As we approach the final stretch of a very busy year, I would like to take a moment and reflect upon what I believe were good and perhaps not so good decisions that I have made during its course. Hopefully this would help Freshers of 2015 and any future Imperial Chemical Engineering students so that you won’t repeat my mistakes. So, instead of a to-do list (which I think is quite presumptuous-me telling you what you should do), I compiled a ‘what-NOT-to-do’ list. Here it is:
What-NOT-to-do-list:
Leave everything until the Easter break.
You might think that a month is more than enough time to catch up with 6 months’ worth of material, but, trust me, it is not.
And I know it is partly my fault for not listening to our seniors’ advice. Okay, fine it is TOTALLY my fault. Though perhaps I can only learn the hard way; procrastinate, panic and vow not to repeat this next year.
Not participate in any societies or clubs.
In my defence, I went to the Netball taster session, so I DID put some effort. However, I quickly realised it was not for me; spending two hours travelling to and fro to practise once a week and running in the cold, dark night, AND go to lectures at 9 am (all my lectures start early-yes 9 am is now considered early!) the next day was just too much for me.
In hindsight, I wish I volunteered throughout the year with different charities. There is quite a number of charity related societies which I am planning to get involved with next year (assuming I pass the exams in June; fingers crossed!).
Stay indoors during the first term.
I am VERY lazy; my idea of a perfect evening is lying on my bed, with some hot chocolate to drink and a good book to read. So, it is safe to say that I did not take full advantage of my strategically located abode. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret not doing anything during the first term. I would even advice against it; go out, party, chill, even embark on a road trip. Just don’t stay home and watch movie marathons all the time.
And if you think that this is a good way of avoiding catching Freshers’ flu, you cannot be further from the truth; no matter what precautions you take, the days of being bed stricken are inevitable, I am afraid.
Avoid cooking at all costs.
After more than six months of living by myself, I can confirm that I have yet to cook my first dish. Admittedly, I did not make any effort; I couldn’t stand the heat so I stayed out of the kitchen (at least I am following SOMEBODY’S advice!). At this point I am not even certain whether I’ll ever learn how to cook. But, hey, never say never, right?
Not apply to be a student blogger.
During the first few weeks, I saw countless advertisements around campus all encouraging students to apply to be student blogger for Imperial. I thought to myself, ‘Well, I like to ramble a lot, and quite opinionated so why not share that with a bigger audience?’ And here I am doing exactly that! I hope you have been entertained by my ramblings (my friends and family are sick of it by now) and have gained an insight to what it is like being a student here-at least, from my perspective.
So when you see those adverts the next academic year, go for it; you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
That marks the end of my ‘what-NOT-to-do list’. It is quite succinct but I feel it covers all the essentials. Should you follow my advice? YES!! Would you? It is entirely up to you, but, readers, you have been warned…
I have to say I am quite disappointed that I haven’t seen a single snowflake thus far; it seems like I always miss it. First, the snowstorm at the end of December (I was in Oman enjoying the magnificent warmth and sunlight after many a bleak, grey days) and then, the day after I leave Reading, it snows there. It was my first time outside of London (I really should go out more!!). I was visiting a friend of mine who studies there. It was interesting to experience the differences between London and a large town (my friend insists that Reading is not a city, but on the edge of one). The people there seem to be more relaxed and at ease, unlike Londoners who always look so busy. It is the sort of place where you can actually encounter someone you met a week ago randomly in a store, so you have to be extra cautious. For instance, I don’t really mind if I make a fool out of myself in London once in a while because nobody will remember it and it is very unlikely that I would run into the people who witnessed it. That is not the case in Reading- just a heads up, so you won’t say I didn’t warn you!
Despite it being colder, sadly it did not snow. I was really hoping I would see real, natural snow not that artificial white fluff you see in the Middle East. Even with the snowstorm that raged over the UK this week, South Kensington had no share. I have given up all hope but today, when I woke up and looked at the window, what do I see? Snow!! Or as meteorologists would put it ‘snow shower’. I shook of the lethargy of sleep, rushed to get dressed and hurried outside. Alas, by the time I left the building it had turned into a ‘rain shower’. At least I saw something!
Last Wednesday was a day marked in everybody’s calendar: it was Refresher’s Fair. Basically it is a ‘take two’ of the Fresher’s Fair, but scheduled so that students-especially Freshers- would have had a go at university life and seen what they actually want to do and what kind of time they can spare. So perhaps we are all a little wiser this time around. It was not like the first Freshers’ Fair with fewer societies and clubs participating but there was certainly enough to keep you occupied for those two hours. I have signed up for Imperial Plus; a volunteering club that recognises the hours that you put in and gives you a certificate which also runs a few workshops. I was disheartened to learn that some of the volunteers actually picked the poppies at Tower Hill and I was not a part of that. Hopefully, there will be exciting opportunities this year as well.
As a way of celebrating my passing of MATLAB (a computer programming software that made my life imposible for a while)-barely, I might add- my friend and I watched ‘Matilda the Musical’. It was the first musical I have ever watched, even the first theatre I have been to (I REALLY should get out more!!) and it was a surreal experience. It was mesmerising, especially how good the young actors were and the amount of effort and hard work that goes into productions like these is just astounding. And let’s not forget the superb performance of the actor portraying Miss Trunchbull. The whole affair was splendid and I cannot wait to watch another one.
In other news, the Spring Test is fast approaching and I have to confess that I have been procrastinating, so I must get some work done this weekend (yesterday doesn’t count, I needed to close the MATLAB chapter of my life once and for all, although I am certain I will revisit it in the upcoming years but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it).
Unfortunately, this is when I part with you, well at least until the Spring Test is done, because if you don’t get an ‘acceptable’ mark you buy yourself an interview. So less blogging and more studying for now!
It’s inevitable that whenever a year draws to a close, people feel the need to constantly ram down your throat how amazing their year has been and all the wonderful things they’ve done. It becomes annoying and unrelenting, so that’s why I waited for it all to simmer down so I can ram this blog post down your throats. Actually I just procrastinated too much over Christmas so much that this post wasn’t ready yet.
This isn’t actually a joke, this is what I did on New Year’s…but mainly because I like cheesecake.
But in all seriousness, I decided it would be a good idea to review what has been an incredibly interesting year…I also realise the only entry in my blog thus far is a rant about missing a train. So I’d like to share with you some of my highlights from the past year and tell you a little about myself along the way. Here we go.
January
…what happened in January? I don’t even know what happened yesterday. I planned to review 2014 month my month but January to April escapes me. So after delving into the depths of social media I realised I went to Edinburgh. A deep freezer of a city where five layers of clothes are insufficient… and I’m from Newcastle. I really enjoyed exploring the city and catching? frostbite. Trying to cross the park in the city centre entailed standing still at one side, and letting the slight slope and frozen ground slowly carry you to the other side.
February
This month is slightly more firm in my memory, a lot happened this month.
Firstly, of all places, I visited Hull with some friends. Hull you ask? Why Hull? (or if you’re from Hull “stop hating on Hull”) A friend was going for an offer holder today so a group of us went to accompany her and make a weekend out of it. *totally didn’t go for free buffet*
Hull actually exceeded all my expectations, well I had 0 expectations to start with so it wasn’t particularly hard. Their white phone boxes are pretty cool. There’s alcohol there. Enough said.
Also in February I took part in my school musical, West Side Story. I had a lot of fun and I’d like to get involved with something similar at Imperial-he says uncommittedly.
My highlight of highlights for February (if that is a thing) was a German exchange in Berlin. In 2013 I travelled to Freiburg with my school for an exchange but this one in Berlin was a first. My German partner and her friends visited us for a week before we joined them in Berlin shortly after. Berlin is a very cool city.
One week of Schnitzel Brötchen, Ka De We and tequila simply wasn’t enough. I can’t wait to return to the city as soon as possible and visit the amazing friends I made there.
One more very exciting thing happened in February: I received an email inviting me to interview at Imperial College. The place I had written off for the past four months actually wanted to interview me.
March
This is the month where my university-related nervousness reached its peak. March being the month where medical schools give out most of their offers (and rejections), checking my emails and scrolling through student rooms quickly took over my life. Amazingly, one week in I received an offer. In that moment sixth months of fear and anxiety disappeared completely. Then the day before my interview at Imperial I received a second offer.
Travelling to London, I had no nerves at all, I didn’t need it. But within little time there I knew London was where I wanted to be… and anxiety quickly returned. I left my eight minute long interview not quite sure what to make of it.
April
I spent easter with family in Cyprus for some much wanted probably less deserved rest
Shortly after I returned to Edinburgh for a day, and to my surprise the place had warmed up a couple degrees.
Later in April my fear once again subsided when I received an offer from Imperial. I was quite awestruck that I would actually be studying medicine at Imperial College- he says modestly.
May
Early in May I returned to London but this time to travel to Germany for a kpop concert. Yeah you read that correctly, I traveled all the way to Germany for a kpop concert. Kpop is probably my favourite music genre (what do I mean probably, of course it is). Over the past two years it’s grown into a passion of mine, so much I was willing to travel to Düsseldorf to see one of my favourite groups (and stuff like this is pretty common in the kpop fandom) The concert was really cool and I got to spend the weekend in Düsseldorf and Cologne, which was really nice.
Meanwhile, at the end of May I finally escaped 6th form.
June
June was pretty uneventful. The majority consisted of A level exams. Bore. Bore. Bore. And then the usual things like Prom.
Perhaps the most exciting thing for me in June was joining au pair world. With three months of nothingness ahead of me I wasn’t really sure what to do, so I joined an au pair website. Within one week I was contacted by a family in Italy asking me to teach their children English over the summer.
July
After a few conversations over Skype and some organising, I set off for Italy, with no knowledge of Italian, not to return for seven weeks. At first it was quite strange living with a family I’d only known a couple weeks but it soon became normality. Living in Verona was amazing, it’s beautful, almost as beautiful as the food is delicious.
At the end of July I accompanied my host family on their holiday in southern Italy. First we visited their family in Rome.
I’d visited in Rome twice before, but the ancient city somehow never gets old. I got to see some of the things overlooked by a lot of tourists…I never knew you could actually visit the top of St Peters-the cupolone.
Also I got to help prepare a five course feast… most of the Italian I know now is food words.
August
Leaving Rome, we set off for Scalea, a small seaside town in the South. We spent the week by the beach and ate even more amazing food, with this amazing view from my bedroom:
Shortly after we spent the next week in Morcone, a little village in the mountains with the Grandparents. The village was so picturesque, with thin, winding cobbled streets and houses going back to Medieval times.
While there we visited Naples, my host family’s home town, and I was taught how to make lasagne by an italian grandmother!
In my last few weeks there I was lucky enough to visit Venice, Florence and Milan. All very beautiful but different cities.
While in Venice I also had my place at Imperial finally confirmed by UCAS.
Eventually it all had to come to an end. The food I’d tried and the places I’d visited were lovely, but even more lovely were the family that I’d become a part of throughout. They’re like a second family to me now and I was very sad to leave them.
Nevertheless, I wasn’t long back in England before I set off for Cyprus with my friends from 6th form. We shared a great week together before everyone went their separate ways off to uni.
September
September mainly involved me preparing to move to Uni. But somehow I ended up returning to Germany…for a kpop festival.
The visit was slightly ruined when the Korean man organising it ran off with everyone’s money and cancelled the festival. Yeah.
But luckily I hadn’t bought my ticket yet…so instead I used the money to visit Amsterdam while I was there.
I got to explore more of Düsseldorf, and visit a friend au pairing in Münster. I’ve ran out of adjectives at this point. So here are pictures. Look at them
October
So finally after two weeks at home like a child waiting for Christmas, I finally move to London and start at Imperial. Fresher’s fortnight was perhaps two of the best weeks of my life *tries to avoid cliches* I made some amazing friends, learnt and forgot a lot of names, and did a lot of damage to my liver.
Uni life is a lot different to 6th form but I’m really enjoying it. There’s always something going on, whether it be with a society at Imperial or an event in the city. London is a really exciting place and I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else.
At the end of October I attended MCM/Comicon/London Expo/whatever you wan’t to call it.
Anime is another passion of mine, like Kpop, my relationship with anime is verging on unhealthy. Nevertheless I was super excited to see many of my favourite characters in real life, and spend money on stuff I didn’t need.
Halloween was a very exciting holiday to spend online. It’s probably my favourite holiday, when else is someone going to walk past you outside Sainsbury’s dressed as Willy Wonka (their child was an umpa lumpa!) Personally I spent the holiday putting too much make up/face paint on.
November
This month I attended another convention-Hyper Japan. One especially weird thing was managing to get drunk on free sake samples at 10am… that convention centre was spinning. I got to volunteer there on Sunday too, working at the marital martial arts area. I didn’t get drunk this time.
November was also full of concerts for me.
One of the great things about Uni is being exposed to a loads of new music. Baby Metal, a great example, I ended up seeing in concert, which is best described as an experience, very different to other rock genres, but lots of fun nonetheless
My cancelled kpop festival was redeemed by a concert as part of the London Korean Film Festival. I got to meet a lot of cool people who make my passion for kpop seem like a casual hobby. There was a mini concert in Leicester Square, alongside a selection of Korean film
December
Finally my blog went live, and for those who read my last entry they know I had a really traumatising journey on a train *still slightly scarred*
this was also the time where a very stress free first term became not so. Seven assignments due in the final week resulted in half the medic year locking themselves in their rooms. And everybody had between one and six people not turn up to tutorials or PBL because they were ‘ill’.
Never have I had so many Christmas dinners in one December. Hall Christmas dinner. Floor Christmas dinner. Society Christmas dinners.
And finally the assignments stopped and I returned for Christmas and ate an obscene amount of food and caught up with a lot of friends.
So looking back on all of this, I’ve really enjoyed 2014. It’s hard to avoid those inevitable clichés when it comes to a New Year, but I really mean it when I say it has been a year like no other *shudders at cliché*
There’s a lot of things in this entry that I could write endlessly about. But shouldn’t. So I’ll save them for another time.
This year I plan to get a lot more content on this blog, so go on, bookmark me. You know you want to.
Hopefully my future posts will be less procrastinated over…like a post about New Year’s over a week after New Year’s. And I’ll come up with more adjectives, and say amazing less.
But I’ll leave you with this, we are now just as far from 2030 as we are from 2000. I’m not really sure how to deal with this information.
It’s official, I have now been back in London for a month. I am no longer a fresher – it usually takes me a moment or two to remember this when someone asks me what year I’m in – and I do grown up things now that I live in a flat and not halls, like pay rent, set up direct debits and clean the kitchen. Wow.
After a great (but long) summer, it’s been a little bit difficult to settle back in to Imperial life but I’m enjoying my courses so far and also the change to my timetable! Morning labs can be hard to motivate yourself before but on a non-lab day I now get a lie in rather than the continuous 9am starts that I had last year so I’m not complaining too much!
I’ve also had the privilege of meeting some biology freshers – shout out to my kids who are really cool and actually talked to me during the Mums and Dads event rather than sitting in awkward silence. You two are the greatest – and they seem like a nice bunch. It’s an incredibly surreal experience to return with a year of hindsight under your belt. Although I loved my first year, I’m glad I don’t have to relive freshers week again. I was at the The Mingle with the IC Christian Union handing out teas and coffees to the revellers who had only arrived in London that day and watching the freshers going through that endless loop of going up to complete strangers and asking them what they studied, where they lived and where they were from gave me a very strange sense of déjà vu. It’s a weird time for a lot of people, I know I found it very frustrating to be having so many superficial interactions with people I ended up not being friends with, but I hope that all of you first years have found a good bunch of mates and are settling in well.
So what’s going on in the Izzie life right now? Well, I have just finished my first course of the year, Applied Molecular Biology, and am about to start working on a bioinformatics project which promises to be very interesting. My AMB lab has been so fun, I have really enjoyed getting to practice lab techniques which are used on a wide scale in the majority of molecular biology labs, try out new equipment and see real results. It’s also pretty cool to tell your friends that you’ve been cloning DNA to create recombinant bacteria when they ask you what you’ve been up to. I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to my lab partner for messing up so many times (including using up all of our sample on something that didn’t even matter in the long run, not setting our pipettes correctly and generally making a fool of myself) and thank him for being so patient and no doubt hiding his anger at my incompetence well. You’re the best.
Second year biology starts to get interesting because we’re given more freedom to pick and choose courses that we have a special interest in. As such, next year I’m going to be taking Cell Biology and Development, Virology and Immunology – all courses which I have been reliably informed by my third year buddies have an insane workload and will probably make me cry. Add to that a practice dissertation which I start this term, a compulsory Horizons course (why on earth did I think level 5 French would be a good idea this year…), secretarial duties for the IC Christian Union, applying for summer internships and trying to have a social life, this academic year promises to be one of the heaviest but also most full and fun that I’ve ever had.
Advice to freshers who might still be reading this blog – study hard but play hard too. There is so much out there to get involved with and this is probably the least busy time of your degree so utilise it well.
Advice to the new batch of Imperial hopefuls who might have just started reading this blog – you have a hell of a lot to look forward to!
So results day has been and gone, many of you are now unconditional offer holders for Imperial College…. CONGRATULATIONS! You should all feel very proud of yourselves. I know from experience that A Levels feel like the hardest thing in life at the moment you’re taking them but your hard work has paid off so well done. You can now enjoy the rest of your summer worry-free!
My summer has been great so far. I’ve just gotten back from a week in Alsace, France where I helped out at a summer camp and I had the best time. I worked with a fantastic team of people to serve the camp by washing up, cleaning, serving food and dressing up as an evil gang for a night game so that the kids could capture and ‘arrest’ us (the theme of the week was secret agents and there was a lot of back story going on… I still don’t understand all of it myself to be honest). We also went on a couple of great day trips, one to a lake where we went swimming and ate crepes, one to an outdoor swimming pool (swimming in the rain and ultimate frisbee were both super duper fun) and one to a patisserie. French patisserie is almost my favourite thing in life to be honest, it’s so good.
The beautiful lake! Most of my team decided to swim across the whole thing but I’m not a very strong swimmer so I watched from afar insteadA selection of the cakes available at the patisserie we went to
Anyway, that’s my summer blogging done for now, time to look ahead to freshers week! I was terrified about freshers week to be honest. Prior to starting uni I had never been out drinking or clubbing and was dreading a nonstop week where everyone was expected to go out every single night, get drunk and generally be crazy. This was made worse by the fact that I’d managed to sign up to what I thought was an official Imperial facebook page but was actually one of those that are used by club promoters to try and sell you expensive wristbands to club nights. Oopsy.
Truth is, freshers week is what you make of it. I received a handy booklet from the RCSU about the events they would be throwing during freshers and also found my way to my hall facebook page which put me at ease massively. All kinds of events happened during my freshers week and once I arrived at Imperial I found that there was actually no pressure to drink every night if you didn’t want to. One of the first events that you’ll attend will most likely be the infamous boat party. Every hall goes to a boat party on the Thames and it’s a great opportunity to meet people so I would definitely reccommend going. The only downside is that you’re stuck on a boat for like three hours so you can’t leave and if you want to buy drinks it’s horrendously expensive. I also went to the Mingle (a freshers party in the Union that you’ll go to on the first or second night), an afternoon tea party put on by the RCSU, a pub crawl which was fun because I got to hang out with my biology sister and meet some others from our course, freshers ball, a CU games night and a campus tour. My hall (the mighty Fisher!) also put on loads of stuff like a trip to China Town, bowling, a games night, movie nights etc.
My point is, there is loads of stuff going on during freshers week but no one will come to your room to make you go. It’s really hard at first, but it’s so important to get along to as much as possible and just mingle and chat with people. You won’t necessarily meet your best friends immediately (although I actually met my current housemates by gatecrashing the conversation they were having when the people I thought I was hanging out with left from campus without me…) but sitting in your room feeling lonely is no way to spend your first week in London when there is so much going on!
I’m so excited to get back to London and see all my friends and move into my house! I’ve got to get down to IKEA pretty soon and buy last minute stuff for my room and I suggest you all do the same! Definitely bring stuff to make your room feel more homey, I think there’s nothing more sad than an undecorated halls room.
I’m also excited to meet my new biology children. I’d definitely reccommend signing up to the Mums and Dads scheme which is run by the IC Union. If you are lucky enough (hehehe) to get me as your mum, you will also get one of my best friends, Adam, as a dad and three siblings. Your mum and dad are there to answer your questions about student life, help you settle in and buy you drinks when you decide to skip the family scavenger hunt that the department organises wait I mean help you win the very exciting and fabulous scavenger hunt that the department organises. I’ve found it really useful having my bio family this year, my two mums were great at answering all of our questions and it was good to have my sister to hang out with in the early days where we didn’t know too many people.
That’s about all I have to say on the topic of freshers at the moment, please do comment if you have any other questions you’d like me to address more deeply! Getting comments is what makes this blog so much fun 🙂
Stay safe during the rest of your summer friends, can’t wait to see all you biology guys in October.
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.
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.
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.
ke I always miss it. First, the snowstorm at the end of December (I was in Oman enjoying the magnificent warmth and sunlight after many a bleak, grey days) and then, the day after I leave Reading, it snows there. It was my first time outside of London (I really should go out more!!). I was visiting a friend of mine who studies there. It was interesting to experience the differences between London and a large town (my friend insists that Reading is not a city, but on the edge of one). The people there seem to be more relaxed and at ease, unlike Londoners who always look so busy. It is the sort of place where you can actually encounter someone you met a week ago randomly in a store, so you have to be extra cautious. For instance, I don’t really mind if I make a fool out of myself in London once in a while because nobody will remember it and it is very unlikely that I would run into the people who witnessed it. That is not the case in Reading- just a heads up, so you won’t say I didn’t warn you!
I would see real, natural snow not that artificial white fluff you see in the Middle East. Even with the snowstorm that raged over the UK this week, South Kensington had no share. I have given up all hope but today, when I woke up and looked at the window, what do I see? Snow!! Or as meteorologists would put it ‘snow shower’. I shook of the lethargy of sleep, rushed to get dressed and hurried outside. Alas, by the time I left the building it had turned into a ‘rain shower’. At least I saw something!
occupied for those two hours. I have signed up for Imperial Plus; a volunteering club that recognises the hours that you put in and gives you a certificate which also runs a few workshops. I was disheartened to learn that some of the volunteers actually picked the poppies at Tower Hill and I was not a part of that. Hopefully, there will be exciting opportunities this year as well.
