by Angela, Immerse Mentor
It’s been an exciting week on the first-ever Immerse session in London! Starting from the first day our participants had already begun to bond. We spent the first evening playing icebreaker games in the common room to get to know one another, and by the end of it, all of our Business Management, Medicine, and Engineering participants were bonding just like old friends. Read on to learn more about the exciting experiences we had throughout the week!
On Monday, we headed from breakfast to the first classes of the day in the extremely central London School of Oriental and African Studies. It was a delight to enjoy a nice picnic together at lunchtime at the stunning Russell Square. That evening, participants enjoyed a scavenger hunt and a quiz night. The mentors had lots of fun later on looking through the photos of our participants at their specified locations, which included the British staple, a Pret a Manger cafe. It was great to see that our participants had a blast!
On Tuesday, our Medicine and Engineering students had a fascinating talk led by Ella-May Hards, a PhD Biomedical Imaging and Engineering candidate. During this time, our Business Management participants visited the incredible Wellcome Collection.
That morning, the mentors thoroughly enjoyed planning for a ‘British Summer Sports Session’. We decided we really wanted to show the participants how to play rounders, a popular British not unlike baseball, similarly played with a bat and a ball between two teams. Both the mentors and students had a great time playing rounders in the afternoon under the sun in Russell Square.
After dinner, we attended an informative talk by the Head of Internal Communications in Deutsche Bank, Michael Foster. This talk was focused on learning how to be effective communicators in the working world in the 21st century. Our participants were prepared with lots of interesting questions for Michael and engaged in the topics he raised during his talk.
After the morning sessions on Wednesday afternoon, our mentees departed with their tutors for different academic excursions relevant to their focus subject. Our Engineering students had the opportunity to tour the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park while our Medicine students visited the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Business Management participants had the pleasure of touring The Bank of England Museum.
Following the academic portion of the day, the participants had the opportunity for free time in the area of Bloomsbury, where our accommodation is located. Some of the participants went to Waterstones to buy books while others took the time to eat in cafes. Many participants then opted to attend our organised visit to the Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera Immersive Experience in Canada Water. The exhibition featured some of Kahlo and Diego’s most famous works, where more than 300 digital projections were beautifully wrapped around the room.
On Thursday, the Engineering students participated in the ‘Secrets of the Underground’ tour. The Business Management students took part in an industry workshop led by Phil Bennett, the Founder and Creative Director of Pip Creative. Phil discussed the importance of a brand and how it can be developed. Meanwhile, our Medicine students attended an engaging talk at the Alexander Fleming Museum. Fleming first discovered the antibiotic penicillin in the hospital in which the museum is based in 1928.
The participants were pleased to have another period of free time to discover the area of Bloomsbury for themselves after the tours. Later in the afternoon, we prepared a fun game of Werewolf for participants whereby players are divided into civilians, doctors and detectives. Participants took part in a lively discussion to work out who was who.
I have loved every part of being a mentor. The best part for me has without a doubt been getting to know each of our participants and the mentors and discovering everyone’s clear passion for their chosen subjects of study!
Angela, Immerse Education Mentor, Career Insights
To learn more about our London Career Insights Programme click the link below.
