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! 

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!

Great Physics Bake Off!

For the next few blog posts I intend to share with you all a few of my interests beyond Physics (although some of them maybe a bit sneaky and incorporate physics into them too. Because well, physics is pretty awesome right?). I have many and varied interests. This is probably a product of my parents only allowing a limited amount of TV/computer time a day when I was little - to be honest though it was a good thing in end. Ok yes mum, you were right... Anyway, I enjoy lots of things, not all of which will get a mention here (I know you all were desperate to hear about my first forays into Morris dancing, but unfortunately I don't have the time. And well you might giggle. Although it is actually so much harder than it looks and also loads of fun!)

So back to the blog. This week, in honour of the fact that the latest series of the Great British Bakeoff has begun recently I'm going to talk about something I really enjoy - you guessed it - baking! For any of my non British readers who don't know what this is - it's a TV series where amateur bakers compete for the title of 'best British baker'. Yes I hear you - how can baking be that exciting? Well trust me it's possible. The tense atmosphere as the competitors wait for Paul and Mary's comments ("Well you've got a nice crumb, although it's a bit dry and I really can't detect the lavender"), the emotions running high when a baker's scones haven't risen properly, the euphoria as someone manages to construct an elaborate model of the Eiffel Tower made entirely out of shortbread - it's great. Love it (like record numbers of the British population - I'm not the only one!) or loathe it one thing I think we can agree on is that baked goods are great. And an hours worth of looking at cake per week is an hour worth spent in my opinion. 

So baking. I thought it would be fun to come up with some physics themed baked goods for your delight. Whilst I love baking, I can't make all of these in one week, so most are just described for you. When I get round to making them (and trust me I plan to!) you can be assured of a photo accompanied by a recipe, which I'll update on here as I go.

Bread

"Entangled strings" (string theory) Plaited loaf - a Great British Bake-off classic - Paul Hollywood's 8 strand plaited loaf. A recipe for those who enjoy complicated recipes (although if you ever enjoyed making complicated friendship bracelets this is the recipe for you! Click on the photo of my finished creation for the recipe!

The finished creation! 

Cake

Nebula cupcakes - a lovely little set of chocolate cupcakes topped with icing and edible glitter and stars - also brilliant as the messier you are with your glitter the more like nebulas they look!

Biscuits

Quark macaroons - 6 flavours! You can even ice the top with up, down, top, bottom, charm and strange symbols if you want. 

Desserts

"Brownie-n motion" and shake in a bag ice cream - stir through some chocolate chips and scatter some on top to demonstrate the random dispersion of particles in a fluid (well sort of!). This is also the best ever brownie recipe I've come across. Serve with ice cream made by shaking the ingredients in a bag of ice - makes lovely ice cream, can cater for different dietary requirements, shows physics in action and is a great science experiment for kids. What's not to love?!

Pastry

Newton's apple pie - I was actually lucky enough to have some apple from Newton's apple tree (in the physics department of York university they had a cutting of the tree which grew and produces apples). Whilst this will have to use normal cooking apples, maybe you could come up with other ways of making it a Newton Apple pie? Decorate it with extra pastry, serve it by whizzing it across the table and demonstrate those laws in action! Maybe I'll even write out the recipe in Newtons!

EDIT: Just realised I missed an obvious opportunity to make a Pi Pie. Maybe I still will...!

If you haven't seen the ASDF movies, click here. You must!

So well as you can see some of these sound delicious if I say so myself! Can you come up with any creative physics themed baked goods? Keep checking back here to catch up on my progress and check out the recipes! 

What's it like studying in Durham?

Well hello there! Today (delayed by a couple of days due to a really busy weekend!) I thought I’d do a post on my experiences living and studying in Durham. I’ve lived up here for 3 years now, and I love it. When I was applying for university I looked round lots of places but Durham was the place I really liked the look and feel of. I’m originally from “Dahn Saarf” so moving “Oop North” was quite a distance to go, but I’ve really enjoyed my time here and would love to stay in this area following graduation.

So Durham. Consistently ranked among the best in the country – what is it like to actually study here? The departments will differ according to subjects so I wont go into them here – but because of the standing of the university you can be sure of high quality teaching and some excellent teaching facilities (including a really great library!). One of the most important things that marks Durham apart from many UK universities is the fact it is collegiate. This means that Durham is made up of colleges as well as the academic departments. Each student is a member of a college and will (usually) live in college buildings for at least their first year, most of which are fully catered. This isn’t quite the same as living in halls of residence as it means you’ll usually eat every meal in a big dining room with everyone else whilst you “live-in” so it’s lovely to be able to get to know other people really quickly.

St Aidan's College and University College (I'm at Aidan's)

College is also central in terms of activities – each college will have its own student societies and sports teams, as well as a JCR committee (JCR: Junior Common Room). These are students who have been elected to help keep college running as the students want it to be run. They are responsible for running events throughout each term from festivals to balls, are responsible for the running of some of the college facilities like the shop (selling a variety of essentials and snacks like sweets, toasties or icecream) and the bar. There is also the college welfare team run by both staff and students so all in all college really makes you feel at home as soon as you arrive at university. Pretty much everyone ends up feeling the same college pride, vigorously arguing about how good your college is compared to the others and enjoying joining in with the traditional college chants and songs. Basically colleges are fantastic!*

College Christmas formal, Traditional Aidan's Chant "Shoes
off if you love Aidans" and Summer Ball

Durham itself is also lovely. The city is small, so you can get everywhere in the centre really easily on foot. In later years when people usually “live-out” of college in privately rented houses these may be slightly further out of the city centre, but lots of students bring bikes or use some of the good bus services. It is also great value for money for students – the North East is much cheaper than other parts of the country but just as good! The city is full of lovely buildings, most notably the cathedral (which you can see from almost everywhere) and castle (which is actually part of the university). It has a good range of shops, with a selection that you’d find in most normal sized towns, as well as a range of restaurants, loads of cafes and a range of nightlife, as well as theatre and cinema. It is also really close to Newcastle which is great for providing access to more shops, concerts and other activities. The surrounding countryside is also really beautiful. Just beware of the cobbles, the hills and the weather!

Durham (lots of Cathedral) and Newcastle

Of course university isn’t just about where you live or the subject you do. It’s about the people you meet and the things you get up to, and in this respect Durham is great. As said previously the college system is great for meeting people particularly in your first few days – I had a large group of friends I have remained friends with by the end of Fresher’s week whereas I know people at other universities who found it a lot harder (as they were separated into random flats and it was much harder to mix with new people). However Durham also provides lots of other opportunities to meet people and enjoy things you love. With a huge number of societies (from music groups to language societies to the cheese tasting society), sports teams (which compete both at an extremely successful national level to casual inter-college level) and other student groups there really is something for everyone. Whilst I’ve been here I’ve enjoyed being a part of:

·      A choir and orchestra

·      First Aid society

·      Yoga, Aerobics and Archery

·      Folk society (both music sessions and Morris dancing – so cool! :P )

·      The Atheist, Secularist and Humanist society

And had a go at a lot more! Societies are a great way to try something new and meet new people with similar interests.

IVFDF Ceilidh with Folk Society, DASH and St John Ambulance

I’ve loved uni and all of the opportunities I’ve had and the people I’ve met. I’m really glad that I ended up at Durham as I think it has been the perfect place for me, however I would recommend to anyone looking at applying to university to actually go and look at the university before you accept an offer. There’s no point accepting somewhere you’re going to end up hating. Prospectuses are also not always a good source of information – lots of universities will just have lovely glossy photos of a very small part of the campus (which you might never actually get to go to). Open days are better, but also make sure you get away from the tours and go and explore a bit for yourself – it should be about what you like and are looking for, not what the university want you to see. Get a feel for the campus, the city and if you can talk to some current students to get a clearer idea. However do bear in mind most people love uni in the end so wherever you end up, I’m sure you’ll have a great time!

Which universities do you go to/ are looking at going to? What do you like most about them? Any questions about Durham?

*It’s worth noting that while quite a lot like the collegiate system at Oxford/Cambridge, it’s not quite the same as no teaching is done in college. Instead teaching is done in lectures that everyone attends and tutorials where the groups are students from a mix of colleges. 

How to... Cope with Illness at University

Ooops – looks like something went wrong last week! I posted last Saturday but it seems to have mysteriously disappeared (it was probably me deleting it by accident or something – silly me!). So apologies about that; I was none the wiser about the lack of a proper post! I’ve reposted it below so check it out – just a couple of hints about how I like to revise for Physics exams!

Today’s blog is another one that hopefully might help someone out at some point. University is quite a daunting experience, most people move away from home to an entirely new place and are suddenly entirely responsible for themselves, often for the first time in their lives. Added to this is the fact that you become really busy – not only is there lots of work to do, but there are also new friends to meet, activities to try, places to be! All of which can leave you feeling a bit run down. Universities are a hot house for diseases to thrive in – people from all over the country (and beyond) come and share around their various illnesses in lecture halls (which are always either WAY to hot or cold) with other students whose immune systems have already taken a beating from sharing maybe slightly less than spotless kitchens and other communal areas and Friday night’s maybe slightly dodgy 2am pizza from that place that only opens for the ‘late night crowd’.

And getting ill at university is not nice at all! There are no parents to phone up school for you to tell them you can’t come in, no one brings you hot drinks or nourishing food and people are in general far less sympathetic than the treatment you got at home. Instead you have to carry on looking after yourself as best as you can, crawling out of the nest you have formed for yourself in your bedroom, looking miserable as you skulk towards the kitchen to get yourself some food. Trying to look less guilty as other people see you, as you silently apologise for even daring to leave your den of illness and share with everyone else the possibility that they too might catch it.

So yeah, it’s not great. Students are also liable to get some really nasty illnesses which can have some really significant complications at our age. So what can you do about it? I am one of those “more ill than the average person” people, so I have lots and lots of experience at being ill, and more importantly for this post, what you can do to cope.

·      Doctors – when you’re ill you go to the doctors right? Well first off, when you start university make sure you register at your new GP, your university will probably help with this. Then appreciate the fact that it may not operate in the same way as your current GP does. At my university, there are lots of students all registered to the same GP surgery, so they have to operate in such a way as to maximise the number of people they can see. So instead of necessarily just booking an appointment, you may have to attend a drop in session where you arrive and wait to see the first available doctor or nurse. This is all well and good for most people, but if you have long standing health problems you may wish to see someone consistently who gets to know you and knows about your history and appreciates your health record. Ask about whether you can have it mentioned on your record that you would like to see a particular doctor, in such circumstances I’ve found they’ve been very good about letting me see a doctor who knows me and who I like.

·      Find out about university policy. If you’re ill you will probably be missing lectures, which may or may not be compulsory to attend. Even if not compulsory you’ll be missing teaching time so either try and get notes from a friend, or try asking the lecturer do they have any slides or notes or similar. If you are missing compulsory sessions, find out what the protocol is. Often you can just contact the university or specific department to let them know you’re ill so are missing classes/ need an extension on a deadline or whatever. In lots of universities for short term problems (like flu for example) you can self certify, which means you don’t need a doctor’s note to prove you were ill, however you will probably be limited in how many of these you can submit and under what circumstances. Make sure you know the procedures for any more important circumstances such as being ill during the exam or revision period, as there are often more forms to fill in, more important people to contact and you will often need a doctors letter (which aren’t necessarily quick or easy to get and are often not free either).

·      Find out about the support networks in the university or surrounding area. If you suffer from a long term health issue there are often people you can talk to who can help you deal with these, from disability services to counselling services or university welfare teams. These people can really help by explaining procedures you need to follow, helping you find resources that might help (such as support in buying a Dictaphone if you regularly miss lectures for health reasons so the lecture can be recorded for you) and just being a friendly face you can go to when you’re feeling rubbish.

·      Look after yourself. You have your freedom now but this doesn’t mean that takeaways all the time and drinking every night is a good idea. Eat properly, get enough sleep, get some exercise in and you’ll be less likely to be ill. Pay attention to any notices sent round about any particular illnesses that are going round like mumps or glandular fever and protect yourself from them and recognise the symptoms, as they are not fun at all! Keep a check on your mental well being too as students are some of the most likely people to experience mental health difficulties as well, and help is out there. Find help if you need it as there is no shame in making sure you’re ok.

Try not to worry as well. Whilst when you’re ill the world can seem like a horrible place, but there are people who understand and people who have been through it all before. As such, there are many systems in place to ensure that no matter what happens, you should be able to access help and really enjoy university to the full, even if slip ups occur along the way. You’re not alone, there genuinely is always someone out there to help and finding them will really make you feel a lot better!

How to... Cope with Physics Exams

NOTE: Due to technical difficulties this blog was originally posted on 24/05/14 but seems to have disappeared since then - so here it is again! 

Hello everyone! I’m so sorry it has been so long, but I have been living holed up in my room and the library for the last month! However I have now broken out of the stress of exams, the monotony of revision and can once again turn my attentions to more fun endeavours. From now I will be blogging regularly (aiming for once a week, to be published on Saturdays). 

So, exams. Exams are hard, and everyone knows it. Having now been taking official exams every summer for the last 8 years (goodness me that’s a lot of exams!) I can now say that I think I’ve got my revision strategies worked out. Now of course everyone has different methods for revision, but this blog post just aims to give some ideas about what works for me, and what may work for others if they want some ideas.

First off: Revising for different subjects really does necessitate revising in different ways. I mean, different subjects obviously have different content, but that content is also applied very differently in exams. I studied Physics, Maths, English Literature and Music at A level and even then it was obvious that each subject needed to be approached in a different way. But it was approaching my first year university exams that it became clearer I needed to hone my revision techniques to be most efficient for revising Physics. At school many hours were spent doing (slightly weird) workshops that were meant to tell you what kind of learner you were, and therefore how you should revise. Everyone was encouraged to produce many different resources in order to revise, but many subjects didn’t actually give any hints about how to revise specifically for their subject.

Physics, at least at university level, is hard. The exams are tough. There is a lot of content to know (formula sheets are a vague memory from the past), but it isn’t enough to just know what you’ve been told in lectures. You have to be able to use this knowledge to do things that you may never have seen before, so you really have to understand it all too (and where it all comes from and how it all links together). You then also need to have the maths skills to do some pretty complicated mathematical tasks, where a small error will completely ruin your final answer. So what would I recommend?

·      Make your notes for the content in a way that works for you - People learn the content in different ways. I used to make colourful posters, as my memory works in such a way that I can usually visualise particular pages of revision and particular sections of that page and the colour can help me recall the image. However as the amount of content has increased, I have just found that often I don’t have enough time to cover all of the content in this way. Instead, I go through and make notes for the entire course, but making sure I understand every single part before I write it down as I will only have time to do this step once. I try and structure my notes such that content is presented in a logical order, and cross reference different parts so I understand how it all fits together and refer back to this resource whilst practicing.

·      Go back over everything regularly using the syllabus as a guide – when going back over your notes, use the syllabus (which should define what you need to know) to check your knowledge. You can write yourself a list of questions that you should be able to answer, and then go through it. (My boyfriend Adam came up with this one and it really works! :)) If you can’t write down the correct answer, go back through your notes and try again (sometimes writing it out a few times again helps). And do this regularly, starting a long time before the exams actually happen.

·      PRACTICE – the most important part of Physics revision is practice. Not only does it let you practice your maths skills properly, it can give you clues as to what sort of questions might come up and how these questions might be phrased. If you get sample solutions it can also give you good tips of how to answer questions and what to write down to gain the maximum number of marks.

·      In the exam – don’t panic. Many exams at university follow a different format to exams at school such that you can choose a certain number of questions to answer and leave the rest. Some people like to read the whole exam paper at the start, some people find that may panic them and prefer to answer some questions first, particularly if they are compulsory. But anyway – keeping calm is the most important thing. Even if you think you can’t do a question, write down what things you know about the topic. These might help you start to come up with a solution, as they can help you focus more on the topic but even if not may gain you some marks.

·      Make sure you write down your working. You’ll get told this constantly whilst at school and you know what – they’re right. It means if you make a mistake during a calculation they can see where you went wrong and then give you marks for the bits you did right. This is way more important as calculations get longer and harder.

And remember – at university the bar changes. 70% or more is excellent, gone are the days when less than 90% meant you missed out on the top grade. They are meant to be hard so don’t necessarily panic if you can’t do everything, just make sure you are especially careful when answering questions on things you can do.

All of the above may seem like common sense, but I’ve come across many people who really do find it hard to revise and are looking for a bit of help. So if that is you, best of luck! Hopefully something I’ve said might help but remember it’s all about what works for you!

To anyone else – do you have any revision tips that you think might help someone? What works for you?

I’m not an anomaly – I'm just me!

First off – sorry that this is a little late! I’m now getting stuck into proper revision mode so my blogging may be a little erratic! I will aim to post approximately once every fortnight, however which day this happens to be on may change each time depending on how enthralled I am in theoretical quantum mechanics at the time (which is exciting, although I’ll admit theoretical anything is probably my least favourite part of Physics. It’s got to be done though!).

As promised, I wanted to do a post on what it’s like to study Physics as a female. Following International Women’s Day earlier in March, several interesting discussions took place about women in STEM, both in education and as a career. I would like to say from the outset – this is not a post saying that men are at fault. This is not a post that aims to point the finger and start accusing people of active discrimination. However bias does still exist in society. And there are lots of us that want to identify why, and come up with solutions to help combat it. Check out this talk from Shelley Correll, Professor of Sociology at Stanford University. She explains how women may be subject to negative bias within a work setting and suggests some solutions that may combat this. 

I'd also like to say that I have a great time studying Physics as a woman. I have great male and female friends and have role models of both genders that I look up to. Yes, it was annoying when I started my degree that so many people remembered me as "that girl" from the open day, just because as one of 7 girls in a group of 50 males my gender did make me stand out. However for the most part I've had a very positive experience of Physics education. I wanted to make this post to address the fact that so many others aren't as lucky as me. Please note I am not a psychologist though, and all the statements I make are based on information I have read in a variety of articles and research papers. I don't claim to be an expert, but I do feel justified in supporting other peoples ideas with my own experiences in life.

It is well known that less women study Physics and thus there are less women who go into careers involving Physics. So let’s look at the facts. In 2011 only 20% of A level Physics students were girls. This is despite the fact that girls perform just as well and usually outperform boys at GCSE level. Check out more statistics here, in a resource produced by the IoP. Uptake of other subjects such as Maths and Chemistry by girls is much higher than uptake of Physics. Uptake of Physics at single sex girls schools is again much higher. So why in general are less girls taking Physics at A level?

Reasons for this have been postulated for years, some of which have been widely accepted by the population. However many of these ‘reasons’ are not necessarily accurate, and in any case are not useful to teach as fact to the population at large. Let’s have a look at some of them:

·     Men’s and women’s brains are different: Yes, this is true. Studies have shown that there are differences in how men and women’s brains are structured and how they use their brains. But most studies are inconclusive about whether most of these differences are due to nature or nurture. From the time you are born you are stereotyped. In general girls play with dolls, boys play with cars and construction sets. Is it any wonder that boys and girls develop more in different areas if in their first stages of learning they are often actively encouraged to follow certain patterns? Even if men's and women's brains are inherently different surely every subject would benefit from having different ways of thinking about it, rather than restricting ourselves to the idea that one approach is best. However, more importantly, instead of arguing about whether males and females are inherently better at certain things, I think it’s more important to STOP spreading the belief that we are different just because of our gender. Books like “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” would have us all believe that nature has kitted us out for predetermined roles and that anyone who varies from the norm is an anomaly that can’t be explained. Is it not more valuable to just think of EVERYONE as unique individuals with different skills?

UPDATE: I remembered this article from the Independent. This supports the idea that the brain develops through learning, can change and thus whilst there may be small differences, most of the differences are due to our experience. 

Our brains are different - but shouldn't we recognise the fact
that we are all unqiue? Just because our brains are different
doesn't mean we shouldn't study certain subjects.

·      Girls are, from a young age, lead to believe they are bad at maths and science. This comes from toys, children’s books, TV characters (even in The Big Bang Theory, a programme that often is praised for putting a positive spin on Physics, the first ‘normal’ woman who did Physics was introduced in series 6. Series 6!) and even clothes (see here). Based on arguments like the fact that our brains are different, girls grow up with the expectation that they will be less good at maths and science, even if the evidence suggests that they aren’t actually any worse than boys. Comments such as “Isn’t that sort of a boy subject” are common but comments that “Girls are just not as good at science” terrify me most. Even parents and teachers are guilty of this, and these are people that will influence a young person’s decisions later in life. It’s also notable that this bias is not as prominent when looking at this from the opposite perspective – are there subjects that boys are inherently bad at? There are subjects that significantly less boys study (like Dance and Health and Social Care), but from my own experience and from talking to male friends about this, this is not because it is suggested that boys are automatically worse at them. Boys in those subjects may be accused of becoming less masculine but they don’t grow up with the expectation that they will be bad at them, it’s more the fact that it would be a social faux pas to take these subjects up. So yes, gender inequality does impact men as well, but I would argue a) not to the same extent and b) Gender equality benefits people of both genders anyway. Why is everyone (men and women) not working towards the same goal where no one is judged for what they find interesting? It’s not a war between men and women. It’s about allowing everyone the space to find out what they are good at for themselves.

This dog might be bad at science - not all women fall into the
same category.

·      Physics often tends to be taught in a way that does, in general, appeal to boys more than girls. Questions will usually involve scenarios that are more appealing to a male audience (footballs moving through the air, cars accelerating) and focus less on things that more girls might find more interesting. Please realise this doesn't mean make everything pink or about lipstick - that's patronising. Girls are often more inclined to want to know what real life impact something might have and more focus needs to be given to what Physics actually achieves in the world with more positive role models of both genders. Even if historically men discovered things (because they had access to the education) women are doing exciting things TODAY and this idea needs to be pushed more.

There are a myriad of other factors too, but I think it is important to show most of our preconceived ideas are challenged by evidence. Girls are as good at boys at Physics according to exam results, but choose not to continue to study Physics. I would say this therefore has more to do with a cultural expectation of what they should study rather than inherent ability. Looking at cultures that are undergoing rapid development, such as in parts of Africa and Asia the sciences are valued more in general, and women are often leading in these areas. I believe we all need to think about our preconceived ideas about who studies what and why and accept that different people like different things for different reasons. Stop labeling me as an anomaly, just recognise I am unique!

For more reading on this topic (there’s lots) here are a few articles I found interesting. Organisations such as ScienceGrrl also aims to educate people about the roles women hold in STEM subjects and hold events to discuss this and to promote STEM subjects to girls. Check out some of these links! J

Science Grrl - promoting women in STEM subjects

The Telegraph on Girls studying Physics and Maths- warning the comments are depressing!

The Government's notes on research on promoting girls in Physics

So what is it like being a Physics student?

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't written for a while but it's all been extraordinarily busy recently! As this blog aims to demonstrate what it is like to study Physics at university, this seemed like a fairly obvious topic to begin with. However, seeing as this weekend marks International Women's Day I felt I ought to say a little on what it's like to study Physics as a female. In a nutshell, it's getting better. More and more girls are feeling able to go away and study Physics at whatever level they want to. More high profile science is being done by women. People are gradually accepting that females can study Physics and can be as good at it. I mean, you still come across some idiots who think that if you are studying Physics you are either a) deluded about being good at a 'male' subject or b) just looking for a husband. Thank goodness times are moving ahead and we are beginning to reach a stage where a woman can feel confident about entering a male dominated subject. International Women's Day is such a brilliant way to celebrate the many, diverse achievements of women from across the world, but also to highlight areas in which progress still needs to be made in terms of gender equality. However, that's enough for now. I will be doing a proper blog post about being a woman in Physics in the next few weeks so watch this space!

Anyway... what is it like doing a Physics degree? Firstly: BUSY! During your degree you really do learn what being busy really means. You will probably have one of the highest number of contact hours of any subject (around 20 hours a week). That doesn't sound too bad you think? I mean school has about 25 hours a week? The difference is in the amount of work you have to do outside of the the teaching hours, and how much more intense the teaching really is. There will be days when you really start to resent your friends on other degree programmes, who might just about manage to get in for 5 hours teaching time per week. Reading they say, we have to do lots of reading. And they're right, they do work hard too. But you know the unfair bit? The physicist also has to read -  if they have time that is! As well as the aforementioned contact hours (lectures, lab sessions, tutorials and workshops), each week there are multiple problems to complete and hand in, each of which will probably take hours to do. Add in a couple of lab reports a term, some computing projects and some poster presentations (which will inevitably all be due in at the same time) and you already have a very busy timetable. Then add the reading that we're meant to do (otherwise you'll have no idea what is going on in the course) and there are suddenly no spare hours in the day. 

Credit goes to Gary Larson, creator of The Far Side
cartoon series.

However this in turn has its own benefits. One way of looking at it? You're getting much better value for your tuition fees. And university really is all about hard work and learning at the end of the day. Physics is HARD, there are no two ways about it. But there are rewards in the end. At the same time you also do learn to make the most of the time you have. You find you can actually fit an awful lot into the day and still have time to join societies, go out, make friends and enjoy your time. Even if it means having occasional frantic panics about work. It's still worth it. For example, as well as my degree I enjoy music, including singing in my college choir. I enjoy swimming, yoga and archery. I participate in folk dance, including a recent weekend trip to Edinburgh for IVFDF - the Inter Varsity Folk Dance Festival which was great. This is as well as being involved with many other societies and activities; and spending time with friends. So despite all the busyness there's a lot else to get involved with and a lot of fun to have. I mean, university is about trying new things too. It's just a case of learning how to use your time. 

Secondly: Studying Physics at university level is nothing like studying it at school. Gone are the days of A level Physics where it was all about passing exams. Passing those exams are also a distant memory - no longer are questions short, no longer does the paper lead you towards the answer they want and memories of formula booklets are now fading fast. Exams are now 3 hours long but have far fewer questions. It is no longer a memory test; instead it is a test of your understanding of the actual Physics. Instead of being given some variables that you just plug into a formula you may or may not need to remember you are expected to derive different formula. You need to use MATHS to just get towards a solution to the problem in terms of many variables before you even think about maybe plugging real numbers in. And of course your answer might not have much to do with real life at the end of it anyway. I guess that is one of the biggest differences - Physics at university is all about the maths. If you are considering a Physics degree make sure you a) actually enjoy maths just for the pure maths-y-ness of it and b) are pretty good at it. You will suddenly discover all the varied and wonderful uses for all those things you learnt at A level about which we all said "But yeah, when am I going to have to use this in real life?". I'll tell you where - in a lecture where you write several long pages of notes but never write a single word, except maybe the title. Sometimes not even then. Expect to be pretty much perpetually confused, desperately hoping everyone else is as confused as you are. Sometimes it's worse when you actually think you understand it, you can't help feeling you must have missed the point. Not even joking, questions sometimes look like this when you're feeling lost: "A roof is sloped at 42.7 degrees. A ball is dropped from a height of 1.63m. Remembering the assumption that we are working in just 3 dimensions; when an orange lorry drives past at 99.9% of the speed of light, what is the probability that a pineapple will be produced when the system is observed for the second time? Can we tell what colour it will be?"

However it's not all that bad. Lots of the degree is confusing and will make you tear your hair out but equally it will fascinate you too. You get to break out of the limitations of the physics you learn at school and learn about some really cool stuff. And feel pretty darn smart and smug when you get to quote Physics at other people. To put it briefly - it is all worth it. Yes you spend a lot of time wondering what is going on, and wondering whether you're actually going a little bit mad or whether maybe someone is playing a massive joke on you and this stuff really is just made up. But then there are moments like working out a particularly nasty solution to a complicated integral and finding that suddenly the solution you are meant to get out "just falls out so beautifully and neatly and IT JUST IS SO BEAUTIFUL". Or getting more than a little excited about how particularly stunning your graph turned out to be. (Yes. I get excited about graphs.) Or the moment when your code works so you run through your house proclaiming "IT WORKS. AND IT IS THE MOST MAGNIFICENT THING I HAVE EVER CREATED". These are all the moments that make it worthwhile - despite the fact that you may look a little bit like a total weirdo. Oh well - weird is good. At least it's fun!

Credit to the creator at twisteddoodles.com

So yes, as with any degree Physics has it's ups and downs. There are plenty of boring bits (at least to you - you have to try and remember that someone somewhere thinks this is the most fascinating subject of all) but they are made worth it by the bits where everything suddenly makes sense and you finally feel like you're on top of everything. It's a bit like life really. So is it worth it? Why yes, of course!

What about you? Are you interested in pursuing Physics as a degree? Are you like me currently in the middle of it all? Or have you finished? Has your opinion changed at all? Feel free to ask any questions or add your own thoughts below!

BLOG TO BE LAUNCHED SOON!

If you have found your way here already, please bear with me for a little while! The blog will be properly launched soon so do pop back if you're interested in the thoughts of a female Physics Undergraduate! :)

To while away the time... check out this! It's awesome (and maybe a little bit addictive!)

http://www.nowykurier.com/toys/gravity/gravity.html