Change

I have decided to change things-more specifically with regards to my blog posts. As I have just completed my final year exams, submitted my dissertation and handed in all my coursework I have much more time and can give this blog a much needed TLC.

I will be editing some of the previous posts; I plan on adding more detail. I also want to give all biomedical science students a breakdown of each individual course. This way you all will have access to books, links and information that has been tried and tested.

I have also interviewed some lecturers and will be writing up the interviews for you all. This way you have access to more in depth and specific answers to questions regarding courses.

The student life aspect will also be looked at. I want to also write up about what I plan on doing next and how I go about the graduate recruitment process. Again, this information will be as extensive and detailed as possible. I will be adding other student’s information as well, therefore aiming to cater for more of you.

I will be going on Holiday too-YAY! I have been looking forward to going away for quite some time now. My sister (she is currently sitting her AS exams) and I are completely exhausted. So the pair of us thought it best to book a holiday, just to recharge and relax. We shall be heading to Tuscany on the 7^th of June for a week long break in the SUN! To say I am excited would be an understatement.

Pictures will posted J

Energy Drinks

As exam season has started, the energy drink pandemic has also commenced. Everywhere you turn you see students with red bulls, relentless, monsters, emerge, etc…the list could go on.

I have also got a fair share of experience with energy drinks especially with caffeine, the key ingredient in all these drinks.

Caffeine is one of the most frequently used drugs in the world, granted low to moderate consumption of the drug is considered safe, however, there is an increasing number of clinical studies that show; individuals who become dependent on the drug find it difficult to decrease their consumption of the drug even though they are aware of the health risks if they continue having a high intake of the drug at regular frequencies. It is for this reason that certain health care professionals and the World Health Organization identify individual’s dependent on caffeine as having a clinical disorder (Meredith et al, 2013).

I feel the need to write about this because there are other alternatives to caffeine that most students do not consider. Increasing intake of healthy foods especially oily fish, snacking on fruits and vegetables, helps increase our energy levels. Oily fish provide us with our Omega 3, 6 and 9 while Red meats increase our B12 levels. B12 is another ingredient that is found in most energy drinks. To all the vegetarians and vegans, there are many supplements available that can help bring your Omegas and B12 up, without you having to eat meat. 

Taking supplements like the effervescent vitamin C tablets or adding liquid Ginkgo Leaf extract to your water. These are simple methods that can be incorporated into our everyday diet and in the long run have much better effects on the body.

I wish you all the very best in your exams, Take care and Good Luck. Stay positive and healthy J

Exams

As you may already be aware, our exams started on Monday the 28^th of April! I honestly cannot believe how quickly this academic year has gone by. These are my final year 3 exams, it feels quite strange writing that as these could quite possibly be the last exams I ever have to take.

Revision has been quite rushed. Once the final year project had been submitted we had to submit our posters and then it was possible to concentrate solely on exam revision. 

The 3^rd year Biomedical Science students have 3 exams; Advanced and Clinical Immunology, Haematology and Blood Transfusion and Cellular and Molecular Pathobiology. The exams will also take place in that order as well. Our first exam was on the 28^th of April and the last on the 13^th of May. After which we have our poster presentation on the 23^rd of May.

Those of you who are in your second year, you should come down and check our posters out on the 23^rd, it might help give you an idea of what you might like to do. I have spoken to quite a few second year Biomedical Science students and I am glad to hear that you have been advised to already start thinking about your final year projects and some have even started talking to supervisors. That is excellent as the sooner you get to grips with what you are doing the better.

Each supervisor has a different way of guiding his/her students. Some supervisors want you to give them ideas/input while others have topics already lined up. Talk to them and clarify how they expect you to go about doing your project. If it helps, spend the summer reading books about ‘final year projects’ our library has quite a selection. It would also be a good idea to read books on how to read research papers. This is because you will be reading a lot of primary papers and you can’t afford to waste time, because your final year will fly by, trust me, I blinked in September 2013 and bam it’s April 2014.  

As for my fellow 3^rd years. Good Luck! I hope we all get the grades we want! 

Flatmate Update

Last month I told you all about my flat-mates and our weight loss, exercise and food obsession and how we had been managing. Well, they loved the blog post! I have been given more food talk/blog post ideas along with possible story lines. It’s been an amusing month.

The pharmacy flat mate was crazing chocolate, but not normal chocolate, chocolate fountain style chocolate. So, on a student budget we did the best we could. Below is the image of our chocolate fountain. It was assembled and used in the early hours of the morning aka 1am.

We had a variety of fruits at hand, keeping tabs on our 5-a-day intake is still important to us. 

Sadly, not all of us flat-mates were able to enjoy this. The forensic flat-mate, who will soon be given the name of either the ‘non-existent’ flatmate or ‘an extension of library’ flat-mate, was unable to join us, this is because she has found a new home, the library.
Now that the library is open 24/7 we barely see her. I however get the privilege to spend my Fridays with her, as we work together at the Universities Enquiry Unit.

The 1^st year-not-happy with her degree and the fellow biomedical science flate mates are also well. They recently took their organisational skills to new levels by labelling the content of our fridge, something that has not been done the entire time we have all lived together. However, their organisational skills were aimed solely at the bread. The sense of which has still not made sense. However, we all have quirky ways of expressing ourselves and if that’s what they needed to do, well that’s what they needed to do.

Hope your all enjoying yourselves J

Time

The SI (International System of Units) unit for time is the second and the current definition is “the duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom." This is based on the cesium atomic clock which is an instrument that uses an electronic transition frequency in the microwave, optical, or ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum of atoms as a frequency standard for its timekeeping element. 

I have brought up this definition because I have a very strong feeling that it is not working properly, the cesium atomic clock. For quite some time now, ‘time’ has been passing by at a pace that is much fast/speedier than I am use to. Yes, this is a different way of saying time is flying and the purpose of saying it in this manner is to emphasize the importance of time. 

This moment, right now, it’s not coming back and the importance of making the most of it is absolutely vital, especially for us University students. The Biomedical Science final year students have been lucky enough to get an extension on the final year project. It was initially due on the 2end of April, but now is due on the 14th of April. 

If any of you final years are reading this, I urge you to make the most of this time and write as much as you can to the best of your ability. 

All first and second year students, I hope you have started your revision. If not, please get cracking. We only have about 2 months left more specifically 39 days left! 

Let’s work hard and give our absolute best. Good Luck  J

Wanderlust

I was recently introduced to a YouTube channel-Funforlouis and I am now hooked. This YouTuber has a zest for life and is lucky enough to travel around the world. He vlogs (video blogs) every day and regards each day as an adventure, regardless of how exciting or mundane the day may be, he always finds something positive and holds on to it. 

It’s made me realise how we take small things for granted in our day to day lives, just because we are not in a new place to experience them. 

In terms of ‘adventure’ and ‘travel’ I had a pretty amazing 2013. I got to go to Germany-specifblogically Hamburg and Papenburg, France-Disneyland and Paris and I tried to explore London (I deliberately got lost in Central London). On one of my central London walks I got to see Blue (the band- Antony, Duncan, Lee and Simon).

These are just a few things but honestly, 2013 was pretty amazing! I got to meet some amazing people, experience new cultures and try out interesting foods.

The aim now is for 2014 to outdo 2013 and I think one of the ways of achieving this is through mind-set. If we were to regard each day as an adventure, we wouldn't overlook every new experience. We would accept it with open arms and live it, even if it’s in our day to day lives. We don’t necessarily have to be in a new environment to experience new things.

So here’s to wanderlust, the desire to want to travel and explore. I thought I would be a bit original so I wrote the quote down and got my friends to help me decorate it. We are by no means artists, were just trying to have fun.

Resolution Update

One of my New Year resolutions is to exercise. Well I’m pleased to report that I have started doing squats. It was a touch and go situation initially, however, I am lucky enough to have friends who are on a weight loss mission and dragged my lazy self to exercise with them.

We have a squat chart that we are following and today I did 70 squats (30 with 2kg dumb bells).

We also thought we would try to eat healthy, however, since January the 1^st 2014; we have made a lot of very unhealthy choices in terms of our eating. We have had an incredible number of takeaways and have become a permanent fixture in nandos. I say ‘we’ as this is a joint venture, my flat mates and I are in this together. We seem to have ignited a passion for food-specifically food we have not cooked! The only thing losing weight right now is our bank balances which was not the intention. If anyone has any tips on how to overcome this please, please comment or write to us. All we seem to think about is ramen, kebab rolls, biryani, chicken tikka, chicken wings, lamb chops, shawarmas, pasta, fish & chips, rice and curry, burgers- chicken burgers, kebab sheesh burgers, wraps-every possible form, chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, ice cream (Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerrys), cakes, profiteroles and most of all-FRAPPACHINOS. We have wanted Starbuck’s Frappuccino for quite some time now but there isn’t a Starbucks near the Medway campus. 

Even though food is our source of sustenance I think we may have taken it a bit too far.

The pictures below were all taken by me and are just some (emphasis on some) of the things we have come across. The first three images represent one of my flatmates incredible baking abilities. 

My flatmate's delights!