So much for blogging a bit over the past couple of weeks to keep me sane. Life has consisted of revise, eat, sleep, repeat for the past couple of weeks, and I think I may have gone (more) crazy. I\u2019m still slightly in shock, both that exams are over and I can stop revising, and that I\u2019ve finished my first year. Things are starting to wind down now \u2013 most subjects have finished exams, and although some still have projects to finish, everyone\u2019s taking time to relax a bit. Just went down to the kitchen to get some lunch, and currently it\u2019s pancakes and loud music. Yesterday after our last exam my best friends and I went over to a Cat Caf\u00e9 for lunch to celebrate having finished, headed over to Old Spitalfields Market for a wander round, and then went back to Chandan\u2019s to watch a film. A lot of people went out, either to Saucy or the bop at the Reynolds, but we all decided not to and prioritised sleep \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s been a bit strange, having absolutely nothing I need to do. I tidied my room this morning (arguably that was something that I\u00a0needed<\/u> to do \u2013 my mum would have definitely thought so); it somehow and through no fault of my own became extremely messy over the exam period. Not too sure what I\u2019ll do for the rest of the day, thinking of wandering over to Oxford Street through Hyde Park. It will be nice to just go for a walk for the sake of it\u00a0\u2013 I\u2019ve not walked anywhere except campus for the last few weeks. Everywhere else I\u2019ve gone by tube because it\u2019s quickest \u2013 got to prioritise revision time\u2026<\/p>\n
I fully intend to enjoy these next couple of weeks. Exams were hard \u2013 I think I did okay in two of them (plus the one at the beginning of this term) but the one on Wednesday was horrific. The only consolation is that everyone agreed so hopefully the pass mark will be quite low. Results come out in about a month, and then a month later are resits for any we fail. Wednesday\u2019s exam (Life Support Systems 2) is combined with Monday\u2019s (LSS1) to give an overall mark, so I\u2019m hoping that LSS1 will pull up 2 over the pass mark; if not I\u2019ll have to retake both papers in August.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been making plans for the summer, which goes on until the beginning of October. Mainly I\u2019m compiling a reading list \u2013 it\u2019s been ages since I read for pleasure. If anyone has any recommendations, please comment below!! I\u2019ve also got a couple of holidays booked which I\u2019m really excited for \u2013 Budapest for a week with Light Opera society, and a week in France with my family.<\/p>\n
My friends and I have quite a bit planned in the next couple of weeks (including house hunting!); over the rest of the summer we probably won\u2019t be able to see each other much. Chandan and I live fairly close \u2013 Milton Keynes and near Oxford respectively \u2013 Katherine\u2019s in Cambridge and Beth\u2019s from somewhere in Lincolnshire (I can never remember where\u2026) so the pressure\u2019s on to find a place to live next year within the next couple of weeks before we\u2019re spread all round the country.<\/p>\n
About a week back we received an email with information about moving out of halls, and next weekend we have our Holbein Willis Jackson end of year party (did someone say bouncy castle\u2026?!) I\u2019ll really miss HWJ, it\u2019s become home over the past year and we have a lovely group of people on our floor.<\/p>\n
All in all it\u2019s been an amazing year \u2013 I\u2019ve made some wonderful friends, learnt some pretty interesting stuff and lived in one of the most amazing cities in the world. I can\u2019t wait for second year \u2013 although apparently the workload gets quite a bit heavier, it sounds really interesting. I\u2019ve been planning how I\u2019m going to read over the lecture notes in the course guide before the lecture, and go back over it soon after, I doubt it will happen when push comes to shove \u2013 there\u2019s too much fun stuff going on!<\/p>\n
\u00a0* * *<\/p>\n
So there\u2019s something I\u2019ve been meaning to blog about for ages but never quite got round to, so I\u2019m going to now. At the end of last term a small group of us put on a Mental Health Awareness Week, led by ICSMSU\u2019s Student Welfare officer. This is only the second year it\u2019s happened, but hopefully it will continue over the coming years.<\/p>\n
On the Monday evening there was an Introduction to Mindfulness session \u2013 for those who don\u2019t know, Mindfulness is “the intentional, accepting and non-judgemental focus of one’s attention on the emotions, thoughts and sensations occurring in the present moment” (according to Wikipedia). It\u2019s a useful technique to have in a busy, stressful environment, and I\u2019ve started trying to practise it from time to time. Empower (the name\u2019s fairly self-explanatory; anyone coming to Imperial next year should definitely check it\u00a0out at Freshers\u2019 Fair) put on a similar session earlier this year \u2013 I went to both and found them really interesting, enjoyable and relaxing.<\/p>\n
On the Tuesday there was a \u2018Mind Matters\u2019 session focusing on mental illness and the GMC \u2013 it looked at fact and fiction about fitness to practice for those with a mental health condition. Mind Matters meetings, organised by PsychSoc, have happened throughout the year, each focusing on a different aspect of mental illness and giving those who have a mental health condition, support a friend who does, or are just interested a chance to come and chat in a safe, friendly,\u00a0non-judgemental environment.<\/p>\n
The main event was on the Thursday \u2013 a speech by Ahmed Hankir \u2018The Wounded Healer\u2019. He is a psychiatrist who himself suffers from a mental health condition. Any explanation I could give would not be able to sum up his talk \u2013 suffice to say I was inspired to the point that I was almost in tears and completely in awe by the time he\u2019d finished. Some medical schools have his lecture on their\u00a0syllabus \u2013 hopefully soon ICSM will too, it is something that I think every medical student should hear. I feel so privileged that I had the chance to\u00a0listen to\u00a0him speak, and to meet him afterwards. If anyone is interested, you can hear his talk on YouTube.<\/p>\n