Master of Chemistry with Honours and Industrial Experience 2018 Your Time at the University Before starting at uni I had an expectation for the type of person that had, like me, chosen to study chemistry full time for 5 years. I imagined a predominantly-male sea of bad haircuts, wide-rimmed glasses, chemistry puns, high trousers, 'I love science' stickers on bumbags and backpacks tightened all the way up. As it turned out, I couldn't have been more wrong. My classmates were the most diverse bunch imaginable, in all senses of the word: 50:50 gender split, full of funny, interesting, intelligent and basically cool people from all corners of the UK, Europe, and the world in general. There were creative types, fashionistas, travellers, partiers, wrestlers: very few hobbies weren't represented. The staff likewise were an interesting bunch, and always ready to give good advice whenever you need it, or even just a bit of quality patter (wait till you get a few drinks with them at the yearly chemistry ball). As the years went on, I met more and more great people: students from other years, from my 4th year industrial placement and from the research group I did my master's project in. My main takeaway from Edinburgh Uni is the chance it gave me to mix with all these amazing people and make friendships that have continued beyond graduation. I was right about the chemistry puns though. Your Experiences Since Leaving the University I took a gap year in China after graduating. I can trace this decision directly back to my university experience. It began with Chinese coursemates who became close friends, gave me an insight into their way of life and first piqued my interest in a massive country I knew very little about. The interest was bolstered when, during the summer after 3rd year, I did an exchange to Tianjin University's summer school in China with 8 chemistry classmates (organised and largely paid for by the chemistry department), where I stayed for 1 month. After my positive experience in Tianjin and the chance to travel in China, I knew I wanted to take a year out to get to know the country better. I'll be starting a PhD at Northwestern University near Chicago in September 2019. For this too, I can thank Edinburgh University. I happened to email an Edinburgh Alumnus at Northwestern when I was in Chicago last year, who welcomed me there for a day, introduced me to the researcher with whom I'll be doing the PhD, and even supported me as I completed my application. Cheers Edinburgh! Alumni Wisdom Looking back now, I think that I was too shy when I started at Edinburgh. It took me a while to get the guts to openly talk to people next to me in lectures, to make new friends, and to engage in with the social opportunities from the school and university societies. It was in 2nd and 3rd year that I really started to make close friends. These people will sooner or later become close friends in any case (4 or 5 year degree, no way to avoid it), and so you might as well be enjoying these friendships as early as possible. This article was published on 2023-10-16
