jmphysicsjournal

[jmphysicsjournal]

Corporate life in London – Three months in, and I still have so much to learn at my job, but I’m definitely feeling a lot more confident.

I���ve been going to dance and art classes and making new friends through Bumble BFF. I highly recommend the app to anyone who has moved to a new place and is struggling to make connections. Even though London is huge and full of people, it can feel equally isolating because of its size.

My experience with the app has been great so far—I’ve met some lovely girls I feel very connected to, and we’ve even managed to form a book club together!

[jmphysicsjournal]

Working in london has been amazing so far (though the commute has been killing me a bit)! I’m really enjoying the transition from student life to working life—it suits me so much better. Although I have some qualification exams to sit for my job, they’re not until next year, so I’ve got plenty of time to do art after work. I did this portrait for a friend’s birthday recently.

If you’d like to see more of my art, please follow me on Instagram @cloverj_art

How’s your life been lately?

[jmphysicsjournal]

Just got my Kokuyo Jibun Techno planner for next year. It came with so many cute goodies too.

It’s by far the best planner I’ve ever used. The timeline layout and habit tracker massively helped during my exam revision too at uni, and I’m excited to use it for my job too.

[jmphysicsjournal]

hello dear human

i wanted to ask you about your experience studying physics at cambridge not being what you expected it to be, could you tell us a bit more why, was it maybe in terms of the type of subjects that uou dwelved into or maybe the balance between theoretical work and else ?

thank you a lot if you could respond, that means a lot, and have a good day !

Hi,

Thank you for your question. I did not study Physics at Cambridge but at a different uni in England! I hope my answer can still be helpful to you.

I believe every uni would structure their course a bit differently, hence offering varying learning experiences. 

My course was very well-structured and the content was up-to-date with the latest Physics research; lecturers provided us with well-written notes and every lecture was recorded for review at our convenience. We were told by the department to do at least 40 hours of work a week (adding up lectures, workshops, labs, and self-studies).

I expected myself to enjoy the course and to want to be in academia before I started uni. However, I soon came to the conclusion that academia is not for me, and I believe I would have made the same realisation regardless of which academic institution I was in. 

I guess that most people would share similar feelings of choosing to study a subject at a degree level for passion, then falling out of love with the subject once faced with the overwhelming amount of work and lab hours. It is the minority of people who still feel committed to researching at a PhD level and further after the reality check.

In sixth form, I loved reading about Physics in my free periods. What initially drew me to the subject were the popular science books by Michio Kaku and Carlo Rovelli, which offer interesting ways to look at the world around us, underpinned by mathematical equations. I always enjoyed the philosophical narrative Physics provides more than the maths behind it. 

At university, the focus shifted. I struggled to keep up with half of the content, and soon, my goal was simply to pass exams rather than understanding the content.

Ultimately, it all comes down to personal priorities and interests. I have several friends who are commencing PhDs in theoretical Physics this year, and they’ve sacrificed much of their social lives and hobbies for their studies. When asked what they’d do if they weren’t in Physics, they had no alternative answer. They just love Physics so much.

When I realised I did not want to do Physics anymore, I felt very lost, so I set out a plan to explore lots of different career options. I made roughly about 70 internship/job applications in total over the past 4 years, which occupied most of my free time. My uni life was not all and glamorous, but it was a necessary step for me to discover what path felt right.  Doing a Physics degree has also taught me a lot of transferable technical skills and improved my critical and logical thinking ability.

I hope you will have a fulfilling journey at your dream university! If you have any other uni/course-related questions, please feel free to ask.

[jmphysicsjournal]

The last bits of summer in Edinburgh.

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Found my favourite cafe in London that’s got the best matcha cake roll ever!

[jmphysicsjournal]

York house in Twickenham

[jmphysicsjournal]

I’m enjoying my internship in London. It’s been helping me avoid overthinking about the future as a recent graduate.

I recently turned down a PhD opportunity, and I really hope I’m not making a mistake. I simply cannot imagine spending another four years in the same city, doing physics over and over again. I’m seriously considering pursuing a career in the field of my internship, but I’m scared I’ll be stuck in it for the rest of my life.

I have dreams unrelated to my physics degree, but having a stable job and gaining financial independence is the first fundamental step, right? How do people approach these things.

[jmphysicsjournal]

I got my final results back as I’ve left the university. I did decently overall, but I’m still a bit disappointed because I came to university with high ambitions and didn’t really meet them. Physics at university is not what I had envisioned in sixth form at all.

Oh well, I’ve figured what I really enjoy during the past 4 years (it’s not academia), and I’m ready to move on with the next chapter of my life! I don’t have a graduate job lined up, but I will be doing an internship over the summer. There will still be a lot to learn, and I want to focus on my creative skills development in particular. I will also document this new journey on this study blog. Stay tuned!

[jmphysicsjournal]

Hey can I ask some tips on how to study physics like my calculations are really weak and I wanna improve...

Hi, I found understanding the fundamental concepts and mastering the maths skills required to solve the questions are key to study for Physics. I find Khan Academy to be really helpful for learning math and physics concepts from the basics. They offer interactive quizzes after each lesson with detailed feedback, so you get to test the new knowledge you just learned.

I don't know which school system you are in, but for me I did the British A-levels and there are lots of example questions with solutions from this website https://www.physicsandmathstutor.com/

I have just finished my master's and now have a lot more free time. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions—I am more than happy to help!

[jmphysicsjournal]

I’m actually losing my will to keep cramming even though my last exam is literally in 2 days. I feel too tired to think. I just want it to be over ahhh

[jmphysicsjournal]

I have two upcoming exams this week! Just gotta try my best and let it be :) I’m so bored of revision at this point.

[jmphysicsjournal]

So much to revise for in so little time… I’ve started drinking coffee after a hiatus of 2 years, and hopefully I won’t get addicted to it again!

[jmphysicsjournal]

Having a sunny day means it’s harder to concentrate on studying. I have submitted the first draft for my thesis, will do some proofreading before the deadline.

[jmphysicsjournal]

A study day in Edinburgh. It was sunny and very windy at the same time.

[jmphysicsjournal]

Revising for my quantum computing module which I am very behind on. Luckily, I only have three exams this year. I've gone home for the holiday, and it's so nice to be able to enjoy my mother's cooking while preparing for exams. However, I will have to go back to uni early to finish off and submit my thesis.

[jmphysicsjournal]

I am waiting for the return of my simulation results from a supercomputer. Having spent three months on this simulation already, I really hope it will work. I will try to attend all of my lectures next week as it’s the last week of teaching. I have been skipping so many classes just to focus on my project work. I really need to catch up now!