The idea of this column came from Khaya and Emma’s reflections on being a third year at IH. We hope to chronicle the experiences of those mythical creatures, the Third Year students at IH. Hopefully, it will be a source for inspiration and to show you where IH and studying at Uni can get you. We hope to ‘glamourise uni where it loses its panache, the college’.
Monique Edwards
Myths of a 3rd Year Commerce Student:
- You have to stick to the same major. I have changed my majors 3 times. I started out thinking I wanted to do a double of Accounting/Management (most people do a double major in commerce) changing to Accounting/Finance, hating it and changing back to Accounting/Management. I’ve used most of my breadths doing the required Business Law subjects.
- We know how to study. You would think by now we would all have a good study routine and be ready to ace exams. LOL, sometimes I feel like I am no more intelligent than my fresher self.
- You only do theory subjects in commerce Last year I did a subject called ‘Management Consulting’ where you get placed in a company to research a problem for them. I did the semester-long option (there is a global MC where you spend the break in anther country) and researched into incorporating Big Data into Credit Reporting.
- Third year life is busy and all we do is study. It is definitely true that third year life is busy, and there is lots of study to be done, but we don’t spend all our time with our heads in the book. Third years are skilled at time management (or attempting to be so), working part time, getting involved at Uni and being IHers. This year I am balancing being a Senior Communication officer with Marnie, Treasurer on the IHSC, keeping my sanity and landing a job for next year.
- We are old and scary Nope! No need to have that ‘wow you’re a third year’ moment. Our fresher batch was originally 160-ish and now there are just 13 of us left, so we are always keen to get to know new people. So, sit at meals with us to talk about what subjects we hated and how times have changed from our first year. Share in our wisdom.
Indah Cox-Livingstone.
I commenced my degree of a Bachelor of Science with little idea of what I wanted to do, other than the vague notion that I wanted to work with animals; preferably in a way that would have allowed me to simultaneously benefit human kind and improve animal welfare. Since then I have progressed through various study/life plans, from zoology to immunology and then finally to a Cell and Developmental Biology major. The Cell and Developmental Biology major provided an attractive degree of flexibility, with few fixed electives and a range of biology subjects from which one can choose to construct their degree.
The major is based around studying life at a cellular level, exploring the beautiful intricacies of cellular functioning and the processes evolution has created, which can be both strikingly intuitive and exceedingly complex and interlinked. The major also explores human kind’s alterations of our own and other organisms’ evolution, through genetic manipulation, and the impossible moral and ethical questions such an ability encompasses, as to what degree do we take such knowledge in the hope to understand and improve the human condition.
A Cell and Developmental Biology major is designed to provide a strong foundation for someone considering a career in biological research, particularly lab- and biotechnology-based. Personally, I hope to undertake graduate study in veterinary medicine, so it’s not really the typical pathway for someone of my career plan, but the major encompasses the core fundamentals of cellular biology and biochemistry that provides foundations for many different career pathways.
In regards to the area in which you study, my number one piece of advice would be to be guided in your future subject/major/career choices by what you enjoy. If you find something you enjoy and are passionate about it, the hours of study/work you have ahead of you are going to be far easier and more rewarding than if you follow a study/career pathway on which you do not find joy.
