“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.”
Professor Stephen Hawking
This is the first year that Westminster Business School undergraduate students have had exams in January. So, their Christmas holidays were full of festive cheer but also taken up with intensive revision – an unusual mixture to our students. They definitely deserved a celebration and a reward for all their hard work and for successfully overcoming this slight change to the rhythm and routine of the Academic Year.
As a result, on Monday 30 January Westminster Business School hosted an exclusive celebration event aimed at final year students giving them a chance to celebrate the end of exams and de-stress. The celebration event took place at the brand new Wonder Lab, the world-beating interactive gallery at Science Museum, London designed by the late Iraqi-born British architect Dame Zaha Hadid as a final gift and legacy. Over 150 students and staff had time to relax and unwind with their peers and had a night at the museum.
And what an evening that was! The event started with nibbles and drinks reception and a welcome speech by the Dean of Westminster Business School Professor Malcolm Kirkup. It was a truly magical experience as he warmly greeted all arrived beneath a canopy of glittering star lights, encouraging everyone to make most of the evening and engage with others as much as possible.
Students and academics alike enjoyed a night of over 50 interactive experiments and live demonstrations. Not to mention many other highlights activities in this space included watching ice form under a magnifying glass, winching ourselves up on a pulley system and testing friction on various slides (the lucky ones even snapped a photo of the Dean sliding down one of them). Many seemed to enjoy sticking their heads into one of the infinity boxes creating the illusion of an endless space, and seeing themselves repeated into infinity like a painting by M C Esher. But we think most will agree that the star of the show was the Chemistry bar where live experiments were conducted in front of our eyes. We all enjoyed explosive science demonstrations!
What also stood out was how the creators of the Wonderlab made hard maths and science fun and stimulating. It definitely had the effect of bringing together students and teachers as well as provided a much-needed opportunity for all those present to network with others, share their Westminster experience and plans for the future. A number of current students were happy to share their experiences with us below, so continue to read on:
“I study Business Management with HR, this is my final year but I did a placement last year. I can say I’ve been through a lot but I am thankful for all the opportunities that WBS has given me to me to participate in multiple projects, my individual academic projects and group projects. I am happy to have had the opportunity to work with the Student Union for 2 years. I am thankful for winning employee of the year and getting a work placement. I am thankful to all my teachers who have taught me at my time here at WBS.”
Margarita Popova, Business Management – Human Resource Management BA (Hons) student
“I study Business Management with Human Resource Management. I like the university because the way they teach is different as it gives you the independence to be alone and prepares you for what to expect in the future. The teachers are so helpful and friendly and make time for their students all the time. It has been hard working full time, studying full time and writing novels which I do in my spare time but I have worked out a balance.”
Prince Isaac Baleke, Business Management – Human Resource Management BA (Hons) student
“I study Business Economics, I’m in final year but I did a placement last year. My favourite thing is the societies because they provide a community for individuals, outside of their studies. Once you have a society you are passionate about and love, it really helps your experience. The best society, in my opinion, is the Economic and Finance society and its due to the fact that we are a community, we help and care about each other and we want to pursue the same goals and we have the same ambitions and aims.”
Bibi, Business Economics BSc (Hons) student
“I study Finance with Management and I’m in my third year. During my time here, the thing I would say I appreciate most is the diversity of the university. This is amazing for networking purposes. I think the location and facilities are fantastic. Although the university isn’t ranked in the top 50 universities I think we are a lot better than many universities. I have visited other universities and their facilities, services and qualities are nowhere near as good as the University of Westminster, so I think in the next 10 years it will move up the ranks.”
Halid Aygun, Finance with Management BSc (Hons) student
Thank you to all who attended the celebratory event at the Science Museum.To see the complete photo album from the event, just click here.
This blog article was jointly authored by Kasia Kicinska, Laila Beyan and Joseph Coote-Cowling.
Kasia Kicinska
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