Why hello there! A big welcome to my writing space and I hope that whoever reading this is coping well with the second lockdown and staying safe!
A little bit about myself
Since I’m new to the student blogger life, I thought it might be best for me to first briefly introduce myself!
So, first things first, hi – my name is Bianca, I am currently an MSc Management student at Imperial College Business School. I previously graduated from the BSc Biochemistry course at Imperial College London, so you can technically say that I’ve just switched buildings when I transitioned from my Bachelor’s to my Master’s.
In case you might be interested, you’ll spend most of your time studying at the Sir Alexander Fleming Building (or more affectionately known as SAF) during the Biochemistry course. Whilst for the Management course – you’ll get to attend lectures at the main building that you’ll always see in Imperial’s prospectus!
Why did I pick Biochemistry?
In general, I’m a person who likes to learn about science-y stuff. The key question I always like to ask whenever I come across a certain topic would be – why should we care about this? How could the knowledge gained be applied in our real world?
This drew me to biochemistry (sorry engineering and other subjects!), where I was intrigued by the idea that it is sometimes the smallest of things that kill you and, to a large extent, I think this is pretty true. As I got the opportunity to specialise in microbiology (the study of microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses) and immunology (the study of our immune system) in my final year, I really enjoyed understanding how pathogens (biological agents that has the potential to cause disease in its hosts) are so well-designed to wreak havoc within our systems. With that in mind, it is fascinating to learn about how our bodies have equipped themselves to fight off all these attacks in order to sustain life!
Not to mention, the current COVID-19 pandemic really highlighted the importance of studying all these biological processes. Before you can design an effective vaccine to counter the virus, it is imperative for you to get a clear idea of what our enemy (i.e. the virus) is like. This involves asking big questions such as, but not limited to, how does its structure look like? What are the key components allowing it to infect its host? How does it spread? How exactly does it mess our body up? The list simply goes on…
What brought me to Imperial?
One of the important things to highlight – I really like London! I enjoy the convenience of living in a big city. There are just so many places to explore, new cafes to try out, huge parks to jog in, big events that we could join, and hidden gems that we could visit with our friends! All of these really gave me the opportunity to clear my mind whenever I needed a short break from university work!
Besides that, I like how the Biochemistry course allows you to explore a relatively broad range of topics before eventually specialising in a certain area as you progress through your degree. It’s a pretty helpful way for me to determine what subjects I really enjoy learning, and which ones that I would preferably not want to spend too much time on (let’s be real – I would be lying if I said I absolutely loved every aspect of Biochemistry).
Another aspect of Imperial that I personally thought is pretty unique is that they have a facility known as the Enterprise Lab. If you happen to be someone who is entrepreneurial and bursting with cool business ideas – they have a bunch of resources and competitions to give you a platform to potentially realise them!
Not only just that – did you know that the Department of Life Sciences also organises a science invention competition known as the “FoNS-Make-a-Difference!” Competition? It is basically an opportunity for you to win lab space if you have an idea that requires the development of a proof-of-concept. And I find it super inspiring to see how several friends of mine have managed to even establish a start-up through this competition!
Some final words
All in all, I hope that you’ve now gotten a slightly better idea about me, and I look forward to sharing more about my learning journey as we go along. In the meantime, I wish you guys a bright day ahead – hope you all continue to stay positive (and be testing negative)!
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