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Coming back home for the first time

MEng Aeronautical Engineering

5 things I was not expecting

Moving away from home is an experience which is talked about quite often, about its excitement or its sadness. On the other hand, no one really shares their feelings about coming back home.

On the last 14thof December, I flew back to Spain, where a few things surprised me.

  1. Where is my room?

You open the door to your old house and you feel a bit out of place. You go to your room, but it seems odd, should I call this my room anymore? Or is it just a temporary place before I go back to my reality.

3 Things that compliments my life at Imperial

MEng Civil Engineering

Located in South Kensington, Imperial is so close to all the best things in life. I wouldn’t imagine myself anywhere else. Here is the three things that kept me going even when uni life is hard. 

  1. Core Collective

Can I just emphasise that Imperial is not easy (Nobel prize winners aren’t build by living an easy life). For me, working out is a temporary escape from my study. Since Core Collective is 20 minutes away from uni, it has got to be one of my favourite way to sweat (hot trainers also helps *facepalm emoji*).

  1. Shopping Spree at Knightsbridge 

Can I just say that whoever says Oxford Street is the best shopping street in London is seriously disturbed.

So many books, so little time

MSc Science Communication

Studying for a masters degree in science communication is a very different experience to studying for my undergraduate degree in maths and physics. Perhaps the greatest difference is in the amount of reading I now do. In addition to the weekly readings set for each module, which are mainly academic articles, you are strongly encouraged to immerse yourself in literature of every kind. This can range from popular science books to biographies, journal articles to science journalism, books about feminism to books about philosophy. Lots of books you’ll need for the course are available in the campus libraries and most journal articles can be readily accessed online through the library search.

Setting the twisty record straight

Biochemistry with French for Science

It would be reasonable to say that I had a… last minute approach when it came to my UCAS application. I put off writing a personal statement until the night before applications closed because I had four possible paths to choose from and I couldn’t for the life of me decide. They were; philosophy, creative writing, english literature or biochemistry. Not your average selection but I am sure that you can understand my indecision. It felt as though choosing any one option would close off the others for good.

I chose biochem. I chose science because I felt that while I could imaginably keep up my english and philosophy through reading, biochemistry required a more serious application No insult intended to the arts, but I struggled to see myself sneaking into laboratories in my own time to learn about the intricacies of enzyme catalysis.

So Far in Second Year

Mathematics and Statistics

My busiest term at Imperial to date

It’s fair to say that this term has been the most enjoyable term I have had so far at Imperial and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. It’s been super busy, I’m not sure how I managed to keep up with everything and still not skip any (most) lectures! Alongside juggling my degree in maths, I’ve also spent this term applying for internships, being on a few committees and running events as a student ambassador.

Often when people think about studying at such an academic university as Imperial, their immediate thought isn’t about all the extra curricular activities they will be able to take part in.

15 reasons to take a Gap Yah. Number 7 will SHOCK you.

Biochemistry with French for Science

For those of you who don’t know me and I mean really don’t know me (anyone who has ever met me will now be rolling their eyes) I took a gap year. At school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was nearing the end of two highly turbulent years and the last thing I wanted to do, was have another three years of the same.

As a child of an accountant and a political activist it was presumed that I would go to university, so I applied at the same time as everyone else, filling my personal statement with platitudes about my love of pure learning and the importance of education and clicked the submit button.

A White Beginning

MEng Aeronautical Engineering

White.

They say white is the combination of all colours. This is an ideal concept to welcome you to join me on my journey or at least, its beginnings. I promise it will be colourful, but for now, let’s stick to white. 

A white envelope was the first thing I ever received at my arrival at Woodward Buildings. It contained a few documents, but most importantly, a white card. Had I known that I would soon be locked out of my room because of forgetting it, I would have grabbed it tighter. Besides that unfortunate event, all the ones that proceeded it were far from disappointing. 

Freshers’ Halls VS Senior-year Halls

MSci Geology and Geophysics

Hi guys,

As you (might) know, I’m a second year now (yayy… not so much T.T) and this year I’ve decided to stay in Evelyn Gardens.

For those of you who don’t know, Evelyn Gardens is an Imperial-owned student residence for returning undergraduate students (meaning second years and above). There are three halls in Evelyn Gardens, namely Willis Jackson, Holbein and Southwell. Unlike freshers’ halls, it has a 51 weeks contract period (instead of 39 weeks). You can read more about it here.

Having lived (and am living) in both a first year hall and a senior hall, I decided to compare these two so it’ll be easier for those of you who might decide to consider staying here next year.

Speed Dating for Researchers?

MSc Sustainable Energy Futures

Is it even possible?

That was my first thought when confronted with the challenge of the Imperial College Graduate School Masters 3.60 competition. Can anyone actually present their research project to a panel of judges and an audience of peers in only 3 minutes? That was indeed the challenge of the competition and I have to say that initially I doubted if it were possible. However, since I was at that time very much mired in the ‘slough of despond’ with my project, trying to figure out what my research design was really supposed to be, I thought that condensing the whole thing into a three minutes overview might help focus my mind on which elements were really critical.

It’s all over…

Biological Sciences with year in industry

Four years of hard work, finally completed. Sitting on the coach on the way home from London seems like a fitting place to write this blog post…

A little over a week ago I officially handed in my final piece of work for my Imperial undergraduate degree – my dissertation. It was a huge piece of work, entailing many hours in the library, last minute meltdowns and far too much coffee. On the day of hand-in I was exhausted, having given it my all, handing in the 44 page document was a bit of an anticlimax. Let’s put it this way, my friends and I celebrated completing our dissertations with some time at the union – we all ordered soft drinks and food.

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