Blog posts

How Art saves my mind

Laura Amarin

Medicine

During this pandemic specifically I think it’s important we all recognise a certain practice we can do to free up our mind when we become too emotional or overwhelmed. That practice will work differently between people but to have something to take you very much out of a stressful situation is so important – for anyone. If we consider some ideas, some of my friends like reading, working out, watching Netflix, going on Instagram (careful here haha), dancing, prayer… for me, it’s to make art.

Making art does several things for me. To start with, it’s physically a very soothing practice when I’m overthinking a situation.

Maintaining motivation at medical school

Laura Amarin

Medicine

I am currently in my third year of medical school and the road has definitely been up and down in terms of enthusiasm for the course. In all honesty I at times envy those who seem to have this consistent and unbreakable passion for Medicine and its extracurriculars. There have been times I’m in love with it; I see this being what I need to do. I meet patients and I just can’t imagine doing anything else with my days from the conversations had and the gratitude received. The way we navigate conversations with individuals opening a side many people maybe rarely ever see.

The Subtle Art of Not Comparing Yourself

Bianca Khor

MSc Management

Studying at a place like Imperial can definitely challenge you mentally.

You would most probably meet some of the brightest and smartest people who have never received anything below a First-Class grade and/or have been awarded the Dean’s list every single year without fail. Alternatively, you may have come across young company founders who are basically entrepreneurial geniuses. Or perhaps, the person who is sitting next to you during lectures could be the President of a large student society or someone holding multiple job offers from prestigious firms.

And the list goes on.

My best guess is that you would have most likely heard about the importance of not comparing yourself with others.

How Remote Working Changed my University Experience

Anya Nanchahal

Medicine

Since the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, forcing the country to a standstill, remote working has become a feature of my degree to varying extents. My third term of first year was purely online (including what should have been my first hospital placement) which I undertook from my family home. Since the start of second year, the college has adopted a ‘multi-mode’ learning strategy encompassing elements of remote and face to face learning. Needless to say, it looks likely that remote learning will be here to stay for the foreseeable future so I thought I’d share a few of my reflections in this blog post.

Time to Get Creative With Work Experience

Medicine

I have gotten a lot of questions from friends and younger students at my sixth form about work experience for applying to medicine. I found it very difficult getting work experience when applying and a lot of the time I was just too awkward or nervous to take opportunities to learn. My advice is just taking initiative and reach out to people. Obviously, due to COVID-19, chances of getting work experience in clinical settings like GPs and hospitals or even care homes is slim to none. This is your opportunity to get creative.

Do you know a neighbour that needs help collecting prescription medicine?

A Small Fish in a Big Pond

Anya Nanchahal

Medicine

Moving to university can be overwhelming. Usually, by the time you’ve reached year 13, your position in the fabric of the school is quite well established. You probably have a reputation, a core group of friends and you may even have started being on first name terms with some of your teachers. Then, all of a sudden, you get parachuted out of that familiar environment into Imperial- one of the best universities in the world, in a city like London, with thousands of new faces. Nobody knows who you are. It’s a clean slate. For some of you this may feel liberating, but for others it can be disorientating.

Back to the Grind

Bianca Khor

MSc Management

New term. New subjects. New game. New… me?

Not going to lie, the whole idea of going back to (virtual) university after spending a couple of weeks doing close to absolutely nothing gives me a fair bit of anxiety.

Maybe it’s the fact that I’ll need to return to an intense work routine with looming deadlines almost every week. Or it could be because we’ll be assigned to a completely new team for our group projects, so we don’t exactly have a comfort zone to fall back onto (shout out to my previous team if you happen to be reading this!

Imperial Horizons – A Side Quest Walkthrough for You

Bianca Khor

MSc Management

For prospective undergraduates, you might have come across an opportunity for you to get a taste of non-science-related topics such as humanities, social sciences, or languages. In essence, this programme is called Imperial Horizons, and I would like to dedicate this article to talking about one of the Horizons courses that I’ve taken and the unexpected enjoyment that I had from it.

A crash course on psychology

To begin with, I had to take a Horizons course back when I was in my second year of university as it just so happened to be counted towards my degree credits (they are usually taken for extra credits).

Asymptomatic COVID-19 testing at Imperial

Laura Amarin

Medicine

During this pandemic, we’ve very explicitly seen the impact of COVID-19 on our entire population – whether that’s through contracting the virus itself to having our freedom of movement and choice restricted by things involving lockdown and border control. I write this to say that through the past year, we’ve all been affected. In line with this logic, our actions also affect one another, to a great extent. There’s not been more of a plain example in my mind whereby we can help human kind through our own actions. Basic respect of social distancing, masks on and adhering to social gathering restrictions will create massive impact in collective efforts.

Finding The Perfect Accommodation

Yee Tong Siow

MEng Mechanical Engineering

One of the most common concerns first year University students have is about finding an accommodation for subsequent years. In Imperial, most halls are reserved for first year students, to ease their transition into University life. I was fortunate to be staying in student dorms located 5 minutes away from my department during my first year, but I knew that I would eventually have to get out of my comfort zone to find a new flat before the end of the year too. In this blog, I will be summarizing my experiences searching for a new accommodation in London and some tips to get your ideal flat!

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