Blog posts

Top 5 (Non-Academically Related) Books I Read in 2021

Yee Tong Siow

MEng Mechanical Engineering

I have always been an avid reader. I find my reading tastes changing wildly through different phases of my life. From someone who was constantly binging Young Adult books when I was in high school, I find myself diving into different genres and developing an appreciation for different writing styles. I have been finding it harder to find spare time to enjoy a good book after coming to university due to the workload. However, having recently gotten myself a Kindle and also discovering Audible, I find myself going back to my old habits and tuning in to a new chapter whenever I skate to Imperial or picking up my Kindle right before I sleep.

Train Poetry

Medicine

I love commuting on the Tube. I didn’t really use the trains before going to university because everything was either within walking distance from my house or the bus was quicker. Getting on the train made me feel more adult, watching people in suits travel to work in big offices or people working on their laptops if they got a seat.

Poetry on the Underground is a charming public art project to introduce more poetry to the general public. I don’t read poetry very often, probably because the depth to which we studied a particular anthology for English GCSE was frankly traumatising.

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.

Feeling Bored? 6 Societies You Might Want to Try Out at Imperial

MEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering

It’s likely that the first words that come to your mind when you think about Imperial students are “academic-driven”, “hard-working” and “conscientious”. No wonder, coursework and exams are certainly not a piece of cake and without regular studying and a good deal of effort none of us would have been able to get through. Still, even the most diligent and keen students will agree that there’s so much more to university than studying. One thing that makes it interesting and a lot more fun is the myriad of societies you can participate in. They are so versatile that anyone is bound to find something for themselves, but don’t take my word for it – read on to find out some of the most unique and exciting societies at Imperial.

Four activities to do at Christmas in London

MEng Mechanical Engineering

London is exciting at any time of year but there’s always a little extra magic as Christmas approaches. Here are four (student-budget friendly!) activities to do in London

1. Oxford/Regent Street Lights

Journey Time: a 20 minute journey by tube (from South Kensington)

Christmas light displays take over every high street in Britain as December begins, and the central London displays are no exception. The stunning light displays provide the perfect backdrop for a shopping (or window-shopping) trip, are free to see, and adorn a lot of the main shopping districts. Similar lighting can be found at Regent Street, Covent Garden and even Kensington High Street.

What I Do in Mechanical Engineering Workshops

Yee Tong Siow

MEng Mechanical Engineering

If you were to walk through the iconic Queen’s Lawn of Imperial College London while appreciating the magnificent structure of the Queen’s Tower, you might have also walked past the Mechanical Engineering Student Training Workshop in Skempton Building, where you would have most probably seen a bunch of students with their red boiler suits and safety goggles. The Student Training Workshop is one of the most prominent features that makes Mechanical Engineering stand out in Imperial College compared to other universities. It is also the class that students are always most excited about seeing in their timetables, always craving for the next session.

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.

My First Surgical Attachment

Medicine

This is the third academic year of my degree but I am more nervous than when I first started. This year is a lot more clinical than the previous years. Lecture halls have been replaced with hospital wards, practicing taking histories by simulation on my peers has been replaced with actual patients with real illnesses and instead of just learning about management of conditions I am seeing it play out in imaging, surgical theatres and in outpatient departments. I am just coming to the end of my surgical attachment at Charing Cross Hospital where I rotated through several specialties including acute gastrointestinal/general surgery, anaesthetics, breast and urology.

How Many Doctors Do You Think Patients See In Hospital?

Medicine

In this term, one of the assignments we had was to create a Quality Improvement Project on a subject of our choice to present to our clinical fellows. This includes identifying a problem that we notice on the wards or in surgical theatres and designing a research to find out more about the problem and an intervention to implement to improve this problem. My team were stumped for quite a while on what to choose before we settled on continuity of care. Every day we came to our surgical placement and it was difficult to keep track of who was in and remember all the doctors, so how difficult must that be for patients that may be uncomfortable, in pain or confused?

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