Second semester of my first year at the University of Edinburgh

First semester was faster than anyone expected. Suddenly, we were revising, writing final exams and finishing everything. Right after, thousands of students left Edinburgh for Christmas to visit their homes located all around the world. Three weeks later, second semester of my university life has started.

In the middle of January many new things appeared again. New courses, some new people and mainly new experiences. One of the best ones was a traditional Scottish ball. The ball was organized by University Accommodation Services particularly for Grant House, a house in which I live. The event took place in St. Leonard’s Hall, the most beautiful historic building of an accommodation complex called Pollock Halls.  The evening started with an amazing formal dinner. In the Czech Republic, formal dinners do not take place very often but as a student of British university you will have several opportunities to attend this exceptional occasion. Unfortunately, formal dinners tend to be quite expensive but in my opinion the experience is worth it. After the meal, the actual ball finally begun. It was very different from all balls I went to before. Scotsmen exchanged pants for kilts and live music consisted mainly from playing on bagpipes. During traditional Scottish ball you will not see anything like polka, waltz, jive, Viennese waltz or cha-cha. In Scotland, you will dance ceilidh. It is originally a Gaelic dance and it is accompanied by Gaelic folk music. Even if you are a complete beginner, as a majority of students in Edinburgh, you can take part because Scottish band usually explains dance steps before playing each piece. The whole evening remains unforgettable for me and I would recommend everyone to attend a lively Scottish ball.

I also realized my first trip outside Edinburgh. I visited the National Wallace Monument in Stirling and Stirling Castle, the beautiful Lake of Menteith and few other lochs, Monty Python's Doune Castle and part of a stunning Highland’s nature. All of that with an exceptional Scottish guide that familiarized us with part of a wild Scottish history and culture. Despite not very pleasant weather in Highlands in winter time I enjoyed the trip a lot and I decided that I had to travel around Scotland and all its beauties once in a future.

With new experiences and pastimes a lot of work came as well. Second semester in Biological sciences seems to be much busier than the first one. I attend three courses again. First one is a continuation of Biological Chemistry from the first semester. Second one is called Molecules, genes and cells and it aims to familiarize students with “smaller” aspects of biology than first semester’s Origin and Diversity of Life. Last course I picked for this semester is Medical Biology. As the name suggests, a focus of this course is very broad. Therefore, it allows me to try different fields of biomedical sciences and hopefully it will help me to decide which degree to choose for my further study.

Second semester brought also non-academic challenges. The most important one is probably looking for a flat for next academic year. Ideally, the flat should be very nice, not expensive, fully furnished, available from September but not for the whole year time because as students we are leaving for summer. It should also be located in the Edinburgh centre near to the university which means in the area where approximately 4000 other students look for exactly the same type of flat. It took me some time but I managed to get used to regularly check at least three websites offering flats to rent, go to flat viewings and quite often end up waiting in front of the empty flat because the present tenant or flats renting agency forgot about the arranged meeting. Fortunately, after several very busy weeks, followed by fast deciding, I and my Luxembourgish and Hawaiian future flatmates finally sign a contract for a lovely flat. Hopefully, we will spend a very good year living in there.

After one and half semester of university I realize that I am studying not only biological, biomedical and chemical sciences. I also learn a lot about other cultures, living on my own and dealing with various challenges. These experiences and skills are certainly equally important in future private and professional life as academic education.


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