Blog posts

Tips to Make Your Money’s Worth in London!

Yee Tong Siow

MEng Mechanical Engineering

Being a student from Malaysia where the exchange rate from Malaysian Ringgit (RM) to British Pounds (£) is about 5.4:1, I have mastered the technique of saving money while studying abroad such as not turning on the heating even during the winter. Jokes aside, living in London can be very costly but hopefully these few tricks and tips I’m about to show you how you can enjoy a comfortable life in London whilst not putting a dent in your wallet!

London Life Hacks 101

1) UNIDAYS

UNIDAYS is a lovely platform consisting of tons of student discounts on a wide range of categories all the way from clothing to food dedicated just for students!

Getting into Medicine without straight As

Laura Amarin

Medicine

My name is Laura and I am currently a third year student on the Graduate Medicine course at Imperial College London. I believe if being a doctor is really what you envision for yourself, no number of rejections will stop you – take it from me! I’m enjoying this process and wish all medical students out there the courage and wisdom to finish the course and remember why you started in the first place.

Unfortunately, to practice in the field of Medicine, good grades are a must. But for those of us who didn’t quite get there the first time, it’s not something to give up on.

What does it mean to be a Londoner?

Laura Amarin

Medicine

London, England is no doubt an incredibly diverse and busy city – not to mention a place to learn a whole lot of history. I am a university student and currently study Medicine in London. I was born in London and was raised in London. I know all the great places to eat in London. And the worst. I know where to go if I’m in need of nature and calm and where to go if I need noise and people! The point I’m trying to make is that London has something for everyone but I didn’t always appreciate it the way I do now.

What more is there at Imperial than studying?

Lucie Studena

PhD Bioengineering

What is your imagination of university life or it was before you came to one? Is it really hard work and nothing but reading books and practicing maths? Partying every day of the week? Meeting lots of new people and learning new hobbies all the time? Difficult exams with a hangover and sleepless nights?

Well, it depends on you. I met many different kinds of students at Imperial. Obviously, student life has changed a fair bit since the COVID-19 pandemics but we all hope we can come back to our old lifestyles soon. I think British universities are a bit different from what I know of central-European universities.

First Hospital Attachment

Medicine

I’m starting my first hospital placement in the following days and I’ve been very excited for it. A week placement was arranged for summer term last year which was unfortunately, but of course understandably, cancelled. It feels like this is what I decided to study medicine for. All the knowledge, time spent studying, making flashcards, reviewing lectures will be put into practice in a clinical environment. I’ll see the patients being treated, doctors in their environment, nurses providing care on wards and all the behind the scenes you probably won’t see on TV (the only medical show I used to watch was Scrubs, definitely not a realistic portrayal of a hospital setting, I’d rate a 4/5 for the funny moments interspersed with poignant parts/ethical dilemmas, great for re-runs).

The journey towards an Imperial PhD course

Lucie Studena

PhD Bioengineering

From the beginning…

Hi everyone! I am Lucie, a PhD student in Bioengineering (synthetic biology and metabolic engineering specialisation) at Imperial. As this is a new blog, I thought my first post should tell you something about me, my career decisions and reasons for coming here. I would also like to share how my search for PhD courses and applying to Imperial looked like in case you found that useful. I think my way of getting here might be quite typical in the fact it’s atypical. There is no one way or recipe to get to a certain career or a PhD degree and often it’s lots of trial and error.

What it was like Celebrating Diwali in Lockdown

Anya Nanchahal

Medicine

For many Hindu students, this year was the first time they spent Diwali away from home. This never seems to be met with the same ‘shock horror’ response as a student spending Christmas away from home, but for those of us used to spending Diwali with our family and friends, this felt like a big deal.

Diwali is truly a family festival. The festivities start a few days earlier by decorating the house with flowers, diyas (earthen lamps) and rangoli (a display of coloured powder). On Diwali itself, we start the evening by gearing up in traditional Indian attire and then taking some time to visit the temple to pray as a family.

Edge of Tomorrow: How I Dealt with Monotony

Medicine

I don’t know if you’ve seen the film, ‘Edge of Tomorrow‘ (I’d rate it 3 out of 5 by the way, it was good but not enough for a re-watch :/) but the basic plot is that the main character is killed in battle in this dystopian war zone and wakes up back in time before he heads to the front line again. He tries to find ways to change his situation so that he doesn’t meet the same fate. He lives, he dies, he wakes up and no matter what he does it happens again. Now, I won’t spoil the ending but the general sameness and frustration of reliving the same day is what I’m getting at.

The search for second year accommodation

Qinyi Wang

MEng Biomedical Engineering

Even after starting Year 3, it seems like it was just yesterday when I dragged all my luggage into my room at the Woodward Buildings. Unfortunately for the majority of us, the end of Year 1 meant moving out of student halls and finding a new home elsewhere. It isn’t an easy process, since London is an expensive city and Imperial just so happens to be located in one of the poshest areas. Looking back at my flat-hunting experiences, I have compiled a list of tips (that would have made my life so much easier) to share with you!

Who and when?

Mini Reflections from Working Part-Time Whilst Studying

Bianca Khor

MSc Management

Part-time jobs have taken up a fair amount of time during my undergraduate years, especially during my second year.

Some of my experiences include being a cashier at Kimiko (a Japanese fast-food outlet located in the Junior Common Room of Imperial’s Sherfield Building), serving as a student ambassador under the President’s Ambassador scheme, representing the Department of Life Sciences as a student tour guide during Open Days, participating in the College’s ask-a-student scheme (called UniBuddy), as well as being a student blogger at the point of writing!

Juggling all these in addition to attending Imperial as a full-time student is definitely a mini-challenge by itself (because let’s face it, student life here can be really intense at times).

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