{"id":5134,"date":"2020-01-26T15:31:49","date_gmt":"2020-01-26T15:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/?p=5134"},"modified":"2020-01-26T15:31:49","modified_gmt":"2020-01-26T15:31:49","slug":"embracing-second-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/01\/26\/embracing-second-term\/","title":{"rendered":"Embracing Second Term"},"content":{"rendered":"

No<\/span>t\u00a0<\/span>gonna<\/span>\u00a0lie, I was a little anxious a<\/span>bout returning to\u00a0<\/span>Imperi<\/span>a<\/span>l a<\/span>fter the Christmas break.\u00a0<\/span>UK Masters programs are only one year long, which\u00a0<\/span>is great\u00a0<\/span>in many ways (including for my bank account) but\u00a0<\/span>time passes incredibly quickly<\/span>\u00a0as a result<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>The arrival of the spring term meant that\u00a0<\/span>the pace and level of learning were sure to be kicking up into high gear<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Two weeks in<\/span>\u00a0however<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0I<\/span>‘<\/span>ve found a lot to love\u00a0<\/span>about this second term.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Focus<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Environmental Technology starts with a core course in the fall, which gets every student on the same page in terms of thinking about the interdisciplinary nature of environmental problem-solving. Our classes included topics that ranged from sustainable diets to environmental law to population modelling. Now\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span>\u00a0cohort has split into smaller Options, each with a specific focus<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Mine, Global Environmental Change & Policy, is naturally focused on environmental policy and international<\/span>\u00a0environmental law.\u00a0<\/span>I like to think of it as \u201cWays to get people and governments to listen to you<\/span>.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>GECP is<\/span>\u00a0a great\u00a0<\/span>Option because it is inherently about\u00a0<\/span>action<\/span>, which\u00a0<\/span>feels refreshingly empowering.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Re<\/span>levant Projects<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

I also appreciate\u00a0<\/span>that\u00a0<\/span>the work this term is\u00a0<\/span>moving away from essays\u00a0<\/span>and towards<\/span>\u00a0projects with more real-world potential.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Two of our assignments this term\u00a0<\/span>are<\/span>\u00a0a policy framework for a\u00a0<\/span>major international environmental issue and a negotiation exercise.\u00a0<\/span>I can\u00a0<\/span>clearly picture<\/span>\u00a0how these projects<\/span>\u00a0can<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>help me\u00a0<\/span>improve the skills\u00a0<\/span>necessary to successfully become involved in enacting\u00a0<\/span>legislation on climate change<\/span>, which is one of my ultimate goals.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Team Bonding!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The best part of this term has been the other students in my Option.\u00a0<\/span>The course\u00a0<\/span>as a whole is<\/span>\u00a0about 150 students, too large to really know everybody, but GECP is a far more manage<\/span>able 19.\u00a0<\/span>We were able to break the ice before class started by going on a retreat\u00a0<\/span>to Great Windsor Park for a few days of making art,\u00a0<\/span>walking in nature, and getting outrageously competitive in a pub quiz.\u00a0<\/span>As a result, we get along well as a group and\u00a0<\/span>are able to<\/span>\u00a0have collaborative<\/span>\u00a0and interesting discussions while<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>also indulging our collective\u00a0<\/span>desire\u00a0<\/span>to consume a frankly outrageous amount of\u00a0<\/span>biscuits<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It still is quite\u00a0<\/span>early on in the<\/span>\u00a0term and\u00a0<\/span>I\u2019m sure that\u00a0<\/span>the upcoming weeks will<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>come with\u00a0<\/span>their<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>share of stress<\/span>, especially once talk of thesis projects begin in earnest.\u00a0<\/span>So far, however, I have been enjoying the learning atmosphere of the option term<\/span>;\u00a0I\u2019m excited to see where it leads!\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not\u00a0gonna\u00a0lie, I was a little anxious about returning to\u00a0Imperial after the Christmas break.\u00a0UK Masters programs are only one year long, which\u00a0is great\u00a0in many ways (including for my bank account) but\u00a0time passes incredibly quickly\u00a0as a result.\u00a0The arrival of the spring term meant that\u00a0the pace and level of learning were sure to be kicking up into high […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1414,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[299433,190116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-masters-2","category-spring-term"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1414"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5134"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5135,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5134\/revisions\/5135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}