Category: undergraduate student life

A short getaway to Scotland

Yee Tong Siow

MEng Mechanical Engineering

Being a final year international student in London, one of my main resolutions this year is to spend more time appreciating my surroundings and make the most out of my time here in the UK. However, with travel restrictions and the pandemic around, travelling safely was also one of my top priorities. Having enjoyed previous hikes around Peak District and Snowdonia, I realised that I loved adventures outside the city and had a deep appreciation for nature. Therefore, my housemates and I decided to pack our bags and take a short trip to the Highlands of Scotland during our winter break.

My Horizons Journey – Music Technology

Yee Tong Siow

MEng Mechanical Engineering

If you have read several previous blog posts from students from Imperial College, you might be familiar with what a Horizons course is. In a nutshell, Imperial Horizons is a wide range of modules to stimulate one’s personal, professional and intellectual growth. I really appreciate these courses offered, as they allow students to pursue and develop passions beyond their primary courses. Some examples of Horizons courses offered in Imperial include Creative Writing, Languages and Global Politics. As someone who has a deep appreciation for the arts, composing and arranging my own music has always been something that I want to learn.

5 Realistic Tips For Goal Setting

Medicine

It’s that time of year again, everyone is trying to move into the new year with resolutions and goals to achieve to get closer to their ideal selves. Whether it is academic, financial or personal, here are my five tips that I have found useful for goal setting.

  1. Breaking down long term goals into smaller daily manageable actions makes it easier to stay consistent in working towards your goals. If you want to pass upcoming exams, breaking that goal down into a plan to have smaller study sessions every day builds a sustainable system to easily integrate into your life. For a lot of goals that aren’t achieved, the intimidation of starting a goal that seems like you can’t succeed puts people off from even starting.

Horizons – What is it and what’s the point?

MEng Mechanical Engineering

Although the MechEng course is pretty intense, it is a good idea to be involved in at least one extra-curricular activity. Personally, I found unlike school, studying all the time at university tends to be counter-productive- you end up spending more time making less progress than if you had just taken a break and come back to working. Especially if you are moving away from home, it is incredibly important to have some sort of extra-curricular unrelated to your degree to keep you sane.

One way you could do this is by taking a ‘Horizons’ course. For MechEng, in ME1 & ME2 (first and second year) any Horizons course you take will be for extra credit, though in ME3/4 (third and fourth year), it can count towards your degree.

No idea on career trajectory? You’re not alone

MEng Mechanical Engineering

At 18 during my interview for Mechanical Engineering I quite confidently stated that I intended to pursue a career in consultancy engineering and eventually become a Chartered Engineer. And the basis for this? About 2 weeks shadowing at a consultancy company and thinking that it might be what the interviewer wanted to hear.

Ultimately, the reality is that when you are applying to university, or even during your degree, you may not have a concrete idea on what career path to pursue. There probably is that one person who knows exactly what they were going to be at 5 years old and is on it from Day 1, but rest assured you have time and resources to decide your vocation.

A Few Top Tips for Medical School Interviews

Anya Nanchahal

Medicine

A couple of weeks ago, a family friend asked if I could look over their medical personal statement. This made me realise that it has been three years since I submitted my own UCAS application. Three years feels like a pretty long time. Hence, I thought now would be a fitting time to refresh my memory on my application experience as it was ultimately what led me to Imperial. Seeing as the UCAS deadline has been and gone and any prospective students will have already sat the BMAT, I’ll focus this post on the interview and see if I can give you a few tips or tricks which might make the experience feel a little less daunting.

Setting My Priorities For My Final Year

Yee Tong Siow

MEng Mechanical Engineering

Being in one of the most prestigious universities in the world comes with its pros and cons. Coming to Imperial has helped pushed me in ways I have never thought imaginable. Looking back, I find it hard to believe the progress I have made and the development I have gone through with the encouragement and support of the university and my fellow friends. However, being in a competitive environment like this can also lead to one oversaturating their focus in order to achieve the most out of everything. In the last few years, I have always aimed to submerge myself into every opportunity I am given, and loved to challenge myself whenever I can by trying out new experiences.

What NOT to Bring with you to Uni

Anya Nanchahal

Medicine

Seeing as A-Level results’ day has now passed, and a whole new cohort of students will be eagerly waiting to start at Imperial in October, I thought now would be a pertinent time to offer some advice on what you DON’T need to bring with you to university. Most freshers have the basics covered pretty well, but often end up grossly overestimating what they’ll need to survive university life. For what it’s worth, here’s my take on five things you can probably just leave at home.

  1. Excessive kitchenware You may think you’ll need a pizza cutter, toastie maker and corkscrew when you’re at uni, and you may well not be wrong.

A Short Hiking Trip Out of London

Yee Tong Siow

MEng Mechanical Engineering

London is an amazing city, with vibrant events happening on a day to day basis. But sometimes… this might be overwhelming as well. As someone who isn’t used to living in the city central, being in London might be exhilarating, but can often be terrifying as well. Summer is finally here and with that, I have just completed my third year of studies here as well. After being cooped up at home watching online lectures for a whole year, a few of my friends decided to take this opportunity to try something unfamiliar for all of us. With that, we packed up our bags and went for a short hiking trip in Snowdonia, Wales.

First Summer Spent in London

Yee Tong Siow

MEng Mechanical Engineering

As I finished up my last Design Project Exhibition through Microsoft Teams, the sun greeted me with its warm embrace as I finally let my laptop go to rest. This signifies the start of the summer break, and this is an especially exciting year for me because it will be the first summer break that I will be spending in London instead of in Malaysia! Even though I miss my family and my friends back home tremendously, I decided to not travel back home this summer after careful discussion with my family. Travelling back home this summer proved to be quite risky as Malaysia is still struggling with its fight against the pandemic.

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