Shilpa Peswani, MSc Pharmaceutical Technology
Postgraduate studies attract people from all walks of life, from students fresh out of undergraduate degrees to experienced professionals looking to enrich their knowledge and specialise in a particular field. In my case, I decided to return to the academic world after a few years of working in the professional sector as a community pharmacist. Initially, I was nervous about being a mature student and wondered if I’d even fit in but looking back over the past six months, it’s safe to say I am thoroughly enjoying my time here at King’s.
Taking that time off after my undergraduate studies gave me time to reflect upon my interests and really helped me explore what it is that I am actually passionate about. Because let’s be honest, not everyone has a plan or knows exactly what they want to do after graduating. Sometimes plans don’t work out or they end up changing, and I have come to realise that that is absolutely fine. Working as a community pharmacist allowed me to develop a variety of skills in a clinical setting, but the trait I’ve come to appreciate the most as as a mature student is the advantage of having perspective and experience.
Postgraduate study is no joke. It requires a combination of skills and the most important ones, in my opinion, are time management, efficiency and organisational skills. The word ‘postgraduate’ implies a level of responsibility and autonomy that comes with balancing professional, academic and personal life. But contrary to popular belief, it’s not always all work and no play. The key word here is balance. It’s necessary to establish boundaries, to know when to put in the hard work and when to stop and take a break from academic jargon.
Recently, the student union at King’s (KCLSU) held an event called ‘Doggy De-Stress’ and as the title implies, the cutest pups from a foster company were brought in for us to play with and de-stress. All it takes is a few seconds of being in their presence for giggles and fun to replace any thoughts about essay deadlines. It’s always a happy day when puppies are involved.
Another popular event run by KCLSU and King’s Sports is the biannual Great King’s Run, a fun way to stay active and meet people, and if you add in the element of colour, you can be sure to expect a good time. This was my second time round and although I’m not much of a runner, what made it so fun was the encouragement from complete strangers and just seeing people’s reactions on the streets as we ran by – picture messy, multicoloured masses of people running across town. Definitely not something you see every day, but amusing nonetheless.
Depending on the kind of postgraduate degree, days can look more or less structured. I am currently in the second semester of studying an MSc in Pharmaceutical Technology and each day brings different opportunities to hold onto and hurdles to overcome. My degree is a taught master’s programme which entails a fairly structured schedule. Although lectures are spread over two or three days in the week, a large amount of work is done independently outside of lectures. I usually get this done at the library on Waterloo campus with copious amounts of coffee or bubble tea for when I’m feeling indulgent. If the campus library isn’t for you, then there are several alternatives such as coffee shops or quiet areas in museums and galleries. I personally refer to the link below when trying out new cafés to get work done during the weekends, and if you want pancakes thrown in the mix then Granger & Co is the place to go.
If I’m not in lectures or workshops, then I’m usually at one of the labs in the Franklin Wilkins building. Most of the lab practicals organised by the course coordinator revolve around designing different dosage forms and studying the different parameters that affect stability and mechanism of action. These are the moments I live for. Learning the theoretical aspect of it is great, but getting to create and experiment in the lab gets my heart beating just a little bit quicker. One of my favourite practicals has been the microbiology quality control of dosage forms, where we had to identify the microorganism contaminating the dosage forms by a series of identification tests and media culture. It’s safe to say my MSc degree has a nice balance of lectures and labs, so if you like tinkering about in labs, this might be a good degree to check out.
One of the many things that makes King’s great are the numerous opportunities that you’re exposed to, from networking events to learning new skills at workshops. This institution is a huge community of academics and professionals who want to help you succeed, and they provide you with the tools to cultivate the knowledge and skills needed to take that step further in your career. One piece of advice I’d give to future students, having learned it myself from acting as student representative for my master’s course, is to be proactive. Anticipating the problems my fellow classmates faced, especially during the first semester which was an adjustment period for most of us, helped me learn how to prioritise and take responsibility for making decisions for a large group of individuals. These soft skills made me feel more confident and ultimately helped me land a research internship with one of the lecturers within the university, where I am currently researching novel nano-drug delivery vehicles for biologics in the gastrointestinal tract.
Joining societies is a great way to meet people; the student union supports a large number of societies and activity groups ranging from sports to arts to politics to Harry Potter (for all of the Potterhead fans out there!). I decided to join societies that specifically pushed me out of my comfort zone, such as the Muay Thai and KCL Bhangra society. The latter is run by a lively bunch of students who love to dance and spread the love by teaching on a weekly basis. I’n not particularly coordinated, but I always have a good laugh when I go to class and it’s something I’m definitely going to continue doing after I finish my master’s degree.
If I had to choose one thing to take away from this experience, it would have to be the people I have met and the friends I have made through the opportunities this university has to offer and its rich diversity of student body when it comes to ethnicity, culture and background, which is absolutely refreshing. King’s was definitely the right choice for me, and I’m excited to see what the future holds.