Bowling with the ICSE crew.

Hello there!

What have I been up to the last two weeks that has kept me SO busy I haven’t been able to blog? Well, a number of things.

Project continues to keep me fully occupied during the week, as if having a huge number of lecture notes to go over wasn’t enough. Last week I learned how to use a pH probe (possibly one of the hardest things I’ve ever done…</sarcasm>) and how to make a TRIS phosphate buffer solution. I also weighed out a huuuge number of samples, all 150 mg, all into little plastic pots. It was tiresome and boring, and took 6.5 hours with no lunch-break and no sitting down. My legs ached afterwards. I’ve also learned how to do a compression test (watching the samples that took me 3 months to make being slowly crushed is…well, crushing). Lots of data to collect this week, as my supervisor kept reminding me. Lovely.

My fave corridor at Imperial. Strange, I know.

I rejoined ICSE! Most of you weren’t even aware I quit – I decided, in my infinite wisdom, that I didn’t have enough time to practice the pieces we are playing during the week, and that it would be more fair to the orchestra if I removed myself. Unfortunately, I didn’t factor in the number of people who are able to play viola (as in, not many), and I got an email last week asking me if I would kindly show my face again. So, I did. The concert is on Tuesday, in Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Square. We are playing for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Tickets are £5 for students and £12 for adults – slightly more if you buy them on the door. It will be Tom’s debut as leader of the orchestra – if you are interested in attending, please do let me know!

Publicity stint over, we went bowling on Friday, which was good fun. Turns out that being awesome on the Wii does not translate to being good in real life. I wasn’t really surprised, but still. More practice required!

We’ve been going to the pub every Wednesday with the Materials people – last week we went to a lovely place in Notting Hill which had doors to fit hobbits! I felt right at home, haha. It was the Earl of Lonsdale, and had a load of private booths each with their own section of the bar, meaning we never had to go far to get the next (rather cheap) pint. Amazing. Next week we are off to a pub in Barons Court which has been described as the Tardis. Quite a lot of excitement from the Dr Who fans in our group about that!

Apart from that, I’m glad January is over. My lectures are rather more taxing than I expected, and I’m really looking forward to the sun rising at a sensible hour of the day. Six months of the degree left! Terrifying.

Ciao for now!

CORRIE

Some of my samples, pre-sorting.

It’s been a while, again. You may have noticed that I’m blogging less this year. This is because I’m a thousand times busier making sure that I make the most of the last six months of my degree. This means being with my friends as much as poss, doing as much work as I can, and also getting ready to go into the big wide world.

So, what have I done since I last blogged? Well, I went and saw “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” with Tom and John, had my first Tissue Engineering lecture, my first Advanced Biomaterials lecture, and had 281 samples to analyse. I also made it to the pub three times, had tea late at night with Lucia twice, and drove down to Devon.

First impressions of the courses I experienced this week are good. This may be because I did so much orthopaedics over the summer, and I also know a little bit more about tissue engineering than I thought, apparently! The introductions were very quick and easy, and the first two lectures of each course were interesting.

And post-sorting.

It made me reminisce about the days in first and second year – in Materials, the first two years are filled with compulsory lectures which are common to everyone. You have lectures everyday, then lots of labs and tutorials to keep you occupied in-between times. Compared to then, I have only got six hours of lectures a week of timetabled stuff now, with just my project as my coursework. I’m the only person on the course doing my combination of subjects. It’s up to me to decide how much time I spend in the lab, and how much I’m revising for exams in six months – actually so much more high pressure than the course used to be.

It’s good, though. I’ve enjoyed the progression. The course has been so totally worth it!

We're back to basics for tutoring.

Present from Simon <3

Combining art and revision (Carlos bought coloured chalk. That was a BAD idea.)

I had my first exam of the year this morning. It was Systems Physiology – a module that Carlos, Saj and I took with the bioengineering department, as part of our efforts to biology it up this year. Basically, we had to learn the anatomy and basic operating processes of the brain, heart, lungs, musculoskeletal system, and genetics. The exam was OK – I did some maths, which I was very happy about (the Nernst Equation – like, the easiest equation in the world), and blagged my way through answering some bits where I knew the information but wasn’t exactly sure what was being asked. We shall see. Four exams away from the end of my time at Imperial. Yes!

I’ve started a new tutoring thing with a lovely little girl in Knightsbridge. I’m to teach her piano and help her with maths, so I started that on Monday, and it was good. She’s very lively and bright, and I can only see myself enjoying it. It does mean I’ve spent ages trying to think of ways to play games with maths – and also looking up the syllabus for the Key Stages 2 and 3. My next step is going to Hamley’s, to see what educational toys they have.

Revision or play-time, you decide.

Well, it’s a good excuse, right?

I made a stew in the slow cooker the other night, which I was very proud of cos it had dumplings in it. I didn’t know what dumplings were – I’d never eaten them let alone made them, and I have to say, they were horrible. Even the picture looks horrible. Yuck.

Knitting is going strong. I’ve completed one glove, received 600 beads and 800 buttons for some scarf projects (I’m doing 11 in ’11 – knitting 11 scarves this year, pretty self-explanatory. If you care, I’ve started a crafty blog so that I can talk about CREATING to the internet, and stop annoying all my friends.) Tom’s parents bought us Wii Fit for Christmas, and it has told me I need to lose quite a substantial amount of weight. (Yuck). After studying the Systems Physiology course and learning about atherosclerosis, and knowing that since I stopped riding regularly (stupid project, getting in the way of my leisure time…I jest…) I’ve put on some weight, this is all going to combine into a massive plan for the next six months. Leave notes in college, run to and from college and home (the Oyster fare just went up, which is largely responsible for that little one), get a first and lose the weight that the annoying voice on the TV is telling me I need to.

Mmmmm, delicious...NOT.

I’m going to the pub tonight, then back to work tomorrow. I’m actually feeling really inspired, and am looking forward to blasting through the last six months of my degree with as much debauchery, studying and jollity as possible. I start Advanced Biomaterials, and Tissue Engineering next week, and I can’t wait.

Ciao for now!

Corrie