The first semester is over already! That was quick. Deadlines are creeping up, lab reports due in, exams to revise for... It's all happening. Uni!
It's been an action-packed month with numerous rehearsals left right and centre, functions at uni, endless but enjoyable lab sessions, the works. This month just gone has been the best yet though. I'll tell you why...
The ChemSoc Dinner
The ChemSoc Dinner has to be one of the best nights I’ve had at university to this day. The black-tie event was attended by all manner of guests. From myself (1st Year Chemists) to the first Briton in Space - Helen Sharman. Guests were greeted at the reception and then ushered into our seats in a magnificent hall at The Copthorne Tara Hotel. The three-course dinner was to die for!
After dinner, the floor was then open for dancing, I was asked to DJ and to my surprise, the crowd were quite receptive. It was really nice to meet more Chemists at Imperial; I had no idea there were so many of us!
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| The tantalising three-course meal (top row) and other pictures from the ChemSoc Dinner (others). |
Synthesis Labs
After a long break, we’ve finally been let back into the labs! This time we were doing proper Chemistry! By that I mean mixing chemicals together and making things explode. There was definitely a lot of mixing but not much in the realms of explosions. It was still a lot of fun though, the practical aspect of the subject has always been something I had a keen interest in.
The fact that we were under a time pressure added to the excitement of it all. As a group, we just about managed to finish three time-consuming reactions with all the preparation around them in four lab sessions. Although this was a stressful week, I enjoyed being able to learn by conducting experiments in the lab.
Curry Night!
Rememeber Mexican night with Manny? Well we went one better this month and managed to squeeze 16 people into the kitchen for naan bread, onion bhajis, poppadoms and three different types of curry!
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| Curry night with friends from Imperial. |
Leadership Training w/ Citizen's UK
Shortly after the end of the first semester, I attended a two-day leadership training programme hosted by CitizensUK (an organisation that provides a platform for other campaigns to bring about positive change in their communities). Many members of the Let Us Learn campaign were present alongside many other young minds who were seeking change in their surroundings. We met up with other campaigners from Blood, Sweat and Tears whose main aims were to change the perceptions of migrants in everyday media.
Most of the training was based on improving our skills of storytelling, negotiation and ability to organise alongside others with a common cause. I took a lot from these two days and I look forward to possible collaboration between the two campaign groups.
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| Let Us Learn alongside campaigners from Blood, Sweat and Tears at QMUL. |
And of course Christmas and the New Year!
I hope you have all had a restful and fun-filled Christmas break and may 2016 bring prosperity and good health your way!
