The Medical Library at University of Cambridge
This post might be a bit late, but better late than never right? :p Anyways, as of the time of writing, I’ve finished my first term at Cambridge, so that leaves me with 17 more terms to go before I graduate! It’s been one heck of a roller coaster ride, but I must say that I’ve enjoyed it tremendously (even though I would probably do some things a bit differently if I had the chance to go back in time). There were good days (thanks friends) and there were bad days too (boo essays), but at the end of the day, everything that happened taught me something, and that’s all that matters.
Things didn’t always go the way I wanted them to; for example I told myself that I would organise my time really well and have time to play badminton every week and go to the gym 3 times a week, but that obviously did not happen. I told myself I would be a social butterfly, but perhaps such a drastic change from being an introvert is impossible. Also, I think that there is a culture gap that has complicated things. As someone who is more accustomed to the relatively conservative Malaysian culture, I’m not really the kind of person who likes to go clubbing, but 90% of the people here do (that’s a rough estimate based on the people I know).
Let me tell you right now that the stories you hear about workload at Cambridge are not exaggerations. I have had at least 3 essays every week (with some exceptions when they were replaced with MCQs etc.), and coupled with all the practicals, I’ve been really busy. It didn’t help that I suck at managing my time and focusing on work, so that made things a lot more difficult than they should have been. Hopefully things improve in the coming terms.
If I have any advice to give, it’s this: time management is EXTREMELY important. If you can focus on your work when you have to, you can then enjoy guiltlessly when you want to. As always, I can be contacted in various ways, namely Facebook (Victor Teh), Twitter (@Zenxenitious) and ask.fm (ask.fm/zenxenitious). Just drop me a message or something and I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Victor Teh is a first year medic in the University of Cambridge. His phone is permanently on flight mode but you can always catch him online
