The thing I love about my degree course is that I don’t love it.

Yes. That wasn’t an error. But I beseech you, hear me out.

I never wanted to study biomedical science and I never thought I would find myself at the University of Kent. Just like many of us, from a young age I had my future mapped out, my plans confidently drawn. First in crayon, then pencil, pen, and eventually typed up as my application to medical school.

But did I get there? No. Due to personal reasons, even with gaining an offer I was forced to make a quick, risky decision and before I knew it was as if my paper plans had transformed into a plane, and had landed me in a new city stamped with a three year stay ticket, to study a course I felt just wasn’t for me.

Nevertheless, despite still feeling this way, it has not meant that I have not learnt. Biomedical science is an excellent subject to explore a huge range of topics. This includes diving deep within cells, understanding the mechanisms of disease, uncovering the chemistry of biology, grasping genetics, and mastering laboratory techniques.

This brings me to my first correction.

The thing I love about my degree course is that it taught me that I do not want to become a biomedical scientist.

Hence my second correction.

The thing I love about my degree course is that it has taught me that learning goes beyond the subject.

Going to university is much more than studying for a degree. It shapes you as a person, it teaches you a subject which isn’t on the UCAS course finder, a subject which doesn’t even have a specific name. It teaches you the cruciality of inclusivity in a Student Union, the details of The Cruciatus Curse as part of the Hogwarts Society, and how to survive on a packet of crumpets and still share them with your housemates all in a day’s work.

It is an environment in which you grown constantly, in which you experience new things and meet wonderful new people. As a proud member of the University of Kent, which has campuses across Europe – in Belgium, Greece, France, and liaises with several more countries including America and Malaysia, I have met a dynamic pool of students and staff, and still continue to do so.

And so, I now come to a lesson, for that is what I feel corrections lead to.

From misconceptions to corrections, to a lesson learnt.

What I truly love is learning itself and the fact that it is fluid and never ends…