Bio

Details: 22, from Palembang, Indonesia

Course: MEng Mechanical Engineering with Nuclear Engineering

Optional Modules: Imperial Award

Clubs and Societies: Ahmadiyya Muslim Students Association, Indonesian, Mech Soc, TEDx

Volunteering: Soup Run

Tags: Overseas, UG, FoE, Mech, Muslim

 

Motivations and Frustrations

Motivations

Aisha has always been academic and enjoys the challenge of getting good marks as well seeing a physical product from what she is working. This is why she chose engineering. She spends a lot of time in the library as this helps her to achieve good grades and is excited to get more access into labs and workshops in her third year. While she enjoys university projects she prefers working independently and has lots of ideas that she has developed during her studies which she would like to create and test as personal projects.

Frustrations

Aisha had very high IELTS scores when she joined imperial but sometimes find accessing information challenging and often the information seems vague or incomplete. She feels that her native English-speaking colleagues are better at understanding these differences. She also finds it difficult when she has to wait for people to get back to her so sometimes find group work frustrating. As a practicing Muslim she finds it hard to access prayer rooms on campus and sometimes feels left out of social areas so spends more time in the library or the makerspaces. She prefers not to use the workshops because of the requirement to wear a boiler suit.

Aisha's Stories

Imperial Award

Aisha wants to excel academically and so is mainly driven to complete the award to have it acknowledged on her degree transcript. She is also aware that being able to explain her transferable skills, as well as her academic achievements will help to progress in her career, although she’s not sure yet if she wants to do a PhD or get a job. She is aware that reflection is not a skill she has had a chance to develop much during her previous educational experiences so is interested in the challenge of learning something new.

She has chosen the following attributes to write about in her portfolio

  • Creativity and Innovation
  • Awareness of Group Dynamics
  • Effective Communication
  • Open Mindedness

and she would like to reflect on the following experiences

  • She is a member of the Muslim Students Association and would like to reflect on the differences in culture between the UK and Indonesia.
  • She volunteers for Soup Run
  • Being involved in TEDx is a link between extra-curricular and academic
  • She has had a few problems with academic processes and workshop practices which she would like to reflect on.
  • She sometimes finds group work hard which is why she has chosen to reflect on it.