, worried about their future.
But the reality isn’t so dark. In fact, my experience with grad school is completely opposite. I started my PhD course struggling with a serious mental illness, so if Google was right, I should have gone completely downhill. However, pursuing a PhD at Imperial was a major factor in my recovery. And I’m sure that everyone can have such a positive experience – but that requires some effort. Here’s what I learned during my time at Imperial.
Last year I took part in the musical with our Musical Theatre Society. So much fun!
PhD is NOT your life. Research requires a lot of time and energy, but spending all days and nights in front of the laptop/in the lab is a straight path to mental problems. Remember the famous “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”? Our brains have limited thinking abilities (at least mine does), so after long hours of trying to prove the same bloody inequality or debugging the code you might be better off going for a walk with a friend or rehearsing a play with your favourite society than trying to understand a difficult paper. Trust me, I’ve tried.
Speaking of societies, make sure you have a hobby. A non-academic hobby, within a society or on your own, as long as you truly enjoy it. For example, when research is too much to handle, I go to Blyth Centre in Blackett and play piano. Or go for a run. Or call a friend. Chances are that after I return to work, I’ll get a new idea.
But if I don’t, it’s not the end of the world. In fact, more often than not I don’t know what I’m doing – or my supervisor shows me that I had absolutely no clue, even though I was so proud of my “achievement”.
PhD is a constant failure.Which doesn’t mean that you’re a failure. Research is all about trying a thousand of things that don’t work only to succeed for the thousand first time. That’s why it’s crucial to have something outside of academia, so that we don’t base our value on our results. If I did, I would seriously feel like the most stupid person in the world, because whatever I try, it fails – until it doesn’t. By the way, these moments when we actually manage to fix this annoying bug in the code are worth all the struggles. Seriously.
Nutrition (pizza!) and friends – a recipe for happiness in the maths department
Ok, so you know now how important free time is. How do you spend yours? Playing computer games? Watching Netflix? Fine, as long as you make sure to spend some time with friends and family. PhD can be a very solitary job, especially in subjects such as maths, where we don’t even need to leave our bed (no labs needed). No matter how introvert you are, you need people as well. You need to talk to someone, laugh with someone, cry with someone. For this reason I strongly recommend to work in the office, even if you technically don’t need to. But my office mates make my days brighter, it’s great to know that someone sitting next to me is going through the same thing, struggling as well, but not giving up. And that it’s only one hour till noon when we’ll go and get lunch together, exchange the lastest gossip and let our brains rest for a few minutes.
Ah, lunch, I almost forgot about another important thing – take care of your body. It’s easy to forget about nutrition, sleep or exercise. I definitely don’t mean eating salads, going to bed at 9 pm and hitting the gym every day, because it’s just another way of putting a pressure on yourself. Eat whatever makes you happy, sleep when you’re tired and move when it feels good – just don’t forget to do that, no matter how much work you have to do. We’re not just brains, we’re human beings.
And when things get hard, ask for help. Yes, it’s difficult to say “I’m struggling, could we talk?” – but that’s the only way out. THE ONLY WAY. Talk to a friend, a family member, your supervisor (yes, they care about you as a person, not only about your results – at least they should) or a professional (remember about free counselling services at Imperial). You’d be surprised how much a single conversation can change your life.
Pursuing a PhD can be a great challenge for your mental health – but it can also a great experience that will help you thrive. PhD doesn’t need to mean “Patiently headed Downhill”. It can turn into “Perfectly happy Days”. It’s all up to you.
While for undergrads university means plenty of tests and homework, PhD students spend long hours marking their work. If you’re the one submitting solutions, these are ten ways to annoy the marker.
Write your solutions in random places of the page. Don’t waste any space – make sure that this little gap in the middle of question 1 is filled with your answer to question 3.
Use a pencil or, even better, a red pen. Don’t forget about correction fluid! Surely the instructions to write only in black or blue were just a joke.
Provide a few answers to the same question, with a comment: “Choose the correct one”. Remember that your markers have infinite amount of time, so make sure they have something to do during long, dark evenings.
Use your own variation of English. Include expressions such as “Spoze”, “Cuz”, because they make marking more entertaining – and your work looks more professional.
Don’t explain your steps. Let the marker enjoy solving the puzzle herself.
Make your answers completely illegible. Don’t allow the marker to be narrow-minded enough to study only one subject, encourage her to discover secrets of graphology.
When you have to prove something and your result happens to have the opposite sign to the desired one, just change the sign and draw a smiley face next to the answer. Surely this charming smile will give you points.
Answer the question with “this was proven in lectures”. So clever, surely the lecturer didn’t want you to solve it from scratch!
Copy your answer from a friend. To make the effect better, you both should submit the paper together, so that the marker reads your solutions consecutively. We like playing detectives and figuring out who copied from whom.
Find your marker’s office and visit her to complain about your mark. When she suggests discussing the problem, say that you lost the paper and you just want a higher mark.
If you stick to these rules, the marker definitely won’t be on your side. You might want to consider it next time 🙂 Now back to marking!
I had one of the most fantastic days on Wednesday as I graduated with my intercalated BSc! Imperial graduations occur at the Royal Albert Hall, which is just such a beautiful venue to celebrate in. The graduation ceremony for the School of Medicine was at lunchtime, so I could get to campus mid-morning to collect my gown and have some photos done with my family. The ceremony itself was so grand and we were all smiles and cheers watching our friends cross the stage with their degrees!
Walking across the stage
Going onto the stage was terrifying, and I really thought my gown was all wonky…but once you are up there it flashes by so fast. I don’t even remember shaking hands- just remember concentrating on not falling over (which I luckily didn’t!). The ceremony ended with an applause that we gave to our parents and friends for all the support throughout our studies- which I thought was a lovely way to finish! My friends and family really are the best support network there is and it’s so nice to be able to share the achievement and day with them.
My brother and sister!
After the ceremony there was a drinks reception and then I went out for dinner with my family before all medics had a night out to celebrate! It was such a lovely day, put together so well. It made me so proud to be an Imperial student, and now Imperial ALUMNI!?! Can’t believe I have so little time here left now until 2019 when the big final graduation occurs. Time is going so fast.
Reflecting on it, I just think it is so special that Imperial celebrates student educational achievements in such a memorable way- it really does make it all worth it! And the prosecco is always a plus…
In some ways I have an advantage as in addition to my Asperger Syndrome diagnosis I have a long history of anxiety and depression going right back to my early teens so am already equipped for dealing with mental health difficulties. Here is what I have found:
This weekend I was back at The Regent’s Park helping with their project Mission Invertebrate. This project is funded by the People’s Postcode Lottery and is investigating what invertebrates live in The Regent’s Park and how this relates to where the Park’s hedgehog population lives.
The project is a citizen science project – members of the public have been recruited to take soil cores, put in pitfall traps and count the number of slugs and snails in a set area. Myself and my colleague Anthony Roach were helping the volunteers identify the invertebrates collected in the pitfall traps. This involves picking each invertebrate out of each pot, identifying and counting them, and then putting them into a tub of alcohol to preserve them.
I have mostly been analysing data and writing at the moment so it felt really good to get outside and identify some invertebrates for a change – it reminded me why I am doing a PhD in the first place (I love the diversity of invertebrates!) and lifted my mood greatly.
I have to say that I was really, really nervous about completing a placement in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G). Being involved in the care of a soon-to-be mother and their precious unborn baby is a huge privilege and responsibility, and up until 5th year it is pretty easy to not have to have dealt with the complications of pregnancy in clinical practice. O&G was a whole new ball game for us medical students.
Emergency training
I was attached to the O&G team at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for 7 weeks. We began our attachment learning about the basics and what to do in emergency situations; completing simulations as well as learning from patient experiences. I then rotated around clinics, wards, surgery and of course…labour ward.
“Labour Week” is renowned at medical school for being one of the toughest weeks of your medical school journey. We had 6 days (including the weekend) to assist in as many births as possible. This meant 12 hour shifts, and I completed 3 night shifts too (8pm till 8am). What a fantastic experience though! The first time I saw a baby it was overwhelming. So incredible. I do not think I will ever forget the first birth I assisted in, you can see below the extreme happiness/tiredness (it was 6am).
Me post assisting in first baby delivery!
O&G was a chance to get some real hands on experience: scrubbing into surgeries and assisting, taking histories from patients in my own clinic room and having a chance to witness the behind-the-scenes of fertility treatment. I even managed to see a patient in antenatal clinic, and two weeks later saw her be induced and deliver on labour ward!
Towards the end of the attachment, we were asked to present an ethical issue we had witnessed on our attachment. My tutorial group discussed the ethics behind medical students being involved in the healthcare of a woman who had experienced domestic abuse- an important topic as we are often asked to leave the room when the doctor chats to such patient. We presented our worries that we may see our first ever pregnant patient who has experienced domestic abuse as an F1, and so provided recommendations for how we could integrate teaching into the O&G 7 weeks to ensure this didn’t happen. We did not have the answers, as it really is a matter of debate as to where medical students fit into the team in such cases, but we did have a few ideas that we hope will help. Our presentation won the prize for the session, and we walked away with toblerones!
Ethics Presentation Prize, with our tutor group consultant Dr Patel
All in all a great 7 weeks and am so grateful for the opportunities Chelsea and Westminster provided. O&G may or may not be the speciality for me, but it was a really thought-provoking and hands on firm. Now onto dermatology…!!
I was thinking today about the advice that I wish I had known before I had started applying for medicine. It really is a bit of a long road to get into medical school and takes a lot of determination and work to get there. You have hurdles with work experience, entrance tests like BMAT, writing your personal statement, getting your grades (and predicted grades), securing an interview, doing well at interview… the list is pretty long. But it is so, so worth it so don’t let this put you off at all cause it all does make sense!
Broadly…medical schools are looking for:
A genuinely kind person who wants to be a doctor
Someone who is smart and willing to put in the work when they don’t understand concepts
Someone who they would want on their team/want them to be their doctor
Right so let’s break this down a bit and show where the above hurdles come in!
A genuinely kind person who wants to be a doctor
Getting work experience ticks the box of showing you actually want to be a doctor and have gone out of your way to find a placement. Also, just keeping up to date with health news and advances is great. Additionally, doing voluntary work and being a team player at school shows you are a genuinely kind person!
Someone who is smart and willing to put in the work when they don’t understand concepts
Imperial, and I’m sure most other universities, want you to have a good grasp on basic scientific concepts. You can do this by just being keen (keen is cool is the slogan here!). Do not be too worried about your GCSE results, just find out from universities what exact requirements they have for GCSE grades by contacting them directly. For A level, it’s getting increasingly necessary to bank that A star. But this is all about working hard, and putting in the extra hours of past papers and textbook reading. It definitely is doable with the right plan in action to get that grade! If not, you can (worst case!) resit, just check with universities you want to apply to first if they accept resits without mitigating circumstances.
Someone who they would want on their team/want them to be their doctor
Really at the end of the day, you will fall at the interview hurdle if you just are not yourself. I messed up one of my interviews so badly by trying to be what I thought the interviewers wanted, and my feedback showed me this was completely the wrong way. If you are genuine and show a true interest in helping the health of others…well… it looks amazing and will make you stand out! Be yourself, be kind and think before answering questions.
All in all, yes, it’s a long and tough process to apply to do medicine…BUT…it is completely doable and 300 of us every year do it here at Imperial alone! Even if luck is not in your favour on the first attempt of applying, taking a gap year will only make you into a more resilient and better candidate. If you stay true to you and just try as hard as you can at school, volunteering and being the best person you can…who would say no to you!!? And studying medicine is incredible, especially here at Imperial!
I have some really exciting news- I found out that I am graduating my intercalated BSc in Global Health with a 2.1! I am so relieved and happy! I am now a few weeks into 5th year (yeah don’t ask…we only got 4 weeks of summer).
So with graduation in mind I thought it would be quite timely to discuss how Imperial celebrates its students here…
The medics have our own bits and bobs- we have arts dinner and a sports dinner where we award club of the year/team of the year. Netball won club of the year this year which is so cool! Additionally the medics have our own colours ceremony- where we thank the leaving final years for their dedication to Imperial College School of Medicine. Loads get nominated for colours but only a few can get them every year- it really is an honour. And for anyone that goes above and beyond they may even be awarded an Outstanding Service Award or Fellowship (oooooh!).
I was lucky enough to be able to go to a couple more university wide awards this year which were SO much fun. Imperial really does know how to throw a party.
Sports Awards
The Imperial Sports Awards were held by Sport Imperial on May 11th 2017. It was held in a marquee in the middle of our campus- ideal. We had a Medics Table (quite loud), and had such a blast of a time with Mike Tindall as guest speaker. Medics brought in Club of the Year here too (Netball woo) and we also had Outstanding Contribution to Sports winner being a medic. Go us! Food was delicious and Imperial really knew how to put on a show!
Union Awards
We went in force down to the union building in South Kensington and had a great night. Here, lots of medics picked up Imperial wide colours, and also we picked up a couple of awards for our student activities. Then the Imperial Union laid on a champagne reception for us…a great night!
So all in all Imperial and the unions here LOVE celebrating student achievement and voluntary work. And in return us students really enjoy celebrating staff achievements back- nominating our teachers for teaching awards etc. It is such a lovely environment that makes sure that hard work and dedication is always praised. Not only do you get to join clubs and societies here that you love, but you also get awarded for when you go above and beyond to make sure other students can make the most out of those opportunities too! It’s awesome here.
