Hello again... apologies for the absence!

Hello :)

Well, this post has been remarkably delayed! I had intended to turn things around this year and blog more regularly, however despite having significantly less lectures this year I’ve been enormously busy (for a number of reasons!) and have found myself confronting the Christmas holidays already!

So where am I now? Well, I’m now in my final year of my Physics degree which brings about a multitude of emotions – sadness that this stage of my life is almost over mixed with happiness that I’ve finally got here, as well as confidence that I’m actually pretty good at Physics mixed with panic about what I’m going to do next. There’s a lot going on to put it briefly! Which leads me on to be able to say I’ve actually got a lot to write about and tell you all which is quite exciting. Each of these will (probably) form their own blog post later, however to give you a brief run down:

1)     I finally finished my third year. It was tough, as I suffered from a few health problems that meant I had to take my exams in summer. However, despite everything I managed to average a 2:1 which I was very proud of, all things considered! I was glad to say goodbye to a couple of topics, but sad to have to be giving up Spanish which I really enjoyed learning alongside Physics as an optional module.

2)     Over the summer I also had the amazing opportunity to work at the Science Museum in London in their development department, thanks to the Ogden Trust. It was just the best month – I had such a great time, got to take part in some insanely cool stuff, met some really wonderful people and discovered skills I didn’t know I had. I also got to experience living in London for the first time which was mostly fun!

3)     As part of my final year I have to do a long project – something which counts as half of my final grade for the year (so it’s a pretty big deal!). I’m really enjoying it so far – it’s more or less a big extension of some work I’d done previously on modelling asteroids which is great. I’ve been really enjoying getting to approach the task much more like someone conducting real research would – reading all the available literature, constructing some good and well defined aims for the project and how I think I’ll get there and then getting down with some good old data analysis!

4)     Being the president of a student society and SPEAKING IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS! This year I’m actually the president of the Durham Atheist, Secularist and Humanist society – don’t panic we’re not just angry atheists! In fact it’s probably best described as a sceptics group – we organise talks, debates and discussions on a huge range of topics as well as socials and charity work. As part of this I’ve become more involved with the British Humanist Association, so was lucky enough to be able to take part in a debate in the House of Lords in December! More on this in another blog post – suffice to say it was AMAZING!

5)     Christmas holidays! As I lost almost all my summer to studying/working, I didn’t really get to have a proper holiday! So, this Christmas I’m attempting to pack rather a lot in – seeing friends and family, working, a hill walking trip in Scotland and a trip to Amsterdam. It should be great – it will be nice to have a good break, but obviously the work never really stops!

Well, keep an eye open for these upcoming blog posts – I’m going to try and stick to posting approximately fortnightly as I think a regular schedule will help me get back in to it. Right now, I’m off to do some reading before bed, as because it’s the last week of term I have a lot to do tomorrow and I’m knackered!

Mental Health and Halloween: Satire and Stigma

Throughout this, I’ve put in a few links to interesting articles. I’d suggest you read them as you read this – they either explain things better than I can, put things in context or give more information. I also haven’t included sources for everything – but a quick google should suffice.

At this time of year there’s always a lot in the news about the latest offensive Halloween costume. We’ve seen it all, and I’m not going to repeat it here. What has been becoming more apparent in recent years is the growing outrage of the treatment of mental health conditions at Halloween. The main focus has usually fallen on a few costumes: namely the “Mental Health Patient” and “Psych ward” costumes stocked at Asda and Tesco and subsequently pulled from the shelves in 2013 and the“Annie/Anna Rexia” outfit, which first drew attention in 2011, and this year circulated again with an emotional plea from a sufferer in which she suggests that instead of going as ‘Anna Rexia’ you ought to “go as a vampire, or a zombie. Because 1/3 [of us] are already dead”.

A growing number of people can see why these are distasteful at the very least, although some people can’t resist labeling those who complain as killjoys or the ‘PC police’. But the problem is that it is a very *real* problem for many people. 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience some form of mental health condition in any given year – and up to 50% of the world's population will be affected at some point in their lifetime. However, studies with accurate figures are hard to come by, partly because many sufferers go unrecorded and untreated because of the stigma that comes attached with it.

So, back to the present day and why I am writing this post. I must admit, whilst I have always thought that the costumes satirising mental health are frankly, just fairly disgusting, I haven’t ever blogged about it. In fact, I’ve never blogged about mental health on its own before, and as you may notice, I haven’t blogged for a while (see note at bottom if you haven't seen me on here for a while!). So why am I writing now? Last night I was left in what I can only describe as a state of shock and sadness at two of the Halloween costumes I saw. One was being worn by a student who walked through my college dining room to get to the bar. He was dressed as a zombie and had a noose around his neck. A suicide victim. I don’t know any more details – presumably there was some *hilarious* story behind it. That lowered my mood somewhat as I returned from dinner to finish some work and watch “The Nightmare Before Christmas” in celebration of this, usually fun, holiday. However, I then saw that both a Durham student and a good old friend who I haven’t been in regular contact with for a while had both decided to dress as ‘Bald Britney’ for Halloween.

For those of you who don’t know, as with many of the celebrities those of us born in the 90’s grew up with, Britney Spears suffered a breakdown in 2007/2008. This was thanks to drug addictions and other mental health issues that lead to her shaving her hair off, attacking paparazzi with an umbrella when they wouldn’t leave her alone, losing custody of her children and being forcibly removed to a psychiatric hospital. To this day she remains under a ‘conservatorship, which gives her father legal control over her to ensure her well being as she is deemed incapable of looking after herself. Of course, Britney is not the only child star to succumb to such troubles, just a few of the former child stars I know of to suffer from addiction and other mental health problems include Macaulay Culkin (of Home Alone fame), Linsay Lohan, Amanda Bynes, Drew Barrymore and Demi Lovato. Each of these had to face a crisis – and all in the public eye.

So, what do we do? We mock them, we laugh at them, we shake our heads at the innocent child stars “gone bad”. We blame the culture we live in – but do we try to understand and provide support? Most of the media certainly doesn’t, at least not at this stage. So, when I saw these costumes of ‘bald Britney’ (neither of them frankly even very original anyway – this has been done thousands of times) I was upset. I was most upset to see a friend who I know is a lovely, caring person wearing it, and to see other equally lovely caring people ‘liking’ it and joining in on the ‘joke’.

I know what it feels like to feel like you are literally going ‘crazy’ – I am assuming anyone who has ever had a panic attack will be able to tell you the first time they had one was terrifying as they probably had no idea what was going on. I’ve suffered from anxiety (acute, mostly related to exams and fear of failure), depression (general, moderate) and panic attacks as physical manifestations of these. I’ve had help and thankfully am a lot better now – I’m in a much much much better place thanks to the support I’ve received. But, for someone suffering with these or any other mental health condition, until you receive help you can feel entirely alone. It’s hard to seek help, partly as you don’t necessarily want to admit you need help to yourself, let alone anyone else. And it doesn’t help that society so often portrays mental illness in such a negative way.

To satirise mental health is not helpful. It's singling out an individual undergoing a crisis as worthy of parody, and by reflection trivialising the crisis as a whole (kudos must go to a friend of mine for summing it up so eloquently). The photo I saw was accompanied by the phrase “If Britney can make it through 2007, you can make it through today” – a popular meme that I will not repost here which is printed on T shirts, mugs and used as a general ‘inspirational’ slogan. Some people may find it helpful. In fact, I assume other people with mental health problems have possibly found the idea helpful. However if we consider the real meaning behind it, perhaps we’ll all be able to see what a problem this attitude towards mental illness brings.

Firstly, a quick glance at google confirms people often use this as a happy “Wooo, go me!” statement – people who haven’t had a coffee that morning, people at the gym, people fed up that it’s not the weekend yet. Can anyone *not* see the problem here first of all? Is there anyone that actually really wants to compare some fairly trivial ‘trials’ of life to someone undergoing a complete breakdown? I, as much as anyone who gains their knowledge through the internet, don’t know the full story of Britney’s journey – but I’m pretty sure she had to go through a lot more pain and suffering trying to recover than someone who didn’t get their coffee until later than they'd have liked. If a loved one was going through the same thing, would you, to their face, compare your lives saying, “Well, if you got through months worth of rehab for substance abuse, I can make it through to the weekend despite the fact it’s *only* Wednesday”? Would you do it if someone was suffering from any other type of illness/disability? “Wow, you managed to survive meningitis. I’m sure I can get through my workout today”. As a quick “I can do this”, “life could be worse” statement, you can see why people don’t necessarily appreciate the full impact of what they’re saying. To me, far from being inspirational, it’s fairly tragic.

Because the end of this story is so often tragic. What are we really saying when we proclaim that we can get through whatever because Britney “made it through”? Other sources of the meme actually use the phrase “Britney survived”. And this is really what it comes down to – are we really happy using this statement that basically says we can achieve something because someone who was suffering so much survived? That because she ended up in recovery and has improved so is no longer a ‘crazy figure’ to be mocked in the media constantly we should take this as an inspiration to get through our, probably actually very average day? That because she didn’t commit suicide this is inspirational? Note, it is unclear whether or not she has attempted suicide - but the media has reported on it with ghoulish glee before. Some have accused her of "exploiting suicide". Others have suggested that this was her "inevitable rehab suicide attempt" and said that we could never expect "just how mental her suicide attempt would be". I don't know if it's true. All I know is that in my opinion, no matter how public someone's life if, no matter how amusing you personally find someone's mental state - suicide should not be treated as a joke. 

Let’s remember folks, the real cost of mental health conditions. They cost people both periods of time in their lives spent in immense pain – and for some people, their actual entire lives. What makes it ok for us to use statements about Britney in a light hearted, jokey, ‘inspirational’ way, but not for us to say “If Amy Whinehouse made it through 6 whole years of mental health issues and substance abuse (before she died from an alcoholic overdose), you can do x”? Is the fact Britney recovered really some way of making us able to describe what she went through any less of a problem? Thinking about celebrities, we’re all now acutely aware of the many celebrities that have lost their lives due to severe mental health problems through suicide and overdoses. Philip Hoffman, Kurt Cobain, Marilyn Monroe (who it is said, stated “I think I’m going crazy, and I don’t want to live”). And some familiar faces from our childhoods, Robin Williams and Mark Speight (presenter of SMart) – the latter who died in 2008, so in the same timeframe as Britney was receiving treatment. That’s just to name a few. Thoughts still go to their families and friends, who to this day must be feeling the immense loss of these talented individuals.

What does it take for a celebrity breakdown to go from something to ridicule to something to view as a tragedy? Do people really need to die before we recognise the suffering they are/were going through? Does it depend on the person and how much of a target we can make them? Or do we need to rethink our attitude towards mental health? I’m sure no one out there who dressed in any sort of similar costume really finds this that funny. So, maybe we all need to rethink how we treat mental illness and stop the stigma. If you still really want to go to a Halloween party dressed as a mentally ill person: maybe you should make it more accurate. See this Guardian article for ideas – maybe click on the links in it too for some more information (they’re all pretty good). If you still want to wear a straight jacket or dress up in a really cliched way as someone having a breakdown – go ahead. I won’t stop you. We live in a free society. I won’t even be ‘offended’. I, and many others, might be upset and horrified at your lack of thought and the fact you see this as fun, but I won’t stop you. I do have a right to express my own view on it though. And I’d hope you might take it on board (again, no pressure). Note, not even everyone who has suffered/is suffering with a mental health condition will even find these costumes at the very least insensitive. That doesn't make it ok though as there are thousands more who probably won't find it funny, who probably will note that this is likely to cause upset and at the very least continues to normalise how we often treat mental health conditions in the media. 

Halloween is a fun time. There are thousands of great costumes you could wear: in the last few years I have variously been to events as the Grey Lady of Hogwarts, a parrot (to match my boyfriend's pirate costume) and an owl. I don’t want to be marked as a spoilsport. I don’t want to ruin anyone’s fun. But, whilst October is the month of Halloween it is also Depression awareness month, and October the 10^th is World Mental Health Day. I DO want people to remember the struggles other people face, try to empathise and to try and change the world to make it a better place for everyone. 

If you, or anyone you know is struggling with mental health conditions, or you're struggling, don't have a diagnosis but need help, please visit your GP who will be able to advise further. There are also numerous charities/organisations out there who are available to listen if you need immediate help: see this NHS page for more information. Mental health conditions are real illnesses and you needn't be afraid to see help. You're also not alone. 

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Hello again!

I’ve actually been meaning to post for a couple of weeks – last year was hectic for a number of reasons and whilst I had hoped to continue blogging, it definitely fell by the wayside. However, back in time for my final year at uni, I’ve already got 2 articles lined up for you: one which was meant to be a way of saying “Hello, I’m back!” and another which is an article I’m writing for the Durham student newspaper, Palatinate, on charitable giving (that’s another thing – I’m diversifying from Physics – because Physicists aren’t one dimensional after all!). Look out for these in the coming weeks - fingers crossed I'm able to keep it up as I really enjoy blogging!

How to… Cope with Starting University

Another “How to” post for you all! My first year of university was now three years ago (which is quite scary really!), however I’m lucky enough to have at least two more years to go. I really have loved my time at university, but I know that leaving home to go to uni is terrifying as well as exciting! Hopefully I’ll help settle a few nerves, and maybe you’ll gain a few helpful tips!

Don’t be worried about being nervous

Some people might not show it, but everyone will be a little bit nervous and it’s not a bad thing. For most people it will be their first experience of living away from home on a particularly long term basis, and for some it will be the first experience of having to “fend for themselves”. You may also be panicking about making friends and whether or not you’ll actually enjoy the course. I certainly did. I was terrified that I’d made the wrong decision; that I was actually going to find out I was terrible at Physics and that everyone would hate me. It wasn’t true, but these feelings are natural. Just don’t let them consume you and spoil the (hopefully) excited feelings too – university is a brilliant experience for the vast majority of people and to enjoy it fully you can’t let yourself worry too much.

Take as many of the opportunities available to you as you can

University will present many opportunities to you that you’ve never had before. This will range from all sorts of societies to other events hosted by your university. Going to lectures for other subjects, attending talks on topics that interest you, checking out some local or student talent at gig nights or giving something completely new to you a try will not only be fun, it really gets you involved. Your first year at university will be challenging (and most likely tiring) but you want to be able to look back on a fantastic year, so if that means stepping out of your comfort zone and saying yes to trying things you wouldn’t have before – why not give it a go? However don’t overwhelm yourself – you have got a degree to do as well!

Enjoy meeting new people

You will meet so many people during your first week at university – some of whom you will never speak to again! I was so shy before I went to university but realised quickly that talking to people and pushing myself to introduce myself and to be friendly to everyone was the best way forwards. Trying to meet as many people as you can means you find the people who you want to be friends with sooner. Don’t limit yourself to your corridor or flat, try and meet people at other social events. A good tip is to find yourself another person to go around with, approaching people as a pair is less daunting, and being able to make an introduction is a good conversation starter! Remembering names can be a challenge too but don’t be afraid to ask people for their name again (well unless you’ve asked loads of times before!) – I used to go back to my room and jot down names and a fact about them just to try and remember them in the future (it worked too!) You will also meet so many different types of people, so don’t expect everyone to be like people you already know. University brings together people from all over the world, with vastly different life experiences. This makes it really interesting to get to know people, but can also be challenging as you may be forced to a) meet people who you never want to speak to again or b) force you to reconsider assumptions you may have made about people before. However treat every new introduction as an opportunity to make a friend and you should have a great time! Meeting new people can also be a great way to challenge yourself to try new things – why not go along with your new friend and try that martial arts class they were talking about? It could be fun!

Top tip: Common conversation starters are “What are you studying?”, “Which halls/ college are you in?” and “Whereabouts in the country are you from?”. These questions get pretty tiring pretty quickly so try and get to know people by asking other questions too and starting a conversation from there. Ask them about their hobbies, whether they plan to try anything new whilst at university, what have they enjoyed at uni so far etc.

Be yourself

University is a great time to try new things, but this doesn’t mean you have to change who you are completely! I got to university and was able to feel more confident in myself as I was surrounded by people who were like me – I was no longer immediately stereotyped as the awkward nerdy “good girl” and so could really be me! So I changed, but it was more about becoming the person I’d tried to hide away which was lovely. But as a warning – don’t turn yourself into someone else. You have to be honest with yourself about who you are and who you want to be. If you don’t want to go out drinking every night – that’s fine! If you don’t know whether you are in with a crowd of people you don’t want to be – be brave and find someone new! You’ll have a much better time in the long run if you’re not keeping up a pretense, and you’ll find your closest friends too by showing the world who you really are and what you are really interested in.

Stay safe and healthy

Make sure you take care of yourself. University does present challenges, some as trivial as surviving your first bout of Fresher’s Flu (as you mingle with everyone elses germs – yuck!) to others that are much more important like getting home safely in a new city after your first night out. Find out who you can go to or call for help, make sure you follow and guidance given to you and stay safe! Take advantage of anything that makes you feel safer too, be it paying a bit extra for a taxi to make sure you don’t have to walk home by yourself or seeing if you can get a free personal alarm from your university welfare service. Most people are fine, but you don’t want to risk it! Also your first few weeks will be hectic, but make sure you take some time for yourself and make sure you don’t completely run yourself down otherwise you’ll probably not make the best start to your actual degree course. Another good tip is to make your room your own when you get there, and don't leave your unpacking too late. It will save you time in the long run and gives you a nice space to retreat to when you need your own space!

Overall though, have an amazing time. I’ve loved my time at university and I wish any Freshers the best of luck! 

Reflections on being an Ogden Blogger

NB. Apologies, this was meant to be published a little while back! However due to lack of internet whilst on holiday, followed by a mad rush to move back up to Durham and into my new house and the setting up of internet there I've only just had the opportunity to post! 

It was only when I’d got back from being on holiday that I realised that the Blogden year was over! If you’ve been following this blog, you may know that it was started as part of the Blogden, a blogging scheme run by the Ogden Trust. The Ogden Trust is an organisation that promotes Physics education through a variety of schemes. I first became involved through a teaching internship in 2013, and then went on to win the competition to become an Ogden Blogger!

So how has it gone? Well, this year has been fairly tough for me. I suffered from quite a lot of ill health, which made completing blogs a lot more difficult as I couldn’t look at computer screens without feeling sick and getting headaches. As such, my blog posts at the start of the year were posted at more random time intervals. I also had a pause during the exam period, as I really needed to concentrate on studying. However, overall I did manage to get an average of one post every fortnight, even if they were occasionally posted in quick succession when I’d had to catch up a bit!

Despite all that, I think it has gone pretty well! I don’t know how many regular readers I have had (if you are a regular reader say hello below in the comments section – it would be nice to hear from you!), but pretty much every post I’ve done has gathered some interest from many different places across the world (which I think is very cool!) A few statistics for you:

As of 20^th September 2014 (when I collected all the stats together!)

Total Page Views: 1565

Month with the most page views: March - my post about being a female in a STEM subject"I'm not an anomaly - I'm just me!" gained quite a lot of attention!

Post with the most page views: According to the "clicks" on individual posts "How to... Cope with Physics exams" gained the most views! Hopefully it helped some people out whilst they were studying!

Post that generated the most comments/ reaction:This depends on which platform! "How to... Cope with Physics exams" (above) generated the most interest on blogger itself, however "Best bits of being a Physics student" got the most reaction on twitter!
Reader statistics: Most people were from the UK (1200 ish) but I also had readers from USA, Canada, France, Russia and many others (Just over 20 different countries in total)! Sometimes it looked like my blog was being linked to from sites across the world which was quite exciting even if I couldn't track what they were saying about it!

What would I do differently if I could do it again? I think that posting more regularly would be a good idea, as it means that people would know when a post was going to arrive rather than it just appearing randomly! That was all part of the original plan, (unfortunately life got in the way) but it’s definitely something I’ll work harder on in the future. I also need to get more to grips with Twitter – I just never remember to post anything interesting I think of, so whilst it has been a good way to help publicise my blog most of my tweets are just shameless self promotion! However, in mildly exciting news, I did get featured in a collection of science Haikus submitted by twitter users to Popular Science which was quite exciting!

I’ve really enjoyed the experience overall and am definitely going to keep blogging. It’s a good space for me to collect my thoughts, and hopefully interest a few people along the way! If there’s anything you’d like to hear about let me know. I plan to carry on blogging about general life at university and any tips I have along the way, as well as blogging about Physics. The next year at university promises to be a lot more interesting for me, with bigger projects to complete and new things to learn about. I also plan to blog more about my life outside of Physics as apparently some of you find that interesting!

Thank you all for reading, it’s been lovely having you!

My next blog post will be on starting university - a daunting prospect for many! Whilst I know lots of people have already started on Freshers week I also know plenty more haven't, and I plan to cover time beyond freshers week too! If anyone who reads this has any questions please do let me know!

ThatPhysicsGirl on Holiday: Travels in Sardinia

Hello! Sorry this post is a little late, but whilst on holiday the wifi was intermittent to say the least! I’ve just got back, so thought it might be nice to offer a little account of my time abroad. I love to travel, I love to see new places and experience new things. My boyfriend and I had looked at going to one of the Greek Islands this year, but were worried by news of strikes which may have caused us problems. As such, we ended up looking across a range of different places in Europe and finally settled on Sardinia for its combination of stunning coastline and lovely mountainous interior. Plus both Ryanair and Easyjet do cheap flights there (which for a student is pretty important!). 

Alghero

Alghero is a large town on the North- Western coast of Sardinia. We flew in here (because the flights were cheapest :P) but ended up spending two nights here due to timings of flights and buses. It was actually really nice to have a look round as the city has some really interesting history (basically it got invaded a lot) and some really pretty parts to look round. There is a strong Catalan influence which gives it a nice character as several styles of architecture have all been used at one time or another. We went for a walk round the old town, and then wandered around the docks and along the sea front before we finally headed back for some well deserved pizza!

Cala Gonone

Cala Gonone was a small seaside fishing village, but thanks to better transport links with the rest of the island is being developed more and more into a tourist destination. We were lucky to go at the start of September, as school holidays were over but it wasn’t quite the end of the season, so we had the benefits that it wasn’t too crowded, but everything was still open. We had rented a nice little self catering apartment, approximately 200m from the seafront so a great location! The town has a few sandy-pebbly beaches within easy walking distance so we spent a good few days just relaxing (and reading lots of books!). But the town is also a good centre for trying lots of other activities, so in later days we ventured further afield!

Nuraghe Mannu

Almost every other person that goes to Sardinia will have a car. We were looking to keep costs down and used public transport during our stay there, which rather shocked the lady in the tourist info! As a result, to get to this Megalithic structure (there are lots of Nuraghes in Sardinia) at the top of the cliff involved a fairly long walk up the hill back along the main road that leads into the town. I got the impression not many other tourists decide to walk up judging from the looks we were getting from passersby in their cars. Eventually we turned off the main road on to the dirt track leading to Nuraghe Mannu and arrived at the entrance gate. Unfortunately it was closing for lunch (everything closes at lunch time which is always inconvenient when you forget) but we managed to get in to have a quick look round. It was amazing how well preserved the structure was, considering it was from the Nuragic era (1900-730BCE), however to us we had to admit it did just look rather like a pile of rocks. A very nice pile of rocks, but a pile of rocks none the less. However the view from the top was excellent, we could see around the entire bay, along the coastline to places we were going to visit only the next day.

Boat trip

Having done extensive research before leaving, I’d read that everyone says that you absolutely must get a boat along the coast. Having explored the various options (water taxis that just drop you off, mini cruises that take you along for the day and hiring your own) we decided to hire our own boat. Whilst it was the most expensive option, it was definitely worth it. You went along to the port, had a nice chat with all the people sitting in their beach huts and got the best price for hire. The next morning you’d come back, pick up your included parasol and ice box and go and get your boat. After an incredibly brief introduction to how to actually use a motor boat you were just allowed to set off along the coast. It was incredible being able to speed along looking at the stunning coastline. All of the beaches are really nice, white pebbles/sand and clear turquoise and deep blue water. Most of them are not easily accessible from the land, meaning that getting a boat is really the only way to see them. The most incredible was Cala Goloritze, a UNESCO world heritage site, with its amazing limestone towers jutting out over the beach. The water was also really as blue as it looks in photos! After a swim (just anchor the boat and jump really) we headed off down the coast. We stopped at Cala Mariolu for lunch, which involved the process of running the boat close to the beach, pulling out the engine (so it doesn’t get damaged on the bottom), dropping one person off on the beach with all the stuff while the other goes back out, anchors the boat past the line of buoys and then has to swim in. Oh and they might have to battle with other peoples anchors getting stuck round their propeller and then help very nice, but slightly incompetent Dutch tourists who’ve managed to really get themselves stuck. It was fine for me though – I was the one left on the beach! The whole day was wonderful, boating, sitting on amazing beaches, swimming with the fish… all in all a great experience and one I’d really recommend. Getting your own boat means you have the freedom to do what you want, when you want which for us was great!

Gorroppu Gorge

On our final day we managed to book on to an excursion to the Gorroppu gorge. If you have your own car you can drive there and do the walk yourselves, however as we didn’t have a car we didn’t have that option. In the end though it turned out to be such fantastic value getting a guide that I think it is probably the best option! We were picked up from our accommodation in the morning and driven to the gorge with another couple on the same trip. The trips are set up for 8 people and we only had 4 so our experience was great! After a brilliant, adrenaline filled ascent up the mountain along really steep, loose rock tracks in the 4x4 (over some impressive drops) we started our hike down into the gorge. Our guide Francesco was brilliant and told us lots about the flora, fauna and geography of the area in slightly broken English (but it was lots of fun to work out words that he couldn’t remember). On entering the gorge we started the 1km odd stretch that tourists are allowed to walk along, scrambling over huge boulders worn smooth by the river that appears in winter. It was lots of fun and having a guide was great as he knew the best route along so could show us the easiest ways to get over obstacles, as well as other fun bits like a couple of natural slides. The gorge itself is gorgeous (see what I did there ;)) – it is known as the European Grand Canyon and it was easy to see why. Walls up to 400m on either side, the gorge itself ranged from 10-50m in width. Eventually we got to the point where only people with ropes and climbing gear are allowed further, so whilst we were disappointed we couldn’t have any more fun scrambling over bigger rocks we’d seen a lot already. It was then back along the gorge and up the hill to where our guide was preparing us the lunch that was included which was lovely. Typical Sardinian fresh bread, soft cheese made from sheep milk, hard cheese (somewhere between cheddar and parmesan) and local sausage, as well as a small amount of local red wine. All in all a fantastic day and an excellent experience!

Those were the main things we got up to whilst in Sardinia. It was such a nice holiday and really let me relax, which after the rest of the summer I’d had was well needed! Now on to planning the next trip!


A few links:
Our B&B in Alghero: Good location, well priced, lovely hosts, nice room, amazing breakfast.
Really Good Pizza in Algerho: V. cheap, really nice pizza
Apartment in Cala Gonone: Great location, excellent value, lovely host, well equipped.
Ghivine Tour Company for Gorroppu: Really excellent company, such a good day!

Best Bits of Being a Physics Student so far!

Well it’s my last day of work tomorrow. It has been a VERY long summer – being a cleaner is a really tough job. It’s also a horrible job – I think people would be amazed at the disgusting state hotel rooms are left in and there’s only one person who’s going to clean it up – the poor old cleaner! However, it has given me enough money to go on a nice holiday next week (I’m off to Sardinia!) and has given me some more motivation to get back to my degree! It’s a tough truth, but working in a job like this does make me want to work harder just so I hopefully wont have to do anything similar again! It also makes you think about what you like most about your degree as you look forward to not having to clean up other people’s bodily fluids, and so I thought this would be a perfect time to let you know what have been my favourite bits of my degree so far.

Good old first year textbook!
If you're heading off to study
Physics you may well find
yourself with a copy!

Every UK physics degree has to fulfill criteria set out by the Institute of Physics, so every degree at every university will cover some common topics. These include advanced mathematics, mechanics, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, quantum physics, condensed matter physics, waves and optics and relativity. This sounds like a lot, but having looked through the list I’ve covered all of these in my first two years (I’ve got another two years to go which will be more specialised). While different universities cover material at different speeds, and some go into more detail than others it guarantees that every physics graduate will have a certain level of knowledge about a wide range of core physics topics. But which bits of these have I enjoyed the most?

Quantum Physics

This has definitely been one of my favourite parts of the course. Not only is it mind bending and really exciting, with each new year it becomes cooler. At school I would always say “Oh yes, I’m really interested in quantum”. Little did I know. Literally. At school, you basically learn about some funny particles with weird names and some concepts that sound pretty cool. It’s when you get to university and get to see WHY it works that it becomes much more amazing. The maths is really pretty, the fact it all works when you apply it both to the micro and macro scales and because it is just so often so impossible to understand (well in a sense that you can’t really imagine it) but you can see that it does work makes it a really FANTASTIC topic to study!

How cool does this look! It's such a
lovely equation! :D

Mechanics

This was the very first topic I studied at university, and what a wake up it was for me. As a result of not having studied Further Maths at school, I’d never done any of the mechanics maths modules. I’d only studied topics like vectors and calculus as fairly abstract topics in maths, so discovering they were so important in physics was actually quite a big jump for me. I’m not ashamed to say that I found this topic really challenging either. Most other people had more experience than me so I had to work really hard. But it paid off and actually was really rewarding for me as I felt like I was getting somewhere straight away. My tutor was also fantastic, and I’ll always be grateful to her for convincing me that I wasn’t completely stupid or out of my depth!

The random, generic 'bodies' that
you use in mechanics quickly became
known as potatoes...

Labs

I really love practical work – I always have. I love actually doing stuff myself and over the years I’ve had the opportunity to do some pretty cool stuff. First year labs weren’t always the most interesting tasks, however as we gained the skills required to become more independent the tasks we were given became much better. At the end of my first year I got to do a week long project using X rays to determine the composition of British Coins – we even got to use super strong acids to remove the outer coatings to determine the compositions of the cores (1p,2p and 5p all have steel cores now as otherwise the metal they are made of would be worth more than the coin. As such, not all coins are magnetic) and got to prove which pound coin out of a selection was fake. It's also meant I am full of a wealth of fairly dull information about British coins! My second year long project was also really good – over 6 weeks we got to write programmes in python and use telescopes with digital cameras attached to determine the temperature of sunspots. Next year I’ve got another long project to come, I don’t know the exact topic yet but it will probably fall within the Nuclear Physics category. Exciting times!  

Believe it or not this is the sun! (And
I took the photo!)

I think these three topics have been the most notable parts for me so far, but I am very excited to continue with my degree and find out more stuff. The great thing about a physics degree though is that it is usually pretty interesting, and there are some real WOW moments. When we managed to find the speed of light using Maxwell’s equations (which link electricity and magnetism), when we first learnt about relativity, when we saw how cool maths could really be, when we spent some amazing hours watching beautiful ‘fly throughs’ of galaxies… they’re moments that make the degree really worth it. And well it’s much better than cleaning!

First year coin project - I spent rather
a long time cleaning coins for this
project!

Summertime means summer reading!

Hello everyone! Sorry for another post so soon, the other was meant to be posted a few days earlier but I ended up with no laptop over the weekend (although I did have a great weekend in Southampton, including my first ever trip to an IKEA! :P) Today I’m continuing the theme of things I enjoy outside of Physics, and I thought I’d give you a little look into one of my favourite activities – reading. I love reading and have read lots of books from a huge range of genres (aided in part by studying A level English Literature which encouraged me to read books that I wouldn’t have done otherwise). As a student I have far less time to read for pleasure than I would like, but this means that the summer holidays are a great time to catch up! This is a list of a few books I’ve been reading recently, some from new authors, some from authors I’ve been reading for years.

 

The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared – Jonas Jonasson

An amazing book, which follows the adventurers of an old man fed up of life in the care home he has ended up in. Whilst following the adventure he finds himself in having climbed out of his bedroom window (in his slippers), the book also narrates his life story, where it turns out he has met some of the most incredible people and been part of some of the most remarkable events of the 20^th century. Sort of Forrest Gump-ish in it’s approach, very funny, highly original and well worth a read!

Join Me – Danny Wallace

Really really funny. The true story of a man who was bored, so accidentally started his own ‘cult’. What do you do when you realise you’ve ended up with followers? How far do you go to achieve an aim which you sort of accidentally set out to fulfill? From the same author as Yes Man (another great book and much better than the film) this is highly recommended. I actually laughed out loud, which I rarely do.

And the Mountains Echoed – Khaled Hosseini

I’ve been a massive fan of Khaled Hosseini since reading “The Kite Runner” a number of years ago, but I enjoyed his second novel “A Thousand Splendid Suns” even more. I didn’t realise he had a new book out until recently but it was well worth the wait. If you haven’t read any of his books, do. They are really fascinating insights into the lives of people living in Afghanistan, and do an amazing job of portraying how conflict has shaped the country of Afghanistan. Whilst “The Kite Runner” is predominantly a father-son story, “A Thousand Splendid Suns” a mother-daughter story, “And the Mountains Echoed” has multiple different stories woven into one book, each connected in some way. Whilst it is not my favourite of his books, it was still incredibly powerful and well written. Everyone should read at least one of these books!

Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card

One of the Sci fi classics. It was given to me to read by my boyfriend who loves Sci fi, and whilst I usually prefer fantasy or realistic fiction this really impressed me. A classic tale of child soldiers used in an intergalactic war. I’ve also seen the fairly recent film – definitely not as good as the book. Even if you don’t like Sci fi give this a go! On that note I’d also recommend “The Forever War” by Joe Haldeman, another novel about interstellar warfare. This looks at the idea of how relativity could effect an interstellar war – will the enemy be ‘ahead’ of you in time when you next face them in battle and thus have more advanced weaponry? I enjoyed it and I think other people who are interested in Physics (well especially relativity) would as well!

An Abundance of Katherines – John Green

John Green is an excellent author and not just for the swathes of teenage girls who make up a large number of his fans! The first book of his I read was “The Fault in Our Stars” which even despite all of the hype is an incredibly well written book, and the recent film is also very good. He has a way of creating characters that are complex but very relatable and the stories definitely get you to think about life. “An Abundance of Katherines” was the last of his I had left to read and I wasn’t disappointed. Following the story of a child prodigy who has recently been dumped by his girlfriend, it covers issues such as the difficulties involved in growing up as a gifted child and the process of becoming an individual as you go through your teenage years and become an adult. Not my favourite, but still very good.  

In a Sunburned Country – Bill Bryson
Again, I’ve read a lot of Bill Bryson in the past. I’m still currently reading this one, and am enjoying following his travels through Australia. I’ve always been interested in Australia and would love to go one day (good job I’m not afraid of spiders or snakes!), so this has been a good read. It isn’t in my opinion as good as some of his other books (most notably “Notes From a Small Island” which was one of the funniest books I’ve read), as I’m not as keen on the focus on political history that seems to be a feature so far. However overall I’m enjoying it as it contains Bill Bryson’s typical humour and great little stories and anecdotes!

Once I’ve finished Bill Bryson, I think I’ll move on to “The Long War” and then “The Long Mars”, the next two books in the series of books co authored by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. I really love Terry Pratchett and there is enough of his stylistic humour in these books to make me enjoy them, even if the genre is not something I’d necessarily pick out to read.

So, back to some more summer reading! Any books you’ve read recently you would recommend? I’m looking for some more for my trip to Sardinia so I’m very open to suggestions! Until next time, bye for now!