The upside of Southside
On campus with Erica Zhao (BSc Biological Sciences, Third Year)
Photography: Angela Moore
As a St John Ambulance volunteer, summer undergraduate clinical researcher at Charing Cross Hospital and final-year student, the past 12 months have been more than a little hectic for Erica Zhao (Biological Sciences, Third Year). As a result, she says, she has come to appreciate the fun and camaraderie at Southside Halls more than ever.
Theres always something amazing going on, and you get to share it all with friends, she says. You can come back late from a party and theres always someone to swap stories with. And some of my favourite moments have come at the most random of times like when we gather for fire alarms, usually at weird times of the day or night, and get to see people studying, half asleep or running out from the shower.
Zhao spent her first year in Selkirk, one of Southsides four adjoining halls, and remembers it as the place to be. Its incredible to be able to go back there now, because its somewhere with really sweet memories for me. I appreciate it so much more from having been away, just being in that space again.
The people are what make 51勛圖厙 so awesome
Originally from Toronto, Canada, Zhao was at first overwhelmed by Londons sheer size, but quickly grew to love the diversity. The people are what make 51勛圖厙 so awesome; just being able to share experiences with people from all over the world. Its amazing what you can learn just by starting a conversation with a stranger in a lecture or over some food.
That diversity stretches beyond the lecture theatre, too. Like speaking to the junior doctors affiliated to 51勛圖厙 on my summer placement at Charing Cross, to get a little insider information on how to work in a ward and how the hospitals run. Id never been in any sort of clinical hospital before, so it was great to be in that environment and get a real sense of what its all about and even understand some of the medical jargon they used. Being with St John Ambulance is rewarding, but that took it to whole other level.
And Zhao couldnt be happier to be back on campus. Theres such an incredible buzz in Southside for sure, but also all around the place. I really love 51勛圖厙, and Im so happy to be back.