STUDENT PROFILE- MEDICAL BIOCHEMISTRY

Name: Anonymous :)

Course: Medical Biochemistry (2nd year)

A levels:Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics

Journey in 3 words: Tearful, hard and fun

Brief description of your course?

I was stunned with this question and I was not sure, how to eloquently explain what biochemistry is and how to describe my course so I have decided to pinch the definition of biochemistry from the Biochemistry society’s website. ‘Biochemistry is the branch of science that explores the chemical processes within and related to living organisms.’ It is mainly laboratory based and focuses a lot on the molecular level of how processes work in living organisms. In my specific course, there is a focus towards the human body. Specifically looking at how processes in the body work.

What motivated you to pursue a degree in science?

Growing up I had wonderful role models. Which include many of family members and many of my teachers. They challenged me and at an early age, I discovered my love of science. Understanding how things in this world work being able to further my understanding in higher education was an inevitable outcome towards my love of science.

What drives you to stay motivated?

Staying motivated can be quite challenging. Especially with the sometimes gruelling life in university. What I often do to remain motivated and not burn out is leave myself a guilty free day. Where I am allowed to relax and just do whatever I want. If that thing may involve watching trash tv for an entire day or do activities that don’t involve my studies. I enjoy doing my extracurricular activities that I try very hard not to miss otherwise I would go crazy. I think it is very important to let yourself have some time where your brain can just switch off and recover for a bit. In that time I try to read papers and remind myself why I chose this subject and what I love so much about it.

What advice would you give someone wanting to follow a similar career path to yours?

It might sound cheesy but do something you enjoy doing. Choose something that challenges you and just thinking about doing it scares you. Get yourself out of your comfort zone. Do not be afraid to look like an idiot sometimes.

Describe how you manage your work- life balance

Not very well. Ha-ha. I tend to commit too much to either my work or my life. What has recently helped me was to organise my time. I started using calendar apps on my phone not to forget about my plans and I organised a revision timetable. According to what I wished to accomplish in a day. I found that making my revision timetable more goal oriented rather than allocating specific times has worked for me. If I tell myself that, I wanted to review lecture 1 and 2 in 2 hours but by the end of the second hour, I only completed one lecture. I would start to panic realising that I am behind and that panic will translate into my work and revision. Instead if in a day I tell myself I tell myself I would like to review X, Y, Z It allows me to be a bit more flexible.