Dan’s Final Year Blog

Well everyone, I’m afraid this is it, my final blog post as a student at The University of Manchester.

I know, right, how will you ever be able to cope?

For me, term finished a while ago, on June the 2^nd, but as you might expect, only now is my clarity of thought sufficient to really have a proper think about what that means. Everyone else has been seemingly over the bloody moon about finishing Uni, but having had some time to think about it, I’m not sure I’m quite as elated as others. I mean, these have undoubtedly been the best three of my twenty one years, and I’m not sure I really want them to be over… That having been said, I have, potentially, finally reached a point in my life where I will never have to sit another academic exam again, which definitely is something to be celebrated! For those of you who are unaware, the  exam season at the very end of your life sciences degree is a little different to all the other ones at uni, because as well as your lecture unit exams, you are also subjected to two extra types of exam papers that you’ve never sat before.

The first of these is what is known as the “problem paper”, where you are given a section of a recently published research paper and you have to analyse it. The university usually give you one that’s probably been discredited, or has a lot of mistakes in it, so there’s a lot for you to talk about, if you can spot all the errors. Then you’ve got to write an abstract, and do some mathsy bits as well. Different courses have slightly different formats than Neuroscience, but you get the idea.

The other is the “essay paper”. Slightly shorter than  all the other finals you sit, this exam presents you with an indeterminate number of questions, that can literally be to do with anything in your subject area, from anything you’ve studied over the past 3 / 4  years, or even from the wider outside that material you have studied. You then have an hour and a half to write an essay on just one of these topics. Depending on how much of a stress head you are, the fact that you can’t really revise for this exam as extensively as you can for normal ones may be a calming notion, or one that sends you into a dizzy frenzy. I think I coped pretty well to be fair! Problem paper was a bit of a shocker, but I was able to write a pretty reasonable essay on an exciting new therapy for people with spinal cord injuries, that was pioneered in Poland a couple of years ago, which was able to restore a man’s ability to walk after he was paralysed following being stabbed in the back. Quite a nice note to end my uni career on I thought…

Goodbye Uni

The rest of that day after the last exam involved almost everyone on life sciences outside in the sun, in one big celebration. To start with though, I had some time to myself so I could have a moment of peace to call my parents and my grandma, and enjoy being a free man without having to deal with the throngs of other over excitable people. Then, NeuroSoc put on a free lunch for all its departing members, affording everyone the chance to line their stomachs with butties and muffins before heading over to the SU, or to the grass outside the learning commons for some sun and a few drinks. I don’t think I’ve ever heard so many prosecco corks pop off in such a small space of time, really made me feel  sorry for all the sociologists who were sitting out there still trying to revise, or all the mathematicians who had to look out of the learning commons windows at us all. Actually, to be fair, I didn’t feel sorry for them at all, but I bet they were green with envy.

After the last exam!

NeuroSoc Class of 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A brief dinner stop provided some rest before  an emotional pre drinks, where we sadly had to wave goodbye to one of the other senior ambassadors, who leaves for a year-long road trip across the USA in a couple of days – an a amazing adventure, but quite difficult to say farewell so early after we finished!

BBQ

The day after that proved to be slightly more relaxing, with a full days BBQ in the sun and playing music. Then it was on to Banana Hill x Dimensions festival at Hidden, in North Manchester – a great venue, but quite a trek from Fallowfield.

 

 

 

And so on to the next set of adventures really… Once the rent’s up on the Mauldeth lad pad, my Dad is renting a private plane to fly my mum, bother and I around the Caribbean for a bit, before stopping off at Tampa bay and Universal studios for roller Coastering before the parks fill up once the school holidays hit. After that, grandad’s 80^th birthday celebrations in Portugal and finally some interrailing with my best gal, when she’s finally back off her placement year in France.

Even that though, is looking a little too far ahead, with a good three weeks left before I have to move out, Manchester still has lots to offer the departing students… Great chances to dress up, at the Faculty of Life sciences ball and Graduation ball, as well as dress down, at Parklife and Pangaea festivals.  There is also the slightly more intimidating prospect of results day and possible viva exams on the horizon. A viva is an interview-type examination for those who are teetering on the grade boundaries. I think I might be one of those people, so fingers crossed I get a viva for an opportunity to get my grade up to a first!

However, there will soon come a time when a source of income is going to be needed, even if it is just to save up for a round the world ticket… the best option looks like a job back home in north London, working as a Teaching Assistant for kids with learning difficulties in a school in Finchley. If I don’t get that then I still won’t need to worry – I know there’s variety in my options, whether I want a Neuroscience related career or not. That is all providing, of course, that my impending call up to MI6 arrive! Hopefully world’s greatest secret agent is enough to get me into the UoM alumni hall of fame..

That’s probably enough rambling from me. This feels rather strange really, trying to come up with a decent closing statement to sum up leaving university, I doubt many people have to actually put something down in words, as opposed to just having tipsy “I love you”s with everyone! I would definitely say that these have been my best 3 years so far, and Manchester was definitely the right choice of University, not just for the Uni, but for the city too. There’s enough of a student community here that you can live in a nice student bubble, but the city has a great identity outside of its studying population, with so much always going on. As for the Uni, I’m sure I’ve banged on about employability before, so for one last time, it is an underlying theme through almost everything you’ll do here, and I’m definitely coming away feeling well equipped to tackle anything, and looking forward to doing so!

For those of you who have been reading these blogs and considering Manchester as a serious option, then look no further – if I can make it here, then you definitely can!

Thanks or reading the posts, I’ve had a good laugh writing them, and last but not least good luck to you all!

Take care, lots of love,

Dan.

Rachel’s First Year Blog

Hey guys!

I literally can’t believe that the end of first year is in sight! Time is just flying by and I’m greatly stressed because my six exams are just around the corner. It certainly didn’t help that last week’s revision had to be put on hold, as Wednesday was the deadline for our Lab Reports that accompanied this semester’s set of labs. Tuesday night was certainly a late one filled with frantic texting in the group chats!!  My report was on an experiment that involved extracting DNA from our cheek cells, finding out our genotype for the taste receptor TAS2R38, and researching how this affects the flavors we can detect. This means labs are DONE until the exam!! It felt so good to finish the practical side of them. After many celebratory jumps down the corridor, my tutorial group and a few others went to Big Hands (a pub opposite the Stopford Building – the main building for life sciences lectures and practicals) for some drinks in the sun. I say the word ‘sun’ lightly; we were slightly freezing to death on the roof terrace but hey, at least we tried!!

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We’ve finished labs!

Post-lab report celebrations at Big Hands

 

The weather has actually been AMAZING these last few days. It reached 26 degrees, which for Manchester is incredible! The slightest bit of sun sees the student world descend to every inch of grass they can find on campus. The little ice cream vans that pop up by Stopford really make the walks home in the heat more bearable, as does the fact that Lidl is so close to Whitworth Park for impromptu picnics in the sun! The other day, me and a few life scientists did exactly that for a few hours. We were actually working on an entry for this cool competition the Faculty of Life Sciences was running, where you had to make a film about a famous scientist who went to The University of Manchester. We chose to make an animated film about Kathleen Mary Drew-Baker; a scientist who studied the life cycle of the seaweed Porphyra laciniata.  Her research went on to save Japanese coastal communities from starving, after typhoons destroyed their seaweed plantations, so she really was an inspirational figure!

Everyone stops uni work for a rare sight of the sun

Drawings for our animated film!

My procrastination level also hit the roof the other day when me and Jaina went… skiing?! Admittedly this WAS a bad idea to do two days before my Lab Report was due (but hey, I got it in on time!!) and it was such a fun two hours at an indoor ski centre called Chill Factore, next to the Trafford Centre. I’d never skied before and I didn’t fall over once, so I was very proud of that!! In fact, over these past few weeks I feel like I’ve done many activities to improve my balancing ability: My friend Rachel and I went to the Northern Quarter for cocktails, which involved many hours balancing in our heels! – And another week the rock-climbers and I decided to go to a roller disco after a climbing session. After several face-plants and spectacular falls, it made for such a fun evening, and nicely added to the bruises we’d already sustained from climbing. It was actually free; one of the many activities the university had organized as part of an exam period De-stress Day.

Skiing!

Rock-climbers at the Roller Disco!

Speaking of cool things that I have been able to attend as a result of the university, I went to a seriously mind-blowing lecture organized by the Faculty of Life Sciences Society about CRISPR – a new gene editing technique, led by Professor Matthew Cobb, one of my lecturers from first semester. It’s pretty complex, but stay tuned, because this is going to revolutionize science!! For more information, you can listen to a BBC Radio 4 show he did about it here.

Anyway, aside from several fajita nights, Northern Quarter catch–ups, climbing sessions, and a night out with Rach to Revolution in Deansgate Locks, there have also been meetings with our new Programme Directors. Because… I officially became a Biologist!! It’s made me greatly excited about second year too because I really want to do a field course to somewhere amazing like Costa Rica. You might remember me saying from my last blog post that I had to pick a specialization, given that Life Sciences is only a one year course. It’s sad that we’re all splitting up, but given that I’m living with two of them next year, it’s not too bad! We’re also planning to go on a tutorial Black Milk outing after our final academic tutor session, which will be cute!

I also had my final three lectures today. It was sad, but the day was made special by 25 degree weather, the fact that I officially got my first job at Starbucks (FREE DRINKS YAY), and the spontaneous appearance of a Ferris Wheel outside Uni Place!! Only in Manchester, eh?

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Night out with Rachel

My first job!

Already I’m looking forward to the after exam celebrations. We’re going to the Life Sciences Ball, which is actually on the night of my last exam; so it will be a much needed celebration!! It’s Oscars themed and will be complete with a three-course meal and photo booth, so should be amazing!!  The next night is the last Pangaea festival of the academic year. It’s carnival themed, and my flat-mates and I are already thinking about costumes – flower-crowns, tie-dye clothing, and lots of glitter are on the cards!

Well, this is my last blog post I’m writing for this year. I’ve enjoyed blogging so much! I love writing and it’s so nice to look back and remember what I did over the year. It’s been a fun, hectic, stressful and simply the most amazing year!! You don’t realise how much you will learn at university until you get here: whether it’s the confidence to try new things and meet new people, surviving away from home, to realizing how the science you learn in your textbooks actually translates into real life… Not to mention how to make the choice between more sleep, and the 9am lectures you paid £9,000 for!! 😉 It’s been a whirlwind of an adventure though, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

And to all those picking Manchester as their first choice (the right choice that is!), see you next year!!

Rachel xxx